Comedy
Rod Lott
Trekkers and critics share the theory that every other "Star Trek" film — the even-numbered ones — are the better entries of the franchise. I think the same applies to the "Scary Movie" group.

Horror
Rod Lott
Among all Hollywood's stabs at ghost stories and haunted-house movies of late — your "Paranormal Activity" and whatnot — none can hold a candle to the old-fashioned Gothic chills of 2001's "The Others," still mega-creepy after all these years and now on Blu-ray.

Documentary
Rod Lott
There's a great documentary to tell the true story of Bram Stoker and his enduring creation, but “Dracula: The Vampire and the Voivode” isn't it. What’s a “voivode”? You’ll find out, but that should be one indication as to this film’s lacking level of accessibility.

Horror
Rod Lott
To place “Scream 4” within its franchise, let’s talk superlatives: It’s the bloodiest, the shortest and the least satisfying.

Documentary
Rod Lott
Love horses? You're going to love "Buck."

Comedy
Larry Laneer
A motion-picture version of Kristina Wong’s one-woman stage show “Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” has been released, and it proves one thing: She’s no Ken Kesey. Thank goodness.

Television series
Rod Lott
Far too young to catch it when it debuted in 1973, I’ve literally waited decades to set my eyes on “Police Story,” the NBC anthology series that broke the mold for cops on the tube by adding realism. Reading creator Joseph Wambaugh’s recent episodic novels about Hollywood cops only strengthened my thirst.

Horror
Rod Lott
One wacky dude, this Michael Conrad (Michael Gough, Alfred in the "Batman" movies of Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher) of 1963's "Black Zoo." He's the owner of a zoo that appears to be the hottest hang-out in town — frequented not only by schoolchildren, but also newlyweds and hot college girls — and whose furry residents he calls "my children."

Thriller
Rod Lott
So simple is the story of Gaston Leroux's 1911 novel, "The Phantom of the Opera," that it continues to be remade on stage and screen. More interesting, however, are not its adaptations, but those that tweak the setting to more contemporary, even oddball venues.

Television series
Rod Lott
Richard Roundtree is there, and so is Isaac Hayes' iconic, Oscar-winning theme, but "Shaft: The TV Movie Collection" isn't quite the "Shaft" of the 1970's feature-film trilogy. The operative word there: "TV," which means little of the R-rated shenanigans that made the character so popular.