Scheduled to Open Friday
BROKEN WINGS (R) -- C Nir Bergman's Israeli drama is the story of a family of five trying to survive after the sudden death of their husband and father. The picture offers solid performances, particularly by Maya Maron as a 17-year-old forced into an unwanted parenting role for her younger siblings. But there is little either convincing, enlightening or moving enough to suggest that this is a picture you need to see. (Barton) (Reviewed in this issue.) Canal Place
NEW YORK MINUTE (PG) -- Twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (who, for all you Internet pervs, finally turn 18 on June 13) get caught up in a series of madcap misadventures in the big city in this comedy directed by Dennis Gordon (Joe Dirt) and co-starring Eugene Levy, Darrell Hammond, Jared Padalecki and Andy Richter.
VAN HELSING (PG-13) -- The legendary monster hunter Abraham Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) takes on the greatest hits of monsterdom: Count Dracula (Richard Roxburgh), Frankenstein (Schuler Hensley) and the Wolf Man (Will Kemp) in this potential franchise-starter from Mummy franchise director Stephen Sommers. Co-stars Kate Beckinsale.
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13 GOING ON 30 (PG-13) -- Unpopular dork Jennifer Garner (hang on) makes a wish and winds up as a hot 30-year-old ad exec (there you go) in this comedy from Tadpole director Gary Winick and co-starring Mark Ruffalo, Kathy Baker, Andy Serkis and Samuel Ball. Yes, we're all thinking BIG about this one. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, North Shore Square
THE ALAMO (PG-13) -- The legendary siege of the San Antonio, Texas, mission immortalized in the 1960 film directed by and starring John Wayne, returns to the big screen. Directed by John Lee Hancock and starring Dennis Quaid, Jason Patric, Billy Bob Thornton and Marc Blucas. AMC Palace 20, Causeway Cinema, Movies 8
BOBBY JONES, STROKE OF GENIUS (PG) -- Jim Caviezel, fresh off taking on one historical icon (The Passion of the Christ) moves to another one in this bio-pic of the legendary golfer who walked away from the game at the peak of his career. Co-stars Jeremy Northam, Malcolm McDowell and Claire Forlani. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
CONNIE AND CARLA (PG-13) -- Two struggling dinner-theater performers (Nia Vardalos, Toni Collette) stumble onto a mob hit and wind up going on the lam as drag queens in Los Angeles. Hmmm, did someone say Some Like It Hot? Michael Lembeck directs the script by Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) with a supporting cast including David Duchovny and a cameo not by Tony Curtis but Debbie Reynolds. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 20, Canal Place
DOGVILLE (R) -- A new resident of a small American town (Nicole Kidman) is initially welcomed but ultimately reviled by the residents in the latest film from Lars Von Triers (Dancer in the Dark). Excellent supporting cast features Udo Kier, Lauren Bacall, Blair Brown, James Caan, Jeremy Davies, Ben Gazzara, Philip Baker Hall and New Orleans' own Patricia Clarkson. Canal Place
ELLA ENCHANTED (PG) -- B A teen is more cursed than blessed with the gift of obedience in this film directed by Tommy O'Haver. Anne Hathaway (The Princess Diaries) is girl-next-door cute but theatrically challenged in this promising but scattered goof on fairy tales. Sound uneven? Yup. To its credit, though, Ella Enchanted serves as a charming parable about finding your inner strength. The supporting cast is equally mixed, thanks in part to an almost complete lack of writing for them, particularly Minnie Driver as a supportive but completely unhelpful relative. And one doesn't cast Joanna Lumley without giving her good material. The '70s-inspired soundtrack includes the Leo Sayer classic &179;You Make Feel Like Dancing.&178; (Simmons) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8
ENVY (PG-13) -- C Working with a mess of a script and tepid direction from Barry Levinson, Ben Stiller and Jack Black fumble their way through this comedy about best friends who are torn apart by success. Levinson, whose glory days (Diner, Rain Man) have long since passed, ruins whatever chemistry could have developed between Stiller and Black. They're both reduced to mugging, something Black does all too well. Ditto Christopher Walken, who now makes his living playing Christopher Walken, this time as a drunk who encourages the envious Stiller to act out his frustration on his more successful friend. You know you're in trouble when your funniest comedic prop is the dessert flan. Rachel Weisz and Amy Poehler are all but wasted as the men's wives. (Simmons) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (R) -- A Michel Gondry directed this typically wild and brilliant Charlie Kaufman script about young lovers who become angry with each other and contract with a neuroscience firm to have all memories of each other erased from their minds. Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey are very fine in the leading roles. The picture is intriguing, wise and emotionally satisfying. (Barton) AMC Palace 20, Canal Place
THE GIRL NEXT DOOR (R) -- C Luke Greenfield's teen sex comedy is the story of a nerdy high school senior whose new girlfriend is a porn star. A few jokes work and bathroom humor is avoided, but the plotting is contrived and threadbare. In the end, even the promised sex is pretty tepid. (Barton) AMC Palace 12
GODSEND (PG-13) -- Grieving parents Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (soon to be just plain old Romijn, apparently) turn to stem-cell research doctor Robert De Niro (!) to help bring their dead son back to life. When the operation is a success, all hell breaks loose. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Causeway Cinema, Grand, North Shore Square
GOOD BYE, LENIN (NR) -- A- Wolfgang Becker's comedy concerns an East German teacher who falls into a coma in October of 1989 and wakes up after the fall of the Berlin Wall in a brand new country. Much fun is poked at the idiocies of the Soviet economic system. This film's provocative premise is that the authoritarianism everywhere practiced by Soviet socialists betrayed, but does not erase, the humanity of a communitarian ideal. (Barton) Canal Place
HELLBOY (PG-13) -- The Dark Horse comic superhero, a former child of Satan turned paranormal investigator, comes to the big screen in the form of veteran character actor Ron Perelman in this film directed by Guillermo Del Toro. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Movies 8
HOME ON THE RANGE (PG) -- C- While the kids take in this one, you can go ahead and close your eyes. The best thing about Disney's latest half-effort isn't its bland animation, but the Alan Menken score and songs by Tim McGraw, K.D. Lang and Bonnie Raitt. Otherwise, it's a muddled, meandering tale of cows and rustlers and friendships and courage, with the best humor being the burping animals -- and you can hear all those with your eyes closed, too. (Tisserand) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12
IRMA VEP (NR) -- This 1996 movie-within-a-movie directed by Olivier Assayas serves as a biting and funny commentary on French filmmaking, starring Maggie Cheung and Jean-Pierre Leaud (of Truffaut's Antoine Doinel fame). 5 p.m. Sunday, May 9, at the Bridge Lounge
JERSEY GIRL (R) -- Widower Ben Affleck tries to juggle raising precocious daughter Raquel Castro and a possible romance with Liv Tyler in this romantic comedy from Kevin Smith. Co-stars Jennifer Lopez and Jason Biggs. AMC Palace 20
JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION (PG-13) -- Cedric the Entertainer tries to lead his family on a trip to a family reunion in this comedy co-starring Vanessa Williams, Steve Harvey and Shannon Elizabeth. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, North Shore Square
KILL BILL VOL. 2 (R) -- Those not killed in the first film return for the sequel to Quentin Tarantino's homage to Hong Kong action movies. Stars Uma Thurman. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8, Prytania
LAWS OF ATTRACTION (PG-13) -- Competing divorce attorneys Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore put down their briefs just long enough to get married and then fret over committing the same mistakes as their clients in this romantic comedy. (Adam's Rib, anyone?) Directed by Peter Howitt of Sliding Doors fame, and co-starring Parker Posey, Nora Dunn and Frances Fisher. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, North Shore Square
THE LADYKILLERS (R) -- The Coen Brothers return with this remake of the 1955 British comedy, this time starring Tom Hanks as the ringleader of a gang bent on using a boarding house as the springboard for an upcoming heist. Co-stars Marlon Wayans and J.K. Simmons. AMC Palace 20, Causeway Cinema
MAN ON FIRE (R) -- Bodyguard Denzel Washington goes after the bad guy who kidnapped the daughter of the family he's protecting in Mexico City in this second film adaptation of A.J. Quinnell's novel. Directed by Tony Scott and adapted by Oscar-winning screenwriter Brian Helgeland. (The 1987 version starred Scott Glenn, Danny Aiello and Joe Pesci.) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, North Shore Square
MEAN GIRLS (PG-13) -- Saturday Night Live's Tina Fey adapted the screenplay and co-stars in this story about a teen (Linsay Lohan) trying to survive the cliques in her high school. (Fey adapts Margaret Talbot's New York Times article about a high school counselor who works with teens and cliques.) Directed by Mark S. Waters (Freaky Friday) and co-starring Tim Meadows, Amy Poehler and Louisiana's own Lacey Chabert. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood 9, North Shore Square
MONSIEUR IBRAHIM (R) -- B+ Francois Dupeyron's gentle story about a 14-year-old Jewish boy (Pierre Boulanger) and the aged Muslim grocer (Omar Sharif) who becomes his surrogate father and friend exudes such a compelling sweetness of spirit we can't help but reflect on how our world has gone so wrong in the four decades since its setting. (Barton) Canal Place
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
NASCAR 3-D: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE (PG) -- The IMAX cameras go deep inside the race cars and race tracks of NASCAR land. Entergy IMAX
NEVER DIE ALONE (R) -- Rapper DMX stars as a hoodlum who tries to go straight in his hometown, which has been ripped by the violence he helped create. Directed by Ernest Dickerson. 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
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, Grand, Holiday 12
THE PRINCE AND ME (PG) -- College student Julia Stiles falls for classmate Luke Mably -- who also happens to be the prince of Denmark hanging out on the down low until assuming his duties -- in this romantic comedy from Martha Coolidge of Valley Girl fame (a long, long time ago). AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Causeway Cinema
THE PUNISHER (R) -- Undercover FBI agent Thomas Jane turns into a revenge-seeking wild man in this film adaptation of the popular Marvel comic-book character. Co-stars John Travolta, Samantha Mathis, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Roy Scheider and the freakish Will Patton. AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8
RECENT WORKS FROM THE NEW ORLEANS FILM COLLECTIVE -- Zeitgeist presents this latest offering of the Collective's projects, including works from Helen Hill's Super 8 Filmmaking Class, as well as films from Clay Colton, Doc Boyle, Thomas Little, Jeff Louviere and many others. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Zeitgeist
SCOOBY-DOO 2: MONSTERS UNLEASHED (PG) -- Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, Linda Cardellini and the computer-generated dog of the title return in this sequel to the 2002 hit. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, North Shore Square
WALKING TALL (PG-13) -- Small-town guy The Rock returns to his hometown to take over the family business, only to find his town overrun by bad guys in what could politely be called a sort-of remake of the classic 1973 film starring Joe Don Baker. (That film was based on the life of Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser; this one not so much.) Co-starring no one in particular. AMC Palace 16, Grand, Movies 8
THE WHOLE TEN YARDS (PG-13) -- Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry reunite in this sequel to the modest 2000 hit, The Whole Nine Yards. This time, Oz (Perry) tries to coax hitman Jimmy (Willis) out of retirement to rescue Oz's kidnapped wife (Natasha Henstridge), Jimmy's ex-wife. Co-stars Amanda Peet. Holiday 12
