Computer animated movies have come a long way. They typically attract top-notch talent for the voice work and, while aimed mostly at children, have enough oomph to keep an adult entertained. That’s why, when a derivative stinker such as the first “Ice Age,” rolls around, it’s almost shocking.

“Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” may start out slow and dumb, but once it finds its feet and begins to evolve and adapt, it grows into something pretty special.

Whoever thought it a good idea to cast Johnny Depp as the infamous John Dillinger should be shot in a dark alleyway, along with director Michael Mann.

A short film is tricky. If it has too much story, it feels crowded, and viewers wonder why it wasn’t a full-length movie. But if it’s too slight, it can feel dull no matter how short it is, and viewers will get bored and switch it off.

Shemekia Copeland delivers a compelling brand of rockin’ blues and soul, delivered with a powerhouse voice that was still capable of the sweetest nuance.

Cameron Diaz plays Sara Fitzgerald in "My Sister's Keeper." She's a mother who has been focused for years on keeping her leukemia-stricken daughter alive. It’s a quest that’s not only taken her away from her lucrative law practice, it’s also prevented her from meeting the needs of the rest of her family. In the hands of a Susan Sarandon or Meryl Streep, Sara would have been a part filled with nuance and modulation. In the hands of Diaz, Sara is shrill, overbearing and prone to actorly histrionics. You cringe every time she appears.

In a variation on his “Curb Your Enthusiasm” curmudgeon, Larry David upsets and insults nearly everyone in his path in Woody Allen’s first New York-set comedy in years.

In this Australian-Israeli co-production, based on very short stories by popular Israeli writer Etgar Keret, we get glimpses of a small group of people made of clay who are either stumbling through their lives or trying to make some sense out of it all. This is also the first film to show R-rated puppet sex since “Team America: World Police,” and it’s a hoot.

It was 20 years ago this week that Tim Burton’s “Batman” arrived in theaters. Its seductive blend of gothic architecture, dark humor and endless, endless Prince songs made it a box office blockbuster — and banished any lingering memories of the campy Adam West TV show.

The year was 1997, and the bullet holes in the walls were 63 years old. Even though absorbing history wasn’t my main focus for the day, the story of the April 23, 1934, shootout at Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters, Wis., and how notorious bank robber John Dillinger escaped the FBI there engrossed me for hours. My Dillinger fascination has piqued again, this time with a more local connection. A 1932 Studebaker Commander from Historic Auto Attractions museum in Roscoe is expected to be seen in “Public Enemies.” 

In the early 1980s, you couldn’t turn on MTV without seeing a Huey Lewis and the News video. That was a time when peppy pop music dominated the airwaves and when music videos actually played 24-7 on the venerable music channel.

With Michael Bay's latest film, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," the director has earned a doctorate degree in mindless devastation. Here, he wipes out sections of Shanghai, Paris and Egypt. Yes, Bay travels the globe to bring you the wide world of havoc.

Even more robots go on a rampage with the next installment of "Transformers," and Woody Allen returns with a story about a much older man having an affair with a 19-year-old girl. Gee, could this be even slightly autobiographical?

‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is as loud and obnoxious as frat boys on an end-of-semester bender, which is fitting because it’s those boys – and younger – at which this testosterone-charged flick is aimed.

Last week, I reviewed “Friday the 13th.” This week, I’m reviewing “The Seventh Seal.” Aside from the fact that they both have numbers in their titles, these movies couldn’t be more different.