24 Hour Party People (2002)

Drama Rated R

24 Hour Party People works best as a snapshot – a brief, busy glimpse at the new wave music that was born during the late ’70s and early ’80s in Manchester, England. Our eager host is Tony Wilson (Steve Coogan), the television reporter turned music promoter who nurtured the Happy Mondays, Joy Division and others.

Whole Ten Yards, The (2004)

Comedy Rated PG-13

Another farce involving skittish dentist Nicholas “Oz” Oseransky (Matthew Perry, desperately flailing) and goofy hit man Jimmy “The Tulip” Tudeski (Bruce Willis, not nearly embarrassed enough), The Whole Ten Yards is like a morgue for laughs. Dead jokes are lined up across the screen.

Magnolia (1999)

Drama Rated R

“Another great imitation of a great movie from Paul Thomas Anderson…

40-Year-Old Virgin, The (2005)

Comedy Rated R

Dignity is the last thing you would expect to find here, yet that is the defining quality of this vehicle for Steve Carell, in which he plays a nerd whose buddies make it their mission to have him deflowered. In between the raunchy male talk and disastrous dates, he stumbles into a tentative romance with

Cooler, The (2003)

Drama Rated R

William H. Macy’s true gift hasn’t been the way he perfectly embodies life’s losers but the way he has made such sorry schlubs interesting. That quality isn’t on display in The Cooler, in which Macy plays a luckless gambler employed by a second-rate casino owner (Alec Baldwin) to cool off tables with hot streaks. This

Open Water (2003)

Thriller Rated R

Writer-director Chris Kentis’ independent picture will terrify anyone who has ever had some mysterious underwater object brush up against his or her legs. A shark-attack movie that uses real sharks, this manages to create legitimate chills by taking a no-frills approach to its central tale – that of a scuba-diving couple stranded in dangerous waters.

50 First Dates (2004)

Comedy Rated PG-13

It is hard to imagine an Adam Sandler movie played straight – Happy Gilmore as a tragedy, anyone? – but that may have been the only approach that could have saved 50 First Dates. There’s a fine conceit for a romantic drama here – Sandler plays a veterinarian in love with a woman (Drew Barrymore)

Ice Age (2002)

Family Rated PG

A fine feature debut from computer-animation director Chris Wedge and Blue Sky Studios, about the adventures of a mammoth (voiced by Ray Romano), a sloth (John Leguizamo) and a saber-tooth tiger (Denis Leary). Financier Twentieth Century Fox seems to have steered Wedge’s dark sense of humor towards a gentler, Disney-esque narrative, but the movie’s best

Secret Lives of Dentists, The (2002)

Drama Rated R

This independent drama follows a young couple (Campbell Scott and Hope Davis) trying to cram dual careers, three young kids and a happy marriage into one overextended life. The daily tensions only intensify when he begins to suspect her of having an affair. Not much happens that doesn’t happen in the lives of millions of

102 Dalmatians (2000)

Family Rated G

This sequel to Disney’s 1996 cash cow may not be as cynical as Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but it still exists just to rake in the dough by catering to kids’ crudest instincts. Glenn Close returns as the loud and boorish Cruella De Vil, and the movie mainly follows her lead.