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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)
Causeway Cinema
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,
Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8
BARBERSHOP 2: BACK IN BUSINESS (PG-13) --
| Tim Story is out and Kevin Rodney Sullivan is in as director, but the
cast returns from the last film and is joined by Queen Latifah (in anticipation
of her spin-off movie Beauty Shop), in this film about hair-cutters discussing
everything from race to relationships. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16,
AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8
THE BIG BOUNCE (PG-13) --C+
George Armitage's weak attempt at capturing the flavor of an Elmore Leonard
novel at least features a charming Owen Wilson tempted to rip off a developer
(Gary Sinise) at the encouragement of the developer's sexy mistress (Sara Foster).
Leonard's stories are all about the funk, but Armitage doesn't have the rhythm.
(Simmons) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette,
Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, North Shore Square
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.
(Barton) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Movies 8
BUS 174 (NR) --A
José Padilha's harrowing documentary about the hijacking
of a city bus in Rio De Janeiro and the ensuing stand-off deserved (but didn't
receive) an Oscar nomination. Padilha uses an investigative journalist's technique
and masterful editing to tell two concurrent narratives: the life of hijacker
Sandro Do Nascimento and the hijacking that it seemed to inevitably spawn. 7:30
p.m. Tuesday through Feb. 19 at Zeitgeist
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, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8
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, Causeway Cinema, North Shore Square
CATCH THAT KID (PG) --
Lovable kids band together to pull off a heist to help a friend's ill father.
Now that's love! Directed by Bart Freundlich and starring Jennifer Beals, Kristen
Stewart, Max Thierot and Sam Robards. AMC
Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12,
Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8
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. (Tisserand) AMC Palace
12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Holiday 12, Movies 8
CITY OF GOD (R) -- A-
Oscar-nominated director Fernando Meirelles' harrowing drama about astonishingly
violent gangs of children in a Rio housing project isn't a perfect film, but
it's one viewers won't soon forget. Raised in poverty, ignorance and hopelessness,
boys in their teens and even younger kill each other to control territory not
worth having. The miracle is that we meet one child who manages first to survive,
ultimately to escape. Nominated for four Academy Awards. (Barton) Canal Place
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 and Oscar nominees 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. Nominated for seven Academy Awards.
(Simmons) AMC Palace 20, Causeway Cinema, Movies 8
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 (Oscar nominee Alec Baldwin). Terrific
performances, a surprising script and a bracing theme make this one of the year's
best. (Barton) Canal Place
GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING (PG-13) -- B
Adapted from the best-selling novel by Tracy Chevalier, Peter Webber's drama
is the story of 17th century painter Johannes Vermeer's master work. A superb
performance by Scarlett Johansson as the scullery maid who poses for the painting
and memorably beautiful, Oscar-nominated cinematography by Eduardo Serra can't
entirely make up for a slow pace, a thin story and a disappointing emotional
mutedness.
Nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Costume Design and Best Art
Direction. (Barton) (Reviewed in this issue.) Canal Place
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
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). Nominated
for 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture. (Carlson) AMC Palace 12,
AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Holiday 12
LOST IN TRANSLATION (R) -- A-
Oscar-nominated 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 in an Oscar-nominated
performance) and the young wife (Scarlett Johansson) of an L.A. photographer
while in Tokyo. Coppola's ability to resist temptation on several levels and
create space for her actors to play to their strengths help make this the best
film of 2003. Plus, it makes karaoke cool again. Nominated for four Academy
Awards including Best Picture. (Simmons) Canal Place
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD (PG-13) -- B+
Lucky Jack leaps to the big screen in this Peter Weir adaptation of the Patrick
O'Brian novels. A spare script leaves plenty of time for stunning visuals and
fascinating evocations of life aboard a 19th-century British warship. Weir's
nearly flawless directorial eye is aided by the intelligent casting of Oscar
nominee Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind) as friends
Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. Nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best
Picture. (Carlson) AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Movies 8, Prytania
MIRACLE (PG) --
Kurt Russell stars as the late coach Herb Brooks in this story of the U.S.
Olympic hockey team's gold-medal run at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games at Lake
Placid, N.Y. Directed by Gavin O'Connor and co-stars New Orleans' own Oscar-nominated
Patricia Clarkson (for Pieces of April).
AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday
12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8, North Shore Square
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) AMC Palace 20, Canal Place, Hollywood
Cinemas 9
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, 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+
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 (Oscar nominees Sean Penn and Tim Robbins,
and 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 other minor missteps. Nominated
for six Academy Awards including Best Picture. (Carlson) AMC Palace 16, AMC
Palace 20, Grand, Holiday 12, North Shore Square
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
THE PERFECT SCORE (PG-13) --
Scarlett Johansson continues her assault on New Orleans as part of a merry band
of high school students pulling an SAT heist (an SAT heist?). Directed by Brian
Robbins and co-starring Erika Christensen and Darius Miles. AMC Palace 12,
AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas
9, North Shore Square
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) Holiday 12
SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE (PG-13) -- B-
Nancy Meyers (Baby Boom) reunites with Oscar nominee 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, Holiday 12, 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. 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 Joseph Kahn. AMC Palace
16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand
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, Grand, Holiday 12, Movies 8
YOU GOT SERVED (PG-3) --
Two street dancers experience a personal rift just as they're about to enjoy
huge success in this comedy starring Marques Houston and Omarion and directed
by Chris Stokes. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette,
Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, North Shore Square
| 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
Girl With a Pearl Earring
Bus 174
Opening Night
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