"Monsters vs. Aliens" (PG, 1 hr., 34 min.)

Kids 8 and older ought to have a fine time at "Monsters vs. Aliens," a silly, irreverent and ingenious spoof of 1950s-era "creature features." It was animated in 3-D, which adds depth and texture, but the DreamWorks Animation folks don't overuse the in-your-face aspects of it. The movie fizzes along funnily, apart from a few slow moments in the middle. Even the "scary" bits are witty, which will keep many younger kids comfortable.

There is, of course, toilet humor, but nothing too gross. Some smaller children may be spooked when the heroine, Susan, mutates into a 50-foot-tall version of herself, Ginormica (both voiced by Reese Witherspoon), or when the villain from outer space, the many-eyed Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson), clones himself into an army, or when a killer robot (which looks rather like a giant pickle) battles Ginormica and her monster cohorts on the Golden Gate Bridge and people in cars are endangered. All the battle scenes are played for comedy. There is a remark about "boobies," and a hint of a bare behind. SPOILER ALERT: Only one sympathetic monster seems to die, but we learn later that it survived.

A huge meteorite crashes near Modesto, Calif. Susan passes too near it and later, in the middle of her wedding, she morphs into a giant, bursting right through the church roof. Her self-absorbed TV-weatherman fiance, Derek Dietl (Paul Rudd), finds this very inconvenient. Government forces shoot her with a tranquilizer and take her away. She awakes in a secret compound. A slightly crazy general, W. R. Monger (Kiefer Sutherland), renames her Ginormica and explains that he imprisons mutant "monsters" from experiments gone awry. There's B.O.B. (Seth Rogen), a cheery translucent blob with a big eyeball; the mad scientist Dr. Cockroach Ph.D. (Hugh Laurie); The Missing Link ape-fish (Will Arnett) and the huge grub worm Insectosaurus.

The megalomaniac from space, Gallaxhar, needs a substance that was on the meteorite, so he invades Earth. Gen. Monger convinces the U.S. president (Stephen Colbert) to use the monsters to fight Gallaxhar. Susan, who was a timid girl before her transformation, becomes their leader.

Beyond the Ratings Game: Movie Reviews for various ages

-- OK FOR KIDS 8 AND OLDER:

"Monsters vs. Aliens" PG (NEW) -- Kids 8 and older ought to have a fine time at this silly, irreverent and almost always ingenious animated spoof of 1950s-era "creature features." It was done in 3-D, but doesn't overuse the in-your-face aspect of it. The movie fizzes along funnily, apart from a few slow moments in the middle. Even the "scary" bits are amusing, which will keep younger kids comfortable. There is toilet humor, but nothing too gross. Many under-8s will do fine at the film, but some may be spooked when the human heroine mutates into a 50-foot-tall version of herself, Ginormica (voice of Reese Witherspoon), or when the many-eyed outer space villain Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson) clones himself into an army, or when his killer robot (which looks rather like a giant pickle) battles Ginormica and her monster cohorts on the Golden Gate Bridge. After a meteorite crashes near Modesto, Calif., Susan (also Witherspoon), walks too near it and later morphs into a giant right in the middle of her wedding. Her self-absorbed fiance, Derek (Paul Rudd), finds this very inconvenient. Government forces tranquilize and abduct Susan. She awakes in a compound run by Gen. W. R. Monger (Kiefer Sutherland), who renames her Ginormica and explains that he imprisons mutant "monsters" from experiments gone awry. When Gallaxhar invades Earth, Gen. Monger suggests to the president (Stephen Colbert) that Ginormica and the other monsters should fight him. There's B.O.B. (Seth Rogen), a silly translucent blob with a big eyeball; the mad scientist Dr. Cockroach Ph.D. (Hugh Laurie); The Missing Link ape-fish (Will Arnett), and the huge grub worm Insectosaurus. There is a remark about "boobies" and a hint of bare behind. SPOILER ALERT: One monster seems to die, but later we learn it's OK.

"Race to Witch Mountain" PG -- There are gun battles, head-slamming fights and chase scenes, all of which could unsettle sensitive kids 8 and younger watching this unexceptional but diverting popcorn flick. The chiseled, good-natured presence of Dwayne Johnson adds a needed center of gravity. Most of the mayhem is loud and fast, but bloodless, though there is a harrowing moment when the protagonists are stuck in a railroad tunnel with a spaceship and a train bearing down. Las Vegas cabbie Jack Bruno (Johnson) picks up teen siblings Sara (AnnaSophia Robb) and Seth (Alexander Ludwig), and later lears that they're alien beings with telekinetic and molecule-scrambling powers. Grudgingly, he helps them flee government types and an assassin from their home planet. (SPOILER ALERT: Unhelmeted, the alien assassin has a big exposed brain.)

"Coraline" PG -- Director Henry Selick's gorgeous stop-motion animated marvel is fine fare for kids 8 and older who love scary-funny fairy tales, but easily spooked children as old as 12 may find the second half upsetting. After all, little Coraline (voice of Dakota Fanning) enters a menacing looking-glass world where a metallic spider chases children, and things transform in odd ways. Then she nearly loses her parents (Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman). Coraline follows mice through a little door in the apartment and lands in a brighter version of home, where Other Mother and Other Father have buttons for eyes. She must escape this surreal world. There are some crass words and lady acrobats in scanty costumes. Try to see it in 3-D.

-- PG-13s OF VARYING INTENSITY:

"Knowing" -- This parable about the end of humankind is occasionally chilling, but too often overwrought and silly. Its makers blur the line between science fiction and theology, which high-schoolers may find arresting. The tall, ghostly men in black coats who speak to children telepathically could be space aliens or angels. In the prologue, a haunted little girl, instead of drawing an image of the future for her school's time capsule, fills a page with numbers. Fifty years later, MIT professor John Koestler (Nicolas Cage), a hard-drinking, still-grieving widower, attends the capsule's reopening. His little boy Caleb (Chandler Canterbury) gets the paper with the numbers. John deduces that they are dates of disasters past and future. He ruminates about cosmic "determinism" versus randomness. It's heady stuff, but "Knowing" is too clunky in its execution to work. There are quick, intense depictions of disasters -- the Asian tsunami, hurricane Katrina, 9/11, a plane crash, an out-of-control subway train mowing people down, a rain of fire. We see the injured and dead, but nothing graphic. There is a suicide theme and rare mild profanity.

"Duplicity" -- The Family Filmgoer is in the critical minority here, in finding "Duplicity" a smug, confusing bore. It may, however, capture the imaginations of teens 15 and older. Two impossibly good-looking former spies, Claire and Ray (Julia Roberts and Clive Owen), use their skills to get into higher-paying industrial espionage. The story cleverly loops back and forth in time, showing Claire and Ray in contradictory roles as enemies, co-conspirators, lovers and betrayers, but after an hour, one could stop caring how it all plays out. Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti are fun as rival CEO's. There are steamy but nongraphic sexual situations and implied overnight trysts, verbal sexual innuendo, implied nudity, rare profanity and drinking. More for 15 and older.

-- R's:

"I Love You, Man" -- Paul Rudd plays Peter, a charming nerd, in this cleverly observed, but crass buddy comedy about a sensitive fellow so devoted to his fiancee (Rashida Jones), and so lacking in macho, regular-guy qualities -- hates sports, can't play poker, tells lame jokes -- that he has no male friends at all. He starts going on guy "dates" to find a friend who can be his best man. He meets Sydney (Jason Segel), a shambling, profane jokester who still acts like the biggest slacker in the frat house, and they hit it off. Whenever the movie threatens to take a pat, cliched route, it almost always veers in a more rewarding, funny direction. It is, however, truly crude. There is strong profanity, very graphic sexual slang, toilet humor, implied marijuana use and drinking. 17 and up.

"Sunshine Cleaning" (LIMITED RELEASE) -- In this fresh, eccentric and immensely enjoyable grown-up indie comedy, two 20-something sisters, sweet single-mom Rose (Amy Adams) and wild, undependable Norah (Emily Blunt), start a cleaning service, scrubbing away "organic" matter from murder, suicide and natural death scenes. Watching them learn the trade is comical, but it is the emotional journey these two struggling young women take -- along with Alan Arkin as their quirky dad -- that makes "Sunshine Cleaning" so rewarding. It gets syrupy once or twice, but mostly not. Aside from the graphic nature of the cleanups (the bodies are gone), the film touches on suicide and loss of a parent, and contains profanity, sexual situations -- one is explicit -- and pot-smoking. Film buffs 17 and older.

"The Last House on the Left" -- Good acting makes you care about the victims in this ultraviolent update of Wes Craven's 1972 gore fest, but it's still a raunchy crime drama that revels in bloodlust. A teenage girl (Sara Paxton) comes with her parents (Tony Goldwyn and Monica Potter) to their lake house. She and a friend (Martha MacIsaac) are abducted and brutalized by a teen's (Spencer Treat Clark) sociopath father (Garret Dillahunt) and two accomplices (Aaron Paul and Riki Lindhome). The story then shifts into survival/vengeance mode between the parents at the lake house and the criminals. The film shows extremely graphic murders and a vicious rape, partial nudity, drug use, drinking and profanity. Not for under-17s.

"Watchmen" -- Dark, violent, visually stunning, intellectually edgy and sexually explicit, this adaptation of the 1980s comics and graphic novel is problematic for under-17s, and its plot is a muddle. It is 1985. Richard Nixon is still president and the Cold War could go hot. Masked superheroes are illegal, but ex-Watchman Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) remains a vigilante, alerting the others when another one-time cohort, The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), is murdered. The only Watchman with real superpowers is the atomic Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup). The film shows the murder of a pregnant woman in Vietnam, the remains of a murdered toddler, an attempted rape, other explicit sexual situations, nudity, profanity, drinking and smoking.