ABANDON (PG-13) -- Psycho-thriller features
Katie Holmes as an overachieving college student still dealing with the disappearance
of her boyfriend two years earlier, and recovering alcoholic detective Benjamin
Bratt. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette
APOLLO 13 THE IMAX EXPERIENCE (PG) -- Ron
Howard's 1995 film about the doomed space flight (starring Tom Hanks, Kevin
Bacon and Ed Harris) becomes the first 35mm live-action film to be digitally
remastered for IMAX viewing. Entergy IMAX
THE BARBERSHOP (PG-13) -- 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
BROWN SUGAR (PG-13) -- Record-label
rep Taye Diggs and reporter Sanaa Lathan, two longtime friends, feel themselves
suddenly drawn into romantic entanglements in this romantic comedy from Rick
Famuyiwa (The Wood). AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Downtown Joy,
Hollywood Cinemas 9
FIDEL (NR) -- Estela
Bravo directed this documentary about Cuba's communist dictator, Fidel Castro,
who has survived four decades of American resistance to his regime. Features
tons of archival footage. 7:30 p.m. Friday and Sunday at Zeitgeist
FORMULA 51 (R) -- Shady chemist Samuel
L. Jackson tries to peddle his new rave drug in England but runs into conflicts
with British partner Robert Carlyle in this action crime comedy directed by
Ronny Yu. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette
GHOST SHIP (R) -- A salvage crew gets
more than it bargained for when it finds a long-lost passenger ship in this
seasonally friendly film starring Gabriel Byrne, Ron Eldard and Julianna Margulies.
AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas
9
HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION (R) --
This chapter in the endless Halloween franchise,
which was released over the summer, returns for the proper seasonal timing.
AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
HAUNTED CASTLE (PG) -- Combination of
live-action characters and computer-generated scenes fill this 3-D version of
the Faustian tale. Entergy IMAX
IGBY GOES DOWN (R) -- B- Burr Steers'
black comedy is the story of a poor little rich boy (Kieran Culkin) who wants
to punish his narcissistic mother (Susan Sarandon). The picture wants to be
a Gen Y Catcher in the Rye, but its protagonist is the opposite of Holden
Caulfield. (Barton) Canal Place
INTO THE DEEP: 3D (NR) -- IMAX dives
deep into underwater to explore sea life. Entergy IMAX
JACKASS: THE MOVIE (R) -- The popular
MTV show comes to the big screen, directed by creator/writer Jeff Tremaine.
AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas
9
JONAH -- A VEGGIE TALES MOVIE (G) -- The
direct-to-video animated children's series hits the big screen, with a digestible
Christian theme. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
JOURNEY INTO AMAZING CAVES (NR) -- Two
female covers discover the wonder of the underground in Greenland, Mexico and
the Grand Canyon. Entergy IMAX
KNOCKAROUND GUYS (R) -- Young New York
gangstas Vin Diesel, Seth Green, Barry Pepper and Andrew Davoli are forced to
go to Montana to retrieve some loot in this testosterone fest co-starring Harvey
Keitel and John Malkovich. AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
MOONLIGHT MILE (PG-13) -- Jake Gyllenhaal
goes to live with the parents (Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon) of his dead fiance,
only to fall in love with another woman in this '70s-era melodrama written and
directed by Brad Silberling. Palace 20
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). (Barton) AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
NUTCRACKER 3D (NR) --
The classic holiday tale comes to the very,
very big screen. Opens Friday at Entergy IMAX
OF MEN AND GODS (NR) -- Zeitgeist offers
the U.S. theatrical premiere of this award-winning documentary about the clash
and blending of homosexuality and Vodou religion in Haiti. (Followed by a screening
of Everything Must Come to Light, a short documentary about three lesbian
women who are traditional healers in Soweto. 9:30 p.m. Friday and Sunday
at Zeitgeist
PAID IN FULL (R) -- No, it's not the
biography of master rapper Rakim, but a fact-based story about a Harlem drug
lord (Wood Harris) who has a crisis of conscience after building his illicit
empire in the 1980s. Charles Stone III, he of the wildly popular Budweiser "Whazzzzup!"
commercials, makes his feature-film directing debut. Co-stars Mekhi Phifer,
Cam'ron, Kevin Carroll, Esai Morales and Remo Greene. This story also was covered
in the documentary Game Over (Part 1). AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
POKEMAN 4EVER (G) -- 4Ever, as in endless.
This is the fourth in the series of the popular animation characters. Chalmette
PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (R) -- Director Paul
Thomas Anderson and comedian Adam Sandler both take dramatic turns in this story
of an emotionally bankrupt businessman who learns to overcome years of abuse
by his sisters and fall in love with a woman (Emily Watson). Supporting cast
features Philip Seymour Hoffman and Luis Guzman. Sander's received rave reviews
for his performance, while Anderson actually made a film that is less than two
hours. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 20, Canal Place
RED DRAGON (R) -- Anthony Hopkins returns
as Hannibal Lecter in this rare bird, a remake of the first of the series, 1986's
little-known Manhunter. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20,
Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9
THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (R) --
Ten18 Films' "Film Lounge" series
concludes with the screening of this 1985 cult classic about zombies run amock
in, of course, a cemetery. Directed by Alien screenwriter Dan O'Bannon,
and starring Clu Gulager. 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Mother-in-Law Lounge
THE RING (PG-13) -- Journalist Naomi
Watts (Mulholland Drive) finds a videotape whose legacy includes the
death of everyone who lays their hands on it in this thriller directed by Gore
Verbinski (The Mexican) and based on the 1998 Japanese film of the same
name. Co-stars Chris Cooper and Brian Cox. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16,
AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9
SECRETARY (R) -- B+ Director Steven
Shainberg has done the unthinkable: craft a witty, surprisingly sincere love
story out of a sado-masochistic relationship between a dysfunctional young woman
(Maggie Gyllenhaal) and her attorney boss (James Spader). S&M has rarely been
portrayed with much honesty or sympathy on film, and the two stars' performances
underscore a strange sense of tenderness even while giving a nod to the understandably
humorous elements of the subject matter. Gyllenhaal, sometimes endearing, sometimes
affected, forges an impressive chemistry with Spader, who's come out of nowhere
to turn in some of his best work. (Simmons) Canal Place
SEX AND LUCIA (NR) -- A Julio Medem's
sexually explicit romance is the story of a blocked novelist who learns he's
fathered a child in a one-night stand. The writer's attempt to forge a relationship
with his child produces material for a new book but endangers his relationship
with his live-in girlfriend. A brilliant metafictional puzzle, this picture
should make a star of Paz Vega in the title role. (Barton) (Reviewed in this
issue.) Opens Friday at Canal Place
SPACE STATION 3D (NR) -- A 3-D look
at the International Space Station. Entergy IMAX
SPIRITED AWAY (PG) -- A- Japanese animation
legend Hayao Miyazaki scores with a fanciful Alice-in-Wonderland tale of a 10-year-old
girl named Chihiro who must navigate her way through the shape-shifters and
sorceresses who populate an enchanted bathhouse. Stunningly rendered, but some
scenes may be too weird even for kids raised on the Cartoon Network. Toy
Story's John Lasseter expertly dubbed the English-language release using
first-stringers in Disney's voice-over team. (Tisserand). Canal Place
SWEET HOME ALABAMA (PG-13) -- Reese
Witherspoon must return to her small Alabama hometown and obtain a divorce from
her socioeconomically challenged husband in order to marry her New York City
beau in this romantic comedy directed by Andy Tennant. AMC Palace 12, AMC
Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9
THE TRANSPORTER (PG-13) -- Trusted
delivery man Jason Statham (Snatch) gets into mob trouble when he breaks
his own rule of not knowing what he's delivering. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace
16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Downtown Joy, Hollywood Cinemas 9
THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE (PG-13) --
Jonathan Demme directs Mark Wahlberg and Thandie Newton in this remake of the
1963 thriller, Charade, which starred Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn.
A woman about to divorce her husband learns that not only is he dead, but a
man claims that he is owed a lot of money from the husband. Also stars Tim Robbins.
AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 20
TUCK EVERLASTING (PG)
--Teen Alexis Bledel stumbles onto her neighbors' own private little fountain
of youth in this film co-starring William Hurt, Ben Kingsley and Sissy Spacek.
AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Hollywood Cinemas 9
THE TUXEDO (PG-13) --
Through a series of wacky mishaps, Jackie
Chan goes from cab driver to chauffeur to U.S. governmental spy who kicks much
ass after putting on a gizmo-filled tuxedo. AMC
Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
WAKING UP IN RENO (R) -- Billy Bob Thornton,
Natasha Richardson, Patrick Swayze and Charlize Theron form two couples from
Arkansas who decide to make a road trip to a monster truck show in Nevada in
this romantic comedy. (Can you spot the true Southerners in this cast?)
AMC Palace 20
WHITE OLEANDER (PG-13)
-- Michelle Pfeiffer, Alison Lohman, Robin Wright Penn and Renee Zellweger co-star
in this adaptation of Janet Finch's book about a daughter's opportunity to free
her mother, imprisoned for poisoning the woman's ex-boyfriend. AMC Palace
12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Prytania
