For reasons that others and I have repeatedly discussed, January and February have been the dead-zone of the movie business. Traditionally, this is when Hollywood throws into the theater various lightweight fare hoping to collect a few million before releasing them to DVD. However, while once again none of this year’s films will come close to being nominated during the end of the year award season, there have been some rather interesting films mixed in with the expected trash.

“Madea Goes to Jail” (B+ Rating). Again, and as I have previously noted about previous Tyler Perry films, set aside any judgments you have made about this extraordinarily funny film and go see it. No, don’t just go see it, but go to a theater where the audience is largely African American.

While Tyler Perry’s ever present message is a little heavy-handed, it is a message that deserves to be heard. More importantly, there are some very funny moments, and the reaction of the audience is worth the price of admission alone.

“Notorious” (B Rating) Though the story becomes a little drawn out, director George Tillman Jr., delivers an entertaining film detailing the historical animosity between the East Coast and West Coast Rap communities that led to the untimely death of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. There are some awfully good performances in this movie, particularly Jamal Woolard as Notorious B.I.G., Derek Luke as Sean “Puffy” Combs and Naturi Naughton as Lil Kim.

Clearly, this film flew under the radar screen, so try to get out to the Georgetown Cinema, as I think that is the only place it is still playing.

“Taken” (C+ Rating) Because of talents of co-writer Luc Besson and the marvelous acting ability of Liam Neeson, this high-energy action film rises above its tawdry premise. On the other hand, the villains are horrible ethnic stereotypes, and Neeson’s character luxuriates in torture/killings to the extent that the only thing separating him from Hannibal Lecter is that he doesn’t eat his victims.

Furthermore, Maggie Grace, who plays Neeson’s kidnapped daughter, gives such a woeful performance as a spoiled, whiney brat that I was hoping that the movie would end with either her death or with her being lost in the Serbian Underworld of drugs and sexual slavery. Maybe that is a bit of an unfair judgment, but not by much.

“The International” (C+ Rating) Again, this movie rides on the charms and talents of its talented co-stars, Clive Owen, Naomi Watts and Armin Mueller-Stahl. It tells a convoluted story of a corrupt, international bank and the efforts of Watts as a New York Federal Prosecutor and Owens as an Investigator to bring it down.

It has its intriguing moments, and there certainly are some wonderful action scenes. However, it never pulls itself together with any type of cohesive force where you are able to care what happens in the end. Stated another way, its ending is unsatisfying at best.

“Paul Blart: Mall Cop” (D Rating) I’m ashamed that I saw this nonsense, and I blame my grandchildren for that fact. The only mildly funny moments in this incredibly dull picture are contained in the previews. What’s worse, it devolves into every slovenly, male beer drinkers’ fantasy. What is that fantasy, you ask? Why, a shiftless, overweight goof landing the attractive young girl solely because he is a shiftless, overweight goof. “This Bud’s for you!”

“The Pink Panther 2” (C- Rating) Is anyone else as annoyed by Steve Martin’s forced impression of Inspector Clouseau as I am? Don’t you just want to reach through the screen and slap him?

The only good thing about this movie is the fact that it probably infuriates the great Peter Sellers to the extent that it might cause him to come back from the grave. And think how all of us movie fans would be better off if that occurred.

On the other hand, I’ve got to admit that my 10 year old grandson, Connor, laughed throughout this entire film. When he asked me as we left the theater if I liked the film, I told him, “I did, as long as I could sit next to you.” “Pink Panther 2” is the type of film that you need to attend with children who are too young to have developed an artistic sense of what is “banal.” Because like it or not, once you do develop that ability, these type of films become borderline un-watchable.

“Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li” (D+ Rating) Let me put this as delicately as I can. When this film concentrates on its Chinese actors, its Hong Kong setting and its special effects (i.e. Martial Arts fights), it is somewhat entertaining.

However, when it reverts to lengthy scenes with the incredibly ungifted American actor Chris Klein, the film becomes laughable beyond words. Quite frankly, Mr. Klein gives one of the most startlingly bad performances in the recent history of the cinema.

While I’m at it, I must mention the tacky performance of Moon Bloodgood as a Hong Kong police detective who dresses for the office as if she is Paris Hilton going out for an evening on the town. Oh, what were they thinking when they put this nonsense together?

“Push” (B-) Like “The International,” “Push” is too overstuffed and out of focus to recommend it as a good film. However, it does tell an intriguing story of telekinetically gifted young people who are on the run from their government and underworld pursuers, and the performances of Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Djimon Hounsou make it a fun little film, particularly given the amazingly good special effects.

As to young Ms. Fanning, let me also say that it is difficult to watch her performance as a male, and I’m sure I’m not alone in making that observation. She plays her age, namely 13 years old, but she does so dressed so provocatively that she exudes a sexuality that is impossible to miss.

Though nothing is suggested, much less acted upon, in that regard in the movie, it jumps out at you in almost every scene. This is a very strong performance by the young Ms. Fanning, coming off her strong portrayal as the runaway in last year’s disappointing “The Secret Life of Bees.” Quite frankly, you cannot help but strongly believe that big things await her down the road.

“Coraline 3D” (B+ Rating) This is clearly the best film released during the first 2 months of this year. It is spooky, meaningful and the 3D effects are wonderfully used to enhance a feeling of terror and dread.

Dakota Fanning, Ian McShane and Teri Hatcher lend their voices to the principal characters, and this movie tells the story of a young girl who flees to an alternate reality through a secret door in her new house where her “other parents” dote on her every need.

Just when Coraline thinks she has truly found heaven, she discovers that she has fallen into the exact opposite location. This is an eerie, at times terrifying, film that will likely keep kids of all ages riveted in their seats. In addition, any of you parents who feel under appreciated by your children, particularly daughters, should take them to this movie. Coraline discovered to her surprise just how special her “real mother” was, and that’s not a bad lesson for any child to learn.

“Waltz with Bashir” (B Rating) Quite frankly, “Waltz with Bashir,” one of the foreign films nominated for an Oscar this year, is more form over substance. It is a moody, psychological drama about an Israeli soldier trying to recover his lost memory from the invasion of Lebanon in 1982.

It is a unique film in that it combines the groundbreaking animation seen in Richard Linklater’s “Waking Life (2001) and “A Scanner Darkly” (2006) with a story told in a documentary format.

Unfortunately, like Mr. Linklater’s earlier work, “Waltz” is more visually arresting than it is emotionally satisfying. While the eventual discovery of the reason for the soldier’s lost memory comes close to crushing your heart, the path to that moment was rather long and repetitive. As an example, a woman sitting in my row fell asleep about a third of the way through the film and didn’t wake up until its emotional climax.

In a sentence, “Waltz with Bashir” is a movie for the film-buff, not the occasional moviegoer.

“He’s Just Not That Into You” (D Rating) While advertised as either a “chick film” or a “date movie,” “He’s Just Not That Into You” is really a debased, insulting little film. Quite frankly, it portrays young women as if the feminist movement had never existed, painting most of them as pathetic, needy creatures who spend all of their time waiting for some goof to call them that they had just met by chance in a bar.

While I know some people liked this movie, I hated it. Scarlett Johansson again plays a home wrecker, and the scene in her lover’s (Brad Cooper) law office where she is thrown into a closet barley clothed as his wife (Jennifer Connelly) unexpectedly shows up to have spontaneous sex with her husband may have been one of the most God awful scenes ever passed off as entertainment.

Jennifer Anniston plays an otherwise intelligent, professional woman who is unfortunately saddled with a live-in boyfriend played by the supremely untalented Ben Affleck. To make matters worse, Anniston’s neurotic character cannot find pure bliss until her reluctant boyfriend finally proposes to her. Whoopee!

And then there is the otherwise likable Ginnifer Goodwin, who unintentionally portrays one of the most spectacularly pathetic women of recent memory. She is so insecure that she literally semi-stalks every guy she meets if they won’t immediately call her the next day for a date. I know this was supposed to be funny, but it was just overwhelmingly sad.

When I told some young women that liked this movie that I found it offensive to women, they responded, “But that’s how most young women really are.” To which I responded, “Then for the first time in my life I’m glad I’m 62 year’s old!”