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**** TIM BURTON'S THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS 3-D 76 minutes, PG (for scary images) Directed by Henry Selick. Produced by Tim Burton and Denise DiNovi. Music and lyrics by Danny [...]

Your kid wants a sleepover birthday party, but you can't deal with all those kids camped in front of your TV, grinding cake into your carpet? Not to worry. If [...]

Amie Trovada-Pavone laughs at the puzzled look on her neighbors' faces when they stop by her home and she tells them she doesn't have time to go out for lunch. [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin Will 'Shark Tale' take a bite out of 'The Incredibles' or even 'Shrek 2' in the animation category at the Academy Awards? That kind of upset is [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin Actors have tried to portray Martin Luther King Jr. But no one can do as much justice to his vision _ and the way he conveyed it [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin 'Two Brothers' is a passionate plea for the tigers' right to live a life of freedom and dignity in the wild. Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, who brought [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin If there had not been a 'Princess Diaries,' no one could have passed off the absurdities of 'The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement' and expected more than [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin The 'American Girl' books, which put fictionalized girls in historical settings, have taken over the hearts of countless contemporary American girls since Pleasant Company debuted the concept [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin The most wrenching moments in 'I Am David' are the silent ones. Anguish is evident in the haunting eyes of David (Ben Tibber), a 12-year-old boy in [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin DALLAS _ Anticipation was been high for the new ``Halo 2'' X-Box game, which came several weeks ago. And so is dread on the part of parents [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin So how did a song as wrenching as Bonnie Raitt's rendition of 'Will the Sun Ever Shine Again?' find its way into the frothy, animated 'Home on [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin Who's afraid of Greek myths? Lots of people, judging from the way Greek myths are usually watered down for kids. But 'Jim Henson's The Storyteller: Greek Myths,' [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin In a year crowded with Cinderella clone tales, 'Ella Enchanted' enchanted those hungry for a different message. And while it missed some opportunities to be daring, it [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin As someone who hated 'New York Minute' when it came out in theaters, I have to admit Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen play better on the small screen, [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin In a year when 'Spider-Man 2' and 'Shrek 2' have outdone their impressive originals, 'The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement' proves that sequel success 'ain't necessarily so.' [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin 'The Prince & Me,' which was released on DVD last week, makes a fascinating contrast with 'The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement,' now in theaters. The heroines [...]

** YU-GI-OH! 91 minutes, PG (scary combat and monster images) Directed by Hatsuki Tsuji. Produced by Norman J. Grossfeld. Written by Michael Pecoriello. Music by Gil Talmi. With the voices [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin Kids love Hilary Duff or hate her. 'A Cinderella Story' should intensify those feelings. It's a 'Lizzie McGuire' premise taken to fairy tale heights. In this contemporary [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin If you build it, they will come. Those are the haunting, oft-quoted words heard by Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) in 'Field of Dreams.' This unlikely 1989 film [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin Looking for an inspirational movie to get your young athlete to believe in himself? You can't do much better than 'Miracle,' a movie based on the true [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin It must be nice to live in the fictional world of a Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen movie where the fetching blonde twins can stroll into an beauty [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin 'The Haunted Mansion' seems a world apart from the other script David Berenbaum did last year: 'Elf.' And it certainly didn't do the business of 'Elf' (the [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin What? A kid's movie without potty humor? Yes, and that's not the only big thing about 'Clifford's Really Big Movie.' There are no bad guys in this [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin What? A kid's movie without potty humor? Yes, and that's not the only big thing about 'Clifford's Really Big Movie.' There are no bad guys in this [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin If this music thing doesn't work out, Paul McCartney may have a career in animation. American audiences will get a look at three family animation gems that [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin If you missed 'Brother Bear' in theaters, do yourself a favor and check it out on DVD or video. But don't just put it in for the [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin For some teens, it starts with a pop-up inviting them to gamble on their computer screens. For others, it's social. Friends invite them to gamble online the [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin Cody Banks is searching for a mysterious mind control device in 'Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London.' But the real mystery in this 'Cody Banks' sequel is [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin 'Secondhand Lions' did not get a lot of respect at the box office, but it touched a few nerves in my household, where it managed to enchant [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin It's not a hard-knock life for 'Annie' fans. Columbia TriStar has just put out a special anniversary edition, complete with Sing-Along and Act-Along DVD features. Many critics [...]

*** TEACHER'S PET 74 minutes, PG (for mildly crude humor) Directed by Timothy Bjorklund. Produced by Stephen Swofford. Written by Bill and Cheri Steinkellner. With the voices of Nathan Lane, [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin Such a deal. You can get two gorgeous horse movies for the price of one with a double pack of 'National Velvet' and 'Black Beauty.' And the [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin Sinbad sailed into stormy box office weather in 'Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas' this summer. Some might even say that he got eaten by a big [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin Eloise, still 6 years old after nearly 50 years, is wreaking havoc at the Plaza again _ thank goodness. Hilary Knight, the illustrator of 'Eloise,' worked with [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin What's up, Bugs? Or should we say, 'Who Framed Bugs Bunny?' And who put him in a 'Roger Rabbit'-like scenario of `toon and live-action worlds without that [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin The high cost of revenge is one of the oldest of human stories, but it's one that needs to be retold to new generations in the hope [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin Can you feel the love tonight? Disney sure hopes so as it releases 'The Lion King 2-Disc Special Edition,' with gobs of extras, including a version of [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin 'Sleeping Beauty' has been resting in the Disney vault a long time. But like the princess on which the story is based, this sumptuously restored, lushly romantic [...]

Lucio Avossa loved coaching his son's recreational soccer team. At first. When he started working with the Plano, Texas, team six years ago, the boys were in first grade. Just [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin Old-fashioned, dramatic storytelling is not quite what one expects from the late, fast-cracking muppet-meister Jim Henson. But that's what you get in 'The Storyteller Collection,' an enchanting [...]

It all comes down to parenting. Parents who listen and keep their word - and not economic, ethnic, or racial differences - separate the kids who end up in the [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin Anybody notice the powerful Pokemon-like characteristics of Stitch, the big-eyed, six-armed alien in 'Lilo & Stitch'? Well, those comparisons gleam like the blue one's sharp teeth in [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin 'The Lizzie McGuire Movie' shouldn't have worked. It's a big-screen adaptation of a Disney Channel television show, and it sports the silliest of premises: Lizzie, a teen [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin Think Agent Double O 17. OK, junior CIA agent Cody Banks is actually only 15, but he thinks big. Taking a cue from Robert Rodriguez's successful ``Spy [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin Filmmakers didn't invent the idea of trading identities. Mark Twain's 'The Prince and the Pauper' was a hit long before the concept began to gleam in some [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin Everyone has to have his 15 minutes of fame, and every Winnie the Pooh character evidently has to have his own movie. Now it's Piglet's turn in [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin What do bugs, toys, monsters and fish have in common? Why Pixar and Disney, of course. The fun of 'Finding Nemo' follows a creative path through 'Toy [...]

Byline: Nancy Churnin Next week, Disney and Pixar want us to start 'Finding Nemo,' a little lost clownfish hoping to make a big splash at the box office. But this [...]