The people behind “Flashdance” have delivered another movie with about the same level of believabilty, but with little less flash and a lot less dance. You won’t see much more dance on screen than you do in the commericals. There are no full-fledged dance numbers, just snippets of glorious long legs stomping on the bar and glimpses of glorious upper bodies as the girls hose down the paying customers. And fair warning up front — the delectable Tyra Banks appears as a Coyote bartender very briefly before going off to finish law school(!).

“Flashdance” gave us, unforgettably, the steel welder who wanted to be a ballerina and made extra money doing elaborate postmodern erotic dances in a working class bar in Pittsburgh. “Coyote Ugly” gives us a pizza waitress from New Jersey who wants to make it as a songwriter in the big city. She is too shy to sing her songs in public, so of course she gets a job that requires her to be an exhibitionist, in the working class bar of the title, famous for its glorious bartenders and the way they display their glory. Think “Cocktail” starring the Spice Girls.

Coyote Ugly is owned by Lil (Mario Bello), who has a tough exterior but (surprise!) a heart of gold. She tells our heroine, Violet (Piper Perabo) that the bar is successful because men have two-year-olds in their pants, and she knows how to keep the two-year-olds happy. The girls are supposed to appear available but not be available and make the customers crazy but not too crazy. For this reason, the film-makers and some audience members have decided that the movie is not sexist — it is empowering.

Violet must, of course, conquer her stage fright and get a darling boyfriend with a dark secret (the adorable Adam Garcia, another in this summer’s series of handome Aussies). She has to try to make up with her adored father (John Goodman in yet another brilliant performance). He is disappointed in her and embarrassed about what she is doing. And Violet has to try to make it as a songwriter when no one wants to listen to the songs she composes on the roof of her picturesque but working-class apartment building. Despite all these challenges, somehow it all comes together in the end.

Parents should know that the movie has sexual references and situations, but pretty mild by PG-13 standards. There are a number of jokes about the girls’ sexual availability but no evidence that they engage in casual sex. Drinking, even drinking to excess, is handled lightheartedly, and drinking hard liquor is considered a sign of strength. Violet does something of a strip tease for her beau, ostensibly to make him nervous, which makes no sense, but then it didn’t make any sense when Jennifer Beals removed her bra without taking off her sweatshirt in “Flashdance,” either, and no one complained about that.

Families who see this movie should talk about the way that Violet adopts what she thinks was her late mother’s weakness, possibly as a way of keeping her close by being like her or from some notion of not betraying her by being able to do what she could not. They might want to talk about Violet’s somewhat one-sided relationship with Kevin. She shows very little interest in his life or willingness to support him, and she decides that he is unfaithful on very flimsy evidence. Families should also talk about the demeaning way that the girls in the bar see men’s view of women and the ways that women convey sexuality and availability and the problems that can occur if you don’t have huge bouncers on hand, as they do at the bar.

Families who enjoy this movie will also like “Flashdance” (though note that it has more mature material than this one does).

Audiences will feel like their own hearts are two sizes too large at the end of this wonderful sugarplum of a movie.

Based, of course, on the classic Christmas story by Dr. Seuss, this is the story of a Christmas-hating Grinch who tries to steal Christmas from the Christmas-loving Whos by taking all of their presents and decorations. But they and he realize that Christmas is in their hearts, not under their trees. The movie seamlessly expands the story to let us explore Whoville and its residents and to tell us just how the Grinch came to hate Christmas in the first place. Both are sheer delight.

Whoville, as imagined by production designer Michael Corenblith, is the most breathtakingly magical setting since Dorothy landed in Munchkinland. Every detail of the town is perfectly Seuss-ian. The structures suspend the laws of gravity, with no stright lines or right angles. Instead, there are a fantastic series of archways, bridges, stairs and spirals. Whoville clothes and hairstyles echo these shapes and then are topped with candy canes, cups of hot chocolate, and frosted cookies.

Jim Carrey and the Grinch were made for each other. In a miracle of costume and make-up design and an even bigger miracle of acting, Carrey’s extraordinarily expressive face and body make the Grinch seem hilarious, touching, and a little scary all at the same time. Newcomer Taylor Momsen, as Cindy Lou-Who, is adorable without being sugary. She confesses to having her own doubts about Christmas. She can tell that the Grinch is lonely and hurt, and much less scary than he would like to appear. Just as the Grinch is less grouchy than he would like us to believe, Cindy Lou is less sweet than the Whos want to think they are. It turns out that both of them know more about the Christmas spirit than anyone else in Whoville.

The settings and costumes and the Grinch himself are so mesmerizing that it would be easy to miss the rest of the cast, but Bill Irwin as Cindy Lou’s harried mailman father, Jeffrey Tambor as the vain mayor, and Christine Baranksi as a Who with Christmas decorations that would make Martha Stewart gnash her teeth in envy all make vivid impressions. The script has some clever lines, including a parody of the film’s director (former “Andy Griffith Show” star Ron Howard) and a dig at those who say that “kids today are desensitized by movies and television.” Another of the movie’s great joys is hearing Anthony Hopkins reads Seuss’ words the way we have always heard them in our hearts.

Parents should know that the movie is rated PG for brief crude humor (the Grinch tricks another character into kissing a dog’s rear end) and comic peril. The movie may be too intense and overwhelming for children under 6 or 7. The movie’s one major drawback is the near-absence of people of color in Whoville, unfathomable and unforgivable. Families that do not celebrate Christmas may also have some concerns about the movie.

Families who see this movie should talk about why it is so easy to forget the simple pleasures of the winter holidays, and how damaging it can be to peoples’ feelings to tease them about being different. The Grinch often does things that he thinks will make him feel better. Do they work? Do they help him forget his loneliness? Why not? Why doesn’t being bad feel as good as you might think?

Families who enjoy this movie should also see the classic animated version, with the unforgettable voice performance of Boris Karloff and the song (briefly reprised in this movie) “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.”

There’s a line in “Splash” that I thought of when I watched this movie. Tom Hanks plays a sweet guy who falls in love with a girl who turns out to be a mermaid. Utterly deflated when he finds out the truth, he says, “I don’t understand. All my life I’ve been waiting for someone, and when I find her — she’s a fish!”

The charm of that comment is that it is a metaphor for the way many people feel when they fall in love and have to grapple with the high-wire balancing act between intimacy and independence. That is certainly true of Ruby (Marisa Tomei) in “Happy Accidents.” She and her friends keep a box of pictures of former boyfriends (called “The Ex Files”), as they try to sort through the weirdos and creeps. They tell themselves that they aren’t even looking for Prince Charming anymore, just someone who is not too crazy and will be nice to them.

Ruby meets Sam Deed (Vincent D’Onofrio) and at first he seems too good to be true. He may have some quirks, like being scared of dogs, taking sea-sickness medicine on land, and being oddly unfamiliar with some of the basic facts of daily life. He is sweet and tender and crazy about Ruby, and that seems enough for a while, until she has that Tom Hanks moment. Sam’s not a fish, but he’s something almost as outlandish. He is a time traveller, born 400 years from now, when Iowa is on the ocean, and he has come back in time to be with Ruby because he saw her picture in an antique store.

Is he crazy? Is he sick? Is he really from the future? And, most important, does that mean he can’t be her boyfriend?

This is a tangy romantic comedy that plays sly games of its own with time as the story unfolds. While it is not quite up to the writer/director’s previous “Next Stop Wonderland,” it is a charming love story and a lot of fun. Tomei and D’Onofrio are terrific, as are Holland Taylor as Ruby’s therapist, Tovah Feldshuh as her mother, and Anthony Michael Hall as himself.

Parents should know that the movie has very strong language, sexual references and situations (not explicit), drinking (including references to alcoholism), smoking, and drug use. A character is in peril and there is a scary accident.

Families who see this movie should talk about how we look at the risks of falling in love and how to get close to someone without losing ourselves.

Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy Next Stop Wonderland and When Harry Met Sally.

There is a moment in last year’s “The Tao of Steve” in which Donal Logue charms Greer Goodman – and the audience, too – with his appreciation for the 1970’s cartoon series “Josie and the Pussycats,” based on characters from Archie Comics. That moment has more understanding of the series appeal and vastly more entertainment value than this vapid live-action update about the three girls from Riverdale who know how to rock.

One bad sign was the decision to release the movie as a PG-13. There is a way to put a little post-modern edge on a cheesy series from the childhood of today’s 20-somethings – see “The Brady Bunch.” But that requires a wit and complexity that is far beyond the folks who put this together. Their idea of making it appealing to teenagers is to have one character explain that she is there “because I’m in the comic book!” and to make the band’s name into a double entendre.

Josie (Rachel Leigh Cook), Val (Rosario Dawson), and Melanie (Tara Reid) are an all-for-one and one-for-all band, playing the Riverdale bowling alley and dreaming of the big time. They are discovered by record producer Wyatt Frame (Alan Cummings), who signs them without even hearing them play. It turns out that it does not matter what they sound like. Wyatt and his boss, Fiona (Parker Posey) use pop music only as a cover for their plan of total world domination. They have perfected a system of subliminal messages that force teenagers to buy whatever they tell them to.

The half-hearted lesson about the importance of thinking for yourself and the evils of the military-industrial complex are smirkingly undercut with the greatest cacophony of product placement in the history of the movies. There are issues of Vogue with less advertising than we have to watch in this movie.

There are a couple of funny jokes, especially when Fiona explains what happens to pop stars who don’t go along with her plans (they end up on VH1’s “Behind the Music”) and when Tara Reid’s real-life fiancé, MTV-hunk Carson Daly, chases her around a set trying to kill her. Posey and Cummings are always watchable. And the music is surprisingly good, well-produced and catchy. But the Pussycats are dreary, especially the lackluster Cook. We know Reid can do better, but with the thankless task of appearing as a girl so dumb that she sings “If You’re Happy and You Know It” in the shower, dropping the soap every time she claps her hands, she has an impossible task.

If they had not found it necessary to add in some rough language to secure the PG-13 rating, the ideal audience for this movie would be that neglected category of 7-12 year old girls, who might find it fun to see Barbie dolls come to life and who might find the message of loyalty and independence empowering. But the language gives it a sour overtone that makes it inappropriate for that group as well.

Families who see this movie should talk about why teenagers seem to want to conform, and how they can make sure that they decide what they like and don’t like and want and don’t want based on what is right for them and not on what the rest of the group is doing. They should also talk about the messages we all get about what to buy and how we respond to them.

Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy “Viva Rock Vegas,” another live-action version of a classic cartoon series, also featuring Cummings.

Carl Brashear, Jr. was the first black man to achieve the rank of Master Diver in the Navy. He was also the first amputee to be returned to active duty in the armed services. In this movie, produced by Bill Cosby, Brashear gets the kind of respectful, go-for-the-Oscar® treatment that reached its zenith in the 1960’s. Everyone tries very hard, but the story is old-fashioned and predictable — even down to the marriage proposal that melts the girl’s heart and the courtroom climax. The real problem is that the characters are so one-dimensional, the good guys so good and the bad guys so bad, that it has the feel of an after-school special.

This is the kind of movie that begins with one character being transported by MPs and then goes into a flashback of a little black boy running through the woods and diving into the water. It has big-serious-movie cinematography, with every autumn leaf perfectly outlined against every cloudless sky and diving gear that looks like burnished armour in its grandeur.

Brashear’s saintly sharecropper parents (Carl Lumbly and the woefully underused Lonette McKee) urge him to get as far away as possible and not come back for a long time. He has to quit school in 7th grade to help out at home, but when he grows up (played as an adult by Cuba Gooding, Jr.) he enlists in the Navy. The armed services have just been desegregated, and he has hopes for new opportunities.

It turns out that desegregation is more theoretical than real, and he is relegated to one of the few positions open to blacks — kitchen duty on board an escort carrier. When the ship’s captain discovers what a strong, fast swimmer he is, he is promoted to the search and rescue team, though he still has to bunk with the stewards. He dreams of becoming a master diver, one of the men who go on the most dangerous underwater missions. He sends over 100 letters of application before being accepted. Then, when he gets to the training facility, first they won’t let him on the base and then all of the white sailors but one refuse to stay in the barracks with him.

Billy Sunday (Robert De Niro) a master diver grounded due to an embolism, is in charge of diver training. He is a profane, angry, alcoholic, racist, abusive guy who, deep down inside, has more integrity than all those pretty-boy officers put together blah blah. Sunday begins by mentioning his namesake, the famous evangelist, explaining that “the only difference between me and that old preacher is that he worked for God and I am God.” He throws every possible obstacle in Brashear’s way, and even gives a medal Brashear earned to another sailor. But Brashear, true to his father’s orders, never gives up. He gets help from a pretty med student named Jo (Aunjanue Ellis) on the academic side, and relies on his own natural talent and determination to pass the performance tests. Despite the orders of Mr. Pappy, the commanding officer (Hal Holbrook), that no black sailor graduate, Brashear makes it. Then Brashear’s star is on the rise. And Sunday’s begins to fall.

Ultimately, Brashear marries the pretty doctor and becomes a star diver. But he loses a leg and the command wants him to retire. Sunday re-appears to help him prove that he can return to active duty.

The story is a stirring one. De Niro, Gooding, Charlize Theron (as Sunday’s beautiful, well-bred, but unhappy and alcoholic wife), Michael Rapaport (as Brashear’s one friend), and Holbrook all do their best, but the script does not give them enough to work with and the result is that movie feels simultaneously overstuffed and empty. Brashear candidly discusses his alcohol abuse problem in his book, but in the movie other than being an absent husband and father he is portrayed as just about perfect.

I couldn’t help thinking about the recent Spike Lee movie, “Bamboozled.” The need to make the fictional Brashear so idealized echoes Lee’s concerns about the minstrel show aspect of popular culture, making a real story less real to make it more entertaining. It would show more respect for both Brashear and the audience to let us see a character with more depth and complexity. It is especially disappointing that the story is so simplified that it should be suitable for kids, but it has strong profanity, earning it an R rating.

I could not help being very curious, too, about Jo Brashear. A black woman doctor in the early 60’s must have a story that is at least as interesting as this one. But we get no sense of what went into her life choices or how she handled her challenges. In real life, the marriage did not survive. But in the movie, she shows up at the crucial moment to provide love and support.

Parents should know that the R rating is primarily based on salty Navy language, including racist comments. Characters are in peril and one is badly injured. There are some sexual references. Characters have alcohol problems and one is shown in rehab.

Families who see this movie should talk about what motivates the characters. Brashear is asked why he wants to be a diver and he says, “Because they said I couldn’t have it.” Brashear asks Sunday why he is helping him after the amputation, and Sunday says, “To piss people off.” It is pretty clear why Mr. Pappy does not want Brashear to graduate — he’s a racist. But why does the later commanding officer want Brashear to retire so badly? Talk, too, about the meaning of “ASNF” on Brashear’s father’s radio, and Sunday’s response to it.

Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy “An Officer and a Gentleman,” but there the R rating is well-deserved for explicit sexual situations, so parents should watch it before deciding whether it is appropriate for teens.