Evolution (2001)

Comedy Rated PG-13

This science-fiction comedy about two community college professors (David Duchovny and Orlando Jones) who discover an alien-infested meteorite sputters from one so-so gag to the next. Eventually, as the aliens evolve into more complicated creatures, even the occasional laughs are buried beneath relentless special effects. With Julianne Moore; from director Ivan Reitman.

Like Mike (2002)

Family Rated PG

Like Mike may have a silly premise – it’s about a 14-year-old orphan who gains NBA-level skills after donning a pair of Michael Jordan’s old sneakers – but the movie also displays something that’s more important for this kind of lightweight kids’ flick: a giddy, infectious spirit. It also helps that Lil’ Bow Wow, the

Godsend (2004)

Thriller Rated PG-13

This domestic thriller, about a couple (Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) who clone their 8-year-old boy after his death, could have gone in numerous intriguing directions, but it chooses the worst one of all of them. Almost a ghost story, almost a theological take on fate, Godsend instead goes for straight-out horror, with all the

Magdalene Sisters, The (2002)

Drama Rated R

A dramatization of life inside the Catholic Church’s now-closed Magdalene Asylums, this import catalogs the abuses heaped upon young women whose only crimes were flirting, getting pregnant out of wedlock or being raped. Director Peter Mullan repeatedly rails against such injustices, and if his indignation eventually wears thin, the performances from his three lead actresses

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)

Family Rated G

This animated attempt to tell the story of the American West through the eyes of a wild mustang harks back to that time when adults were bored by children’s films. Kids who are into horses likely will do just fine, but others may check out – the stillness that enveloped the preview screening I attended

North Country (2005)

Drama Rated R

Charlize Theron may look to be mining for another Oscar here – she plays a defiant litigant in a fictionalization of one of the United States’ first sexual harassment lawsuits – but it is her movie that’s really after the gold. Theron delivers a tough, authentic performance, while director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) repeatedly trots

Collateral Damage (2004)

Action/Adventure Rated R

Though delayed from its initial release date due to 9/11, this Arnold Schwarzenegger extravaganza – about a firefighter hunting the Colombian terrorist whose bomb took the lives of his wife and son – still carried an inevitable sadness when it did come out. Now that that has faded, this just has the ususal action antics.

Recruit, The (2003)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

The Recruit, about a computer whiz (Colin Farrell) who is tapped by a shadowy figure (Al Pacino) to enter an elite CIA training program, takes the spy movie maxim that no one can be trusted and blows it up to outrageous proportions. There’s hardly a single conversation between the characters that doesn’t involve some level

Eight Legged Freaks (2002)

Comedy Rated PG-13

This giant-spider flick just wants to be one big joke, which would be fine if it were funny. There are a few amusing bits, but the humor is mostly used as a form of self-defense: The filmmakers don’t want to make you laugh as much as they want to assure you that they’re not being

Rules of Attraction, The (2002)

Drama Rated R

A nihilistic drama full of hip misery and forced edginess, Rules depicts the college experience as a land of loneliness, betrayal, drug abuse and sexual humiliation. A young cast (including James Van Der Beek of television’s “Dawson’s Creek”) desperately strives for indie credibility, but they all come away soiled by the sensationalistic sadism on display.