Scheduled to Open Friday
DAWN OF THE DEAD (R) -- Ving Rhames, Sarah Polley and Mekhi Phifer lead an ensemble cast working with first-time feature-film director Zack Snyder in remaking the first of George A. Romero's trilogy about zombies.
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (R) -- Screenwriter Charlie S. Kaufman, whose movies seem to exist only inside one's head, reunites with director Michael Gondry (Human Nature) in this story of a man (Jim Carrey) who undergoes the same memory-reducing surgery that his ex-girlfriend (Kate Winslet) did in order to forget about their relationship. Co-stars Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo and Tom Wilkinson.
TAKING LIVES (R) -- Salton Sea director D.J. Caruso adapts Michael Pye's novel about an FBI agent (Angelina Jolie) sent to Canada to investigate a serial killer who assumes the identity of his victims. Co-stars Ethan Hawke, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Olivier Martinez, Gena Rowlands and Kiefer Sutherland.
Now Showing
50 FIRST DATES (PG-13) -- Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore (The Wedding Singer) reunite as a young man and woman who fall in love despite her short-term memory loss in this romantic comedy directed by Peter Segal. Co-stars Rob Schnieder. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8
AGAINST THE ROPES (PG-13) -- Meg Ryan portrays boxing manager Jackie Kallen, who guided the careers of such noted fighters as Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns. In this fictional bio-pic, she manages Omar Epps, who plays a composite character of a handful of Kallen's proteges. Directed by and co-starring Charles S. Dutton and also featuring Tim Daley and Tony Shalhoub. Grand
AGENT CODY BANKS: DESTINATION LONDON (PG) -- That precocious Frankie Muniz is back as the precocious CIA agent, this time heading off to London for an assignment that does not include Hilary Duff but former S. Club sensation Hannah Spearritt. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9
BARBERSHOP 2: BACK IN BUSINESS (PG-13) -- Tim Story is out and Kevin Rodney Sullivan is in as director, but the cast returns and is joined by Queen Latifah (in anticipation of her spin-off movie Beauty Shop) in this film about haircutters discussing everything from race to relationships. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Movies 8
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) Causeway Cinema
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. Movies 8
CAROL'S JOURNEY (NR) -- B- Imanol Uribe's drama works as a coming-of-age tale about a young American girl who goes to live with her Spanish grandfather during the Spanish Civil War. Unfortunately, the storytellers can't keep themselves from burdening their tale with enough tragedy for several movies. The result is something slightly undercooked and therefore not quite satisfying. (Barton) (Reviewed in this issue.) 8 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday at Zeitgeist
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 to survive and ultimately escape. (Barton) Causeway Cinema
CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE DRAMA QUEEN(PG-13) -- Lindsay Lohan (Freaky Friday) plays a popular Greenwich Village high school student transferred to a Jersey suburb school where she immediately faces a rival (Sara Sugarman) in this film based on the popular young adult novel by Dylan Sheldon. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8
DIRTY DANCING: HAVANA NIGHTS (PG-13) -- American girl-next-door Romola Garia meets stud Cuban dancer Diego Luna (Y Tu Mama, Tambien) on the eve of the Communist revolution in this remake of the sleeper 1987 hit starring Patrick Swayze (who makes a cameo) and Jennifer Grey. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMCPalace 20, Holiday 12, North Shore Square
EUROTRIP (R) -- From the production company that provided us Road Trip and Old School comes this comedy about four young Americans traveling to Europe seeking love, sex and other worthwhile adventures. Directed by Jeff Schaeffer and starring Scott Mechlowicz, Jacob Pitts, Travis Wester and Michelle Trachtenberg, with appearances by Lucy Lawless and Joanna Lumley. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMCPalace 20
THE FOG OF WAR (PG-13) -- A Master documentarian Errol Morris won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for this typically arresting illustrated interview with Robert McNamara. It is an account of a brilliant man's stubborn (and not necessarily successful) search for redemption. As we find ourselves involved in another war not so easy to be done with, all Americans should watch and learn the lessons of this film. (Barton) Canal Place
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN (PG-13) -- Philip Saville directed this version of the biblical story as interpreted from the American Bible Society's Good News Bible. Stars Henry Ian Cusick, Stuart Bunce, Lynsey Baxter and others. Chalmette
HIDALGO (PG-13) -- Viggo Mortensen takes his testosterone act from LOTR land to 1890s Saudi Arabia in this fact-based story of a Pony Express rider who enters a dangerous desert race with a huge prize at stake. Omar Sharif, who knows a little something about the desert, co-stars. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8
IMAGES (R) -- Robert Altman's under-appreciated 1972 film, an homage of sorts to Roman Polanski's brilliant Repulsion, stars Susannah York as a woman slowly succumbing to madness. Also features the camera work of legendary cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond (McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Close Encounters of the Third Kind). 5 p.m. Sunday, March 21, at the Bridge Lounge
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). Winner of 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture. (Carlson) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Causeway Cinema, North Shore Square
MIRACLE (PG) -- C- Gavin O'Connor's account of the U.S. hockey team's 1980 Olympic gold-medal run concentrates not on the players who scored the goals but on the bullying coach (Kurt Russell) who hectored them all along their road to improbable glory. In glorifying a jerk, this film tarnishes a treasured sports memory. (Barton) AMC Palace 12, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9
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, Oscar-winning performance, full of wounded rage and malevolence. (Carlson) AMC Palace 20, Causeway Cinema, Hollywood Cinemas 9
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 (Kevin Bacon and Oscar winners Sean Penn and Tim Robbins) 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. (Carlson) AMC Palace 20, Causeway Cinema
NASCAR 3-D:THE IMAX EXPERIENCE (PG) -- The IMAX cameras go deep inside the race cars and race tracks of NASCAR land. Entergy IMAX
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 PASSION OF THE CHRIST (R) -- A A picture-poem that shouts over the storm of its own controversy. Director Mel Gibson brilliantly retells the greatest story ever told, focusing on the violent final hours of Jesus' life on Earth. A well-structured script and searing performances from leads Jim Caviezel and Maia Morgenstern power this unforgettable film. While a high level of blood and gore is sustained for nearly the entire film, Gibson uses the violence as a door, not a wall, creating a profound religious statement and startlingly well-made movie. (Carlson) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Canal Place, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, North Shore Square, Prytania
RIVERS AND TIDES: ANDY GOLDSWORTHY WORKING WITH TIME (NR) -- Thomas Riedelsheimer's critically acclaimed documentary of British environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy returns for an encore screening. Sponsored by the New Orleans Film Festival. 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Prytania
SECRET WINDOW (R) -- Johnny Depp is a recently divorced writer being stalked by psycho John Turturro, who believes the writer has completely stolen his book idea in this thriller directed by David Koepp (The Trigger Effect). Co-stars Maria Bello, Timothy Hutton and Charles S. Dutton. Based on Stephen King's novella Secret Window, Secret Garden. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, North Shore Square
SMALL BALL: A LITTLE LEAGUE STORY (NR) -- Louis Alvarez and Andrew Kolker directed this documentary about one season with a Little League team from Aptos, Calif., and its run to the Little League World Series in 2002. 7:30 p.m. Friday at Zeitgeist
SPARTAN (R) -- Secret agent Val Kilmer is assigned to search out and rescue the kidnapped daughter of the president in this latest thriller from David Mamet, co-starring (of course!) William H. Macy. What, no Rebecca Pidgeon or Ricky Jay? AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
STARSKY AND HUTCH (PG-13) -- Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson (Zoolander) reunite, this time as the popular '70s TV cop duo in this comedy co-starring Mr. Shizzle himself, Snoop Dogg. Bad news:Stiller and Wilson didn't co-write the script, which appears to have had more than a few hands placed on it. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8
TOUCHING THE VOID (NR) -- Kevin Macdonald adapts Joe Simpson's 1985 non-fiction bestseller about the climb by Simpson and Simon Yates of the Siula Grande in the Andes mountains. Canal Place
THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE (PG-13) -- B Sylvain Chomet's French animated feature tells the story of a bicycle racer who is kidnapped by the Mafia and dragged off to a New York clone where everyone is apple-shaped and gigantic and the Statue of Liberty holds a hamburger rather than a torch. Hallucinogenic and arresting as this Oscar-nominated film sometimes is, it defies any attempt to assess it as a satisfying whole. (Canal Place also screens Destino, an animated short project started by Salvador Dali for Walt Disney.) (Barton) Canal Place
TWISTED (R) -- Thriller-friendly actress Ashley Judd (Kiss the Girls, Double Jeopardy) trades in Morgan Freeman for Samuel L. Jackson in this tale of a female cop who becomes a suspect in the murders of her former lovers while working on a murder case of her own. Philip Kaufman (The Right Stuff) directs. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, North Shore Square
WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT (PG-13) -- Hardware-store owner Ray Romano battles retired President Gene Hackman for the office of mayor of a small New England town in this comedy directed by Donald Petri (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days) and co-starring Maura Tierney, Marcia Gay Harden, Christine Baranski, Fred Savage and Rip Torn. AMC Palace 12, Movies 8
YOU GOT SERVED (PG-13) -- 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 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, North Shore Square
