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

Day After Tomorrow, The (2004)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

Yet another disaster picture from director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day), this boasts some whopping scenes of destruction, but it is ultimately a special-effects demo reel that runs out of money shots. You know there’s a problem when a movie about tornadoes, floods and hurricanes turns to escaped zoo wolves and a leg infection for drama

Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001)

Drama Rated R

This ensemble picture means to explore the nature of happiness, but only one plot strand, in which Alan Arkin plays a corporate drone at an insurance company, really comes close to saying something interesting about the subject. As other characters (played by the likes of Matthew McConaughey and John Turturro) float in and out of

Charlotte’s Web (2006)

Family Rated G

For generations, children have clung to E.B. White’s deceptively humble story about the unlikely friendship between a clever spider and the sweet pig she tries to save from slaughter. For many young readers, this was the first time words simultaneously captured the world’s cruelty and natural beauty. At its best, this live-action adaptation competently captures

Very Long Engagement, A (2004)

Drama Rated R

Whimsy and war wouldn’t seem to be likely companions, but don’t tell that to Audrey Tautou and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the star and director, respectively, of the French romantic comedy Amelie. The pair re-teamed for this World War I romantic drama about a young French woman in search of her missing fiance. This has an epic

Watcher, The (2000)

Thriller Rated R

Evidence that serial killers are still dull, derivative cliches even when they’re played by Keanu Reeves. James Spader’s burnt-out FBI man (is there any other kind?) chases Reeves’ killer through Chicago’s gritty streets. There’s hardly a scene without the el in the background, which should give you an idea of the level of creativity at

Windtalkers (2002)

Action/Adventure Rated R

One of the most fascinating stories of World War II – that of Navajo-Americans who fought as radio men, using their native language as an impenetrable code – falls prey to the White Man Syndrome. Windtalkers spends more time following Nicolas Cage’s anguished sergeant through a series of war-film cliches than the journey of Ben