Seen and reviewed (May 27, 28)

New films in theaters this week:

– “Best Worst Movie” (not rated), a documentary feature about the 1990 horror film “Troll 2.”
– “Casino Jack and the United States of Money” (rated R), a documentary feature about so-called “super-lobbyist” Jack Abramoff.
– ” Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” (rated PG-13), a fantasy-adventure film based on the hit video game series. Jake Gyllenhaal stars.
– “The Secret in Their Eyes” (rated R), an Academy Award-winning mystery-thriller, based on the novel. Spanish with subtitles.
– “Sex and the City 2″ (rated R), a sequel to the 2008 hit comedy, based on the popular pay-cable television series.

Poster art courtesy New Line Cinema

The “Sex and the City” sequel is not only cruder in terms of sexual content and references, it’s also more offensive than its predecessor — the “Ugly American” behaviors of the four main characters are insulting towards Middle Eastern and Arab cultures. It’s the sort of thing that sets cultural relations back for decades.

And surprisingly, “Casino Jack” doesn’t take its subject nearly seriously enough. The snarky tone is more reminiscent of propagandist Michael Moore than of the other works of Alex Gibney (“Taxi to the Dark Side”).

The other, supposed “art-house” releases are consistently better. “Best Worst Movie” not only includes Utah actors and setting (“Troll 2″ was shot in Porterville), it’s smart, funny and surprisingly touching. And despite some very dark and rough material, Best Foreign Language Feature Oscar winner “Secret” is very involving. The sucker punch of an ending alone makes it worthwhile.

Poster art courtesy Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

As for “Prince of Persia,” it benefits from having a couple of earlier summer duds (the “Robin Hood” origin tale and the dull “Shrek” finale) debut before it. At least this big-budgeted silliness does have some decent action sequences in its favor.

Which, if any, of these movies fit into your holiday weekend viewing plans?