B- "300"

Violent, chest-thumping story of the Spartan army, 300 strong, that briefly fought off a furious invasion of thousands in ancient Greece, based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller, author of "Sin City." Manly-man battles team with special effects to create a visually impressive if repetitive story of fury and honor. R. 116 min. (Dan Bennett)

B "After the Wedding"

A Danish drama about ideals and money, sanctimony and obligation, whipped-up familiar ingredients are used to pique the audience's interest rather than rock its world. The story revolves around an international aid worker (Mads Mikkelsen, the villain in "Casino Royale") who must return to his homeland after 20 years in order to secure funding to keep his African operation going. R. 119 min. (The New York Times)

B- "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for the Theaters"

It's tempting to say "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters" is an acquired taste, but that would insult its cult following by insinuating the film has any taste at all. Instead, this full-length animated film based on the late-night Cartoon Network television series wallows in its nonsensical oddness, crass jokes and eagerness to upset any semblance of dignity. So get in line early. The barely-there plot involves three fast-food items who speak and enjoy miscellaneous super-powers. Stuff explodes, while naughty language and violence abound. R. 87 min. (Dan Bennett)

C "Are We Done Yet?"

For this second installment of what's threatening to become a family-movie franchise, Ice Cube reprises his role as Nick Persons, a likable Portland, Ore., sports nut who's learned to tolerate his girlfriend's brats. Now married to her, and expecting twins, Nick and his new family explore the nightmare of homeownership. The problem with the new film is that Ice Cube is too cool for the plot's nonsense. PG. 92 min. (Boston Globe)

B- "Black Book"

An old-school war melodrama with modern twists, "Black Book" is hardly perfect but consistently interesting. The Dutch-Jewish singer Rachel (Carice Van Houten) has successfully hidden from the Nazis, but as the war years wane, her troubles multiply. With little left to lose, she takes a dangerous assignment with the Dutch resistance, and infiltrates local Nazi headquarters, taking up with a powerful officer. Somewhat simplistic, but a decent war-film throwback from director Paul Verhoeven ("Basic Instinct," "Robocop"). R. 144 min. (Dan Bennett)

C "Blades of Glory"

Will Ferrell and Jon Heder's figure-skating comedy offers a few prime gags but a flimsy premise that loses its novelty quickly. The idea sounds like a great little "Saturday Night Live" sketch: Ferrell's an arrogant rebel of a men's champ, Heder's his fastidious rival, and the two end up teaming as the first men's pair after they're barred for life from solo competition. And there's about enough funny material for a great little "Saturday Night Live" sketch. The trouble is, there's an extra 80 minutes or so of down time. PG-13. 94 min. (Associated Press)

C+ "Disturbia"

The filmmakers are quick to acknowledge "Rear Window" as a forerunner for the voyeurism of this thriller about a housebound teenager convinced his neighbor's a serial killer. What they don't have to say is that "Disturbia" is no "Rear Window," because you already knew that. Yet it's a decent-enough thriller that's far smarter than most big studio flicks with teen protagonists. The movie's completely predictable, but Shia LaBeouf delivers one of his most assured performances as a teen under house arrest who becomes a Peeping Tom, while director D.J. Caruso crafts some mildly clever moments of suspense. PG-13. 104 min. (Associated Press)

C "Firehouse Dog"

Supposedly a comedy about a Hollywood canine that finds love and companionship with a big-city firehouse and its boy, "Dog" actually features stunt Irish terriers tricked up with computer-generated special effects that give them humanoid expressions and allow them to slide down firepoles. The effect is cute with a capital K and grotesque with a capital G, as though offscreen puppeteers were pulling digital wires to make the animals dance. PG. 111 min. (Boston Globe)

B "Fracture"

Anthony Hopkins, in a version of his patented Hannibal Lecter shtick, gets lively, challenging material with which to needle and spar with co-star Gyan Gosling. The story is a darkly stylish suspense tale regarding a successful aeronautical engineer who kills philandering wife set in a recognizable Los Angeles. R. 113 min. (Associated Press)

B "Grindhouse"

If you've got a taste for blood and three hours to kill, "Grindhouse" is for you. Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino each direct one feature-length film, and tie them together as a double-feature modeled after '70s B-movie kitsch. While Rodriguez's "Planet Terror" is an effective bit about a plague hitting a small town, Tarantino's "Death Proof" is boring until the ending car chase. R. 101 mins. (Associated Press)

B+ "The Hoax"

Richard Gere is in his late 50s and only now is he really hitting his stride as a performer. In "The Hoax," he plays Clifford Irving , the scandalous real-life writer who, in 1971, convinced McGraw-Hill to publish his "authorized autobiography" of wacko billionaire Howard Hughes. Gere seems as born again as he did during the musical numbers in "Chicago." R. 115 min. (Boston Globe)

B "Hot Fuzz"

Buddy-cop action flicks get the "Shaun of the Dead" treatment from Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. They again tab Nick Frost to co-star with Pegg, taking advantage of the strong on-screen comedic chemistry. The story revolves around a stellar London police officer who's sent to a small, crime-free village after his efficiency embarrasses the rest of the London force. But trouble soon follows, and the results are something rarely seen from Hollywood: smart and silly at the same time. R. 121 min. (Associated Press)

C "In the Land of Women"

Adam Brody graduates from "The O.C." and shows he can carry his part of a film with his charm intact, even when it descends into sudsy melodrama. Writer-director bands us over the head with sentimental platitudes about love and loyalty, leaving nothing to the audience's interpretation. Brody plays a love-sick young man who moves in with his grandmother to heal a broken heart, but spends most of his time with the women across the street, single mom and her teenage daughter (Meg Ryan and Lucy Stewart) -- with predictable results. PG-13. 98 min. (Associated Press)

A- "The Lives of Others"

Fine character drama set in East Germany just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, story of a spying mission involving a seemingly loyal playwright, and the tumultuous romances and betrayals that arrive from the mission during the course of two decades. Smart, fascinating German film. R. 137 min. (Dan Bennett)

B- "Meet the Robinsons"

There's been such an onslaught of animated movies over the past year or so, it only seems like they're coming at you in 3-D. This one actually does, and it's one of the more tolerable of the genre in recent memory. Thankfully, it doesn't consist of smart-alecky talking animals spewing one-liners and pop culture references. And the three-dimensional effects are pretty spectacular. The story itself, however, is strictly two-dimensional. G. 93 min. (Associated Press)

C+ "Namesake"

A Bengali couple raising a family in New York should be full of specific examples of the struggles of life in a new country, but this adaptation of the Jhumpa Lahiri best-seller keeps falling back on generics. PG-13. 122 min. (Los Angeles Daily News)

D "Pathfinder"

This Vikings vs. American Indians dust-up has enough fake blood to float a Scandinavian war fleet. What it doesn't have is a good script. Star Karl Urban spends most of his time running through the woods or sneaking through caves. R. 85 min. (The Denver Post)

C- "Perfect Stranger"

Halle Berry plays a dig-for-dirt reporter who goes undercover to try and pin the murder of a friend on a cad advertising kingpin (Bruce Willis), helped by her wily, high-tech assistant (Giovanni Ribisi). The chase is on, but the soup gets thicker as true motivations are revealed. Stock characters and stereotypes permeate, leaving "Perfect Strangers" something less than perfect. R. 110 min. (Dan Bennett)

D "The Reaping"

Hilary Swank inexplicably stars as a former missionary who lost faith, now some sort of toxic biologist dedicated to disproving religious phenomena. When called to investigate eerie goings-on in a small Louisiana town, she is forced to confront a frightening reality with biblical plague overtones, facing her own demons at the same time. With hand-held camera that consistently aggravates, the film is a blather-blob of bad bayou, a Deep South carnival of devil-gonna-get-you horror. R. 110 min. (Dan Bennett)

F "Redline"

"Redline," an action flick loaded with cars, chrome and silicone, is everything you'd expect it to be, and yet so much less: less character development, less believability, and most unforgivably, less escapist entertainment. Like "Gone in Sixty Seconds" and other car porn masquerading as cinema, the array of sexy automobiles (all owned by producer Daniel Sadek) have more personality and better lines, if not curves, than the actors driving them. PG-13. 135 min. (The Boston Globe)

C "Shooter"

Mark Wahlberg stars as Bob Lee Swagger (yes, seriously), a reclusive former Marine sniper who's asked to take part in that tried-and-true one last job. When the U.S. government learns of a planned assassination attempt on the president, Swagger must figure out how the shooter would do it -- and then he gets framed for the shooting. With the help of an inexperienced FBI agent (Michael Pena) and the widow of his former partner (Kate Mara), Swagger outwits, outplays and outlasts dozens of heavily armed adversaries from a variety of agencies, both official and unofficial. Yes, he's a highly trained military stud, but after a while his ability to survive grows ridiculous. R. 125 min. (Associated Press)

D- "Slow Burn"

A wooden police thriller that is as dull as it is impenetrable features rapper L.L. Cool J in a role that might be an FBI agent, a gangster, both or neither in a movie so haphazardly put together that it has the coherence of fragments tossed into the air and randomly reassembled. Thereís not a line of dialogue in the movie, directed and written by Wayne Beach, that doesnít sound squeezed from a grade C "Law & Order" imitator affecting a bogus inner-city street cred. R. 93 min. (The New York Times)

B "TMNT"

A richly digitally animated take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, 23 years after their creation. The turtles are a bit more mature now, and there are fewer "Dudes!" and "Cowabungas!" than in the past. Still, it's an action-soaked kick. PG. 90 min. (Los Angeles Daily News)

C "Vacancy"

"Vacancy" is the kind of movie that leaves you feeling icky all over afterward -- grimy and sickened and desperately in need of a shower. Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale, both showing questionable decision-making in taking their roles, play a couple who take a shortcut during an all-night road trip. The premise of this horror film is downright ridiculous, full of small-town stereotypes and urban legends. And the violence is especially distasteful and, frankly, misogynistic. R. 97 min. (Associated Press)

C "Wild Hogs"

Biker buddies Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy are not all that wild, and more important, not all that funny. The road romp from director Walt Becker is like his "National Lampoon's Van Wilder" on Maalox, the humor and high jinks tame and tranquil as though it were a middle-aged epilogue to that raunchy campus comedy. The filmmakers simply fashion an excuse to send their weekend motorcyclists onto a cross-country road trip, then string together uninspired encounters with some fellow travelers and a hardcore biker gang headed by Ray Liotta, whose enthusiastic bad-boy performance is wasted in a woefully underwritten role. PG-13. 99 min. (Associated Press)