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 20, Chalmette
AUTO FOCUS (R) -- Paul Schrader (Affliction) directs Greg Kinnear
as Hogan's Heroes star Bob Crane, whose descent into videotaping his
many sex escapades may have led to his still-unsolved murder. Willem Dafoe co-stars
as sidekick John Carpenter (not the horror-flick director), who was a prime
suspect in the killing.AMC Palace 20, Canal Place
THE BARBERSHOP (PG-13) -- B Ice Cube and Cedric the Entertainer lead
a charming ensemble comedy about the day in the life at a Chicago barbershop.
Despite some needless cliches and thin character sketches, The Barbershop
joins this past summer's Undercover Brother as another witty dialogue
on race without getting bogged down in pretension. (Simmons)AMC Palace 16,
AMC Palace 20, Chalmette
BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE (R) -- B This typically heavy-handed and hilarious documentary from liberal gadfly Michael Moore (Roger and Me) is all over the map in its exploration of America's love/hate relationship with guns. Moore knows how to get a laugh, usually by inserting himself into the mix, but has trouble finding a focus in his theme. Not a wasted opportunity, but close. (Simmons) (Reviewed in this issue.) Canal Place
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
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
HAUNTED CASTLE (PG) -- Combination of live-action characters and computer-generated scenes fill this 3-D version of the Faustian tale. Entergy IMAX
I SPY (PG-13) -- In another in a long line of "loosely adapted" TV
shows, Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson team up in this action comedy from Betty
Thomas (Private Parts, Dr. Doolittle). AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace
16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9
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
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
MOONLIGHT MILE (PG-13) -- Jake Gyllenhaal goes to live with the parents (Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon) of his dead fiancee, 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. Entergy IMAX
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, Downtown Joy
POKEMAN 4EVER (G) -- 4Ever, as in endless. This is the fourth in the
series of the popular animation characters. Chalmette
PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (R) -- B Paul Thomas Anderson's comedy concerns
a shy businessman's (Adam Sandler) uncertain romance with a more sophisticated
woman (Emily Watson). Though likably quirky and adequately funny, this picture
doesn't measure up to Anderson's earlier work (Boogie Nights, Magnolia).
Sandler is surprisingly good, but Watson is largely wasted. (Barton) (Reviewed
in this issue.) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 20, Canal Place, Hollywood Cinemas
9
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 RING (PG-13) -- B- Despite some nice ideas and a great set-up,
Gore Verbinski's frightfest about a journalist (Naomi Watts) trying to unravel
the mystery behind a videotape that leads to death for all who watch it is ultimately
a disappointment. Watts is great at looking all spooked and concerned, but too
many cheap scare devices and an ultimately hollow foundation keep The Ring
from being as scary as it promises to be. (Simmons) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace
16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Prytania
THE SANTA CLAUSE 2 (G) -- Santa (Tim Allen) has to get married to retain
his lofty status in this sequel to the 1994 comedy. 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. (Simmons) 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
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
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 20
