13 CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ONE THING (R) -- NOT RATED
Jill Sprecher (Clockwatchers) directs Matthew McConaughey, John Turturro, Clea DuVall and Amy Irving in this ensemble piece about interconnected lives in New York City and the possibility of karma. Canal Place
APOLLO 13 THE IMAX EXPERIENCE (PG) -- NOT RATED
Ron Howard's 1995 film about the doomed space flight (starring Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Ed Harris) becomes the first 35 mm live-action film to be digitally remastered for IMAX viewing. Entergy IMAX
AUSTIN POWERS IN GOLDMEMBER (PG-13) -- A-
Perhaps the funniest of the Austin Powers trilogy, Goldmember introduces the eponymous bad guy, a Dutch madman maimed in a smelting accident (Mike Myers), as well as Powers patriarch Nigel (Michael Caine). (Carlson) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 20
THE BARBERSHOP (PG-13) -- NOT RATED
Employees at a Chicago barbershop kick the gossip and speculation when a $50,000 reward is offered for help in solving a recent bank heist. Cedric the Entertainer and Ice Cube lead an ensemble cast. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Downtown Joy, Hollywood Cinemas 9
BLUE CRUSH (PG-13) -- B
Director John Stockwell (Crazy/Beautiful) delivers tasty waves and a slightly cool buzz of a plot in this surprisingly charming film about a surfer girl (Kate Bosworth) who tries to pull herself up with a decent showing at a championship meet in Hawaii. (Simmons) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
CITY BY THE SEA (R) -- NOT RATED
New York cop Robert De Niro investigates a murder only to find his erstwhile son James Franco is a prime suspect. Frances McDormand and Eliza Dushku co-star. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Prytania
FEAR DOT COM (R) -- NOT RATED
Police detective Stephen Dorff teams up with health examiner Natascha McElhone to investigate a series of bizarre deaths, all of which appear to be related to a Web site. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette
THE GOOD GIRL (R) -- A-
This black comedy starring Jennifer Aniston exposes the thin veneer of morality to reveal the bedrock selfishness in human behavior. Jennifer Aniston does Oscar-worthy work as a retail clerk cheating with a co-worker (Jake Gyllenhaal) on her doofus husband of seven years (John C. Reilly). (Barton) AMC Palace 20
HAUNTED CASTLE (PG) -- NOT RATED
Combination of live-action characters and computer-generated scenes fill this 3-D version of the Faustian tale. Entergy IMAX
MARTIN LAWRENCE LIVE: RUNTELDAT (R) -- NOT RATED
The comic presents his first concert performance on film since 1994's wildly popular You So Crazy. AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
MEN IN BLACK II (PG-13) -- B+
The sequel to the 1997 box office barn burner Men in Black is fresher and funnier -- although even more familiar -- than ever. Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Rip Torn obviously relish the opportunity to reprise their roles. (Carlson) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Hollywood Cinemas 9
MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING (PG) --
B+ Nia Vardalos wrote and stars in this romantic comedy about a Greek-American woman from a traditional family who falls in love with a WASPy school teacher (a charming John Corbett) and has to navigate the stormy seas of her family's disapproval. (Barton) (Reviewed in this issue.) AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Canal Place, Chalmette
NOTORIOUS C.H.O. (NR) -- B
Comedienne Margaret Cho talks blue until she's blue in the face in this raunchy, uneven and decidedly uncinematic performance film shot by Lorene Machado. Cho's imitations of her mother have grown thin, but she sure knows her way around the human anatomy, providing the film's funniest, nastiest moments. (Simmons) (Reviewed in this issue.) Canal Place
ONE HOUR PHOTO (R) -- NOT RATED
Robin Williams gets creepy again, this time as Seymour (get it?), a lonely film developer who's obsessed with the family of one of his customers. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Canal Place
POSSESSION (PG-13) -- A-
Neil LaBute artfully adapts the much-loved A.S. Byatt novel, which tells the story of two modern-day academics (Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart) and their pursuit of the romantic tale of two Victorian-era poets (Jeremy Northam and a luminous Jennifer Ehle). (Carlson) AMC Palace 20
ROAD TO PERDITION (R) -- C
Sam Mendes' rampantly disappointing follow-up to American Beauty is a Depression-era crime drama that ought to be about a father's search for redemption but is instead about a father's search for revenge. (Barton) AMC Palace 20
SERVING SARA (R) -- NOT RATED
Process server Matthew Perry gets duped into serving divorce papers for shady lady Elizabeth Hurley in this romantic action comedy from Reginald Hudlin (House Party, Boomerang). AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
SIGNS (PG-13) -- B-
M. Night Shyamalan continues what feels like a downward career trajectory after his thrilling debut, The Sixth Sense, with this manipulative, choppy and ultimately thin exploration of a creeping alien invasion. (Simmons) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9
SIMONE (PG-13) -- B+
Writer/director Andrew Niccol's comedy stars Al Pacino as an unsuccessful movie director who salvages his career by creating a beautiful, talented, daring "synthespian" to star in his films. (Barton) AMC Palace 12
SPACE STATION (NR) -- NOT RATED --
A 3-D look at the International Space Station. Entergy IMAX
SPIDER-MAN (PG-13) -- B
Tobey Maguire spins a believable web as your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in this Sam Raimi effort. (Carlson) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9
SPY KIDS 2 (PG) -- NOT RATED
Robert Rodriguez's follow-up to last year's successful romp with a brother-sister team taking over for their spy parents (Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino) when mom and pop are put out of action. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Hollywood Cinemas 9
STEALING HARVARD (PG-13) -- NOT RATED
Slackers Jason Lee and Tom Green turn to crime to help finance the Harvard education of Lee's sister in this comedy from former Kid in the Hall Bruce McCulloch (1999's hilarious Dick). Co-stars Dennis Farina, Seymour Cassel and Will & Grace's Meg Mullally. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9
STUART LITTLE 2 (PG) -- B
This sequel still doesn't measure up to E.B. White's book, but it easily tops the first film in whimsy and age-appropriateness. Michael J. Fox voices the squeaky hero and James Woods is a villainous falcon, but Nathan Lane gets the film's best laughs as a bitchy house cat. (Tisserand) AMC Palace 16
SWIMFAN (PG-13) -- NOT RATED
Fatal Attraction goes to high school when new girl Erika Christensen seduces stud swimmer Jesse Bradford then gets rabbit-boiling mad when he blows her off. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9
UNDISPUTED (R) -- NOT RATED
Boxing champ Ving Rhames gets sent to prison on a rape charge, only to be forced into a bout with prison boxing champ Wesley Snipes in this film co-starring New Orleans' own Master P as the leader of a prison rap group. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Downtown Joy
XXX (PG-13) -- NOT RATED
Overnight action hunk Vin Diesel reunites with The Fast and the Furious director Rob Cohen and producer Neil Moritz in this story of an extreme-sports wild man (Diesel) recruited by the government's Samuel L. Jackson to bust up a Russian crime gang. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Downtown Joy, Hollywood Cinemas 9
