Beverly Hills Chihuahua
What it's about: A spoiled Chihuahua named Chloe (voice of Drew Barrymore) gets dognapped and taken to Mexico City, where some newfound friends (including a German shepherd named Delgado) try to help her and her million-dollar Harry Winston collar get home.
Rated: PG
The scoop: Lots of talking dogs, little of anything else.
Grade : * 1/2 ( 1 1/2 STARS)
Body of Lies
What it's about: Leonardo DiCaprio's (above) deceptively rugged CIA agent masterminds the capture of a new world-class terrorist (Alon Abutbul) despite the bungling and interference of his Langley, Va.-based boss (Russell Crowe).
Rated: R
The scoop: DiCaprio's Roger Ferris is an existential juggler throwing a fistful of knives up in midair - and DiCaprio doesn't drop a single blade. The movie is emotionally as well as intellectually gripping because most of the time we can read every impulse that races through his mind.
Grade: *** ( 3 STARS)
Eagle Eye
What it's about : A mysterious woman who seems able to control any electronic device coerces an aimless slacker (Shia LaBeouf) and a single mother (Michelle Monaghan, above) into implementing a plot that may bring down the U.S. as we know it.
Rated: PG-13
The scoop : It's moderately gripping, but, too often, watching this movie is like seeing someone else crack a jigsaw puzzle.
Grade * * 1/2 ( 2 1/2 STARS)
Max Payne
What it's about : Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg, above), a once high-powered New York lawman, now the chief librarian of his precinct's cold-case files, chases the most frigid case of all: the murder of his wife and infant child, and runs into dead and mutilated bodies, shadowy hallucinations and a mysterious blue serum.
Rated : PG-13
The scoop : You can forgive the slow-mo bullet effects since by now they're endemic to the genre. What kills Max Payne is that the characters think and feel in slow motion. Half the time, mentally, they're just running in place.
Grade : * 1/2 ( 1 1/2 STARS)
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
What it's about : Two high school seniors (Michael Cera and Kat Dennings, above), who are meant for each other but don't know it, spend a long night searching for a cult band and stumbling into romance.
Rated: PG-13
The scoop : It contains some intelligent humor and high-SAT comedy as well as high jinks so crude they're really low jinks; the movie's attitude veers between hipper- and more-sensitive-than-thou.
