Some plots never get old, like the proverbial fish-out-of-water story at the heart of Eddie Murphy’s new film “Meet Dave.”

Take a stranger in a strange land and let the comedy ensue.

One of the formula’s greatest successes came with 1986’s “Crocodile Dundee.” The tan Aussie with the kilowatt smile didn’t know what to make of the Big Apple, but he got by with a ready grin and a really big knife. He even got the girl, a where-is-she-now Linda Kozlowski.

Which fish-out-of-water comedies made you laugh the hardest?

Update: The great Movie Mom takes the fish conceit to new heights in her “Meet Dave” slam:

His best moments here only remind us of his better films, especially “Coming to America,” another fish-out-of-water story set in New York. These days, Murphy seems like a fish out of water as an actor on screen.

(Photo: Eddie Murphy tries clothes shopping on for size in “Meet Dave”)

ESPN provides the best sports product on cable - “SportsCenter” - but the channel isn’t content with just highlight reels.

The channel started creating original pictures a few years back, and the quality is often comparable to some of cable’s better originals. “The Bronx is Burning,” the tawdry tale of the 1978 New York Yankees, recreated that tumultuous season with stunning detail.

ESPN’s newest entertainment division, christened ESPN Films in March, announced its Fall slate of features today. The list includes: [click to continue...]

Beware the too-hip-to-be-square movie trailer. they usually mask a film without a soul or sense of purpose. The new-to-DVD Vegas drama “21″ is a classic example. The trailer makes it seem trendy, hip and exhilarating. It’s all three, but only over a few early sequences.

My Washington Times review upon its theatrical release explored just went wrong with the promising drama. Some say “21’s” Jim Sturgess is a star on the rise. I just can’t see it, at least not yet.

Caught Eddie Murphy’s latest high-concept comedy, “Meet Dave,” last night, and part of the movie still perplexes me.

It doesn’t involve the movie’s storyline - tiny humanoids come to earth in a spaceship that looks like Eddie Murphy. (Boy, I would have loved to hear that pitch meeting…)

It involves Murphy’s character and his relationship with the film’s female lead, Elizabeth Banks. Or rather, their lack of a relationship. In any other movie of its kind, Banks and Murphy would have either fallen in love or at least flirted seriously. But the two never so much as exchange moist glances?

Could the filmmakers be afraid of showing a mixed race coupling? Hollywood remains remarkably timid in this arena - and this could be the latest example of its trepidation.

I bet movie audiences are more than ready to see Murphy, or Will Smith and Denzel Washington for that matter, woo women who aren’t black. The savagely overlooked “Something New” examined interracial dating head on, but I’d like to see more movies feature mixed race couples as just another part of the bigger picture.

You see, you can make children’s movies which don’t pander to the kiddies.

“Penelope,” out on DVD July 15, will charm audiences of all ages, even if its message about accepting one’s shortcomings will hit home hardest among the ‘tween set.

It starts with the title card “Once Upon a Time,” and the convoluted setup could only come from the land of make believe. The film stars Christina Ricci as a young woman with a pig’s snout for a nose. It’s a long story — all based on a generational curse which caught up with poor Penelope. She’s kept hidden from public view by her upper-crust parents (Catherine O’Hara and Richard E. Grant) who see her deformity as a stain on their character.

But all isn’t lost. Should Penelope marry the proper blue-blooded gent, the curse will be lifted. Or so we’re told. [click to continue...]

I knew “Knocked Up” would be great when I saw the movie studio screening it endlessly for critics and eager fans alike before its release.

Studios typically screen a film once or twice before it opens. So the avalanche of “Knocked Up” screenings said the studio had faith in the film and wanted to stock up on good word of mouth.

Now, the folks behind “Knocked Up” are back with the stoner comedy “Pineapple Express,” and they’re screening it to death just like before. Good sign. Good trailer.

Want a better trailer? Check out the red band model - if you’re old enough.

(Photo: Seth Rogen and James Franco play weed-loving misfits in “Pineapple Express”)

Tyler Perry doesn’t need movie critics. His last three films opened without the benefit of opening-day reviews, and they did just fine at the box office. “Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns,” just released on DVD, worked the same magic.

“Browns” follows a single mother named Brenda (Angela Bassett) who loses her job in the film’s opening moments. She’s toughed out worse situations, but she’s tired of holding her head high while caring for her two daughters and b-ball loving son, Michael (Lance Gross).

When she learns her father, whom she never met, has died, she takes the family to Georgia for the funeral. There she meets the Browns, a gaggle of cartoonish characters who treat her as one of the family. That means they tease her, stuff her with food and embrace her, all more or less at once. It’s exhausting, but Perry orchestrates a few moving moments between the screeching. [click to continue...]

The ad campaign for “Vantage Point’s” February release emphasized its dazzling cast and irresistible gimmick. The film follows a presidential assassination attempt from the viewpoint of seven strangers. The finished product turned out to have little razzle or dazzle. That didn’t stop it from becoming a modest hit both in theaters and now on DVD. It’s also one of the few films willing to tackle terrorism head on. The film came out on DVD July 1.

My Washington Times review details just where “Vantage Point” goes awry. Let’s start with limiting Sigourney Weaver’s role to a glorified cameo.

(Forest Whitaker, Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox go to the videotape in “Vantage Point”)

Julianne Moore has spoken - she can’t understand why any actress would dabble in Botox.

“It doesn’t make them look younger, it just makes them look like they had work done,” the actress told a British magazine courtesy of People.com.

She’s right, of course. But it’s far more complicated than the naturally beautiful Moore suggests. Women over 40 do have a harder time getting work, and for every actress who looks like she “had work done,” I bet there are many who have had a nip or a tuck and it turned out pretty good. And I bet they get more gigs than their Botox-free peers.