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21 GRAMS (R) --
A- The filmmaking team of director Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu and writer
Guillermo Arriaga (Amores Perros) made this powerfully acted drama
(with Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro) about three people whose lives
become intertwined by either accident or fate. Presented as an achronological
collage, this film puzzles over such religious issues as predestination, redemption
and grace. (Barton) Canal Place
ALONG CAME POLLY (PG-13) --
Risk analyst Ben Stiller takes a chance on romance with a wacky Jennifer Aniston
after he discovers new wife Debra Messing cheating on him. Directed by John Hamburg,
co-screenwriter of previous Stiller vehicles Meet the Parents and Zoolander.
Co-stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alec Baldwin, Hank Azaria and others. AMC
Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas
9
BIG FISH (PG-13) --
B Tim Burton's account of a son's attempt to reconcile with a dying father
has effective if underdeveloped performances by Albert Finney, Ewan McGregor,
Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Alison Lohman, Helena Bonham Carter and Steve Buscemi.
Sequences that dramatize the father's habit of telling tall tales play to Burton's
imagistic strength. The emotional center remains underdeveloped, though it is
bolstered by a powerful rally at film's end. (Barton) AMC Palace 12, AMC
Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9
BUBBA HO-TEP (R) --
An Elvis impersonator (Bruce Campbell) and another elderly man (Ossie Davis) who
believes he's John F. Kenney join forces to battle a soul-seeking mummy monster
named Ho-Tep in a Texas rest home in this bizarre comedy from director Don Coscarelli.
Canal Place
THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT (R) --
Ashton Kutcher keeps trying to fix his life by going back in time and changing
events that had adverse effects on him, but it keeps making his life worse in
this psychological thriller directed by Eric Bress and J. Macky Gruber and co-starring
Eric Stolz and Amy Smart. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20,
Chalmette, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9
CALENDAR GIRLS (PG-13) --
Based on a true story about middle-aged English women who agree to pose nude while
performing various homemaking chores to benefit a cancer hospital, this film stars
Helen Mirren and Julie Walters. Directed by Nigel Cole. AMC Palace 12, AMC
Palace 20
CHASING LIBERTY (PG-13) --
Presidential daughter Mandy Moore and boyfriend Matthew Goode break free from
Secret Service agents Jeremy Piven and Anabella Sciorra for a fun-filled trek
across Europe. (Insert Jenna Bush joke here.) Mark Harmon plays the president,
apparently earning an upgrade from the Secret Service agent he played on The
West Wing. Andy Cadiff (who?) directs. A similar film, First Daughter,
is also set for an '04 release. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace
20
CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN (PG) --
C- Steve Martin grimaces his way through this updated remake of a 1950
adaptation of a memoir of a turn-of-the-century family. Here, the double-Brady-sized
clan moves to a snobby Chicago suburb while Dad pursues his dream of coaching
in the big leagues. The film finally jumps the shark when Martin calls the plays
while his team rushes a kiddy birthday party. (Tisserand) AMC Palace 12,
AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
CODEC/X -- THE NEW BRITISH VIDEO SOUND AND ART --
Zeitgeist presents this program of new digital short films by 28 different artists,
including animation, narrative, tape and abstraction genres. Curated by Nick Jordan
and Dave Griffiths. 8 p.m. Wednesday at Zeitgeist
COLD MOUNTAIN (R) -- B
The Weinstein Brothers double-dog dare you to love Anthony Minghella's (The
English Patient) epic take on Charles Frazier's epic novel of a Confederate
soldier leaving battle for the woman he loves. But the Oscar-friendly trio of
Nicole Kidman, Jude Law and Renée Zellweger are no match for John Seale's
cinematography or the old-timey music. Brendan Gleeson is a huge bright spot as
the redemptive Stobrod. (Simmons) AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Prytania
THE COOLER (R) --
A Wayne Kramer's Tarantinoesque romantic comedy is the story of a man (William
H. Macy) so unlucky that a Vegas casino hires him to bring bad luck to hot gamblers.
The cooler's fate changes when he falls in love with a cocktail waitress (Maria
Bello). Unfortunately, a cooler in thaw is not an asset to his combustible boss
(Alec Baldwin). Terrific performances, a surprising script and a bracing theme
make this one of the year's best. (Barton) (Reviewed in this issue.) Canal
Place
GOTHIKA (R) --
Halle Berry gets her first solo star billing as a criminal psychologist who suddenly
finds herself the primary suspect in the death of husband Charles S. Dutton. Grand
THE HAUNTED MANSION (PG) --
First, there was Pirates of the Caribbean; now comes another film based
on a Disney theme-park ride with Eddie Murphy as a man protecting his family from
ghosts. Chalmette
HONEY (PG-13) --
When her career as a music video choreographer is compromised by her lascivious
mentor, Jessica Alba decides to open up an inner-city dance studio. Co-stars Mekhi
Pfifer and New Orleans' own Li'l Romeo. Grand
HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG (R) -- B
First-time director Vadim Perelman loses his way in adapting Andre Dubus III's
novel about a recovering alcoholic (Jennifer Connelly) who loses her house in
a tax mix-up and tries to get it back from its new owner, a willful Iranian immigrant
(Ben Kingsley). Rarely has real estate been used with such symbolism, but there's
just not that much to appreciate once the fog clears, including Connelly's sleep-walking
and Kingsley's death stares. Shohreh Aghdashloo, as Kingsley's baffled wife, is
the one to watch here. (Simmons) AMC Palace 20
THE LAST SAMURAI (R) -- A
Tom Cruise's newfound dramatic dignity provides the steady center of this stunning
epic film directed by Edward Zwick. Cruise's physical transformation from an alcoholic
Civil War veteran to a formidable samurai warrior is Oscar-worthy. Co-star Ken
Watanabe's wise warlord Katsumoto represents a shattering English-speaking debut.
(Carlson) AMC Palace 20
LEWIS AND CLARK: GREAT JOURNEY WEST (NR) --
This IMAX film stars Kelly Boulware and Sonny Surowiec as the famed explorers
during their early 19th century trek westward. Entergy I
MAX
LILYA 4-EVER (R) -- B
Fans of Lukas Moodysson's Together, a witty, wry and ultimately poignant
look at communes of the '60s and '70s, are in for a jolt with this downward spiral
of a story about a Estonian teen (Oksana Akinshina) whose life goes from bad to
worse after her mother abandons her for the United States. Akinshina and co-star
Artiom Bogucharskij are gut-wrenching in their portrayal of the former Soviet
Union's lost children, but Moodysson seems uncertain in his focus, torn between
the notion of courage in the physical world and the promise of spiritual redemption
in the afterlife. Should Lilya carry on or shouldn't she? You be the judge. (Simmons)
(Reviewed in this issue.) 9:15 p.m. Friday through Feb. 5 at Zeitgeist
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (PG-13) -- A-
Director Peter Jackson provides a fitting ending to his groundbreaking trilogy.
Overly long and swimming in narrative and thematic deja vu, Return of the King
is nonetheless redeemed by the strength of the LOTR oeuvre as a whole and by its
own many moments of greatness -- the slow spiritual ascension of Aragorn (Viggo
Mortensen) to the throne of Gondor, the genderless courage of Eowyn (Miranda Otto),
the madness of Denethor the Steward (John Noble). (Carlson) AMC Palace 12,
AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand
LOVE DON'T COST A THING (PG-13) --
Can't Buy Me Love gets the African-American treatment with nerdy Nick Cannon
(Drumline) offering to repair cheerleader Christina Milian's damaged car
if she'll briefly date him to make him look cool. AMC Palace 16, Grand
MONA LISA SMILE (PG-13) --
Director Mike Newell (Donnie Brasco) offers an alternative to the testosterone
of Master and Commander and The Last Samurai with Julia Roberts
as a Wellesley teacher who in 1953 teaches other women -- including Julia Stiles,
Kirsten Dunst and Maggie Gyllenhaal -- the importance of womanhood, with music
by women playing in the background. Co-stars Juliet Stevenson, Marcia Garden and
some men. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 20
MONSTER (R) -- B+
Charlize Theron, the golden goddess of 2 Days in the Valley and The
Italian Job, slides under the skin of convicted serial killer Aileen Wuornos
in this surprising effort from first-time writer-director Patty Jenkins. Theron
gives a powerhouse performance, full of wounded rage and malevolence, that's Oscar-worthy
and then some. (Carlson) (Reviewed in this issue.) AMC Palace 20, Canal Place
MY BABY'S DADDY (PG-13) --
An African-American (sort of) version of the popular Three Men and a Baby
movie (based on a French film), with Eddie Griffin, Anthony Anderson and Michael
Imperioli learning the baby-raising ropes. Yes, it's January. AMC Palace 16,
AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand
MYSTERIES OF EGYPT (NR) --
National Geographic meets IMAX in this film about this ancient civilization's
pyramids, tombs, mummies and monarchies, starring Mr. Egypt himself, Omar Sharif.
Entergy IMAX
MYSTIC RIVER (R) -- B+
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.
(Carlson) AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Grand
OCEAN WONDERLAND (NR) --
IMAX takes its cameras to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the coral reef
of the Bahamas. Directed by Jean-Jacques Mantello. Entergy IMAX
PAYCHECK (R) --
Director John Woo (Face-Off) adapts a Philip K. Dick short story about
an engineer who loses his memory (don't all Dick characters?) and finds himself
framed by the company he was working with before his mind went blank. Stars Ben
Affleck, Uma Thurman, Aaron Eckhart and Paul Giamatti. AMC Palace 12, AMC
Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
PETER PAN (PG) --B+
Director P.J. Hogan (Muriel's Wedding) takes the J.M. Barrie tale to new
heights with this psychologically satisfying adaptation and visually lush production
starring Jeremy Sumpter, Rachel Hurd-Wood and Jason Isaacs. But with Tigerlily
in narrative exile and Ludivine Sagnier's Tinker Bell a boring buffoon, the film
misses instant-classic status. (Carlson) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16,
AMC Palace 20
SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE (PG-13) -- B-
Nancy Meyers (Baby Boom) reunites with Diane Keaton and tosses in Jack
Nicholson for a weak romantic comedy about a cradle-robbing womanizer (Nicholson)
falling in love with a middle-age playwright (Keaton). (Simmons) AMC Palace
12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9
TEACHER'S PET (PG) --
An intellectually curious dog disguises himself as a human so he can attend school
in this movie version of the popular animated Disney TV series, starring the voices
of Nathan Lane, Kelsey Grammer, Megan Mullally, Paul Reubens, Wallace Shawn and
Jerry Stiller. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette,
Grand
TORQUE (R) --
If you've once again been feeling the need for speed, here's the story about a
rev-happy (but gang-free) motorcyle racer (Martin Henderson) who is framed for
the murder of a serious biker-gang dude (Ice Cube, keepin' it real) by a rival
biker dude. Directed by music-video director Josephy Kahn and co-starring Jaime
Pressly, Monet Mazur and Matt Schulze. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16,
AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE IRAQ WAR (NR) --
Filmmaker Robert Greenwald's documentary interviewing CIA and Pentagon experts,
weapons inspectors and other sources forming a case against the Bush Administration's
war against Iraq. 7:30 p.m. Sunday (Jan. 25) and Tuesday at Zeitgeist
WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON (PG-13) --
Grocery clerk Kate Bosworth wins a date contest with Hollywood hunk Josh Duhamel,
inciting the jealousy of crush-riddled old childhood friend Topher Grace in this
romantic comedy directed by Robert Luketic. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace
16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9
ZERO DAY (NR) --
Two students keep a video diary as they plot an assault on their high school in
Columbine-like fashion in this film by Ben Coccio, his directing debut. 7:30
p.m. Friday through Feb. 5 at Zeitgeist
| 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 Cooler
Monster
Lilya 4-Ever
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