8 MILE (R) -- C+ Semi-autobiographical it might be, but 8 Mile
is smaller than life. The raw energy and talent of Eminem is dampened by a too-long
script and Curtis Hanson's torpid direction. Kim Basinger and Brittany Murphy
give tired performances in a film only briefly invigorated by its portrayal
of Detroit's hip-hop club scene. (Carlson) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16,
AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Downtown Joy
ABANDONED (NR) -- B+ Arpad Sopsits' autobiographical story about growing
up in a Hungarian orphanage during the Cold War is as grim a coming-of-age tale
as I have ever encountered. A deft metaphor for all of life behind the Iron
Curtain during the Soviet Era, this picture isn't one you'll soon forget. (Barton)
9:15 p.m. daily through Thursday at Zeitgeist
ADAM SANDLER'S 8 CRAZY NIGHTS (PG-13) -- Adam Sandler meets animation
meets Hanukkah meets basketball meets musicals in this bizarre holiday-season
film from the popular comedian. Also features the voices of fellow SNL alums
Jon Lovitz and Kevin Nealon. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20,
Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9
ANALYZE THAT (R) -- Director Harold Ramis and actors Robert De Niro
and Billy Crystal reunite for this sequel to the 1999 mob comedy Analyze
This. Here, Paul Vitti (De Niro) is fresh out of prison and dealing with
retirement from the "family business," while his shrink (Crystal) is dealing
with the pressure of taking over his own family business. AMC Palace 12,
AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9
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
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 and make points, usually by inserting himself into
the mix, but has trouble finding a focus in his theme. (Simmons) Canal Place
DIE ANOTHER DAY (PG-13) -- Unless you've been living under a
rock for the past month, you know the James Bond series celebrates its 40th
anniversary with Pierce Brosnan sexing up American spy Halle Berry as the two
team up to battle the Axis of Evil. Directed by Lee Tamahori (Mulholland
Falls). AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood
Cinemas 9
THE EMPEROR'S CLUB (PG-13) -- The relationship between a prep-school
teacher (Kevin Kline) and one of his troubled students (Emile Hirsch) over a
three-decade span is covered in this melodrama by director Michael Hoffman.
AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 20
EMPIRE (R) -- Drug dealer John Leguizmo tries to quit while he's ahead,
only to find out that he's been ripped off by investor Peter Sarsgaard and girlfriend
Denise Richards. Debut from writer-director Franc Reyes. Excellent supporting
cast includes Ruben Blades, Sonia Braga and Isabella Rossellini. AMC Palace
16, AMC Palace 20
EXTREME OPS (R) -- A film crew shooting extreme-sports dudes near the
former Yugoslavian border accidently catches a Serbian war criminal on the lam
in this action film starring Rufus Sewell, Rupert Graves and Bridgette Wilson-Sampras.
AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette
FAR FROM HEAVEN (R) -- A Todd Haynes' stylized, almost painterly drama
tells the story of a white 1957 suburban Connecticut housewife whose husband
is grappling with his homosexuality, while she takes refuge in a friendship
with her black gardener. This picture is smart, understated and profoundly affecting.
Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid and Dennis Haysbert are all superb. (Barton)Canal
Place
FRIDA (R) -- B+ Salma Hayek shines in her portrayal of Mexican artist
Frida Kahlo. So does Alfred Molina as husband/artist Diego Rivera in this paradoxically
vibrant and episodic bio-pic from Julie Taymor (Titus), who does a marvelous
job of literally bringing Kahlo's art to life. (Simmons) Canal Place
FRIDAY AFTER NEXT (R) -- Ice Cube and Mike Epps reunite for
the third installment of the Friday series, this time with the pair working
as mall security guards and trying to catch the thief who stole their holiday
presents. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Downtown
Joy, Hollywood Cinemas 9
HALF PAST DEAD (PG-13) -- No, it's not about Steven Seagal's flagging
career, but it does star Seagal as an undercover agent in a prison trying to
thwart a convict from convincing a death row inmate into telling him where the
condemned man hid tons of stolen government gold. Happens every day! Directing
debut by Don Michael Paul, who previously shot his vision through Silk Stalking
episodes on USA Network. AMC Palace 16
HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS (PG) -- C- This
second installment is boring and utterly conventional -- all two hours and 50
minutes of it. It's pretty apparent that too much time is spent on how everything
looks and not enough on how any of it feels. Kenneth Branagh as
the wryly pompous Gilderoy Lockhart is one of the only bright spots. Stay home
and read the delightful book instead. (Carlson) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace
16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Downtown Joy, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Prytania
HAUNTED CASTLE (PG) -- Combination of live-action characters and computer-generated
scenes fill this 3-D version of the Faustian tale. Entergy IMAX
INTO THE DEEP: 3D -- IMAX dives deep into underwater to explore sea
life. Entergy IMAX
THE MAN FROM ELYSIAN FIELDS (R) -- B- George Hickenlooper's morality
play is the story of a struggling writer (Andy Garcia) who begins working as
a gigolo to support his wife (Julianna Margulies) and child. Nice atmospherics
and a strong cast including Olivia Williams as Garcia's client, James Coburn
as her author husband and Mick Jagger as Garcia's boss help make up for a script
that manages to be both preposterous and predictable. Canal Place
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 20
THE IMAX NUTCRACKER 3D (NR) -- The classic holiday tale comes to the
very, very big screen. Entergy IMAX
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. (Simmons) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
THE SANTA CLAUSE 2 (G) -- B- Little kids should probably never hear
that Santa Claus is really the voice of Buzz Lightyear, but Tim Allen's charm
provides decent holiday glow to this seasonal sequel. The storyline -- Santa
has to land a Mrs. Claus to stay Santa -- makes for a few genuinely sweet moments.
Meanwhile, a fascist Santa clone (who might frighten a few small fry) makes
trouble back at the Pole, and a farting reindeer brings cheer to the little
kid in all of us. (Tisserand) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20,
Hollywood Cinemas 9
SOLARIS (PG-13) -- B George Clooney and Natascha McElhone star in Steven
Soderbergh's remake of the 1972 sci-fi thriller by Andrei Tarkovsky, which in
turn was adapted from the novel by Stanislaw Lem. Soderbergh continues to make
well-crafted movies, but his focus on the love story ironically gives the film
an unfocused, self-conscious feel. (Simmons) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16,
AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9
SPACE STATION (NR) -- A 3-D look at the International Space Station.
Entergy IMAX
STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF MOTOWN (PG) -- B This heartfelt documentary
finally shines the spotlight on the Funk Brothers, the group of session musicians
who played on nearly every Motown hit and anchored the label's trademark sound.
Trimming a few live performances and B-rate "reenactments" could tighten things
up, but it's compelling viewing for fans of American music and unsung heroes.
(Jordan) (Reviewed in this issue's "Set Break.")Canal Place
TREASURE PLANET (G) -- Co-directors Ron Clements and John Musker (Aladdin,
The Little Mermaid) serve up Disney's holiday animation offering, an
outer-space version of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic Treasure Island.
AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas
9
THE TRIALS OF HENRY KISSINGER (NR) -- B Documentarians Eugene
Jarecki and Alex Gibney are ardent witnesses for the prosecution in the case against
former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. But charging
Kissinger as a war criminal is perhaps not so easy as they make it seem. This
film is marred by sins of omission rather than commission: there is little acknowledgement
that Kissinger did not act in a vacuum. (Carlson) 7:30 p.m. daily through Thursday
at Zeitgeist
WES CRAVEN PRESENTS: THEY (PG-13) -- No, the (former) master isn't
director; perhaps that's for the best. Robert Harmon (The Hitcher, Nowhere
to Run) directs this thriller about a grad student who tries to get to the
bottom of her old childhood fear of the dark after getting another round of
the willies at night. AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood
Cinemas 9
DONNIE DARKO (R) -- Was this the best film from 2001 not to
enjoy a theatrical release in New Orleans? See for yourself as those quirky
Gyllenhaal siblings (Jake and Maggie) dance about this bizarre dark comedy from
writer-director Richard Kelly. 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Mother-in-Law Lounge
