CITY SLICKERS II ★★★
(Max on Comcast) Billy Crystal wheels out a chuckwagon full of lightweight fun. The plot revolves around greed (howdy, podnah - it’s a sequel), and Jack Palance is back, as the twin brother of the first movie’s Curly. Jon Lovitz is the new guy, as Crystal’s schleppy older brother - but it’s the reliable Crystal who supplies the snappy repartee and the simple warmth. (PG-13; runs through Dec. 31)
THE SUM OF ALL FEARS ★★
(Showtime on Comcast) In this adaptation from Tom Clancy’s best-selling Jack Ryan series, dour neo-fascists purchase and detonate a black-market nuclear bomb, which threatens the life of the president, kills and maims thousands, and devours a chunk of Baltimore. Then things really get scary - the fate of the world rests in Ben Affleck’s hands. Also stars Morgan Freeman, James Cromwell, and Liev Schreiber, all of whom come off better than the well-meaning but overmatched Affleck. (PG-13; runs through Jan. 3)
