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.

The Story: A swordsman must flee to the Wild West from his former clan in the far East when he refuses to kill an infant, who just so happens to be the last of his clan's sworn enemies. The Lowdown: An incredibly stylized, fanciful take on the action film that's pure moviemaking.