Family Filmgoer

May 31, 2009

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (PG, 105 min.) Charmless sequel to "Night at the Museum." As in the first film, there are moments that could be briefly scary, as when the T. rex skeleton roars or the giant squid slithers out of a crate.

Up (PG, 98 min.) Kids under 6 may wonder what's going on in the quiet interludes, and there are some scary scenes when fierce dogs chase the heroes. But "Up" is a near-total delight.

Angels & Demons (PG-13, 130 min.) Symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) returns in a film with more violence and disturbing images than its predecessor, "The Da Vinci Code."

Dance Flick (PG-13, 83 min.) Stunningly crude, tiresome Wayans family spoof of teen-focused dance movies. Gross humor, gay jokes, sexual innuendo.

Drag Me to Hell (PG-13, 96 min.) A comedy-horror hybrid with classic images that include demons and corpses vomiting maggots, eyeballs and false teeth popping out, and a projectile nosebleed. But most of the effects look deliberately cheesy.

Every Little Step (PG-13, 93 min.) This documentary follows the tortuous audition process for the 2006 Broadway revival of "A Chorus Line," focusing on a few hopefuls. Some profanity and discussion of sexuality.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (PG-13, 100 min.) Crass fable owes its plot to Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" and its sensibility to "Sex and the City." Mid-range profanity, toilet humor.

Obsessed (PG, 88 min.) Beyoncé Knowles does not test her acting skills in this cheesy, predictable thriller. Smoking, drinking, and midrange profanity. Not for middle schoolers.

The Soloist (PG-13, 109 min.) High art and edginess, with briefly violent scuffles, a bloody crime scene, people using drugs, occasional profanity, drinking, smoking, and toilet humor. For thoughtful teens.

Star Trek (PG-13, 126 min.) Recounting of how the young and frisky James T. Kirk and gang met as junior officers on the maiden voyage of the starship Enterprise. A hint of torture, intense fighting, mild sexual humor and innuendo.

Terminator Salvation (PG-13, 115 min.) This new chapter in the "Terminator" series, with its post-nuclear landscape and unremitting mayhem and gloom, is grimly violent, though with relatively little gore (a little blood and some needles).

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (PG-13, 108 min.) Darker than the trio of "X-Men" films that preceded it, this film is very violent, with implied impalements, a beheading, but little gore. Occasional profanity and sexual innuendo.

Next Day Air (R, 88 min.) Violent, profane, lewd, full of drug references - the movie is not for under-17s though it's likely to attract some teens. The film also has sexualized comedy and brief seminudity.

Jane Horwitz, Washington Post Writers Group.