Ultimate X (2002)

Documentary Rated PG

A large-format film chronicling the 2001 X Games in Philadelphia. Produced by ESPN, which also is behind the X Games, this a promotional piece as much as a documentary, but the movie offers an enthralling glimpse into the extreme-sports subculture nonetheless. As riders careen nearly 100 feet in the air and then flip over and

Friday After Next (2002)

Comedy Rated R

Another Ice Cube ode to laziness, pot smoking and other negative African-American stereotypes, this time set to a jingle-bell beat. Along with Mike Epps, the rapper returns to his old south-central Los Angeles neighborhood in this third installment of the comedy series, primarily to chase down a renegade Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. Decidedly less

Chicken Little (2005)

Family Rated G

Disney’s floundering animation arm tried to get hip with Chicken Little, a computer-generated comedy with some of the sharp visuals of Pixar’s pictures, a bit of the deconstructionist wit of the Shrek movies and about an ounce of the fabled charm of the studio’s early classics. The movie is a wannabe, but on those terms

In Her Shoes (2005)

Drama Rated PG-13

Audiences have stuck with Cameron Diaz through a lot – the There’s Something About Mary rip-off The Sweetest Thing, even Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle – but In Her Shoes pushes the star’s likability to the limit. That’s partly the movie’s point – this is meant to be a tale of betrayal and reconciliation between sisters

Little Black Book (2004)

Romantic Comedy Rated PG-13

Brittany Murphy has rarely ceased to annoy, whether she’s being psychotically perky in Uptown Girls or perkily psychotic in Spun. Little Black Book finds her somewhere in between: she’s a peppy young woman who has the unhealthy idea of tracking down her boyfriend’s former flames. Going down with the ship are legitimate talents such as

Out of Time (2003)

Thriller Rated R

The middle 40 minutes or so of Out of Time offers some thrillingly intense moviegoing. Too bad its bookends are complete nonsense. The film stars Denzel Washington as a police chief who becomes wrongly implicated in a double homicide. His desperate attempt to stay one step ahead of the investigation has the claustrophobia of a

Tupac: Resurrection (2003)

Documentary Rated R

The late Tupac Shakur mixed a gangsta-rap image with a social activist’s conscience, swooning so wildly between the two poses you were never sure which one was the put-on. This documentary, which he “narrates” via past interviews, isn’t interested in such an identity crisis, even though that’s what made the man fascinating. Instead it’s marred

China: The Panda Adventure (2001)

Drama Rated NR

An awkward attempt to mold the Imax documentary-travelogue format into a traditional movie narrative, China: The Panda Adventure ends up failing at both aims. Maria Bello stars as real-life Ruth McCombs-Harkness, who traveled to China in 1936 to fulfill her late husband’s dream of discovering wild pandas. The result is a nature film without much

Good Bye Lenin! (2003)

Comedy Rated R

The sitcom premise of this German import follows a staunch socialist (Katrin Sass) who falls into a coma during East Germany’s setting sun. She sleeps through the conquest of capitalism, awakening eight months later. Afraid all the excitement will endanger her health, her son (Daniel Bruhl) confines her to her bedroom and tries to recreate

Left Behind (2000)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

Adapted from the best-selling series of novels based on the Rapture, this metaphysical thriller never rises above its straight-to-video production values, from the subpar special effects to the acting of Kirk Cameron. The film’s conviction is admirable – this is that rare movie that actually believes in something – until it gives way to awkward