The Story: An Air Force pilot must find a bomber using secret government program that can place someone in the last eight minutes of another's life. The Lowdown: An intelligent, entertaining piece of sci-fi filmmaking.

The Story: Our wimpy kid returns, a year older and with a whole new set of problems, including his first crush and the tribulations of a conniving older brother. The Lowdown: A wholly likable, light-hearted and honest look at the family dynamic, which comes off entertaining for both children and adults.

The Story: A lazy writer comes across a pill that unlocks all of his potential, but which isn't without its own side effects. The Lowdown: An entertaining enough thriller that's all polish and little substance.

The Story: A slick lawyer gets hired to help a rich kid beat an assault rap, but quickly learns there's more to this case than he knew. The Lowdown: An engaging, convoluted, formulaic crime drama that's a bit on the flimsy side, but remains entertaining.

The Story: A group of marines help to fight off an alien invasion in Los Angeles. The Lowdown: A generic mish-mash of sci-fi and war film that works on that simple basis, but offers little else.

The Story: A politician finds himself entangled with a host of supernatural operatives, whose job it is to ensure that destiny and fate go according to plan. The Lowdown: The rarest of things: a science fiction film about ideas, but nevertheless a movie that lives and dies on how well you can buy into its…

The Story: A directionless college grad attempts to woo his high school crush over a night of partying. The Lowdown: A perfectly fine, harmless coming-of-age tale -- as long as you judge it solely on that criteria.

The Story: A couple of guys are given a week off of marriage by their wives, to sleep with whomever they please. The Lowdown: A superfluous attempt at the old gross-out comedy that's moderately painless -- though never, ever good, since it's such a dud.

The Story: A botanist traveling in Germany falls into a coma after a car accident, only to awaken and find that someone has assumed his identity. The Lowdown: An occasionally entertaining thriller with a plot that falls apart under the simplest examination and a dull performance from Liam Neeson.

The Story: A documentary and concert film about teen pop star Justin Bieber. The Lowdown: A mostly harmless movie that's completely dependent on your appreciation of Beiber and modern pop music.

The Story: In Britain, an ancient Roman attempts to win back the honor of his family by recovering -- with his British slave -- a golden eagle that was lost in battle years earlier by his father. The Lowdown: A well-crafted historical epic that's too devoid of charisma from its leads and also on the…

The Story: A college freshman finds out her new roommate is a bit unhinged. The Lowdown: Hokey, predictable nonsense of the "crazy roommate" genre.

The Thursday Horror Picture Show will screen From Dusk Till Dawn Thursday, Feb. 10, at 8 p.m. in the Cinema Lounge of the Carolina Asheville and will be hosted by Xpress movie critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther.

The Story: A hitman begins training the son of his best friend. The Lowdown: Your standard actioner that's fine while onscreen, but is ultimately pointless and never as clever as it thinks it is.

The Story: Two platonic friends who have arranged to use each other solely for sex begin to complicate things as they start developing feelings for one another. The Lowdown: An occasionally funny (and surprisingly so, considering its pedigree) and sort-of-sweet romcom that never quite works due to its predictability and too-long running time.

The Story: A college grad heads home from Ohio to Manhattan and tries to acclimate herself to adult life. The Lowdown: An occasionally funny, vaguely astute pseudo-coming-of-age tale that suffers from a meandering plot and static direction.

The Story: A man catches his best friend's wife cheating on him, but must figure out a way to tell his buddy. The Lowdown: A comedy -- built around Vince Vaughn's obnoxious screen persona -- with bits of drama thrown in, but never in a way that's effective.

The Story: A country-music star attempts a return to fame while struggling with alcoholism. The Lowdown: Corny melodrama by way of bargain-basement production values, bad country music and Gwyneth Paltrow desperately looking for an Oscar nomination.

The Story: A goofy New Yorker gets sucked down a whirlpool in the Bermuda Triangle and transported to a world of very tiny people in this update of Jonathan Swift's classic. The Lowdown: A pretty unfunny film that might rise to the heights of mediocrity if you can handle the overload of Jack Black's usual…

The Story: A young man -- in an attempt to track down his long-lost father -- gets trapped in a digital world. The Lowdown: Short on plot, but heavy on style -- and less corny than the original -- the movie manages to be engaging, thanks, in part, to a good performance by Jeff Bridges.