Somewhere on the continuum between complexity and incoherence lies the latest film from Steven Soderbergh. After big-time Hollywood critical and box office success with the glossy, classy “Erin Brockovich,” “Traffic,” and “Oceans 11,” Soderbergh has returned to his indie roots to make a small, messy, improvised, non-linear film that recalls his earliest success with “sex, lies, and videotape.” Indeed, he has described the new film, “Full Frontal,” as a thematic sequel.

Like the earlier film, “Full Frontal” is filled with intimate conversations about love, sex, boundaries, longing, and voyeurism. Both films revolve around two sisters, one married, one single, with some strains in their relationship.

But this film is less a story than a series of moments, variations on the themes rather than a narrative. Digital and analog images alternate as we go into and out of a movie within a movie, even a movie within a movie within a movie, performed by actors playing actors.

Several different stories overlap and intersect. Catherine Keener plays Alice, a human resources director unhappily married to Carl (David Hyde Pierce), who writes for a magazine. Alice’s sister, Linda (Mary McCormack) is a masseuse who is currently carrying out an online flirtation with Brian (Rainn Wilson), Carl’s co-author. Both Linda and Brian have not been entirely truthful about themselves, and they are planning to meet in Tucson.

Linda is having an affair with Calvin (Blair Underwood), an actor who is currently playing the part of an actor named Nicholas who is playing the part of a sidekick to a detective played by Brad Pitt (playing himself). In his movie, Nicholas becomes romantically involved with a journalist named Catherine (Julia Roberts in a very unfortunate wig, except when she appears as Francesca, the actress playing Catherine) who happens to work for the same magazine that Alice’s husband Carl works for in what sort of passes for real life in “Full Frontal,” at least as compared to the Nicholas/Catherine movie within a movie or the shlocky cop story with Brad Pitt and Calvin that is the movie within the movie within the movie. Two characters have written a play called “The Sound and the Fuhrer” featuring a high strung and narcissistic actor (brilliantly played by Nicky Katt) as a Hitler who uses a cell phone and breaks up with his girlfriend by explaining that he just needs to “swim in Lake Me for a while.” Then it starts to get confusing.

Themes and images flicker through several levels, like a David Lynch movie with less voluptuous imagery. On one level, a secret letter in a red envelope contains a note ending a marriage. In another story, a secret letter in a red envelope contains a note starting an affair. Alice is firing employees at her company, asking them bizarre questions and tossing an inflated globe at them, as her husband, Carl, is asking bizarre questions of co-workers and getting fired from the magazine. We see Alice in bed with Calvin, who, as the character Nicholas explains to the journalist interviewing him that black men in movies never get to do sex scenes. Alice is turning 41 just as Gus (David Duchovney) the producer of the movie starring Calvin and Francesca, is turning 40, with a party that many of the characters in the movie are invited to attend. In the end, just as one set of fictions are abandoned in favor of reality, a fiction at a deeper level is revealed.

The movie has many wonderful moments and many marvelous lines. But it does not have the improvisational brilliance of the Christopher Guest movies and comes off more like an actor’s studio workshop than a film. The whole is less than the sum of its parts, but some of those parts are remarkably vivid and intriguing.

Parents should know that, as the title indicates, this movie includes explicit nudity, explicit and varied sexual references and situations, and very strong language. A character dies, apparently from auto-erotic asphyxiation. Characters drink and smoke and eat hash brownies. There are tense emotional scenes. Parents may want to see the film themselves before deciding whether it is appropriate for teen viewing.

Families who see the movie should talk about why Soderburgh told the story this way and what a movie they would make with their friends and families would be like.

Viewers who enjoy this movie will enjoy two other movies about making movies and the line between fantasy and reality, The Stunt Man and Day for Night. They may also want to compare this to sex, lies, and videotape.

It’s even bigger, better, funnier, and more exciting than the first one. “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” is pure magic.

Our favorite characters are all back and better than ever, from the odious Dursleys at Harry’s home on Privet Drive to the denizens of Hogwarts School: Nearly Headless Nick, Professors Snape, McGonagall, and Sprout, Headmaster Dumbledore, gamekeeper Hagrid, and of course our heroes, Harry, Ron, and Hermione. And there are some magnificent additions, especially Jason Isaacs, coolly cruel as Lucius Malfoy, father of Harry’s foe Draco, and Kenneth Branaugh, wildly funny as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart. Those who are looking for a meticulous realization of a beloved book and those who come to the theater knowing only the first movie – or even with no knowledge of Harry Potter at all – will find this chapter a thrilling, eye-filling, and utterly satisfying experience.

The success of the first movie has made it possible for the producers and directors to relax a little with this one. And the children have had a chance to become more comfortable on screen and just grow up a little bit, so they are able to bring more depth and subtlety to their acting.

As this episode begins, Harry is at home, longing to return to Hogwarts, even after he gets a warning from an odd little creature named Dobby, a “house elf” servant who tells him that someone is trying to harm him. Harry visits the Weasleys, and when he and Ron miss the train to Hogwarts, they fly there in an enchanted car, resulting some serious scoldings at school and, in the movie’s funniest moment, one from Ron’s mother, delivered via a piece of mail called a howler.

At Hogwarts, there are new classes and new challenges. Harry’s nemesis, Draco Malfoy, is now his opponent on the Quidditch field. Harry is the only one who can hear a strange voice echoing through the halls. And he is in the wrong place at the wrong time when some very bad and scary things happen. It seems that there is a chamber of secrets that has not been opened for 50 years. Somewhere in that chamber is a dangerous creature, just waiting for the right person to let it out. Many people suspect that Harry is that person, and he wonders if they are right. The two adults Harry trusts most, Hagrid and Dumbledore, are removed from the school, and if someone does not stop the creature, Hogwarts may be closed for good.

As always, it will take Hermione’s research skills, Ron’s courage, and Harry’s heart to save the day.

And, as always, there is a wealth of detail and delight to entrance viewers so much that they will leave wanting more, even after a running time of 2 hours and 40 minutes. Every frame is filled with wonder, especially Diagon Alley and the moving photos and portraits.

Parents should know that the characters spend a lot of time in extreme peril. There are scary creatures, including lots of spiders (one huge) and an enormous snake that can kill anyone who looks in its eyes. Though it appears that some characters have been hurt or killed, all the good guys are ultimately fine. Children who are not familiar with the story, however, may be upset. There are also some gross moments when Ron’s spell backfires and he spits up slugs and when another misapplied spell leaves Harry without any bones in his forearm. Some children will have heard that the actor who plays Dumbledore, Richard Harris, has died, and will want to know what will happen to the character.

Like heroes in many epic stories, Harry struggles with the notion of his destiny and wonders how much is left to him to decide. Families who see this movie should talk about Harry’s fears that he is like the worst villain in the wizard world, Valdemort. What makes him like Voldemort? What makes him different? Draco and his father are concerned with “pure blood.” Who in history might have inspired that? What real-life events might have inspired the character of Dobby? And why doesn’t Hermione hug Ron when she hugs Harry? Families will want to discuss Dumbeldore’s comment that it is not our abilities that show what we are but our choices.

Families who enjoy this movie should see the first one. And of course, they should read all four Harry Potter books!

“Hey Arnold! The Movie” is as unimaginative as its title and far too long at 74 minutes. Hard core fans of the television series (if there are any) will enjoy seeing the characters on the big screen, but anyone else, particularly those who’ve seen a movie or two, are going to be bored with the characters, the animation, and the utterly predictable chain of events.

“Hey Arnold!” finds its football-headed hero with a heart of gold in a save-the-neighborhood situation. A big bad wolf industrialist named Scheck (voiced by Paul Sorvino) wants to turn Arnold’s happy suburb into a “mall-plex.” Most of the adults reluctantly sell their homes, but Arnold arranges benefits does research on how to save the town, undiscouraged by Scheck’s constant attempts to crush him and the pessimism of everyone else. He eventually finds out about a Boston Tea Party-esque event that occurred in his town during the revolutionary war and works to get the town saved as a historical landmark.

There’s nothing remotely new or exiting about the plot, and nearly all of the situations are annoyingly dumb. Kids may enjoy seeing Arnold save the day, but adults will snooze through it, due to a storyline everyone’s seen before, animation that is below the “Fat Albert” level, and characters that range from uninteresting to unappealing. There are some amusing voice cameos from Jennifer Jason Leigh and Christopher Lloyd, as well as timely references to Men in Black II and The Hulk. And if anyone these days comes close to being Mel Blanc, its Dan Castellaneta (“The Simpsons”), who gives wildly different characters such genuine personality that one would never guess that they come from the same guy. If only those voices had a better script.

Parent should know that “Hey Arnold!” is just violent enough to get a PG rating, but there’s really nothing that most kids over six can’t handle. More disturbing are the stereotyped characters, from Arnold’s best friend/token black kid Gerald to Arnold’s grandparents to a one-legged bus driver.

Families can discuss what exactly it is that keeps Arnold so positive during such stressful times, and why his neighbor Helga (who looks and acts almost exactly like Rugrats’ Angelica) feels the need to hide her crush on Arnold by being mean to him.

Families who like this movie will probably enjoy the other Nickelodeon films, from the animated Rugrats, Doug’s 1st Movie and Jimmy Neutron to the live-action Snow Day and Harriet the Spy.

Once upon a time, there was a television show that was genuinely cool. Robert Culp and Bill Cosby played smart, laid-back guys who traveled around to exotic and romantic locations saving the world. Everyone thought they were a tennis player and a coach who didn’t take anything very seriously, but we knew that they were in reality really smart guys who knew all kinds of great stuff and exchanged effortlessly witty wisecracks. The show was also quietly revolutionary. Bill Cosby was not only the first black actor to star in a television drama, but he played a supremely smart and capable spy who could also play tennis. The casual equality of the two leads just a few years after the march on Washington and the “I Have a Dream” speech was a milestone of the civil rights movement.

Now that television show has been remade as a forgettable buddy movie that feels like a rejected script for “Rush Hour 3.” Eddie Murphy plays an egotistical heavyweight champion who is teamed up with a spy played by Owen Wilson to go after a stolen invisible plane before it is sold to the highest bidder.

Murphy mugs, Wilson pines for his beautiful fellow spy (Famke Janssen), stuff blows up, and the credits roll. This movie is designed to be forgotten before you get the popcorn out of your teeth.

Parents should know that the movie is rough for a PG-13 with some raunchy humor and many knee-to-the-groin scenes.

Families who see this movie should talk about why it was so hard for Scott to tell Rachel how he felt.

Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy “Rush Hour” and “Shanghai Noon.”

If you know the premise of this movie, you know the plot and you undoubtedly know the jokes. Here’s the premise: Tootsie on a basketball team. A conceited pro basketball player gets fired, and the only job he can get is on a woman’s team. So, he dresses up like a woman. He’s in for some lessons about life, and we’re in for some locker room humor.

The film was a bit of a surprise, though with a nice spirit and a willingness to avoid the obvious. It’s nowhere near “Some Like it Hot” or “Tootsie,” or even “Mrs. Doubtfire,” but it is better than recent cross-dressing films like “Big Momma’s House” and the abominable “Sorority Boys.”

Jamal Jeffries (Miguel A. Nunez Jr., in his first starring role) is a star basketball player whose bad attitude and poor sportsmanship are constantly getting him in trouble. He is indefinitely suspended after one particular mishap (which, in the real world, could have landed him in jail) and he loses his fake friends as fast as the money he spent so irresponsibly. With his main priority making back some money and playing the game he loves, he takes up his only option, dressing like woman and playing women’s basketball.

Through the women he reluctantly learns to be a supportive team player and falls for the team’s star, Michelle (“Independence Day’s” lovely Vivica A. Fox). Obviously the usual chaos ensues, and Jamal has to learn several lessons to stay on the team as well as maintain his cover. Besides the talented stars, a supporting cast consisting of reliable character actors like Kevin Pollak, Tommy Davidson, and Wayans’ sister Kim, as well as good turns from hip-hop stars Genuwine and Lil’ Kim. The “dude looks like a lady” plot has been done many times before and there’s nothing new here, from the awkward moments with the love interest to the big moment where all is revealed to the men who were hitting on the main character. So the plot is predictable and a lot of the jokes are lazy. Although there were no surprises and some gratuitous stereotypes, I found myself caring about the characters.

Parents should know that this movie has a lot of raunchy humor, mostly revolving around Jamal’s anatomical differences from his teammates, but pretty typical for the increasingly graphic PG-13 rating. Families who enjoy this movie will enjoy Tootsie and Some Like it Hot selected by the American Film Institute as the funniest movie ever. They may also want to try a more serious story about romantic relationship between hoops players, Love and Basketball.