Road Trip (2000)

Comedy Rated R

There are a few moments of inspired lunacy in this American Pie rip-off, but none of the self-deprecating honesty that made that outrageous sex comedy such a sweet surprise. Only MTV’s Tom Green, as a perpetual college student obsessed with feeding his friend’s boa constrictor, stands out among the gimmicky cast.

K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

A dramatization of a 1961 incident in which a malfunctioning Soviet sub nearly suffered a nuclear meltdown, K-19 is at its creepiest when the threat of radiation begins to haunt the trapped crew. The movie features tight direction by Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break, Strange Days) and the familiar faces of Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson,

Snatch (2000)

Action/Adventure Rated R

This crime farce may have been the movie of the moment when it first came out, what with director Guy Ritchie’s marriage to Madonna and its hip international cast, including Brad Pitt, Benicio Del Toro and a bunch of Brits. But Snatch is about as cool as a day-old corpse. As he follows a stolen

Man on the Moon (1999)

Drama Rated R

Don’t expect to find out what drove the late anarchic comic Andy Kaufman in this biography piece, but thanks to Jim Carrey’s outrageous performance, you can relive the hilarious and baffling experience of watching Kaufman do his stuff. If only more of today’s entertainers were as risky as Kaufman – and Carrey.

Northfork (2003)

Drama Rated PG-13

From idiosyncratic filmmaking brothers Michael and Mark Polish, Northfork takes place in a small town in 1955 Middle America that is being evacuated to make way for a new dam. From there, the movie darts off in directions that are at turns mythical, Biblical and downright bizarre, all captured in striking black-and-white imagery. This is

Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007)

Family Rated PG

“…should be sent to the same movie pound as the recent Garfield pictures.

Planet of the Apes (2001)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

Director Tim Burton apes a standard blockbuster filmmaking style in this satisfying remake of the 1968 science-fiction classic. There’s plenty of entertaining makeup effects and action here, but Burton’s talent for imposing his personal vision on the most commercial of pop tableaus (Batman, Sleepy Hollow) never shines through.

Raising Helen (2004)

Drama Rated PG-13

No one quite does manipulative pap like director Garry Marshall (The Princess Diaries), and he pours it on again with Raising Helen. The movie concerns a modeling-agency assistant (Kate Hudson) who inherits three young kids when her sister and brother-in-law are killed in a car accident. Marshall saws at your heartstrings early on, then immediately

Ray (2004)

Drama Rated PG-13

This movie biography of American music icon Ray Charles is reverential – with a spitting-image performance by Jamie Foxx – yet you’ll find more heartache, passion and pure emotion in the two-and-a-half minutes of What Would I Do Without You than in this picture’s more than two hours. Ray is a tribute movie, really, something

Resident Evil (2002)

Horror Rated R

For awhile, there are enough good scares and gonzo stunts to make this adaptation of the zombie-fighting video game fun – a highlight is when star Milla Jovovich drop-kicks a zombie Doberman pinscher. But by the time the movie hauls out the requisite computer-generated creature for its last act, the overblown action and cheapo effects