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AMERICAN SPLENDOR (R) -- B+
Shari Spring Berman and Robert Pulcini's comic book-like rendering of underground
comic book writer Harvey Pekar (Paul Giamatti) is hilarious if a little pandering
in its glorification of misanthrope as hero. (Pekar does a much better job in
the comic book of the same title.) Still, novel filmmaking techniques and performances
by Giamatti and Hope Davis make this a fun, breezy film. (Simmons) (Reviewed in
this issue.) AMC Palace 20, Canal Place
AMERICAN WEDDING (R) --
The American Pie series concludes as dorks Jason Biggs and Alyson Hannigan
tie the knot. AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
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. AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand
CABIN FEVER (R) --
In this horror flick from Eli Roth, five friends are spooked by a mysterious virus
on a camping trip after graduation . AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC
Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9
DICKIE ROBERTS: FORMER CHILD STAR (PG-13) --
In order to win a regular adult role, former kid actor David Spade tries to relive
a childhood he never had because of early Hollywood fame. AMC Palace 12, AMC
Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9
DIRTY PRETTY THINGS (R) -- B+
The latest from director Stephen Frears (The Grifters, High Fidelity)
overcomes niggling plot missteps and clumsy symbolism to craft a thriller with
a heart about desperate immigrants struggling to survive (and ultimately leave)
contemporary London. Features great performances by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Audrey Tautou
(Amelie) and Sergi Lopez (With a Friend Like Harry ... ). (Simmons)
Canal Place
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
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
THE ITALIAN JOB (PG-13) -- B-
Forget stars Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron and Edward Norton (and the zinger-free
script, for that matter) and watch one of Hollywood's most shameless moments of
product placement as the Mini Cooper S car scoots all over the screen. (Simmons)
AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 20, The Grand
JEEPERS CREEPERS 2 (R) --
A basketball team along with its coach and cheerleaders are terrorized on the
road back from a game by a winged monster in this sequel to the surprisingly successful
(and good) 2001 thriller. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette,
Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9
LE DIVORCE (PG-13) --
B- This Merchant/Ivory adaptation of the Diane Johnson novel looks at
the families of an American wife and a French husband who are divorcing. (Barton)
AMC Palace 20, Canal Place, Hollywood Cinemas 9
MATCHSTICK MEN (PG-13) --
Ridley Scott (Black Hawk Down) turns to comedy in this tale of an obsessive-compulsive
con man (Nicolas Cage) who learns he has a daughter and willing partner (Alison
Lohman). Sam Rockwell co-stars. Think Paper Moon meets I Ought to Be
in Pictures. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette,
Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9
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
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. AMC Palace 16
NO GOOD DEED (R) --
Cop Samuel L. Jackson runs into a gang of hoodlums while tracking a runaway teen
in this film by Bob Rafelson. AMC Palace 20
ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO (R) --
Director Robert Rodriguez apparently lays to rest yet another trilogy (Spy
Kids being the other) in this third installment of his El Mariachi
series, reuniting Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek and adding Johnny Depp and
Eva Mendes. 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. (Carlson) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20,
Hollywood Cinemas 9
THE ORDER (R) -- F
In the end, I haven't a clue what writer/director Brian Helgeland thought he was
up to in this tale about a young priest (Heath Ledger) investigating the death
of his mentor. For a time, it seemed the filmmaker was interested in issues of
institutional church corruption. In the end, its idea of valid vengeance and absolute
moral clarity offend every religious impulse I deem central to Christian faith.
(Barton) (Reviewed in this issue.) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC
Palace 20, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9
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, Hollywood Cinemas 9
SEABISCUIT (PG-13) -- B+
Gary Ross capably adapts Laura Hillenbrand's surprise best-selling book about
the legendary thoroughbred race horse. (Virgets) AMC Palace 12, AMC
Palace 20
SPY KIDS 3-D: GAME OVER (PG-13) --
Robert Rodriguez closes out the Spy Kids 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 16, AMC Palace 20
STEP INTO LIQUID (NR) --
Director Dana Brown presents a follow-up to his father Bruce Brown's groundbreaking
1966 surfer film Endless Summer (and its 1994 sequel), this time blessed
with previously unavailable technological filmmaking techniques. Canal Place
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, Grand
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
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) AMC
Palace 20
| 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 |
Other Stories This Week in Movies:
Film Review
The Order
American Splendor
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