Before John Carpenter became a cinematic brand name with his 1978 horror classic “Halloween,” he made a sparse thriller called “Assault on Precinct 13” that gained a rabid cult following. Now the thriller about a decommissioned police precinct repelling invaders has been given a glossy face-lift. The action shifts to Detroit, where Ethan Hawke stars as a cop trying to protect his drug lord prisoner, played by Laurence Fishburne, from a S.W.A.T.-equipped team of renegade police.

Also pulling into area theaters is “Are We There Yet?” Ice Cube stars as a lovestruck sports fan who hopes to win a gal by chauffeuring her kids from Portland to Vancouver. Juvenile chaos ensues in this “National Lampoon’s Vacation” knock-off.

I’m Jon Niccum with Screen Scene.

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