Ready to Rumble (2000)

Comedy Rated PG-13

This comedy about two thickheaded wrestling fans (David Arquette and Scott Caan) would be harmless – albeit raunchy – fun except for the way its amped-up violence spills outside of the ring. Here, beating the crap out of somebody isn’t just part of a theatrical stage show; it’s a way of life.

Hills Have Eyes, The (2006)

Horror Rated R

In this remake of the 1977 horror flick from Wes Craven, an extended family traveling through the desert of New Mexico is beset by a horde of bogeymen. Rape, torture and dismemberment ensue, all to the delight of French director Alexandre Aja (High Tension). Despite a prologue suggesting the attackers are the deformed victims of

Unbreakable (2000)

Thriller Rated PG-13

“…a superhero origin story as emotional awakening.”

Hitch (2005)

Romantic Comedy Rated PG-13

Hitch takes good care of its slick premise – in which a “date doctor” (Will Smith) helps self-conscious men woo the women of their dreams. Smith mostly plays straight man to a very funny Kevin James as a nerdy accountant pining for an heiress. Eva Mendes adds steam and wit as a gossip columnist unimpressed

Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004)

Romantic Comedy Rated PG-13

A romantic triangle develops between a small-town supermarket cashier (Kate Bosworth), the friend who quietly pines after her (Topher Grace) and the movie star (Josh Duhamel) who falls for her after she wins a contest to go on a date with him. We’re supposed to find these characters endearing, but the movie treats them like

Lord of War (2005)

Drama Rated R

The arms-dealing drama Lord of War could have been fired from a shotgun – it sprays all over the place. Part action movie and part message piece, the picture is only one thing for sure: a major misstep for gifted writer/director Andrew Niccol (Gattaca). In following the unlikely career of Ukrainian-American antihero Yuri Orlov (a

Dr. No (1962)

Action/Adventure Rated PG

Sean Connery inaugurated the Bond franchise with Dr. No, in which everyone’s favorite British spy travels to Jamaica and gets tangled up with the CIA, the title villain and Ursula Andress. As an espionage thriller, this is less than impressive. The silly plot, the cartoonishly megalomaniacal Dr. No and the unapologetic eye candy (Andress literally

Miss Congeniality (2000)

Comedy Rated PG-13

This piece of fluff – about a tomboyish FBI agent (Sandra Bullock) who goes undercover at a beauty pageant – looks tempting, but be wary. Bullock performed lame pratfalls about five times in the original trailer, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. She – and we – deserve better.

Eragon (2006)

Action/Adventure Rated PG

You can’t really say this dragon tale is an imaginative fantasy film – there’s hardly an element in it that hasn’t been lifted from the Star Wars or Lord of the Rings movies – yet at least the picture has intricately realized its derivative universe. Eragon is a rip-off, but it doesn’t look like one.

Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005)

Comedy Rated PG-13

Sometimes a movie is so committed to its own brand of silliness that you can’t help but be swept up along with it. This sequel to the woeful 2000 hit, in which Sandra Bullock played a tomboy FBI agent who glams up to go undercover during a beauty pageant, sails around on its own giddy