Contributor: Bob Smithouser

Inspired by Homer’s “The Iliad,” this epic sword-and-sandals tale of love, greed and honor chronicles the ancient war between Greece and Troy.

This all-for-one-and-one-for-all adventure yarn is as straightforward and nondescript as its title.

A colorful retelling of the classic tale by French author Alexandre Dumas.

While orbiting and observing the mysterious planet Solaris, a small team of scientists comes under attack.

Winner of eleven Oscars, Ben-Hur remains one of the most inspirational, reverent spectacles ever made by a major Hollywood studio—an uplifting adventure full of subtle life lessons.

When an unexpected snowstorm buries Syracuse, New York, the kids celebrate a day off from school while their elders mourn the inconvenience.

In “Anywhere But Here,” a sullen teenage girl struggles to endure the restless flakiness of her superficial mother, all the while aching for her own independence.

We teach children a lot of things. Most go in one ear and out the other. After all, when you’re 6 years old, it’s hard to know which tidbits you’ll really need later in life. But one useful truth stuck with me at an early age: bumbles bounce. C’mon, ad …

Rolling waves. Salt air. Below deck, reveling sailors are suddenly silenced by the signature clip-clopping of their captain’s labored gait overhead.

The story begins when a recently widowed composer, his shutterbug son and their dog Zeus move next door to a marine biologist and her two rambunctious teenage daughters.

Mild-mannered Wall Street banker Daryl Chase is unwittingly sucked into the high-stakes world of international drug trafficking in this shoot-em-up/buddy comedy.

In the year 2020, only a remnant of humanity remains. Enormous, flame-spewing dragons have all but conquered earth.

This romantic comedy, told mostly in flashback by broken-up lovers Al and Imogen, tries to be a Gen-X “When Harry Met Sally.”

Nick Park’s brilliant claymation series, “Wallace & Gromit,” chronicles the adventures of an eccentric, cheese-loving inventor and his sharp-witted canine companion.

I can’t believe I missed it. After nearly 20 years of analyzing films for Plugged In, you’d think I would have been more perceptive. But it just goes to show how subtle some errant spirituality can be, especially in a film as fun, charming and disarmin …