Originally receiving mixed reviews, 2005’s Kingdom of Heaven found new life with a 2006 Director’s Cut. Orlando Bloom anchors this tale set during the 12th Century Crusades exploring the ethical paradoxes which faith and duty sometimes pose. Houselights revisits the director’s cut and asks, were audiences cheated with the original release...or spared?

Loosely inspired by Rome at the end of the Pax Romana, 2000’s seminal crowd-pleaser Gladiator defined Russell Crowe’s career and remains a benchmark for sword-and-sandal epics. Audiences cheered the heroism of a reluctant hero challenging a mad ruler, but does this film echo in eternity or fade with the passage of time?

​Using state-of-the-art visual effects and 3-D immersion, Ridley Scott brings new life to the story of defiant leader Moses as he rises up against the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II, setting 600,000 slaves on a monumental journey of escape from Egypt and its terrible cycle of deadly plagues.

​Houselights missed one! 

Joe Dante directed "The Howling" in 1981 and so his first film of the 80s is our last. This movie was a financial success and spawned several sequels. But does this connect with the modern audience?

Joe Dante closed out the 1980s with "The 'Burbs," a sendup of suburban life and sensibilities with Tom Hanks still in his comic acting phase, starring as an average man pushed to the brink by suspicions about his new neighbors. With three filmed endings, and an all-star cast, is The ‘Burbs a cult classic or a misfire?

Featuring the charm of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, and the comedy stylings of Martin Short, Joe Dante’s sci-fi comedy Inner Space spins the concept of Fantastic Voyage into a caper about secret government technology. More than 3 decades later, is it sill fun to inject this romp into the Blu-Ray player?

One year after Gremlins, Joe Dante delivered a loving homage to the spirit of invention and imagination with the decidedly kid-friendly Explorers. Starring the up-and-coming Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix, does its loving homage to 1950s sci-fi still resonate?

Joe Dante’s Gremlins became a phenomenon and merchandising gold mine, but generated enough controversy that it helped give birth to PG-13 as a rating in the US. Does it hold up as a movie nearly 40 years later, or does it find itself trapped in a cocoon of 80s sensibilities?

One of John Candy’s signature roles, Uncle Buck was the penultimate work of John Hughes’ directing career. While a broad comedy like his earliest works, does it reflect a more mature outlook on life and responsibility?

One of John Hughes’ lesser-known works, She’s Having a Baby remains a useful choice in any game of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Looking at how pregnancy changes the dynamic of a couple, is there a reason this one is the forgotten work of a highly-regarded director?