40 DAYS AND 40 NIGHTS (R) -- NOT RATED
Hunky Josh Hartnett's post-breakup Lenten plans entail giving up women. As if! Meanwhile, his ex schemes to win him back. Chalmette, Galleria, Palace 12, Palace 16, Palace 20
ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS (R) -- NOT RATED
Kevin Bray, who developed his cinematic vision shooting videos for *NSync and Whitney Houston, directs Ice Cube and Mike Epps in this whimsical adventure about a bounty hunter who teams with his former prey for a diamond heist. Chalmette, Downtown Joy, Galleria, Palace 12, Palace 16, Palace 20, Plaza
A BEAUTIFUL MIND (PG-13) -- B
Ron Howard's drama profiles a genius mathematician who struggles with mental illness. The picture offers another brilliant performance by Russell Crowe and fine supporting work by Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris. Nominated for eight Oscars. (Barton) Palace 12, Palace 16, Palace 20, Prytania
BIG FAT LIAR (PG) -- NOT RATED
Junior-high student Frankie Muniz (TV's Malcolm in the Middle) seeks revenge when seedy Hollywood producer Paul Giamatti (Planet of the Apes) makes a movie out of the boy's class essay without giving credit. Palace 12, Palace 16, Plaza
COLLATERAL DAMAGE (R) -- F-
Andrew Davis' direction and Arnold Schwarzenegger's acting would make this one bad under normal circumstances. Seen through the prism of Sept. 11, this story of a fireman pursuing the terrorist who killed his wife and child is simply unforgiveable. (Carlson) Palace 16
THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (PG-13) -- C-
Director Kevin Reynolds squanders a great premise and a good cast in this poorly directed and distractingly edited version of Alexandre Dumas' enduring tale of betrayal and revenge. (Carlson) Palace 16
CROSSROADS (PG-13) -- NOT RATED
Britney Spears vehicle features the pride of Kentwood bonding with two friends on a road trip. Chalmette, Galleria, Palace 16
THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE (R) -- NOT RATED
Guillermo del Toro (Mimic, the upcoming Blade II) directed this ghost story set in a mysterious orphanage for children of militia and politicos. In Spanish with English subtitles. Canal Place
DRAGONFLY (PG-13) -- B
Kevin Costner stars as Joe Darrow, a Chicago doctor convinced his dead wife, Emily (Susanna Thompson), is trying to contact him. Costner's competent performance serves as a nice centerpiece for Tom Shadyac's (Patch Adams) otherwise tentative drama. (Carlson) Palace 12, Palace 16
GOSFORD PARK (R) -- A-
Robert Altman craftily recasts Jean Renoir's 1939 classic Rules of the Game as an Agatha Christie murder mystery with greater emphasis on social-class conflict. Nominated for seven Oscars. (Simmons) Canal Place
HARRISON'S FLOWERS (R) -- B
This initally powerful film by Eie Chouraqui about a woman's (Andie MacDowell) attempt to rescue her photographer husband (David Strathairn) from the war-torn former Yugoslavia has an odd resonance to it once you walk away from it and realize it's pure fiction. And yet the photographs used were taken directly from photojournalist Isabel Ellsen, whose novel (Le Diable a l'avantage) inspired the script. Unsettling on many levels. MacDowell is surprisingly effective while Strathairn is typically sharp. (Simmons) Palace 20
HER SECOND MOTHER (NR) -- NOT RATED
Esther Salzman, Seymore Rechzeit and Yetta Zwerling star in this film about how blind love wreaks havoc in a family. 12:15 p.m. Tuesday at Uptown Jewish Community Center
ICE AGE (PG) -- NOT RATED
A woolly mammoth and other Ice Age animals help a human infant get back to his family in this animated film starring the voices of Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo and others. Chalmette, Galleria, Palace 12, Palace 16, Palace 20, Plaza
JOHN Q. (PG-13) -- NOT RATED
Protective dad Denzel Washington takes a hospital hostage until his kid gets a life-saving operation. Now that's health care reform! Chalmette, Downtown Joy, Galleria, Palace 16, Palace 20, Plaza
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (PG-13) -- A
This first Lord of the Rings movie is better than fans of the books possibly could have imagined. Peter Jackson's masterful direction and devotion to Tolkien's tale create an epic of the highest order. Nominated for 13 Oscars. (Carlson) Palace 20
LANTANA (R) -- NOT RATED
The discovery of a murdered woman affects four different couples in this mystery starring Geoffrey Rush, Anthony LaPaglia and Barbara Hershey. This film, completely ignored by the Oscars, virtually swept the Australian Film Institute Awards. Canal Place
MONSTER'S BALL (R) -- B-
Marc Forster's drama about a racist prison guard who falls for a black waitress offers an Oscar-nominated lead performance by Halle Berry and a convincing depiction of the way family members of criminals are among crime's victims. Nominated for two Oscars. (Barton) Canal Place, Palace 16, Palace 20
NOAM CHOMSKY: NEW WAR ON TERROR (NR) -- NOT RATED
The sociopolitical commentator lectures at MIT in this documentary. 8 p.m. Wednesday at Zeitgeist
NOAM CHOMSKY: THE WORLD AFTER SEPTEMBER 11 (NR) -- NOT RATED The sociopolitical commentator discusses the ramifications of the terrorist attacks. Also showing: Our Grief Is Not a Cry for War, film about a family who lost its father but still protests the U.S. war on terror. 8 p.m. Thursday at Zeitgeist
NOT TOO YOUNG TO DIE (CAPITAL PUNISHMENT FOR JUVENILE OFFENDERS) (NR) -- NOT RATED
Zeitgeist's "Juvenile In/Justice" series continues with this look at the justice system's treatment of minors, particularly in terms of capital crimes. Also showing: Lardeo and Law. Both films by F. Ryden. 8 p.m. Tuesday at Zeitgeist
THE QUEEN OF THE DAMNED (R) -- C+
Another adaptation of New Orleans' own Anne Rice's work suffers in its journey to the big screen. While Interview With the Vampire suffered from a poorly chosen all-star cast, this film is "damned" by a poorly chosen no-star cast and scattered direction. (Simmons) Palace 16, Palace 20, Plaza
RESIDENT EVIL (R) -- NOT RATED
The popular video game (and the books it inspired) comes to the big screen with the help of Milla Jovovich, Eric Mabius, and Michelle Rodriguez. Paul Anderson (not to be confused with Paul Thomas Anderson) directs. Chalmette, Galleria, Palace 12, Palace 16, Palace 20, Plaza
RETURN TO NEVERLAND (G) -- NOT RATED
At long last, Disney finally offers a sequel to its 1953 animated classic, Peter Pan. Chalmette, Palace 12, Palace 16, Palace 20
SHOWTIME (PG-13) -- NOT RATED
Two cops -- grizzled veteran Robert De Niro and frustrated actor Eddie Murphy -- are recruited to join a reality-based TV cop show in this action comedy by Tom Dey (Shanghai Noon). Think The Hard Way meets 48 Hours, the latter of which starred Murphy, which makes you wonder about Murphy's career. Chalmette, Downtown Joy, Galleria, Palace 12, Palace 16, Palace 20, Plaza
SNOW DOGS (PG) -- NOT RATED
Cuba Gooding Jr. winds up in Alaska's Iditarod dog-sled race. Palace 16
THE TIME MACHINE (PG-13) -- NOT RATED
Simon Wells (The Prince of Egypt) makes his live-action debut by directing a remake of the 1960 film based on the science-fiction classic written by his great-grandfather, H.G. Wells. Guy Pearce (Memento), Jeremy Irons (Reversal of Fortune) and Orlando Jones (Evolution) co-star. Chalmette, Galleria, Palace 12, Palace 16, Palace 20
TOGETHER (R) -- A
Lukas Moodysson's riotous comedy looks at the self-indulgent nonsense of a 1975 Stockholm hippie commune. The picture's brilliance resides in the filmmaker's deft ability to skewer the communitarians' intellectual pretense even as he makes us care about them as people. (Barton) 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 18, at Canal Place, sponsored by the New Orleans Film Festival
WE WERE SOLDIERS (R) -- NOT RATED
Mel Gibson leads a battalion of outnumbered U.S. troops against the Vietnamese in the battle of la Drang, the first major battle of the Vietnam war in this fact-based war film by Randall Wallace. Chalmette, Galleria, Palace 12, Palace 16, Palace 20
