Malibu’s Most Wanted (2003)

Comedy Rated PG-13

A far smarter send-up of cultural stereotypes than Bringing Down the House, Malibu’s Most Wanted stars Jamie Kennedy as Brad “B-Rad” Gluckman, a privileged California white kid who acts like he just stepped out of a rap video. The spoofing of hip-hop mannerisms is dead-on, while a plot twist in which two proper black actors

Spanglish (2004)

Drama Rated PG-13

The state of an affluent California family on the brink of disaster, as seen through the eyes of their newly hired Mexican housekeeper (Paz Vega). Writer-director James L. Brooks mines plenty of emotional truths, while Adam Sandler holds his own against the impressive female cast – particularly Tea Leoni as his cripplingly insecure wife and

National Lampoon’s Golddiggers (2003)

Comedy Rated PG-13

An improperly projected preview screening – in which the first 10 minutes of this lame comedy about money-grubbing buddies made the characters look like they were standing in front of a fun-house mirror – was the only amusing thing about the experience. That’s how bad the National Lampoon movie brand has become – it needs

Spaceballs (1987)

Comedy Rated PG

Mel Brooks takes direct aim at George Lucas’ space saga, but with a rifle filled with far too many blanks. There are a few good gags here – you’ve got to love the Millennium Falcon being replaced by a Winnebago with wings – but most of it is juvenile, corny or both. The random cast

Perfect Score, The (2004)

Drama Rated PG-13

This MTV Films production references The Breakfast Club about midway through, and the movie’s few good moments echo the spirit of existential, youthful rebellion captured by that 1985 minor classic. This time students from varying high school cliques come together to steal the answers to the upcoming SAT exam. If you can look past the

Chicago (2002)

Musical Rated PG-13

This Best Picture-winning adaptation of the Broadway hit is more of a traditional musical than, say, Moulin Rouge, but its stars make up for any lack of cinematic invention. As nightclub singers turned murderers in jazz-era Chicago, Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones attack their roles as if the movie were a last-chance audition. Zeta-Jones brings

Shaggy Dog, The (2006)

Family Rated PG

Walt Disney Pictures’ remake of its questionable 1959 “classic” features an alarming number of serious actors trying to keep a straight face: Danny Glover, Kristin Davis, Philip Baker Hall and Robert Downey Jr., the latter of whom delightfully, repeatedly fails. And then there is star Tim Allen as a family man who turns into a

Reign of Fire (2002)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

Aside from Matthew McConaughey – whose outlandish, post-apocalyptic dragon-slayer simultaneously invokes Gen. George Patton, Sir Lancelot and Mad Max – this is one dull creature feature. McConaughey goes for camp, but almost everyone else, including star Christian Bale, smothers his ironic sparks like a damp rag.

Down With Love (2003)

Romantic Comedy Rated PG-13

Nobody walks in Down With Love. They bop. An homage to the sex comedies of Rock Hudson and Doris Day, this is a frothy retro exercise that transports you back to 1962. Renee Zellweger plays the author of a book championing women in the workplace; Ewan McGregor is the magazine writer out to prove she

Monster House (2006)

Family Rated PG

This often beguiling piece of computer animation could nonetheless benefit from a gentler touch. The movie centers around a spooky house that literally eats children on Halloween, but it’s not the ingeniously animated house that the filmmakers overdose on. Instead, the throwaway details are where the picture feels too flippant, too coarse, too adult: a