This week at the movies, we've got hot dogs (Beverly Hills Chihuahua, starring Drew Barrymore and Andy Garcia), young love (Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings), magazine mishaps (How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, starring Simon Pegg and Kirsten Dunst), vision loss (Blindness, starring Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo), Dickensian satire (An American Carol, starring Kevin Farley and Kelsey Grammer), invention thievery (Flash of Genius starring Greg Kinnear and Lauren Graham), and hired guns (Appaloosa, starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen). What do the critics have to say?

Rotten Tomatoes loves canines and we have an office located in Beverly Hills, but even we couldn't help but feel pangs of despair and embarrassment whilst enduring the trailer to Beverly Hills Chihuahua. So imagine our surprise when the movie comes out of the gate with a Fresh Tomatometer! And imagine our non-surprise when it freefalls into Rotten territory. Drew Barrymore, Andy Garcia, and George Lopez give voice to the dogs of BHC, a movie being praised by the critics for enthusiastic voice performances but its lack of surprise or originality does little to separate it from anything else littered throughout the family-movie bone yard. At 45 percent, your kids are barking up the right tree this weekend in Beverly Hills.

"Sorry, skinny dipping is beneath me."

Michael Cera and indie rock have been a winning combination in the past, so does fortune strike again for the Canadian kid? He co-stars in his new movie, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, with Kat Dennings as two music loving-teens who meet-cute and go on an all-night quest for a secret show by one of their favorite bands. Philosophical discussions, hipster ruminations, and mutual appreciation ensues. Though it lacks a strong narrative drive or the easy witticism of similar films like Juno or Sixteen Candles, its unabashed romantic streak and strong central performances drives its message home. At 71 percent on the Tomatometer, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is music for the hip and the young at heart.
 

"Save me: this dude hasn't changed clothes since Superbad."

Like Ricky Gervais, whose Ghost Town barely made a box office blip a few weeks back, Simon Pegg is another Brit who's having a tough go at the movies in America. Pegg's latest, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, finds him without his usual collaborators (Edgar Wright and Nick Frost), trading company for Kirsten Dunst and Megan Fox in an outrageous account of a British journalist who burns all his bridges writing for a glitzy New York magazine. Pegg charms again, but the critics cite his Toby Young character as irredeemably unlikable, and the film's comedy is too slapsticky and broad for any satire about the entertainment industry to make an impact. At 37 percent, How To has lost the critics and may alienate audiences.

Simon Pegg auditioning for Anchorman II: The Reckoning of Ron Burgundy.

With City of God and The Constant Gardener, Fernando Meirelles established himself as an expert stylist in the realm of political thrillers. However, critics say his latest, Blindness, is over earnest and lacks the visceral punch of his previous works. The film stars Julianne Moore as a woman who does not to succumb to an outbreak that leaves much of the world's population without sight; she hides her condition in order to get the bottom of a sinister government quarantine of the blind. The critics say Blindness has its moments, but it lacks the horror of Jose Saramago's source novel; it's both emotionally muted and technically overdone. At 38 percent on the Tomatometer, Blindness may not be worth seeing.

Danny Glover pioneering a new role: crazy blind pirate man cabbie.

Flash of Genius may sound like your typical based-on-true-events, little-guy-takes-on-the man movie, but critics say it's a smart, compelling yarn with a few surprises up its sleeve. Greg Kinnear stars as Robert Kearns, a college professor and amateur inventor whose innovation -- intermittent windshield wipers -- was co-opted by big auto manufacturers without giving credit; Kearns spends decades attempting to right this injustice, and it takes a toll on his family. The pundits say Flash of Genius is a solid underdog tale, featuring a driven performance by Kinnear and a script that doesn't hammer its points home. At 73 percent on the Tomatometer, Flash of Genius is a clever invention.

"Can't think of anyone more unlikely to have a movie? Here's the dude who invented AstroTurf."

Sometimes a movie doesn't have to break new ground to be satisfying. Critics say that although Appaloosa may not be the finest Western in recent years, it's got good performances and enough convention-defying twists to make it an amiable time at the movies. Ed Harris (who also directs) and Viggo Mortensen star as a pair of hired guns who are trying to bring order to a New Mexico town; however, their rapport is challenged when they fall in love with the same woman (Renee Zellweger). The pundits say Appaloosa harkens back to the classic Westerns of John Ford and Howard Hawks, and though it doesn't move at a particularly sprightly pace, the leads' chemistry and a playful sense of humor make it a smart, solid film. At 73 percent on the Tomatometer, Appaloosa may be worth a visit.

"You had me at 'Ayup.'"

After slumming it with Scary Movies and Ashton Kutcher movies (My Boss's Daughter)for years, director David Zucker finally returns with his first original satire property since 1988's The Naked Gun. Will An American Carol, a slap-happy putdown of a Michael Moore-ish character who learns the true meaning of patriotism, recapture the critical glory of the Naked Guns or Airplane? Hard to say, as An American Carol was apparently not screened for critics. Surely, you'll be able to guess its Tomatometer?

"No, I don't speak jive! Go away!"

Also opening this week in limited release:

• Jonathan Demme's Rachel Getting Married, starring Anne Hathaway as a woman whose emotional problems overshadow her sister's wedding, is at 79 percent.
• Religulous, Bill Maher's gonzo examination of religious fundamentalism, is at 64 percent.
  
• Ballast, a drama about how a suicide changes the lives of three people in the rural south, is at 79 percent.

Finally, Kirk Cameron bless you, Random_Jake: you came closest to guessing Fireproof's percent Tomatometer last week.


Recent Drew Barrymore Movies:

• 63% -- Music and Lyrics (2007)
  
• 28% -- Lucky You (2007)
  
• 68% -- Curious George (2006)
  
• 69% -- My Date With Drew (2005)
  
• 63% -- Fever Pitch (2005)