Be not fooled. Disney’s The Kid is not a children’s movie — it’s yet another example of the genus Whiny boomerus. Like The Wonder Years meets a particularly mewling episode of thirtysomething, The Kid is a charmless, saccharine sitcom, apparently leftover from the very early 90s, about how one man is not to blame for the fact that he’s a soulless jerk — it’s because he was picked on as a kid… oh, and daddy yelled at him once. It’s not his fault at all.

Okay, The Patriot is corny and manipulative, but so are John Philip Sousa marches and fireworks, and if you find yourself getting a little choked up watching Macy’s pyrotechnics over the East River, then you’ll enjoy getting swept away by The Patriot, too. This is the best kind of old-fashioned filmmaking: grand and epic yet intimate and personal, full of angst-ridden good guys and hiss-worthy bad guys. It’s got, to paraphrase the grandfather in The Princess Bride, murder, revenge, fighting, swordplay, spectacular battles, loyal dogs, and true love. What’s not to like?

You have to go back 15 years to find the last major film about the American fight for independence, and, well, it’s not one really worth remembering. Revolution is a pointless, frequently cruel train wreck of a movie, atrociously miscast and laughably overmelodramatic, and apparently filmed without benefit of a script.

Why do people automatically think ‘kids’ movie’ if cartoons are involved? Who Framed Roger Rabbit has way more appeal for grownups than it does for tykes, and I’m not entirely sure this hard-boiled tale of sex, murder, and — ahem — graphic animation is suitable for young eyes. Though those qualities are exactly what has made it a cult classic among movie fans.

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle instantly dates itself, too, with its satirical swipes at the Internet, celebrity mania, cable television, the presidency, Hollywood, and the general dumbing down of America, and it likely will cease to be amusing, except in retrospect, in only a few years. But right at this moment, it’s pretty darn funny.

I hadn’t much idea what I was in for with 1953’s Stalag 17. I supposed I imagined something dreary and earnest — I certainly wasn’t prepared for funny. But what else could I have expected, in retrospect, from the film that had to be the inspiration for the TV series Hogan’s Heroes.

Wallace and Gromit are the creations of British animator Nick Park, who has turned his hapless claymation characters into figures of cult adoration, seemingly without much effort on his own part. Clever yet unassuming, simple enough for kids to enjoy but steeped in a deep, rich knowledge and love of classic film that tickles adults, the three films starring Wallace and Gromit are among the finest and most fun animated shorts ever made.