Films Roger Ebert liked that everyone else dislike

This is fun. "2012" delivers what it promises, and since no sentient being will buy a ticket expecting anything else, it will be, for its audiences, one of the most satisfactory films of the year.

"Anaconda" did not disappoint me. It's a slick, scary, funny Creature Feature, beautifully photographed and splendidly acted in high adventure style.

Certainly "Body Snatchers" is not the kind of movie that wins festivals: It is a hard-boiled entry in a disreputable genre. But as sheer moviemaking, it is skilled and knowing, and deserves the highest praaise you can give a horror film: It works.

At a time when some "grown-up" action films are relentlessly shallow and stupid, here is a movie with such complexity that even the cars sometimes have to pause and explain it to themselves.

"Casper" is an attempt to bring cartoons to life while incorporating them with real actors and sets. As a technical achievement, it's impressive, and entertaining. And there is even a little winsome philosophy, as when Casper sadly tells Kat, "I guess when you're a ghost, life just doesn't matter that much anymore."

"I don't say it's good cinema, although I recognize the craftsmanship that went into it. I don't say it's good acting, when the men have so much facial hair they all look like Liam Neeson. I like the energy, the imagination, the silliness.

"Congo" is a splendid example of a genre no longer much in fashion, the jungle adventure story. Perhaps aware that its material was already dated when Stewart Granger made "King Solomon's Mines" in 1950, the filmmakers have cheerfully turned it into an action comedy, and the actors have gone a step further, treating it like one of those movies like "Beat the Devil" that is a put-on of itself. The result is not a movie that is very good, exactly, but it's entertaining and funny.

"Cop and a Half" is a cheerful example of the "wunza" movie, so named because of its popular formula, as in: "Wunza cop and wunza robber," or, in this case, "Wunza cop and wunza 8-year-old kid." You can almost hear the pitch being made in a producer's office, as the possibilities are discussed. There isn't much that's original in "Cop and a Half," but there's a lot that's entertaining, and there's a winning performance by a young man with a big name, Norman D. Golden II, who plays little Devon Butler, a kid who dreams of someday wearing the shield.

"Cutthroat Island" is everything a movie named "Cutthroat Island" should be, and no more. It is a pirate picture, pure and simple, and doesn't transcend its genre except perhaps in the luxurious production.

"Eight Legged Freaks," which has laughs, thrills, wit and scary monsters, and is one of those goofy movies like "Critters" that kids itself and gets away with it.

“Escape From L.A.” has such manic energy, such a weird, cockeyed vision, that it may work on some moviegoers as satire and on others as the real thing. That could lead to some interesting audience reactions.

In reviewing a movie like this, I am torn between its craft elements and its story. The story is nuts-and-bolts space opera, without the intelligence and daring of, say, Steven Spielberg's ''A.I.'' But the look of the film is revolutionary. ''Final Fantasy'' is a technical milestone, like the first talkies or 3-D movies. You want to see it whether you care about aliens or space cannons. It exists in a category of its own, the first citizen of the new world of cyberfilm.

Yep, this is Garfield, all right. "Garfield: The Movie" captures the elusive charm of the most egotistical character on the funny pages, and drops him into a story that allows him to bask in his character flaws. That Garfield is revealed to be brave and conscientious after all will not surprise anyone, although it might embarrass him.

"Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties" is actually funnier and more charming than the first film.

John Carpenter's "Ghosts of Mars" is a brawny space opera, transplanting the conventions of Western, cop and martial arts films to the Red Planet. As waves of zombified killers attack the heroes, actions scenes become shooting galleries, and darned if in the year 2176 they aren't still hurling sticks of dynamite from moving trains. All basic stuff, and yet Carpenter brings pacing and style to it, and Natasha Henstridge provides a cool-headed center.

I want to tread carefully here, and not because I might step on a Lilliputian and squish him. I want to explain who "Gulliver's Travels" is for, and who it might not be for.

To my astonishment, I liked the third ``Home Alone'' movie better than the first two; I'm even going so far as to recommend it, although not to grownups unless they are having a very silly day. This movie follows the exact formula of the first two, but is funnier and gentler, has a real charmer for a hero, and provides splendid wish fulfillment and escapism for kids in, say, the lower grades.

Ang Lee has boldly taken the broad outlines of a comic book story and transformed them to his own purposes; this is a comic book movie for people who wouldn't be caught dead at a comic book movie.

Murray, who has a wider range than we sometimes realize, finds the human core of this FDR and presents it tenderly.

I can say that if you liked the other Indiana Jones movies, you will like this one, and that if you did not, there is no talking to you.

In an unexpected way, "Junior" is a good family movie, for parents and adolescents to see together, and then to discuss in terms of male and female roles and responsibilities.

Knowing" is among the best science-fiction films I've seen -- frightening, suspenseful, intelligent and, when it needs to be, rather awesome. In its very different way, it is comparable to the great "Dark City," by the same director, Alex Proyas. That film was about the hidden nature of the world men think they inhabit, and so is this one.

Confronted with such effects, the actors make not the slightest effort to appear terrified, amazed or sometimes even mildly concerned. Some might consider that a weakness. I suspect it is more of a deliberate choice, and I say I enjoyed it.

The director is Joe Dante, whose segment of "Twilight Zone" (1983) involved a traveler who unwisely entered a house where the reality was warped by a kid's obsession with cartoon characters. Again this time, he combines live action with animation, in a film not as inspired as "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" but in the same spirit. It's goofy fun. Or maybe we should make that daffy fun.

It's not supposed to happen this way. Sequels are not supposed to be better than the movies that inspired them. The third movie in a series isn't supposed to create a world more complex, more visionary and more entertaining than the first two. Sequels are supposed to be creative voids. But now here is "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome,'' not only the best of the three Mad Max movies, but one of the best films of 1985.

"Mighty Joe Young" is not meek and harmless; it's a full-blooded action picture, all right, but with a certain warmth and humor instead of a scorched-earth approach. You feel good at the end, instead of merely relieved.

The movie has everything. There’s a subplot about Weller’s rich fiancee, and another one about a secret tape recording of the murder, and even some funny moments when Weller and Elliott try to top each other in absolute cynicism. But the movie is basically action and stunts, a high-tech sideshow of explosives, hurtling automobiles, shattering glass and impossible feats. It is what it is.

So the way to view the movie, I think, is to consider the story as the frame necessary, but upstaged by what it contains, which in this case is some of the most impressive effects I've seen. The disciplines blend into one another: Animation, makeup, costuming, process shots, morphing. They create a place and a look as specific as the places evoked in such films as ``Metropolis'' and ``Blade Runner.'' As a visual experience, ``Spawn'' is unforgettable.

Movies like this embrace goofiness with an almost sensual pleasure. And so, on a warm summer evening, do I.

"Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace," to cite its full title, is an astonishing achievement in imaginative filmmaking. If some of the characters are less than compelling, perhaps that's inevitable.

"The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" isn't necessarily any more brilliant or witty or inventive than all the other recent retreads of classic cartoons and old sitcoms. But it feels like more fun.

"The Day After Tomorrow" is ridiculous, yes, but sublimely ridiculous and the special effects are stupendous.

A darker, deeper fantasy epic than the Rings trilogy, The Chronicles of Narnia or the Potter films. It springs from the same world of quasi-philosophical magic, but creates more complex villains and poses more intriguing questions.

What I admire about "The Happening" is that its pace and substance allowed me to examine such thoughts, and to ask how I might respond to a wake-up call from nature. Shyamalan allows his characters space and time as they look within themselves. Those they meet on the way are such as they might indeed plausibly meet. Even the TV and radio news is done correctly, as convenient cliches about terrorism give way to bewilderment and apprehension.

Now why did I like this movie? It was just plain dumb fun, is why. It is absurd and preposterous, and proud of it.

It's in love with a period when there were islands not on any map, and one or two brave people could change history, and characters could shout out, “Have you heard the exciting news? We're going to the Devil's Vortex!”

Like a jazz solo that touches familiar themes on its way to a triumphant and unexpected conclusion.

The crowd I joined for "You Don't Mess With the Zohan" roared with laughter, and I understand why. Adam Sandler's new comedy is shameless in its eagerness to extract laughs from every possible breach of taste or decorum, and why am I even mentioning taste and decorum in this context? This is a mighty hymn of and to vulgarity, and either you enjoy it, or you don't. I found myself enjoying it a surprising amount of the time, even though I was thoroughly ashamed of myself.

Look, a great movie this is not. A pleasant summer entertainment it is. I think it can play for all ages in a family audience, it's clever to have the animals advising humans on their behavioral strategies, and besides, I'm getting a teensy bit exhausted by cute little animated animals.