The Story: A perpetual bridesmaid is forced to plan her sister’s wedding to the man she secretly loves. The Lowdown: A completely by-the-book, formulaic, unoriginal romantic comedy. Nothing more, nothing less.

The Story: Two small-time thieves decide to rob a church. Things become complicated when they learn that the money has already been stolen. The Lowdown: A comedy with a religious message that is refreshingly void of heavy-handedness, but never works due to lazy, muddled plotting and a distinct lack of laughs.

The Story: Set during the 1930s, the film shows the struggles of an all-black debate team as they attempt to break racial boundaries and take on the Harvard debate team. The Lowdown: Your normal, run-of-the-mill uplifting sports flick -- except featuring debate instead of athletics -- which occasionally shows glimmers of attempting something more, but…

The Story: A spoof of biopics, following the life of fictional rock star Dewey Cox. The Lowdown: A spoof with an OK concept that feels more like a really bad Saturday Night Live skit that never wants to end, rather than an actual movie.

The Story: A young girl accidentally fixes her mom up with a mall Santa. The Lowdown: A by-the-books romantic comedy that almost works in its own limited capacity, but can’t overcome some wrongheaded decisions and a drawn-out plot.

The Story: A documentary railing against the evils of consumerism, told through the comedy/theater troupe of Rev. Billy and his Stop Shopping Crusade. The Lowdown: While it's hard to argue with the film's message, the clunky, shallow, pointless execution ultimately sinks it.

The Story: Based on the Hitman video-game series, a mysterious assassin is forced to go on the run after being double-crossed by his employers. The Lowdown: A trite plot, stiff acting and lackluster action make for one dull time at the movies, but what else do you expect from a video-game adaptation?

The Story: A chef with a murky past tries to help out a young waitress who has just found out she is pregnant. The Lowdown: An occasionally slick little film about family and adoption that's just too unaffecting and slight to have the weightiness its going for.

The Story: Santa’s ne’er-do-well older brother Fred travels to the North Pole in order to help out for Christmas and scam $50,000 out of St. Nick. The Lowdown: An all-star cast can’t save this movie form being the usual Christmas turkey, this time hampered not only by a bloated running time, but a specious message…

The Story: A honey bee discovers the fact that humans have been stealing honey and selling it, and decides to sue in order to get it back. The Lowdown: Just another computer-animated comedy, but one completely devoid of laughs and ultimately one of the more tedious films to come out this year.

The Story: A failed coach takes on a job coaching college misfits in football for one last shot at glory. The Lowdown: A spoof in the vein of Date Movie (2006) and Epic Movie (2007), and it's every bit as overwhelmingly horrible as that sounds.

The Story: A small-time private investigator gets hired to help find a missing child. The Lowdown: An exceptional, though convoluted thriller that's aided by fine performances and an underlying theme of what constitutes right and wrong.

The Story: A teenage girl gets stuck helping her bipolar father in his attempts to find a cache of Spanish doubloons he believes are buried underneath a Costco. The Lowdown: A sweet, honest, occasionally funny little movie that does nothing special, but avoids falling into the trap of being just another quirky indie flick, due…

The Story: A high-school baseball team with a long tradition of excellence has one final season together before they will be assimilated into a larger school. The Lowdown: An adequate movie, but it's yet just another uplifting sports movie, nothing more, nothing less.

The Story: An overview of the Apollo space program and America's trip to the moon. The Lowdown: A simple, eloquent, occasionally fascinating documentary that focuses more on the humanity of America's space program as opposed to its political aspects.

The Story: A nightclub manager with ties to the mob must help his brother and father, both cops, survive the Russian mafia. The Lowdown: A competently made film that unfortunately suffers from being too emotionless and too unaffecting.

The Story: After getting into trouble with the mob, a young rapper is forced by his mother to move to Puerto Rico to live with his estranged father. There he enters the world of reggaeton music. The Lowdown: A sloppy, clichéd, dull, humorless, low-budget movie that never seems to have any purpose or spark.

The Story: A documentary centering on ancient sea life. The Lowdown: Short and to the point, the film gets high marks for some good 3-D effects, but is a bit slight, and in the end is not much more than a glorified TV documentary.

The Story: A hotshot football player finds out he has a long-lost daughter, who ends up turning his life upside down. The Lowdown: Acceptable family entertainment that does nothing surprising or original.