Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)

Horror Rated R

A gruesome and generic horror movie which denies everything that made The Blair Witch Project 1999’s best film. In catering to those who couldn’t appreciate the daring minimalism of the original – off-screen noises, shaky camera work, long patches of darkness – new director Joe Berlinger offers up a series of horror cliches that would

Lake House, The (2006)

Drama Rated PG

An adaptation of a South Korean existential romance, this certainly moves and feels like few love stories from this country. You could call it slow, but a kinder word would be contemplative. Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock star as tenants of the same lakeside home who communicate, via letters left in the mailbox, even though

Hidalgo (2004)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

Despite the “true-story” claims of its advertising campaign, Hidalgo is based on bunk – contemporary scholars contend the exploits of Old West cowboy Frank T. Hopkins have been greatly exaggerated. Still, his stories make for rousing legends. As Hopkins (Viggo Mortensen, playing another reticent hero) travels to the Arabian desert to participate in a 3,000-mile

School for Scoundrels (2006)

Comedy Rated PG-13

Starring Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) as a bullied traffic cop who takes a course in self-confidence from a boorish womanizer (Billy Bob Thornton), this means to trace Heder – and his character’s – transformation from lovable loser to just plain lovable. Yet the movie’s gooey pursuit of that goal works in direct opposition to the

Bad Company (2002)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

The unexpected casting of honored thespian Anthony Hopkins and incidental actor Chris Rock – the former as a CIA operative and the latter as a street punk who’s recruited by the agency to help track down a missing atom bomb – gives Bad Company some zip. Yet rather than allow us to enjoy their comic

Majestic, The (2001)

Drama Rated PG

Just the sort of noble bore Oscar usually loves, this latest two-hour-plus tale from director Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) stars Jim Carrey as a blacklisted screenwriter who develops amnesia and is mistaken for a small-town hero lost in World War II. Darabont and Carrey are trying to whip up some sort

Curious George (2006)

Family Rated G

As long as you like primary colors, you should be satisfied with Curious George. Less a movie than an exercise in bright reds, blues, yellows and greens, this traditionally animated adaptation of the children’s books by Margret and H.A. Rey has the production design of a preschool classroom – which is appropriate, for that is

Mission to Mars (2000)

Action/Adventure Rated PG

A popcorn flick masquerading as a head trip, this space adventure still offers some good gripping fun. Don Cheadle, Gary Sinise and Tim Robbins are among the first astronauts to land on Mars, where they encounter lots of rocks and grand philosophical questions left over from 2001: A Space Odyssey. From unlikely director Brian De

Are We There Yet? (2005)

Family Rated PG

Consider this title a form of honesty: A movie named after one of the universally annoying whines of childhood isn’t even trying to hide the fact that watching it is a grind for parents. Ice Cube, exploring new dimensions of selling out, plays a committed bachelor who gets stuck on a road trip with his

Monkeybone (2001)

Comedy Rated PG-13

Undermined by a misleading advertising campaign (this isn’t a live-action farce for the Rugrats set) and attacked in countless cranky reviews, Monkeybone was the most underrated movie of 2001. Yes, there’s way too much plot – something about a cartoonist (Brendan Fraser) who does battle with his own creation – but this amalgamation of live