Back in time

Revisiting favorite movies from your childhood can be an unqualified treat. But not every movie deserves to be seen anew. As much as I marvel again and again at classics like "Mighty Joe Young" and "The Wizard of Oz," I instinctively know some movies won't age well with me.

As a kid I couldn't get enough of "Godzilla" and its umpteen sequels. But I wouldn't dare watch them from start to finish now. I might peek at one for a few minutes, but I bet that's all I can stand.

The same goes for those "Sinbad" movies of yore, the ones which featured the stop-motion wizardry of Ray Harryhausen. His creatures were state of the art -- then. But today, they pale next to our CGI magic. And those films didn't offer Oscar-worthy performances, to be kind.

I thought about this transition while watching "10,000 B.C.," the new action film from Roland Emmerich ("The Day After Tomorrow"). My 10-year-old self would have been cheering all the way through it. But as an adult weaned on more sophisticated fare like "Apocalypto," I had a different reaction. I'll post my Washington Times review of the film tomorrow.

(Photo: A wooly mammoth plays tage with a tribesman in "10,000 B.C.")