ALIEN: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT (R) -- Director
Ridley Scott (Blade Runner) gets another do-over with this expanded version
of the 1979 scifiller about an alien beast threatening a space station inhabited
by Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. AMC Palace 16,
AMC Palace 20
BEYOND BORDERS (R) -- Sexy socialite
Angelina Jolie and committed international-aid worker Clive Owen keep running
into each other while trying to solve the world's problems over several decades
in this war-torn romantic thriller. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16,
AMC Palace 20, Grand
BROTHER BEAR (G) -- Animated film
about a Native American who is transformed into a bear. Directed by Aaron Blaise
and Robert Walker and starring the voices of Jonathan Winters, Victoria Jackson
and Ben Stein. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette,
Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9
CINEMA & ARCHITECTURE -- Zeitgeist
presents "Swiss Views," a touring series of 15 film and video productions that
explore architecture.Friday through Nov. 13 at Zeitgeist
THE FIGHTING TEMPTATIONS (PG-13) --
New York ad exec Cuba Gooding Jr. must form a gospel choir in his former Georgia
hometown in order to collect on the inheritance left him by his dead aunt. AMC
Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand
FILMS OF ANNE-MARIE MIEVILLE --
Screening of works by the filmmaker best known for her collaborations with Jean-Luc
Godard continue this week, including How Can I Love, Living it Up
and Marie's Book.7:30 p.m. daily through Thursday at Zeitgeist
GOOD BOY! (PG) -- Man's best friend
apparently is a spy sent from another planet to scout out the turf for an invasion
in this combination of live action and computer-generated imagery and featuring
the voices of Matthew Broderick, Megan Mullally and Brittany Murphy. AMC
Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas
9
HOUSE OF THE DEAD (R) -- A promising
rave becomes a huge downer when zombies and monsters invade in this film adaptation
of Sega's popular video game, starring Jurgen Prochnow, Clint Howard and others.
Grand
IN THE CUT (R) -- Romance-hungry
creative writing teacher Meg Ryan gets into a sexual relationship with, and
then suspects, detective Mark Ruffalo (You Can Count on Me) while he's
investigating a murder in her neighborhood in this film directed by Jane Campion.
Co-stars Kevin Bacon and Jennifer Jason Leigh. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace
20
INTOLERABLE CRUELTY (PG-13) -- C-
The Coen brothers' attempt at romantic screwball comedy offers gorgeous
stars in George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones but fails in most every other
respect. We don't like the characters. We don't care whether they get together.
We suffer through an obvious plot. And we enjoy only a single hard laugh. (Barton)
(Reviewed in this issue.) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace
20, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9
KILL BILL VOL. 1 (R) -- D
Quentin Tarantino's first movie in six years was hardly worth waiting for. Uma
Thurman stars as an assassin out for revenge against former associates who tried
to kill her. The picture offers all the bells and whistles cinematic technology
can deliver, but it hasn't got a story remotely worth watching, and it's viscerally
repellent to boot. (Barton) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace
20, Canal Place, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9
LOST IN TRANSLATION (R) -- A-
Writer-director Sofia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides) continues to establish
herself as a filmmaker with her own voice in this subtle tale of the relationship
between a fading movie star (Bill Murray) and the young wife (Scarlett Johansson)
of an L.A. photographer while in Tokyo. (Simmons) AMC Palace 20, Canal Place,
Hollywood Cinemas 9
THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS (R) -- No
sooner can you say "Matrix Reloaded on DVD!" than the Wachowski brothers
serve up the conclusion of the trilogy starring Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss,
Laurence Fishburne and Jada Pinkett Smith. Opens Wednesday at AMC Palace
12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Canal Place, Grand, Hollywood
Cinemas 9, Prytania
MYSTERIES OF EGYPT (NR) -- Omar
Sharif narrates this IMAX look at the ancient history and culture of Egypt,
sponsored by National Geographic. Entergy IMAX
MYSTIC RIVER (R) -- B+ Not quite
the modern masterpiece it has been christened by critics starved for decent
dramatic fare, Mystic River is still an intelligent, powerful film. Three
south Boston friends (Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon) find themselves struggling
with loss and revenge in this adaptation of the Dennis Lehane bestseller. As
a grieving father and vengeful ex-con, Penn delivers an amazing performance
that outweighs the film's missteps. (Carlson) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace
16, AMC Palace 20, Canal Place
OUT OF TIME (PG-13) -- A chief
of police in a Florida town (Denzel Washington) finds himself a suspect in a
murder in this thriller from Carl Franklin (One False Move), co-starring
Sanaa Lathan. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand,
Hollywood Cinemas 9
RADIO (PG) -- Mentally challenged
Cuba Gooding Jr. goes from being ridiculed as a young man to becoming a fixture
on a South Carolina high school football team, thanks to his friendship with
coach Ed Harris in this fact-based story directed by Michael Tollin and co-starring
Debra Winger. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette,
Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9
RUNAWAY JURY (PG-13) -- B Gene
Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, John Cusack and Rachel Weisz are joined by a fine supporting
cast (including local favorites such as Fahnlohnee Harris, Michael Arata and
Carol Sutton) in this sometimes fun but ultimately tepid John Grisham story
set in New Orleans. There always seems to be a morality streak ripping through
Grisham's seedy characters, but this time that streak ruins all the delicious
gamesmanship that makes this film remotely enjoyable. Hackman does his usual
scene-munching, Cusack plays nicely on his Lloyd Dobler image built in Say
Anything, and Weisz is sufficiently cat-like. Dustin Hoffman, as he is so
often these days, is near lifeless here, outshined by myriad supporting actors
including the locals. And director Gary Fleder is one film away from proving
he's a hack. (Simmons) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20,
Chalmette, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Prytania
THE RUNDOWN (PG-13) -- Can you
smell what the bounty hunter is cookin'? Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Seann
William Scott team up to hunt for gold in the Amazon and battle evil-doers including
Christopher Walken in this film by Peter Berg (Very Bad Things). Co-stars
Ewen Bremner and Rosario Dawson. Chalmette, Grand
SANTA VS. THE SNOWMAN (NR) --
Santa Claus squares off against a jealous snowman in a battle for the North
Pole and, by extension, Christmas itself. Entergy IMAX
SCARY MOVIE 3 (PG-13) -- Spoofmeister
David Zucker replaces the Wayans brothers in keeping up the yucks with an ensemble
cast featuring Eddie Griffin, Leslie Nielsen, Darrell Hammond, Charlie Sheen
and Queen Latifah. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette,
Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9
SCHOOL OF ROCK (PG-13) -- B+ With
a script by offbeat writer Mike White, Richard Linklater's mainstream comedy
gives wild man Jack Black his best role yet as substitute teacher who turns
a bunch of uptight 12-year-olds into a rock 'n' roll band. This material isn't
original in concept but it's well executed and fun. (Barton) AMC Palace 12,
AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas
9
SECONDHAND LIONS (PG) -- Shy teen
Haley Joel Osment (yes, he's growing up) bonds with great-uncles Michael Caine
and Robert Duvall while he's visiting with troubled mom Kyra Sedgwick in this
film set in 1960s-era Texas. AMC Palace 20
SUGAR B -- This documentary about
legendary New Orleans piano player James Booker is presented as part of a tribute
to Booker that also features live music performances and more, benefiting the
New Orleans Musicians Clinic.7:30 p.m. Sunday at Loyola's Roussel Hall
SYLVIA (R) -- Inspired by the 1998
publication of a series of love letters between the two poets, Sylvia
stars Gwyneth Paltrow as American poet Sylvia Plath (The Bell Jar) and
her English poet and husband, Ted Hughes (Daniel Craig), known for, among other
things, the children's book Iron Giant. The film covers their romance
until Plath's suicide in 1963 at the age of 31. (Hughes, who later became England's
poet laureate, published the letters before dying in 1998.) Directed by Christine
Jeffs and co-starring Paltrow's real-life mother Blythe Danner as Plath's mother,
as well as Michael Gambon and Jared Harris.
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (R) --
Remake of Tobe Hooper's 1974 horror classic, produced by Michael Bay, with debuts
by director Marcus Nispel and screenwriter Scott Kosar, and starring Jessica
Biel, R. Lee Ermey and New Orleanian John Larroquette (providing the narration).
AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand,
Hollywood Cinemas 9
UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN (R) -- C+
Audrey Wells' drama about an American woman (Diane Lane) recovering in Italy
from an ugly divorce offers worthy themes about friendship, family and later-life
romance, but a clumsy script keeps nudging us to feel emotions that the picture
doesn't earn. (Barton) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 20, Hollywood Cinemas 9
UNDERWORLD (R) -- In one of the
more bizarre updates on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, vampire tough-chick
Kate Beckinsale falls for human dude Scott Speedman, whose blood werewolves
covet mightily. Feature-film directing debut by music-video director Len Wiseman.
AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood
Cinemas 9
VERONICA GUERIN (R) -- Joel Schumacher
(Phone Booth) directs Cate Blanchett in the title role about the Irish
journalist who was killed while profiling drug dealers. Co-stars Brenda Fricker
and includes a cameo by frequent Schumacher star Colin Farrell (Tigerland,
Phone Booth). AMC Palace 16
| 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
Intolerable Cruelty
|
