Beyond the Sea (2004)

Drama Rated PG-13

Apparently nothing was going to deter director-star Kevin Spacey from making Beyond the Sea, not limited interest in the life of 1950s and ’60s crooner Bobby Darin, not a thin, cornball script, not even an alarming age difference between himself, as Darin, and the pixie-like Kate Bosworth as Darin’s wife, Sandra Dee. Beyond the Sea

Birthday Girl (2001)

Thriller Rated R

When a by-the-book British bank clerk (Ben Chaplin) arranges for a Russian mail-order bride (Nicole Kidman), her lack of English is just the start of his problems. The movie works as long as it remains steeped in sexual paranoia and guilt, but soon the Hitchcock-like shadings give way to conventional thriller chase scenes.

Bruce Almighty (2003)

Comedy Rated PG-13

Bruce Almighty takes good care of a great concept – a clod (Jim Carrey) becomes God – though it never quite offers inspired comedy. The religious humor is limited, while Jennifer Aniston, a comedian in her own right, is wasted as the love interest. Yet for Carrey fans who tire of his serious side –

Contender, The (2000)

Drama Rated R

This political drama raises a pertinent question – how much does the public deserve to know about a politician’s private life? – but delivers a poorly considered answer. When the vice president dies, a woman senator (Joan Allen) is selected as his successor. Fighting to stop the appointment is a rabid congressman (Gary Oldman) who

Scanner Darkly, A (2006)

Drama Rated R

Based on the Philip K. Dick novel, this is your average drug-abuse drama, albeit told in the intriguingly heightened visual style of rotoscoping (the same one writer-director Richard Linklater employed in his philosophical talk-fest Waking Life). Filmed in live action, the images are then painted over by computer for a fluid, dreamlike feel. It’s an

Cars (2006)

Family Rated G

This Pixar production depicts a human-free racing world where even the stands are filled with four-wheelers. The movie’s moral imperative is to teach a hotshot rookie (Owen Wilson) a lesson in humility via an unplanned detour in the tiny desert town of Radiator Springs, but the picture’s true value is visual. Limited in terms of

Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006)

Family Rated PG

An improvement upon 2004’s Garfield if for no other reason than the mistaken-identity plot means the annoying title feline (again inexplicably voiced by Bill Murray) has only half the screen time. Tim Curry gives Prince, Garfield’s British doppelganger, a nice, aristocratic burr, while Billy Connolly provides the movie’s only laughs as Dargis, a malicious lord-in-waiting

Over the Hedge (2006)

Family Rated PG

This animated feature scorns both McMansions and suburban sprawl, and mostly will be enjoyed by McMansion-residing suburban sprawlers. That irony is not lost on the filmmakers. As it details the adventures of a pack of woodland creatures (the likes of Garry Shandling, Steve Carell and Wanda Sykes provide pitch-perfect vocals for the rich character animation)

A Prairie Home Companion (2006)

Musical Rated PG-13

Robert Altman and Garrison Keillor stage a fictional version of Keillor’s public-radio staple, which has been delivering dry wit, folksy storytelling and eclectic music for more than 30 years. The multilayered, musical cast – including Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Kline, Lindsay Lohan and Woody Harrelson – allow Altman to indulge in his trademark creative

Break-Up, The (2006)

Romantic Comedy Rated PG-13

As its title implies, this Jennifer Aniston-Vince Vaughn pairing deals in the sort of romance that’s infinitely more real than that usually offered up by the likes of Reese Witherspoon and Matthew McConaughey. Aniston stars as Brooke, a Chicago art dealer who has had it with the frat-boy ways of her tour-guide boyfriend (Vaughn). It