The new version has the zip of a 96-yard punt return and all the ingredients to inspire the celebratory crushing of empty beer cans.

Alien Trespass is good-natured, but it's a wan send-up. When it comes to paying homage to classic "B" horror movies, "Monsters vs. Aliens" is the more clever alternative.

One Day is an aching lovely romance, but it's also an insightful look at human potential and the search for a purposeful existence.

Writer/director Zach Helm, who wrote "Stranger Than Fiction," achieves bursts of charm and whimsy, but not quite enough magic to elicit a consistent sense of wonderment.

For a movie about dancing, Step Up is pretty clumsy on its feet.

Though the film has a strong cast, humor and a satirical take on celebrity culture, the story is spotty.

Largely because of its engaging cast, Admission is an amiable, but only slightly-above-average, comic romp.

It settles for the recycled emotions of the past despite the fact "Schindler's List" has forever made such treatment shamefully passe. [18Apr1997 Pg.03.D]

The only character we get to know fully as she evolves from child to older woman is Vivi. Too bad the movie didn't also trace the lives of her "sisters." That might have been divine.

Returning director Peyton Reed pumps in enough family bonding and signature whimsy to complement the massive world building and a new time-traveling big bad played by a terrific Jonathan Majors. Laying important groundwork for Marvel’s film future unfortunately means losing some of the franchise’s essential scrappy charm.

At least Harrison Ford does his grizzled best to ground a hybrid film awash in computer-generated animals and visual pizzazz.

While there’s a definite “The Stepford Wives” sort of vibe, the narrative themes (which do lean timely) lack subtlety and nuance. Thankfully, Pugh keeps it watchable as a young married woman trying to keep her sanity amidst a ton of gaslighting and constant doo-wop songs.

An occasionally schmaltzy but likable story of healing and redemption.

For the cinematic dregs of late August, the earnest and quirky Leap! is charmingly en pointe.

I Feel Pretty offers aspirational touches that match the "Get it, girl" shirt sported by Schumer's character, but the mostly feel-good cinematic parable often has trouble finding the right balance between goofball humor and earnest message.

The foot-stomping, hand-clapping, ear-electrifying soundtrack, courtesy of such pros as B.B. King and Eric Clapton plus newcomers like Erykah Badu, in Blues Brothers 2000 (# # 1/2 out of four) rectifies many a movie-making sin in this near-Xerox sequel to the 1980 Saturday Night Live-spun hit starring Dan Aykroyd and the late John Belushi. [06 Feb 1998]

Just about any golden age Hollywood hack could have made a zestier drama about one of the greatest rescue missions in U.S. military history.

Anchored by a topnotch ensemble cast, it's toe-tapping holiday fare that's also a potent reminder that family resentments and hardened hearts serve no one.

Though the premise is clever -- everything comes to life at night in New York City's Natural History Museum -- this movie doesn't make the best comic use of the concept.

For a swoon-fest aimed at tweens, 17 Again has a lot going for it.

The cheesy production values won't grab anyone. When Bryan-Brian aren't schmoozing, there's not much to look at. It's anyone's guess whether this sequel will be as big a hit on tape. But it'll end up on the shelf soon enough. [10 May 1991, p.2D]

Sinbad steers First Kid past mediocrity. [30 Aug 1996]

A serviceable and intermittently funny romance.

Self-indulgent, heavy-handed and lumbering, Jayne Mansfield's Car is not a wreck, but it's certainly a vehicle for boredom.

This sequel is what you would expect: If you liked the original, you'll probably enjoy this retread. But be warned: It bogs down in a drawn-out scene near the end. There's certainly nothing to treasure about this movie, but if a popcorn movie with moderate intrigue and occasional humor is what you're after, this is just the ticket.

Just earnest enough to blend its religious theme with a beer-chugging hero for a surprisingly contemporary look at faith.

All you get here for paid admission is a long and terrific avalanche scene -- state of the art, no question. Then it's over and ready to melt away, much like memories of this movie.

There's much mumbo-jumbo about past lives and symbolic tattoos, but who cares when you can gaze at a sight as lovely as a dirigible floating in the night sky?