Director: Shawn Levy. With Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson. (109 min.)

Anyone not responding to the trailer for this "Jumanji"-style fantasy-adventure with, "That looks stupid," should enjoy this light entertainment. Ben Stiller plays a loafing, divorced dad whose job as a night guard at New York's Museum of Natural History makes him privy to the magical, nocturnal life of the place.

By Harry Forbes

Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- "Night at the Museum" (Fox) is a lightweight but diverting comedy-fantasy about Larry Daley (Ben Stiller), an impractical dreamer and perennial loser who takes a job as night watchman at New York's Museum of Natural History only to learn to his amazement that the dinosaur bones, stuffed animals, mummies and diorama characters all come to life after closing time.

The hallowed halls of the Natural History Museum are lined with the most amazing things - wild-eyed prehistoric creatures, fierce ancient warriors, long lost tribes, African animals and history's legendary heroes - all frozen forever in time. Or... are they? In the action-adventure-comedy, "Night at the Museum," the brand new night guard at the Natural History Museum is about to discover that when the visitors go home at the end of the day, the real adventure begins - as the museum's stuffed, waxed and well-preserved residents come out to play.

Grade: A+

Pixar Studios may have the most advanced animation technology in the world, but they never forget what matters most in a movie: story, characters, imagination, and heart. "Finding Nemo" has it all.

It is an epic journey filled with adventure and discovery encompassing the grandest sweep of ocean vastness and the smallest longing of the heart.

Starring: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Willem Dafoe, Geoffrey Rush, Allison Janney, Barry Humphries, Brad Garrett, Austin Pendleton, Stephen Root, Vicki Lewis, Joe Ranft, John Ratzenberger, Alexander Gould, Elizabeth Perkins, Eric Bana, Erica Beck, Erik Per

By J. Byron Dean

Released: February 10, 2006

MPAA RATING: G

Genre: Animated/Comedy/Family

Studio: Universal Pictures

Official site:  www.curiousgeorgemovie.com

A film for the entire family! 

Curious George is delightful and refreshingly funny with wonderful animation that pays tribute to the original art of the classic books by H.A. Rey (published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children in 1941).

For more than 65 years, one little monkey has captured the hearts and imaginations of those young -- and young at heart -- all over the world.

Generations have been raised on the stories of Margret and H.A. Rey’s classic creation, the inquisitive little fellow who always seems to get into one scrape after another. Over 30 million copies of his books have been sold -- in 17 languages including Yiddish, Afrikaans and Braille -- and his original story has never been out of print since it

was first published.

Grade: B+

Audience: Preschool

MPAA Rating: Rated G

This gentle little film about the monkey whose curiosity gets him into trouble and the man who befriends him will make 4-8-year olds very happy and give their parents a chance for a nice nap.

Generations of children have loved the little monkey created by husband and wife team H.A. and Margret Rey for more than half a century. Curious George gets into trouble because he always wants to explore and try out and investigate everything he sees. Children, who have the same impulses and struggle with the restrictions imposed on them by parents and teachers, get a vicarious thrill from the freedom and daring of CG's adventures -- and sometimes from seeing him face the consequences. That nice Man in the Yellow Hat is always there to take care of him, which is a great source of comfort to children as well.

By David DiCerto

Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Everyone's favorite "good little monkey" brings his insatiable inquisitiveness to the big screen in the good little animated adventure "Curious George" (Universal).

Faithful to the color palette and gentle tone of the beloved children's books by H.A. and Margaret Rey, the movie's whimsical plot focuses more on George's human -- and in the books, nameless -- play pal, "the man in the yellow hat," here a bungling museum curator named Ted (voiced by Will Ferrell).

With admissions down, Ted is dispatched by the museum's aging owner, Mr. Bloomsberry (voiced by Dick Van Dyke), to deepest Africa to find a legendary artifact whose wow-factor will hopefully jump-start attendance and save the museum from closing.

By Kimberly Sielen

Release Date: May 27, 2005

MPAA Rating: PG for mild language, crude humor and some thematic elements.

Starring (voices): Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Genre: Animated Wildlife Comedy