film
15 MINUTES (R) -- C Forget important discussions of fame, justice and the media. John Herzfeld's drama is shallow, frenzied and ultimately forgettable. Robert De Niro disappoints with a lackluster performance as a media darling detective on the trail of two killers hell-bent on getting famous and staying that way. If only belaboring an obvious point were an art form. (Reviewed in this issue.) (Carlson) Chalmette, Downtown Joy, Galleria, Palace 16, Palace 20
3000 MILES TO GRACELAND (R) -- B Five unlikely Elvis impersonators don the cape in an attempt to pull off the king of all heists: hitting a Vegas casino in the middle of the 2001 International Elvis Convention. What part of this premise isn't going to be about style? First-time director Demian Lichenstein offers up this absurd, vibrantly violent flick. (Carlson)
BEFORE NIGHT FALLS (R) -- A- Julian Schnabel's biography of homosexual Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas offers a commanding, Oscar-nominated lead performance by Javier Bardem and provides a withering look at the inevitable need of the totalitarian regime to crush the artist who knows a loyalty to beauty always greater than that to any government. (Barton) Canal Place
BLOW DRY (PG-13) -- C+ Paddy Breathnach's farce about a hair-styling competition has a messy script and far too few laughs. A terrific cast, however, including Alan Rickman, Natasha Richardson and Rachel Griffiths, does coalesce around a story of love and sexual orientation that tugs at the heart and rings with sad truth. (Reviewed in this issue.) (Barton) Canal Place
CARMAN: THE CHAMPION (PG-13) -- NOT RATED A retired prizefighter doubling as a youth-center coordinator and a hotel security guard finds his faith tested when a promoter tries to goad him into a boxing match with a current champion. Directed by Lee Stanley. Palace 20
CAST AWAY (PG-13) -- A- Robert Zemeckis directed this Robinson Crusoe adventure/love story. Tom Hanks is plane-wrecked on an uninhabited island. Helen Hunt is the deeply loved girlfriend he left behind. The picture goes on perhaps 7-10 minutes too long, but at its best this film is a searching existential reflection about dealing with life's inherent unfairness. Oscar-nominated Hanks is terrific. Nominated for two Academy Awards. (Barton) Palace 20
CHOCOLAT (PG-13) -- B Lasse Hallstrom directed this comic fable about a candy store owner (Oscar-nominated Juliette Binoche) in a small French town who falls into disfavor with the mayor (Alfred Molina) who thinks that her exquisite confections will lead the townspeople into a life of wanton surrender to desire. An outstanding cast and an appealing whimsy of magical realism can't quite make us care about this as much as we'd like. Nominated for five Academy Awards including best picture. (Barton) Galleria, Palace 16, Palace 20
CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (PG-13) -- B+ Ang Lee (The Ice Storm) directed this martial arts picture in the tradition he loved as a youth. Chow-Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh star in this story of two warriors trying to retrieve a stolen sword. Wonderful photography and dazzling choreography make this well worthwhile. Nominated for 10 Academy Awards including best picture. (Barton) Canal Place, Palace 16, Palace 20, Plaza
DOUBLE TAKE (PG-13) -- C- George Callo directed Orlando Jones and Eddie Griffin in this action comedy about a wrongfully accused investment banker who has to take on the identity of a low-life grifter until he can get things straightened out with the law. This flick is loud and speedy but very seldom funny. (Barton) Palace 16
DOWN TO EARTH (PG-13) -- NOT RATED An African-American comedian (Chris Rock, appropriately enough) who accidentally dies before his time returns to Earth as a rich white man who's the murder target of his wife and mistress in this latest update of the Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Co-directed by Paul Weitz (American Pie) and Chris Weitz. Chalmette, Downtown Joy, Galleria, Palace 16, Palace 20, Plaza
ENEMY AT THE GATES (R) -- NOT RATED Fact-based account of Russian sniper Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law), who killed 140 German soldiers during the pivotal Battle of Stalingrad during World War II. Ed Harris plays his Nazi counterpart, who is sent to take him out. Meanwhile, Zaitsev duels with a party official (Joseph Fiennes) over a female American sniper (Rachel Weisz). Galleria, Palace 16, Palace 20
EXIT WOUNDS (R) -- NOT RATED Steven Seagal is a tough New York cop trying to find as many ways to apply violence to clean up corruption in his precinct. Rapper DMX is around to provide that demographic boost. Consider this a gut check (literally and figuratively) for the paunchy, Maple Leaf-mongering Seagal, who's fast approaching "straight-to-video" status. Chalmette, Downtown Joy, Galleria, Palace 16, Palace 20, Plaza
GET OVER IT (PG-13) -- NOT RATED High school jock Ben Foster tries out for a Shakespeare play in order to win back his ex-girlfriend but winds up falling for his best friend's younger sister (Kirsten Dunst). R&B blonde Sisqo co-stars as his teammate. Galleria, Palace 16, Palace 20
HANNIBAL (R) -- C Ridley Scott's sequel to The Silence of the Lambs is a serious disappointment. Like a comedy which assumes scatological jokes are inherently funny, this lukewarm chiller assumes gore is natively scary. A peeled face, a rope of intestines and a live man fed slices of his own brain do not entertainment make. (Barton) Chalmette, Galleria, Palace 16, Palace 20, Plaza
THE HOUSE OF MIRTH (PG-13) -- B Terence Davies' adaptation of the Edith Wharton novel is an imperfect film with significant narrative gaps. It features an outstanding lead performance by Gillian Anderson, however, and comments memorably on the sad way throughout most of human history women have been defined by the men to whom they were attached. (Barton) Canal Place
THE MEXICAN (R) -- B+ Low-level hood Brad Pitt doesn't know it, but he has to recover a legendary pistol or girlfriend Julia Roberts is gonna get smoked by loveable hitman James Gandolfini. Pitt and Roberts show great maturity in letting the material do a lot of the work in this delightful road comedy, with Gandolfini providing the moral center. (Simmons) Chalmette, Galleria, Palace 16, Palace 20, Prytania
MISS CONGENIALITY (PG-13) -- B- Donald Petrie directed Sandra Bullock in this comedy about an unpolished FBI agent recruited to participate in a beauty pageant and protect its other contestants from the threats of a deranged killer. Over the top at sundry moments, this flick nonetheless achieves a surprising appeal. Michael Caine is delightful as a gay contestant "trainer," and Bullock is at her most winsome. (Barton) Palace 16, Palace 20
O BROTHER, WHERE ARE THOU? (PG-13) -- C+ The Coen Brothers based this action comedy on Homer's The Odyssey with George Clooney as a 1930s convict trying to survive various adventures to make his way back home to wife Holly Hunter. John Turturro and John Goodman also star. Seriously quirky but infrequently funny, this will disappoint the Coens' many devoted fans. Nominated for two Academy Awards. (Barton) Palace 20
POLLOCK (R) -- NOT RATED Ed Harris directed and won an Oscar nomination for starring in this look at Jackson Pollock, considered by many to be the greatest American artist of the 20th century. Marcia Gay Harden co-stars as his wife, fellow painter Lee Krasner, with appearances by Jeffrey Tambor, Amy Madigan and Jennifer Connelly. Canal Place, Palace 20
RECESS (G) -- D+ Disney goes head-to-head with Rugrats and comes up short. A gang of mischievous kids, who normally reside on Saturday morning television between commercials for pre-sweetened cereal, band together to save the world. An oldies soundtrack, repeated jokes about the principal's saggy butt, and topical references to school test scores don't make up for low-rent animation and forgettable characters. (Michael Tisserand) Chalmette, Palace 20
SAVE THE LAST DANCE (PG-13) -- C- Thomas Carter directed Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas in this interracial romance about a white suburban girl and an inner-city black guy who share a love for dancing. The leads are plenty attractive, but alas this is another too-typical Hollywood flick that just doesn't get it. (Barton) Chalmette, Palace 20
SEE SPOT RUN (PG) -- NOT RATED Postal worker David Arquette (who often seems like he's gone postal) finds himself in hot water when he picks up a dog who happens to be a drug-sniffer for the FBI recently put into its witness protection program. Michael Clarke Duncan plays the pooch's trainer/partner. Martin Lawrence originally was slotted for Arquette's role but backed out. Wonder why. Chalmette, Galleria, Palace 16, Palace 20, Plaza
SWEET NOVEMBER (PG-13) -- D Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron star in Pat O'Connor's doomed love story about a workaholic who learns to love just as his girlfriend decides to surrender to the fatal disease she never told him about. The principal players never generate enough electricity to light a broom closet, and the story marches from one contrivance to the next. (Barton) Palace 16, Palace 20
THIRTEEN DAYS (PG-13) -- A- Roger Donaldson directed this thriller about the Cuban Missile Crisis. Kevin Costner stars as Kenneth O'Donnell, the presidential aide who stood at John F. Kennedy's side as he formulated the decisions that forced the Russians to back down without triggering a nuclear war that could have ended human civilization. (Barton) Palace 20
TRAFFIC (R) -- B+ Steven Soderbergh directed Michael Douglas, Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro and Catherine Zeta-Jones in this complicated thriller about the federal government's incessant and hopeless war on drugs. An artfully complicated plot looks at both U.S. and Mexican cops, the family of a drug lord and that of a suburban user. Taut action doesn't quite disguise occasional elements of implausibility. Nominated for five Academy Awards including best picture. (Barton) Palace 16, Palace 20, Plaza
THE WEDDING PLANNER (PG-13) -- NOT RATED Adam Shankman directed this romantic comedy about a busy professional wedding planner whose own love life is a disaster until she meets a new client: the prospective groom. Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey star. Chalmette, Palace 16, Palace 20
Canal Place 581-5400; Chalmette 277-9797; Downtown Joy 522-7575; Galleria 838-8309; Entergy IMAX 581-4629; Loyola Film Buffs 865-2152; Palace 16 (West Bank) 263-1618; Palace 20 (Elmwood) 734-2020; Plaza 245-0102; Prytania 891-2787
Compiled by David Lee Simmons
Contributors: Rick Barton, Shala Carlson, David Lee Simmons, Michael Tisserand
