Dreamer (2005)

Family Rated PG

Writer-director John Gatins is no Carroll Ballard – the animal-movie specialist behind The Black Stallion – but he still manages to grace this tale of a girl (Dakota Fanning) who cares for an injured horse with a few quietly effective moments. There also are some nice scenes between Fanning and Kurt Russell as her workaholic,

Pooh’s Heffalump Movie (2005)

Family Rated G

When Pooh’s Heffalump Movie was released – at a time when even Pixar Animation Studios had ventured into PG-rated territory with The Incredibles – it was nearly impossible to find big-screen fare for the smallest ones in the house. Winnie the Pooh filled the void. This third feature based on A.A. Milne’s classic characters enfolds

Fantastic Four (2005)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

Fantastic Four faced an uphill battle in making its mark amid the renaissance of superhero movies during the 2000s. The Marvel comic, about a team of astronauts (Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis, Ioan Gruffudd and Chris Evans) who obtain extraordinary powers after a freak accident in space, has never had the cachet of big-name properties such

Solaris (2002)

Drama Rated PG-13

“If you feel it, Solaris covers it.”

Gangs of New York (2002)

Drama Rated R

“Martin Scorsese’s Les Miserables.”

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

There is a good reason we see a lot of Tobey Maguire’s face in Spider-Man 2 – why even during the action scenes his mask has been shredded. Peter Parker’s high-flying alter ego may get top billing, but it’s the conflicted kid beneath the tights who is the focus of this character-driven sequel from returning

Garden State (2004)

Drama Rated R

Television actor Zach Braff (Scrubs) unveiled true filmmaking talent in this writing-directing-starring effort about a middling, heavily medicated actor (Braff) who returns to his native New Jersey for a funeral and learns that even a painful life is worth living. There’s a tinge of narcissim to get past, but the reward is Braff’s penchant for

Thirteen (2003)

Drama Rated R

The insistently shocking Thirteen, about a junior-high kid’s (Evan Rachel Wood) self-destructive bout with adolescence, argues that today’s culture of flirtatious consumerism has made trashy 20-somethings out of our preteens. But what begins as an observant piece of social commentary soon becomes a hysterical exploitation flick, in which every sweet little girl you know is

Girl, Interrupted (1999)

Drama Rated R

What appears to be a female version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest actually is a quieter, subtler and at times even more discerning look at mental illness. Winona Ryder stars as 17-year-old Susanna Kaysen, whose memoir about her real-life experiences in a psychiatric hospital during the late 1960s inspired the film, but this

U-571 (2000)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

This is straightforward but gripping adventure material about a U.S. Navy crew posing as German sailors in order to take over a Nazi submarine. The action scenes invigorate submarine thriller cliches, and Matthew McConaughey lends some depth as an executive officer struggling with the responsibilities of military leadership.