A CINDERELLA STORY STARS Hilary Duff in a modern re-telling of the Cinderella fairy tale. Wonderfully written and entertaining, A CINDERELLA STORY gets better and better as it goes along and extols all the cardinal Christian virtues in a positive, winsome, attractive way.

LETTERS TO JULIET is a surprisingly chaste, entertaining movie about Sophie who writes a response letter to a fifty-year-old “letter to Juliet” from Claire at a sort of “wailing wall” in Verona, Italy, that draws Claire back to Italy in search of the long-lost heartthrob. LETTERS TO JULIET has a Romantic worldview with Christian aesthetic signs, marred by exclamatory profanities and a few paintings and statues (some nude) representing mild sexual liaisons, but it strongly affirms marriage.

In SCHOOL OF ROCK, down and out rock star Dewey Finn decides to make some money by pretending to be a substitute teacher at an exclusive preparatory school, but he soon decides that the fourth "r" will be "rock band." Though marred by some obscenities and the whole theme of loving rock music, SCHOOL OF ROCK is portrayed with a light, fun tone extolling life over legalism.

DADDY DAY CARE is a delightful, breezy romp starring Eddie Murphy in his most family-friendly movie to date. Mr. Murphy plays an unemployed advertising executive who decides to start a day care with his best friend, a decision that leads to humorous complications.

NACHO LIBRE stars Jack Black as Ignacio, an orphaned boy in a Mexican monastery who dreams of glory in the wrestling ring but is convinced by the monks to become a monk. This is not a movie for everyone, though Jack Black is very funny at times. The movie flirts with sacrilege and an unrequited romance with a young nun, but it also contains strong Christian content and moral elements that appear to overcome the negative aspects.

RUDY is the heroic, basically true struggle of a little guy trying to reach the impossible dream of playing football at Notre Dame. Through his perseverance, he becomes a real life role model in reaching a desired goal. Regrettably, the depiction of Catholicism is somewhat skewed, although a sovereign God is implicitly extoled; and, the film is marred by some foul language, although the character using the most profanity is reformed by his girlfriend.

In the new family movie, STUART LITTLE, a human family in New York City adopts a little mouse named Stuart, who has trouble fitting in despite his big courageous heart. A nutty fairy tale with excellent special effects, STUART LITTLE contains pro-family and redemptive messages marred by four mild obscenities.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS comes across full of action, drama, conflict, and romance. The film, set in 1757 in upstate New York, is freely adapted from the classic novel by James Fenimore Cooper and deals with the French and British struggle for supremacy in the New World. The movie is a visual delight, and, despite considerable violence, THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS achieves a cinematic success even though it forsakes the Protestant perspective of the book and leans slightly toward politically correct paganism. Even so, biblical virtues triumph in this visual masterpiece.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES is a terrific popcorn movie where Captain Jack Sparrow teams up with Blackbeard’s daughter to find the Fountain of Youth. ON STRANGER TIDES is tighter and more entertaining, with very strong Christian elements, but the many scary moments and innuendo warrant a strong caution for pre-teenagers.

DARK PHOENIX finishes the X-MEN series in an exciting but somewhat uninspired movie that has Jean Grey, a powerful telekinetic and telepathic mutant, gain new powers that make her a threat to her friends and the world. DARK PHOENIX is serviceable fun, neither the best nor worst entry in the X-MEN series, with some negative pagan worldview elements as well as some strong biblical messages, mitigated by some strong foul language and violence.

FAITH UNDER FIRE is a powerful, heart-rending drama about a fireman whose Christian faith is challenged when his wife dies of cancer and his 6-year-old daughter develops a cancerous brain tumor. Despite its heart-rending story, FAITH UNDER FIRE presents an important, spiritually uplifting Christian message that will bring faith, hope and comfort to any person facing suffering and tragedy.

WHEN THE GAME STANDS TALL is a moving story about a winning high school football team that must find strength in each other after the loss of a teammate results in them losing a 151 game winning streak. WHEN THE GAME STANDS TALL starts off a little slow and choppy, but ends on an inspiring, uplifting, powerful note that affirms family, faith and humility.

CONCUSSION is a drama about the Christian Nigerian doctor who exposed a new danger of brain damage among professional football players in America that allegedly can lead to mental illness, dementia and even suicide. CONCUSSION is a compelling drama, with a solid performance by Will Smith and positive Christian content extolling God’s wisdom and faith, but the drama lacks consistent jeopardy and contains plenty of strong foul language and some disturbing scenes.

THE CROCODILE HUNTER: COLLISION COURSE stars TV wildlife expert Steve Irwin as he and his wife, Terri, try to save a crocodile while being chased by U.S. government spies who want a recording device swallowed by the croc. Despite its lightweight Romantic, environmentalist worldview, CROCODILE HUNTER is wild, funny family entertainment for older children, teenagers and adults, with plenty of fascinating scenes showing animals living in the harsh Australian landscape.