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28 DAYS LATER (R) -- B
Director Danny Boyle brings chaos back to the big screen with this apocalyptic
thriller starring Cillian Murphy and Christopher Eccleston. A London lab experiment
unleashed causes the infected population to turn into red-eyed, rage-filled zombies.
(Carlson) AMC Palace 20
AMERICAN WEDDING (R) --
The American Pie series concludes as dorks Jason Biggs and Alyson Hannigan
tie the knot. Several key alumni skipped this one, including Chris Klein and Mena
Suvari. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand,
Hollywood Cinemas 9
BAD BOYS II (R) --
Actors Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reunite with the filmmaking team of director
Michael Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer in this slam-bang sequel to the 1995
hit about a couple of action-crazy Miami detectives. AMC Palace 12, AMC
Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand
CABARET (R) -- A+
Bob Fosse's 1972 musical, his second foray into directing, turned into an instant
classic, winning eight Academy Awards. Before Liza Minelli became a walking freak
show, she burned bright as the expatriate American singer drowning along with
other 1930s Berliners in decadence and denial under the rising shadow of Nazism.
(Simmons) 8 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday at the State Palace Theatre
CAMP (PG-13) -- B
Todd Graff's Fame clone about kids at a musical theater summer camp offers
toe-tapping production numbers and abundant vocal talent but is marred by clumsy
casting, spotty acting, silly plotting and a cloying sentimentality. Because its
young cast can flat out sing, Camp succeeds without ever working. (Barton)
(Reviewed in this issue.) Canal Place
CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE (PG-13) --
Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu return in this sequel to the action
movie based on the cheesy T&A detective series. AMC Palace 20
FINDING NEMO (G) -- A
This Disney/Pixar collaboration about a little fish separated from his father
floats fantastically on the voice talents of Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres
and a winning script penned by director Andrew Stanton. (Carlson) AMC Palace
16, AMC Palace 20
FREAKY FRIDAY (PG) --
Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan assume the roles previously played by Barbara
Harris and Jodie Foster, respectively, in Disney's remake of its own 1976 comedy.
AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Hollywood
Cinemas 9
FREDDY VS. JASON (R) --
Everyone's two favorite titans of terror face off in the grudge match of all time.
Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) slices and dices his way into the dreams of Jason
Voorhees (Ken Kirzinger). Who will survive? AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC
Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9
THE GODFATHER (R) -- A+
Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 Shakespearean masterpiece about family, America, destiny
and capitalism returns to the big screen. As timeless as Citizen Kane,
The Godfather features one of the great ensemble casts of the 1970s, including
Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Diane Keaton and James Caan. Winner of three Academy
Awards. 7 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at the State Palace Theatre
GRIND (PG-13) --
Mike Vogel, Vince Vieluf and Adam Brody star as professional skateboard wannabes
on a last-hurrah summer road trip before reality sets in. AMC Palace 12, AMC
Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9
LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER: THE CRADLE OF LIFE (PG-13) --
Angelina Jolie returns as the butt-kicking adventurer, this time battling a Chinese
crime boss over the hunt for Pandora's Box. Directed by Jan de Bont of Speed
fame. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Grand
LE DIVORCE (PG-13) --
Kate Hudson travels to Paris to help sister Naomi Watts get through a divorce
and is caught up with those romantic French guys in this Merchant-Ivory film.
AMC Palace 20, Canal Place
LOCK UP YOUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS: ANTI-QUEER FILMS 1950-1990 (NR) --
Zeitgeist hosts this exploration of how "educational" films have presented homosexuality
over the years. Featured shorts include Dating Do's and Don'ts, Soapy
the Germ Fighter and Perversion for Profit. 8 p.m. Thursday at
Zeitgeist
MARCI X (R) --
Coddled young woman Lisa Kudrow is forced to take over her father's record label
where she must contend with its controversial star rapper Damon Wayans in this
comedy directed by and co-starring Richard Benjamin. AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace
20, Grand
THE MEDALLION (PG-13) --
Jackie Chan returns to Hong Kong as an immigration officer who obtains mysterious
powers after getting killed and immediately has to do supernatural battle with
evil forces in this action flick directed by Gordan Chan. AMC Palace 12,
AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9
MY BOSS'S DAUGHTER (PG-13) --
Ashton Kutcher takes time out from his Oedipal complex to star as a young man
who tries to seduce boss Terence Stamp's daughter (Tara Reid) while house-sitting
for the boss. But other characters keep getting in the way. AMC Palace 12,
AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9
OPEN RANGE (R) -- B+
Director Kevin Costner returns to the genre he loves (and does) best with this
epic Western tale, a beautifully shot picture postcard of the waning days of an
American lifestyle. Freegrazers Costner and Robert Duvall find themselves in brutal
confrontation with corrupt lawman James Russo and ruthless rancher Michael Gambon.
Costner is likeably laconic as a cowpoke with a past; the peerless Duvall makes
his Marlboro Man effortlessly mythic. The two actors fit hand in glove, their
mutual, comfortable silences and common quirky humor speaking volumes about screen
presence. Sometimes for better and sometimes for worse, there's nothing about
Open Range that's in a hurry, until the slow and simple film ultimately
explodes in an exceptional, running gunfight like few others. With thematic nods
to classics like High Noon and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,
Open Range is a respectable Western, a respectful throwback and, finally,
a rare and ambitious film. (Carlson) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace
20, Grand
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL (PG-13) --
B+ Gore Verbinski's action/comedy is quality summer popcorn fun due to
a witty script and the performances of Geoffrey Rush as the villain and the fascinating
Johnny Depp as the film's eccentric pirate hero. (Barton) AMC Palace 12,
AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9
SEABISCUIT (PG-13) -- B+
Gary Ross capably adapts Laura Hillenbrand's surpise best-selling book about the
legendary thoroughbred race horse. Though there's not enough horse in this horse
movie, the action is well-shot, and leads Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper and Tobey
Maguire all do what's asked of them. (Virgets) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace
16, AMC Palace 20, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Prytania
SPY KIDS 3-D: GAME OVER (PG-13) --
Robert Rodriguez closes out the Spy Game series with this update of the
Cortez siblings, in which brother Juni must rescue sister Carmen after she is
kidnapped by a virtual-reality game. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC
Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9
S.W.A.T. (R) --
The fascist '70s TV show gets the big-screen treatment with Samuel L. Jackson,
Colin Farrell and others doing battle with evil drug lord Olivier Martinez. Let's
just hope the theme song is as cool as the one for the TV show. AMC Palace
12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9
SWIMMING POOL (R) --
B- Francois Ozon (8 Women) directs this erotically charged but
ultimately contrived tale of a mystery novelist (Charlotte Rampling) searching
for her muse in the south of France and unexpectedly finding it in her publisher's
daughter (Ludivine Sagnier). (Simmons) Canal Place
UPTOWN GIRLS (PG-13) --
Socialite Brittany Murphy tops the A-list until her accountant embezzles her inheritance.
She's forced to get a job as a nanny for the challenging Dakota Fanning (I
Am Sam). AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Grand, Hollywood
Cinemas 9
WHALE RIDER (PG-13) -- A
Niki Caro's story of a 12-year-old New Zealand Maori girl's desire to become her
native village's chief is less like a conventional work of fiction and more like
a poem written in light. Young star Keisha Castle-Hughes exhibits the luminescence
and prepossession that Natalie Portman showed at the same age. (Barton) Canal
Place
| AMC Palace 12 734-2020; AMC Palace 16 734-2020; AMC Palace 20 734-2020; Canal Place 581-5400; Chalmette 277-9797; Downtown Joy 522-7575; Entergy IMAX 581-4629; Plaza 245-0102; Prytania 891-2787; Zeitgeist 525-2767
Compiled by David Lee Simmons
Contributors: Rick Barton, Shala Carlson, David Lee Simmons |
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