ABOUT A BOY (PG-13) -- B+ Chris and Paul Weitz step up in class with this comedy (from the Nick Hornby novel) about a rich idler who prides himself on avoiding all human relationships that might obligate him in any way. Hugh Grant is in top form as the protagonist. (Barton) AMC Palace 20
BAD COMPANY (PG-13) -- NOT RATED CIA veteran Anthony Hopkins recruits the "street-smart" brother (Chris Rock) of his late, Harvard-educated partner to go after the bad guys in this salt-and-pepper/May-December/Yankee-Brit/fish-out-of-water action romp from Joel Schumacher. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
THE BOURNE IDENTITY (PG-13) -- C Doug Liman's spy thriller seems an odd artifact in the post-9/11 world. Matt Damon stars as an amnesiac assassin on the lam from his own CIA handlers. Franka Potente is the innocent passerby who becomes his companion and romantic interest. Very little of this stands up to close inspection. All of it is as evanescent as steam. (Barton) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette
DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD (PG-13) -- NOT RATED Sandra Bullock, Ellen Burstyn, Ashley Judd and Maggie Smith bring bring to life Rebecca Wells' 1996 novel about a Louisiana playwright (Bullock) who moves to Seattle to get away from her mother, only to learn about mom's adventures through a diary. James Garner, Ron Eldard and Shirley Knight co-star. Thelma & Louise screenwriter Callie Khouri makes her directing debut. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Prytania
DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS (PG-13) -- B Stacy Peralta's documentary chronicles the birth of skateboarding and profiles the young 1970s athletes who brought the grace of figure skating and the daring of acrobatics to the grimy concrete of a bleak urban landscape. We learn less than we want to about the sport's early masters but we're surprisingly entertained throughout. (Barton) (Reviewed in this issue.)
ENOUGH (PG-13) -- C+ It's Sleeping With the Enemy with an aggressive twist. Deciding that the best defense is a good offense, battered wife J Lo stops running and learns to fight back when abusive husband Billy Campbell won't let her go. Good performances buoy a predictable script. (Carlson) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (PG) -- A- Oscar Wilde's comic confection sports a plot as twisty as a pretzel and about as nutritious. Director Oliver Parker's fine cast (including Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Judi Dench, Frances O'Connor and Reese Witherspoon) brings infectious zest to Wilde's tangy string of zingers about love and life. (Barton) Canal Place
INSOMNIA (R) -- B- Christopher Nolan (Memento) returns with an Oscar-winning cast (Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank) but a weak script and a conventional neo-noir thriller format in this curious remake of the 1997 Norwegian film of the same name. (Simmons) AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
JUWANNA MANN (PG-13) -- NOT RATED Tootsie takes it to the hoop with Miguel A. Nunez, Jr. as an outcast NBA player who goes drag in order to play in the WNBA. Complex sexual and gender issues (and laughs) ensue, with co-stars Vivica A. Fox and musical artists Ginuwine and Lil' Kim. Music-video director Jesse Vaughan makes his feature-film debut here. AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Downtown Joy, Plaza
LILO & STITCH (PG) -- NOT RATED A Hawaiian girl befriends what she thinks is a dog but actually is an alien on his way to alien prison in this animation film from Disney. Chris Sanders directed, co-wrote and provides the voice for Stitch, the alien cum pup. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Plaza
MINORITY REPORT (PG-13) -- B+ Steven Spielberg presents one of his most assured works in years, with Tom Cruise as a futuristic cop who prevents murders before they occur, only to find himself accused as a killer. (Simmons) (Reviewed in this issue.) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Canal Place, Chalmette, Plaza
MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING (PG) -- NOT RATED Nia Vardalos wrote and stars in the screen adaptation of her autobiographical one-woman play about the misadventures of a Greek woman marrying a non-Greek man. John Corbett (TV's Northern Exposure, Sex and the City) plays the Anglo. Executive produced by Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson, and directed by Joel Zwick, who directed Hanks in TV's Bosom Buddies back in the day. AMC Palace 20, Canal Place
SCOOBY-DOO (PG) -- B- Anyone for whom Scooby-Doo cartoons were an after-school staple should get a kick out of this silly romp. The now-fractious gang is summoned to amusement park Spooky Island by walking cartoon character Rowan Atkinson, ostensibly to figure out mysterious happenings involving his young patrons. Of course, there's more to it than that and bad guys abound -- and they'd have all gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for those meddling kids. Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) and a delightfully digitized Scooby are as kid-friendly as ever, but moments of more adult humor may make this one more appropriate for adults with a juvenile sense of humor. (Carlson) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC 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 Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Plaza
SPACE STATION (NR) -- NOT RATED This latest 3-D IMAX documentary captures the wonder of the International Space Station, which hovers 250 miles above Earth. Entergy IMAX
SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON (G) -- B In Shrek, the Dreamworks team flouted Disney convention by turning the beauty into a beast. In Spirit, they've again broken the rules -- this time by having the eponymous four-legged protagonist whinny and snort, but not talk. (Tisserand) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
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) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
THE SUM OF ALL FEARS (PG-13) -- NOT RATED Director Phil Alden Robinson and star Ben Affleck assume the helm of the Tom Clancy spy-thriller series featuring CIA superhero Jack Ryan. This time German neo-Nazis are trying to use a nuclear device they've swiped, use it at the Super Bowl, blame it on the Russians, and set off another Cold War. Phew! Morgan Freeman, Liev Schreiber, Bridget Moynahan, James Cromwell and Philip Baker Hall co-star. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
UNDERCOVER BROTHER (PG-13) -- B+ Eddie Griffin is hilarious in this surprisingly savvy parody of racism dressed up as an action comedy. No stereotype is left un-skewered in this uneven but wild ride, which also features Aunjanue Ellis, Denise Richards, Dave Chappelle and Neil Patrick Harris doing a very good impression of a very white man (go figure). (Simmons) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Downtown Joy, Plaza
WINDTALKERS (R) -- CJohn Woo's WWII action flick offers a novel but wholly inadequate examination of the Navajo radio men whose use of their own language formed the basis for a communication code the Japanese were never able to crack. The level of violence here is as high as the basic storytelling is poor. Aside from explosions there would be nothing to watch if it weren't for the cliches. (Barton) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette
