"Public Enemies" *** (out of four): Though it provides no insight into its subject, Michael Mann's John Dillinger biopic is still an engrossing period piece, thanks largely to the director's sure hand and signature style.

You have to say one thing about Michael Mann, he's consistent. The director of "Thief", "Collateral" and "Miami Vice" always approaches his films with exceptional style, typically at the expense of substance. With "Public Enemies", his John Dillinger biopic, Mr. Mann again displays his love for the extreme close-up, deep focus, and really, really loud gunshots. He also continues to have no truck with an establishing shot. And, as he did in his De Niro-Pacino epic "Heat", he again takes two powerhouse actors (Johnny Depp and Christian Bale) and teasingly drops them in a film in which they barely meet. It could be argued, in fact, that Depp and Bale are the De Niro and Pacino of their generation (which one's which? Discuss!), but that's a different story.

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"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" 1/2* (out of four): Even for a Michael Bay movie, this robot-on-robot sequel is a pointless, messy assault on the senses. The special effects, of course, are flawless. The rest is scrap metal.

Someone in Hollywood needs to call a doctor for Michael Bay. His condition is deteriorating and it's affecting his work. The notoriously A.D.D. director's "Transformers" sequel, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen", is such a pointless, messy assault on the senses that it's hard to even call it a movie. There is little intelligible plot, no characters to root for and hardly even a sense of place. What's left is basically a two-plus hour special effects reel. Even for a Michael Bay movie, it's just truly awful.

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"Year One" * (out of four): Talent is wasted on a Biblical scale in Harold Ramis' scattershot back-in-the-day skit.

Talent is wasted on a Biblical scale in Harold Ramis' "Year One." Blending religious and historical events together into one vague, "back-in-the-day" skit, "Year One" never approaches the kindred films of yesteryear like "History of the World Part 1" or "Life of Brian".

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"The Proposal" ** (out of four): Another forgettable, paint-by-numbers romantic comedy, marginally saved only by the comedic talents of the film's leads.

Romantic comedies have become so formulaic that someone should pass out a checklist or a bingo card with every movie ticket. Sassy-mouthed grandma? Check! Weirdo supporting character? Check! Pivotal wedding scene? Check! These cliches and more are riddled throughout "The Proposal" -- another forgettable, paint-by-numbers romantic comedy, marginally saved only by the comedic talents of the film's leads.

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"Dead Snow (Død snø)" **1/2 (out of four): Despite some inspired bits, much of this film is aimless shambling, as if in search of its own brain. Still, "Dead Snow" is sure to be the best Nazi zombie film of the year.

The zombie genre refuses to die. Recent films like "Shaun of the Dead" have given zombies new comedic life. Even Jane Austen has had a zombie makeover with the publication of "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies". The latest contribution comes from Norway, with Tommy Wirkola's "Dead Snow (Død snø)" giving a double-dose of undead: Nazi zombies. In its opening scene, a woman is chased by zombies through a snowy Norwegian wood, accompanied by Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy". After this promising start, the film decomposes into something more lifeless.

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"Whatever Works" *** (out of four): In this return to Manhattan - and to his old tricks - Woody Allen finds a perfect representative in Larry David.

There's a scene at the end of Woody Allen's "Hannah and Her Sisters" in which Woody's character (a hypochondriacal nebbish, natch) finds a modicum of solace in a Marx Brothers movie. Over the course of that 1986 gem, his character has had a cancer scare, attempted suicide and contemplated the meaninglessness of existence. But for that brief moment, as Groucho plays the heads of tin-plated soldiers like a xylophone, he forgets about it and laughs. He's entertained. "Whatever Works", the writer-director's most serious comedy since 1997's brilliantly black "Deconstructing Harry", feels like an attempt to craft a film out of that simple principle: whatever makes you happy, no matter how ridiculous, is fine; whatever works.

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"Moon" ***1/2 (out of four): Duncan Jones' homage to the cerebral science fiction movies of the 1970s, slips into theaters beneath the scanners, sans warp drive flashes and the crunch of terminating footsteps.

Beneath the dark curtain of an eternal lunar night a lone man grapples with isolation and paranoia, his only companion a benign robotic caretaker who may have more sinister intentions. This isn't your 10 year-old nephew's summer blockbuster. "Moon", Duncan Jones' homage to the cerebral science fiction movies of the 1970s, slips into theaters beneath the scanners, sans warp drive flashes and the crunch of terminating footsteps. In place of intergalactic bombast, the director and writer takes the refreshingly retroactive approach of bringing story and character to the forefront in his not-so-distant future.

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"The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" * (out of four): Joining the ever-increasing ranks of pointless remakes, this movie marks a low point for nearly everyone involved.

In an ideal world, a movie should be remade only if the director or the writer have something new and interesting that they want to do with the story. Consider, for example, "A Fistful of Dollars" (or to a lesser extent "Last Man Standing"), both remakes of Kurosawa's venerated "Yojimbo", and still engaging and exciting films in their own right. On the other end of the spectrum, there is "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3", a remake of the 1974 film of the same name. Following the same story - the hijacking of a New York City subway train - it strips away any intrigue and suspense, leaving only a plot that is full of holes and characters that rarely rise above the level of one-note.

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"Away We Go" *** (out of four): It seems like yet another quirkfest straight out of Sundance, but it has a sneaky way of winning people over. You'll see.

What do you get when you combine a revered dramatic director with a pair of offbeat novelists and two wise-cracking TV alums? Oddly enough, a delightful film called "Away We Go," which on paper seems like yet another quirkfest straight out of Sundance, but it has a sneaky way of winning people over. You'll see.

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"Land of the Lost" *1/2 (out of four): Ferrell & Co. sully fond childhood memories with an uninspired, vulgar adaptation of the 70s Saturday morning classic.

For those too young to remember the days when Sid and Marty Krofft shows ruled Saturday morning television, the big-budget adaptation of "Land of the Lost" is simply another goofy Will Ferrell comedy. Viewers who grew up with the show will find a disappointingly lackluster, big-budget homage to the low-budget, campy 70s TV classic.

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"The Hangover" **1/2 (out of four): As forgettable as a night of hard drinking, this frat-level comedy is good for a few laughs but never quite gels.

Is there any phrase that screams male-adolescent-fantasy more than "bachelor party"? As was evidenced by the 1984 Tom Hanks film by that name, nothing brings out the worst in men like the promise of consequence-free last-night-of-freedom debauchery. In reality, bachelor parties typically amount to drunken male bonding amid some well-apportioned female nudity. On film, however, they are full-on Bacchanalian festivities that threaten the very fabric of proper society.

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"Drag Me to Hell" *** (out of four): Sam Raimi goes back to his horror roots with a wildly campy, jump-out-of-your-seat, gross-out, laugh-out-loud Grimm's fairy tale come to life.

Welcome back, Sam Raimi.

Once upon a time -- before you became Mr. Hollywood Big Shot -- you tweaked the nose of the horror genre with the "Evil Dead" trilogy. They were low-budget, high-camp classics with cartoon violence and humor to spare. You went legit with mixed success (the underrated "Darkman" and "A Simple Plan") and produced goofy TV shows ("Xena" and "Hercules") until the big boys came a-callin' with the "Spider-Man" franchise. We were happy for you, but missed the old Raimi with the splattery goo and the quick camera zooms and corny jokes.

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"Up" *** (out of four): It may be lesser Pixar, but it's still head and shoulders above other family films this year.

Looking at Pixar Studios' body of work as a whole, their 10th film, "Up", probably falls on the lower end of the scale. But while it never reaches the artistic heights of "Wall-E", it's still a Pixar film. As such, it may be lesser Pixar, but it's still head and shoulders above other family films this year.

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"Terminator Salvation" ** (out of four): This ambitious redefinition of a franchise is also loud, clumsy and, in the end, doesn't make much sense.

Ever since the first "Terminator" movie (and, for the record, it's called "The Terminator", not "Terminator"), fans have been waiting for the day when the future would be revealed. In James Cameron's 1984 touchstone, we see brief glimpses of a bleak, decimated future ruled by machines - red-eyed, metal-framed robots prowling the landscape gunning down the few remaining human resistance fighters. In Mr. Cameron's sequel, 1991's "Terminator 2: Judgment Day", we're introduced to a more family-friendly Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-800 was updated to go along with his image), as well as a nasty "liquid metal" version (thank you, Robert Patrick). All along, the future loomed. Baby steps were taken, but could anything stop the inevitable? Sure enough, 2003's unfairly-maligned "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" culminated in an apocalyptic coda, like something right out of "Dr. Strangelove".

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Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian *** (out of four): Along with the addition of Amy Adams as a spunky Amelia Earhart, moving the action to the Smithsonian (and ignoring any concerns about believability) brings this goofy sequel to life like a wax sculpture of Teddy Roosevelt.

In the genre of kid-friendly action movies ("Jumanji", "Zathura", "The Last Mimzy"), 2006's "Night at the Museum" had something of a pedigree. A high-brow setting, A-list special effects, and Ben Stiller to wrangle it all together. The result, a no-questions-asked money-maker - in which a museum's sculptures come magically to life after the sun sets - provided the requisite thrills and chuckles for the family set. The sequel, "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian", follows suit, delivering everything you might want from this history-tweaking franchise (the press notes call it "the Night at the Museum saga", which sounds more like a threat). It's loud, goofy and keeps its tongue firmly in its cheek thanks largely to Mr. Stiller, who has become an affable ringleader in this digitally enhanced circus.

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