ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS (R) -- NOT RATED
Ice Cube and Mike Epps co-star in this adventure about a bounty hunter who teams with his former prey for a diamond heist. Plaza
BLADE II (R) -- NOT RATED
Wesley Snipes is back as the action-packed vampire hunter who this time must form an uneasy alliance with the blood-suckers in order to defeat viral-infected monsters that can suck blood with the touch of a hand. AMC West Bank Palace 16, AMC Elmwood Palace 20
THE CAT'S MEOW (PG-13) -- B+
Peter Bogdanovich's (Last Picture Show) first film in a decade offers a fictionalized version of the 1924 Hollywood scandal involving media mogul William Randolph Hearst, actress Marion Davis and Charlie Chaplin aboard Hearst's yacht. Bogdanovich ably captures this Hollywood legend with great aplomb, and Kirsten Dunst and Edward Hermann are great in the leads, but other characterizations and a plodding pace get in the way. (Simmons) Canal Place
CHANGING LANES (R) -- B
Roger Michell's urban drama stars Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Affleck as two contemporary New Yorkers who get in a fender bender and then spend a long day in a series of escalating attacks on each other. (Barton) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Prytania
CLOCKSTOPPERS (PG) -- NOT RATED
A scientist tries to undo his own handiwork after developing a mechanism that speeds up anything it hits -- including his own kids. AMC Palace West Bank 16, AMC Elmwood Palace 20
DEUCES WILD (R) -- NOT RATED
Gang wars erupt in Brooklyn during the summer of 1958, the first year after the beloved Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, in this film from Scott Kalvert (The Basketball Diaries). Stars Fairuza Balk, Matt Dillon, Stephen Dorff, James Franco, Balthazar Getty, Deborah Harry, Frankie Muniz and Brad Renfro. AMC Clearview Palace 12, AMC West Bank Palace 16, AMC Elmwood Palace 20
HIGH CRIMES (PG-13) -- NOT RATED
Hot-shot San Francisco attorney Ashley Judd turns to retired military lawyer Morgan Freeman to help defend husband James Caviezel in military court. Carl Franklin (One True Thing) directs. AMC Palace Clearview 12, AMC West Bank Palace 16, AMC Elmwood Palace 20
HOLLYWOOD ENDING (PG-13) -- B+
Woody Allen's annual film concerns a neurotic but talented film director (Allen) whose career has fallen on hard times. The possibility of artistic resurrection arrives via a project to be produced by his beautiful ex-wife (Tea Leoni), but the director struggles to overcome his bitterness over her leaving him. This is Allen's funniest (which isn't to say his best) film since Mighty Aphrodite. Think Annie Hall lite. (Barton) (Reviewed in this issue.) AMC Elmwood Palace 20
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. AMC Clearview Palace 12, AMC West Bank Palace 16, AMC Elmwood Palace 20, Chalmette
ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS (R) -- B+
Writer-director Lone Scherfig has done the near-unthinkable: crafted a romantic comedy that still sticks to the spirit of the sometimes overly righteous Dogma 95 credo. In Danish with English subtitles. (Simmons) (Reviewed in this issue.) Canal Place
JASON X (R) -- NOT RATED
Because you can never get enough of a good thing, one of horror film's great bad guys returns for a 10th go-around at the innocent prey. James Isaac directs. AMC West Bank Palace 16, AMC Elmwood Palace 20, Chalmette, Downtown Joy, Plaza
JOSHUA (G) -- NOT RATED
Based on the first installment of a popular Christian novel series, this theatrical-release debut from John Purdy stars Tony Goldwyn (Ghost) as a carpenter who moves to a small town and whose seemingly miraculous feats get the townfolk buzzing that he might be the Second Coming. AMC Clearview Palace 12, AMC West Bank Palace 16, AMC Elmwood Palace 20
LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT (PG-13) -- C
Stephen Herek's retro romantic comedy stars Angelina Jolie as an ambitious newscaster and Edward Burns as her laid-back camera man. A hokey plot turn causes Jolie to think she's about to die and causes her to reassess her priorities. This is as fresh as last week's bread and just about as warm. (Barton) AMC Clearview Palace 12, AMC West Bank Palace 16, AMC Elmwood Palace 20, Chalmette
MONSOON WEDDING (R) -- B
Mira Nair's (Mississippi Masala) mostly festive look at an arranged marriage in contemporary Delhi between an otherwise strikingly modern bride and groom is full of energy and joy but only narrowly skirts narrative disaster in a late turn about incest and pedophilia. (Barton) Canal Place
MURDER BY NUMBERS (R) -- B
Director Barbet Schroeder and producer/New Orleans resident Susan Hoffman return to familiar ground with this tepid psychological crime thriller about a detective (Sandra Bullock) tracking a Leopold-Loeb-type pair of killers (Ryan Gosling, Michael Pitt) while battling her demons. (Simmons) AMC Clearview Palace 12, AMC West Bank Palace 16, AMC Elmwood Palace 20, Chalmette
THE NEW GUY (PG-13) -- NOT RATED
High school geek DJ Qualls gets expelled from school and sent to prison, where cellmate Eddie Griffin shows him how to act "cool" before he's released and goes to a new school to start fresh. Trouble ensues when a bully from the previous school shows up at the new one. AMC Clearview Palace 12, AMC West Bank Palace 16, AMC Elmwood Palace 20, Chalmette, Plaza
PANIC ROOM (R) -- NOT RATED
Single mom Jodie Foster and her daughter hide out from burglars Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam and Jared Leto in the supposedly secure room of a new townhouse, not realizing the room hides the goods the burglars seek. David Fincher (Se7en) directs. AMC Clearview Palace 12, AMC Elmwood Palace 20
PARDON! PARDON! THE CAJUN MARDI GRAS CHASE (NR) -- NOT RATED
Zeitgeist founder René Broussard directed this documentary about a unique Mardi Gras celebration just 30 minutes outside New Orleans in Gheens, a celebration featuring an old tradition of male townfolk dressed as ghouls who chase children around in a Lent-inspired ritual. 8 p.m. Friday-Sunday at Zeitgeist
THE ROOKIE (G) -- B+
Director John Lee Hancock and star Dennis Quaid prove that baseball diamonds are a movie-going girl's best friend in this big league, based-on-a-true-story, charming family film. (Carlson) AMC Clearview Palace 12, AMC West Bank Palace 16, AMC Elmwood Palace 20, Plaza
THE SCORPION KING (PG-13) -- F
A worthwhile film franchise goes horribly wrong with this tale of a legendary Akkadian fighter. A poor script, lackluster direction and hammy supporting cast chip away at The Rock, who otherwise shows a moment or two of actual action potential. (Carlson) AMC Clearview Palace 12, AMC West Bank Palace 16, AMC Elmwood Palace 20, Chalmette, Downtown Joy, Plaza
SPIDER-MAN (PG-13) -- B
Tobey Maguire spins a believable web as your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in this Sam Raimi effort. Superb casting, excellent use of Matrix technology and occasional flashes of visual brilliance make this one a solid summer flick, but it's not nearly the total comic book package that Darkman -- or even Batman -- was. (Carlson) AMC Clearview Palace 12, AMC West Bank Palace 16, AMC Elmwood Palace 20, Chalmette, Downtown Joy, Plaza
STAR WARS: EPISODE II -- ATTACK OF THE CLONES (PG) -- A-
The Empire bounces back as George Lucas brings us ever closer to the Star Wars mythology we know and love. Plenty of action, stunning visuals, a kick-ass Yoda and Hayden Christiansen's pitch-perfect performance as young Anakin Skywalker make this one more The Empire Strikes Back than Phantom Menace. The fun is definitely back in the Force. (Carlson) Opens Thursday at AMC Clearview Palace 12, AMC West Bank Palace 16, AMC Elmwood Palace 20, Chalmette, Prytania
THE SWEETEST THING (R) -- NOT RATED
Cameron Diaz's talents are on full display as she portrays a party girl who tries to settle down after finding her Mr. Right -- who just happens to be engaged. AMC Elmwood Palace 20
UNFAITHFUL (R) -- NOT RATED
Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction) directs this remake of the French film La Femme Infidele, starring Richard Gere, Diane Lane and Olivier Martinez in a dangerous love triangle. AMC Clearview Palace 12, AMC West Bank Palace 16, AMC Elmwood Palace 20, Chalmette
Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN (NR) -- A
Alfonso Cuaron's sexually explicit road "comedy" about two teenage boys and the 28-year-old runaway wife they take to the beach is really an elaborate allegory about Mexican history and society. (Barton) Canal Place
