25TH HOUR -- Spike
Lee directs Edward Norton as a guy who spends his last day before going to jail
for heroin dealing partying with friends Barry Pepper, Philip Seymour Hoffman
and Rosario Dawson. David Benioff adapts his own novel. Canal Place
ABOUT SCHMIDT (R) -- Alexander Payne
and Jim Taylor's offbeat drama is the story of a widower (Jack Nicholson)
who struggles to decide whether he should dissuade his sour daughter (Hope Davis)
from marrying her doofus boyfriend (Dermot Mulroney). (Barton) Canal Place,
AMC Palace 20
ADAPTATION (R) -- A Director
Spike Jonze and writer Charlie Kaufman, the creators of Being John Malkovich,
have done it again with this story of a blocked screenwriter (Nicolas Cage)
trying to adapt The Orchid Thief, a nonfiction bestseller by Susan
Orlean (Meryl Streep) about a renegade Florida botanist (Chris Cooper). Brilliant
performances and great writing position this piece of meta-cinema for lots
of award attention. (Barton) (Reviewed in this issue.) AMC Palace 12,
AMC Palace 20, Canal Place
ANTWONE FISHER (PG-13) -- Denzel
Washington makes his directing debut and co-stars in the fact-based story
of a troubled sailor (Derek Luke) who eventually becomes a Hollywood screenwriter. AMC
Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Canal Place
BECKETT ON FILM (NR) -- Zeitgeist's
presentation of films of the legendary playwright's works continues
this week with Program II: Neil Jordan's Not I,
Kieran J. Walsh's Rough for Theatre I, Charles Sturridge's Ohio
Impromptu,
and Atom Egoyan's Krapp's Last Tape; and Program III: Patricia
Rozema's Happy Days and David Mamet's Catastrophe. 7:30
p.m. Tuesday through Sunday at Zeitgeist
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (PG-13) -- B Steven
Spielberg's account of a teenager (Leonardo DiCaprio) who successfully
passed himself off as an airline pilot, a doctor and a lawyer is a fun romp
with a light brush of the director's established concerns about divorce
and a young man's search for a father figure. (Barton) AMC Palace
12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9
CHICAGO (PG-13) -- A- A
spectacular staging of the hit Broadway musical showcases a sizzling Catherine
Zeta-Jones as the notorious Velma Kelley. Richard Gere and RenŽe Zellweger,
although less comfortable with the physicality of their roles, both give
more than able performances as huckster lawyer Billy Flynn and his new leading
lady Roxie Hart, respectively. The only downer is watching Broadway icons
Chita Rivera (the original Kelley) and Christine Baranski relegated to secondary
roles. (Reviewed in this issue.) (Carlson) AMC Palace 20
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. The Grand
DRUMLINE (PG-13) -- A street drummer in Harlem brings his own sense of rhythm to a marching band after getting a scholarship to a college in the South. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, The Grand
EL BOLA (NR) -- Achero
Manas directed this drama about a 12-year-old boy who struggles to survive his
shabby home life and violent
surroundings, resorting to dangerous games that border on suicidal. Winner of
four Goya awards -- Spain's equivalent of the Oscar -- El Bola marks
the debut of Zeitgeist as the Southern hub for Film Movement, an independent
film distribution company started by Shooting Gallery founder and film producer
Larry Meistich (Sling Blade, You Can Count on Me), who will be
on hand this week for a reception and workshop. (Also screening: More,
an Academy Award-nominated short film by Mark Osborne.) 9:30 p.m. Friday through
Jan. 24 at Zeitgeist
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 16, The Grand
GANGS OF NEW YORK (R) -- A Martin
Scorsese's look at ethnic and religious violence in 19th century Manhattan
is cinematically brilliant. It has stunning production design, haunting cinematography,
searching themes and great acting headed by Daniel Day-Lewis and Leonardo
DiCaprio. (Barton) AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood
Cinemas 9
A GUY THING (PG-13) -- Jason
Lee wakes up next to Julia Stiles
after his bachelor party -- but he's engaged to her cousin (Selma Blair)!
(Now that's a hangover.) Just who's his intended, anyway? Directed
by Chris Koch (Snow Day). AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC
Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9
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
HAUNTED CASTLE (PG) -- Combination
of live-action characters and computer-generated scenes fill this 3-D version
of the Faustian tale. Entergy IMAX
HOT CHICK (PG-13) -- A
popular but rather bitchy teenage girl gets a little comeuppance when she
is magically transported into the body of Rob Schneider, who then proceeds
to get into a series of wacky situations. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16,
AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, The Grand
THE HOURS (PG-13) -- B Meryl
Streep outshines an otherwise capable cast in David Daldry's (Billy
Elliot) portentous adaptation of Michael Cunningham's Pulitzer Prize-winning
novel that serves as an homage of sorts to writer Virginia Woolf. Nicole
Kidman, prosthetic nose and all, stars as Woolf; stripped of virtually all
of her strengths (namely, vitality) she turns in a noble if dour performance.
Julianne Moore, who must've grown up on Meryl Streep movies, is at her
emotive finest. But taken as a whole, Cunningham's notions on the stifling
of female emotions are themselves stifling -- making us all afraid
of Virginia Woolf. (Simmons) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 20
JUST MARRIED (PG-13) -- Newlyweds
Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy are in for one bumpy ride of a honeymoon
in this romantic comedy from Shawn Levy (Big Fat Liar). AMC Palace
12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9
KANGAROO JACK (PG) -- Anthony
Anderson and Jerry O'Connell must retrieve $10,000 in stolen loot they
were supposed to deliver for the mob in Australia in this romp from David
McNally (Coyote Ugly). Estella Warren (Planet of the Apes)
co-stars. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood
Cinemas 9
LEWIS & CLARK: GREAT JOURNEY WEST (NR) -- The adventures of the famous
19th
century exporers hits the very big screen. Entergy IMAX
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (PG-13)
-- A+ Director Peter Jackson
presents this spectacular sequel to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship
of the Ring. Jaw-dropping combat sequences, an expert use of digital
imagery and a true devotion to the heart of the Tolkien classic make movie
magic. (Carlson) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette,
Hollywood Cinemas 9, Prytania
MAID IN MANHATTAN (PG-13) -- Hotel
maid Jennifer Lopez is mistaken for a socialite (and is then wooed) by wealthy
Ralph Fiennes in this romantic comedy directed by Wayne Wang (The Joy
Luck Club, Anywhere But Here). AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16,
AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9
NARC (R) -- A
narcotics officer on probation for drug use (Jason Patric) is reactivated
for duty to investigate the death of another officer, teaming up with the
slain officer's partner (Ray Liotta). Directed by Joe Carnahan (Blood,
Guts, Bullets and Octane). AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
NATIONAL SECURITY (PG-13) -- A
white ex-cop (Steve Zahn) who once beat the crap out an African-American
man (Martin Lawrence) winds up working alongside him as security guards in
this comedy from Dennis Dugan (Saving Silverman). Think 48 Hours meets
that Rodney King video. 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
STAR TREK: NEMESIS (PG-13) -Patrick
Stewart, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton and the rest reunited for another voyage
of the starship Enterprise, in which the Romulans are negotiating for peace
-- or are they? AMC Palace 16
TWO WEEKS NOTICE (PG-13)-- Marc
Lawrence, who had a hand in the scripts for previous Sandra Bullock vehicles
(Forces of Nature, Miss Congeniality)
writes and makes his directing debut with Bullock playing chief counsel to
Hugh Grant's smug millionaire. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC
Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9
THE WILD THORNBERRYS (PG) -- The
crew from the popular Nickelodeon series shows up for its second animation
feature, this time without the Rugrats. AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20,
Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9
