Decoys (2004)

Decoys (2004)

[3] While trying to lose their virginity, two college guys discover some of the girls on campus are actually terrifying creatures from outer space. You're either going to like that summary or you're not. Decoys is a low-budget flick with…
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

[7] This sequel taps into two powerful currents of audience identification: the love between parents and children, and the love between people and animals. You can approach these with cloying calculation, as many family films do, or you can attack…
Maleficent (2014)

Maleficent (2014)

[7] Angelina Jolie headlines in this pleasantly surprising revisionist version of Disney's Sleeping Beauty. Jolie plays Maleficent, the dark fairy villain of the original fairytale. But in this new version of the story scripted by Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the…
A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)

A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)

[6] Seth MacFarlane (creator of The Family Guy) both directs and stars in this send-up of the American Western. MacFarlane is plenty charismatic to carry a movie and he has great chemistry with leading lady Charlize Theron. Even though her character…
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

[8] X-Men: Days of Future Past brings back most of the cast from the Bryan Singer films (X-Men and X2) and merges them with the cast of Matthew Vaughn's First Class for a storyline involving time-travel and the mutants' desperate…
The Rescuers (1977)

The Rescuers (1977)

[7] Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor provide the voices of two brave mice who volunteer to rescue a kidnapped orphan in this surprisingly dark and scary offering from Disney's animation department. I love the atmosphere this movie creates, especially around…
Dreamchild (1985)

Dreamchild (1985)

[6] A provocative film about the real Alice in Wonderland, who at 80 years of age begins recollecting her memories of author Lewis Carroll. Through flashbacks with Carroll (played superbly by Ian Holm) and in twisted fantasy sequences featuring creations…
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

[6] Just as Robert Zemeckis had to make Forrest Gump and Tim Burton had to make Big Fish, so did David Fincher have to make The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. All three directors are known for their visual and/or…
Dracula (1931)

Dracula (1931)

[5] Whenever Bela Lugosi isn't onscreen, you can't wait for him to return in this cornerstone of on-screen horror. His iconic portrayal is the best thing this movie has going for itself. I also liked some of the sets and…
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)

[4] In this Sinbad adventure, the famed sailor is trying to wed a princess (imagine that), but can't get her brother's blessing until he reverses an evil spell that turned the brother into a baboon. The story isn't much, but…