Scheduled to Open Friday
CELLULAR (PG-13) -- Kidnapped woman Kim Basinger places a panicky phone call to stranger Chris Evans in the hopes of saving herself and her family from kidnapper Jason Statham in this thriller directed by David R. Ellis. Co-stars Jessica Biel and William H. Macy.
RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE (R) -- The sequel to the popular 2002 horror film (directed once again by Paul Anderson) features Milla Jovovich as a military type who joins over survivors of a virus outbreak to battle the zombified victims of the outbreak. Co-stars Sienna Guillory, Mike Epps, Oded Fehr and Jared Harris.
Now Showing
ALIEN VS. PREDATOR (PG-13) -- Not since Godzilla and Mothra tangled has there been such an anticipated match-up of very, very bad monsters in this film directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat) and starring Sanaa Lathan and Lance Henriksen. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Grand, Holiday 12, Movies 8
ANACONDAS: THE HUNT FOR THE BLOOD ORCHID (PG-13) -- The cast is new but the snake is as big and menacing as ever in this sequel to the campy, so-bad-it's-good 1997 hit that starred Ice Cube, J-Lo and Jon Voight. This cast features Johnny Messner, Morris Chestnut, Peter Curtis and Eugene Byrd. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8
BENJI: OFF THE LEASH! (PG) -- Everybody's favorite mutt sleuth returns to the big screen with Benji teaming up with a dog named Shaggy (zoinks!) to help save Benji's mama. AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette
THE BOURNE SUPREMACY (PG-13) -- Matt Damon returns as David Webb/Jason Bourne in the second installment of the Robert Ludlum spy trilogy. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Holiday 12
CATWOMAN (PG-13) -- C- Halle Berry is a shy commercial artist who gets dead at the hand of meanies and reincarnated from the breath of a magic kitty. Time to dress like Donna the Dominatrix and kick some serious ass. (Barton) Chalmette
COLLATERAL (R) -- B+ Hitman Tom Cruise forces cab driver Jamie Foxx to help drive him around as he does his 'errands' over the course of one night in this taut and surprisingly cheeky noir thriller from Michael Mann. Cruise is at his coolest, in a deadly way, in this film, while Foxx provides an almost perfect counterpart as his flummoxed, unwilling partner. (Simmons) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8
COOKOUT (PG-13) -- NBA rookie Storm P finds himself a fish out of water when he throws a picnic for his family and old friends in a posh white neighborhood in this comedy directed by first-timer Lance Rivera and co-starring Eve, Queen Latifah, Danny Glover, Tim Meadows, Vincent Pastore, Ja Rule, Frankie Faison and Farrah Fawcett. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, North Shore Square
DE-LOVELY (PG-13) -- D Another failed attempt at a film version of Cole Porter's life, De-Lovely is better than 1946's Night and Day, but only just. Screenwriter Jay Cocks sinks this film with an over-thought but underdeveloped script that relies too heavily on sophomoric narrative devices. (Carlson) Causeway Cinema
DOLPHINS (NR) -- Fa love Pa! Actor Pierce Brosnan narrates Greg MacGillivray's documentary about the study of dolphins' communication skills. Featuring music by Sting. Entergy IMAX
THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR (R) -- B+ Children's author/artist Jeff Bridges and wife Kim Basinger remain in their own separate worlds of grief following the deaths of their teen sons in this worthy film directed by Tod Williams and based on the first part of John Irving's novel A Widow for One Year. (Simmons) Causeway Cinema
EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING (R) -- Seven years in the making, this troubled fourth installment of the chilly series about dealing with the devil features priests Stellan Skarsgard (Breaking the Waves) and James D'Arcy (Master and Commander) drawing the short straw this time around. Directed by Renny Harlin, who completely re-shot Paul Schrader's version after replacing him on the set on orders from Warner Bros. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12
GARDEN STATE (R) -- B+ Zach Braff (TV's Scrubs) wrote, directed and stars in this self-consciously offbeat comedy-drama about a semi-successful actor who returns home to New Jersey for his mother's funeral and to confront both his past and his future. (Simmons) AMC Palace 20, Canal Place
HERO (PG-13) -- B Zhang Yimou's (Raise the Red Lantern) film can be enjoyed as visual and kinetic art, appreciated for its bursts of color and grace of movement. But in the end the picture takes an unsavory turn. The picture's final lesson is that when something as grand as the construction of a country is the goal, the cost in blood is never too high. That's a premise Slobodan Milosovic would embrace in a heartbeat. (Barton) (Reviewed in this issue.) AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, North Shore Square, Prytania
A HOME AT THE END OF THE WORLD (R) -- In 1980s New York City, at the dawn of the AIDS crisis, bisexual chef Colin Farrell, gay restaurant critic Dallas Roberts and fashion designer Robin Wright Penn form an awkward friendship in Michael Meyer's adaptation of the novel by Michael Cunningham (The Hours). Causeway Cinema
I, ROBOT (PG-13) -- C Will Smith contributes his usual summer action feature. This time he's a homicide detective who hates robots and thinks some artificial malevolence is involved in the apparent suicide of a leading robotics designer. (Barton) AMC Palace 20
INTO THE DEEP (NR) -- IMAX cameras take a journey through the undersea world. Entergy IMAX
LITTLE BLACK BOOK (PG-13) -- Young TV producer Brittany Murphy (Just Married) is so suspicious of commitment-averse boyfriend Ron Livingston (Office Space) that she &140;interviews' all of his past girlfriends to find out his problem in this romantic comedy directed by Nick Hurran and co-starring Holly Hunter and Kathy Bates. Holiday 12
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (R) -- A- Jonathan Demme's remake of the 1962 classic political thriller about a sinister attempt to control the American presidency stands on its own as worth seeing even by those thoroughly familiar with the original. Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep and Liev Schreiber star. (Barton) AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
MARIA FULL OF GRACE (R) -- A poor, young Colombian woman (Catalina Sandino Moreno) becomes a drug mule for a cocaine syndicate and makes the harrowing trip to the United States in this critically acclaimed drama directed by Joshua Marston. In Spanish with English subtitles. Canal Place
NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (PG) -- A- Co-writer and director Jared Hess has created one of the most blissfully abstract comedies in recent memory in his story about Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder), a dorky high school student who might actually be a superhero. In what almost feels like a goof on John Hughes' '80s teen comedies, Hess has produced something thoroughly offbeat and surprisingly profound, displaying a love for people who aren't nearly as ordinary as we think. Plus it has one of the coolest opening title sequences of all time. (Simmons) Canal Place
THE NOTEBOOK (PG-13) -- Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams co-star in Nick Cassavetes' adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks romance novel about a romantic triangle recalled by an older man (James Garner) to his former love (Gena Rowlands), who is now suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Causeway Cinema
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
OPEN WATER (R) -- C Chris Kentis' low-budget film is the story of a vacationing couple who are abandoned at sea by their scuba-diving boat. A movie about the horrors of powerlessness, this picture is over-long at a scant 79 minutes. (Barton) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Holiday 12, Movies 8
PAPARAZZI (PG-13) -- Movie star Cole Hauser has revenge on his mind when wife Robin Tunney and his son are injured in an automobile crash caused by celebrity-stalking photographers in this thriller co-starring Tom Sizemore and Dennis Farina with cameos by Chris Rock, Mel Gibson, Vince Vaughn and Matthew McConaughey. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, North Shore Square
THE PRINCESS DIARIES 2: ROYAL ENGAGEMENT (G) -- Now that American teen Anne Hathaway is firmly set as the princess of Genovia, she now must find her prince in this sequel to the 2001 hit. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, North Shore Square
SHE HATE ME (R) -- Spike Lee offers what may be his most unfocused (dare we say worst?) film in the story about a corporate whistle-blower (New Orleans' Anthony Mackie, the film's lone bright spot) who finds himself siring children for lesbian mothers-in-waiting for pay. Huh? (Simmons) Grand
SPIDER-MAN 2 (PG-13) -- A- Director Sam Raimi finally displays his spidey sense in this superior sequel to the 2002 hit movie. An unhinged-yet-sympathetic Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) is the villain, but the real struggle here is between identity and secret identity, as Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) wrestles with the tangled question: to be or not to be a webslinger. (Tisserand) Chalmette
SUPERBABIES 2: BABY GENIUSES (PG) -- Talking babies assume superpowers and fight evil in the form of Jon Voight. Stars Scott Baio and Vanessa Angel. Bob Clark directed. AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Grand, Movies 8
SUSPECT ZERO (R) -- FBI agent Aaron Eckhart finds his investigation of a serial killer hitting a major moral snag when he thinks retired agent Ben Kingsley might be whacking other serial killers in his own form of street justice. Directed by E. Elias Merhige (Shadow of the Vampire) and co-starring Carrie-Anne Moss. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Grand, Hollywood Cinemas 9, North Shore Square
TOKYO STORY (NR) -- A+ Henri Schindler's Classic Film Series continues with Yasujiro Ozu's brilliant 1953 film about aging parents ( Chishu Ryu and Chieko Higashiyama) who run into indifference and apathy while visiting their children. It's nearly impossible to watch this masterpiece without thinking about your own family. In Yasujiro Ozu's familial masterpiece, there are so many universal themes being subtly explored that surely there is something to cling to. Many critics believed that Ozu was too 'Japanese' for Western audiences, but his patience with and respect for his characters and story are poetic. (Simmons) 6:30 p.m. at NOMA's Stern Auditorium
VANITY FAIR (PG-13) -- Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding) directs Reese Witherspoon in yet another (seventh?) theatrically released adaptation of the William Makepeace Thackeray novel about a working girl in 1820s London who cunningly works her way up the social ladder. The higher she climbs, the more complicated life becomes. Co-stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Gabriel Byrne, Jim Broadbent, Eileen Atkins and Rhys Ifans. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 20, Canal Place
THE VILLAGE (PG-13) -- C M. Night Shyamalan's career trajectory continues ever downward with yet another 'movie with a secret' approach that spoils a fairly intriguing story. Rural villagers who adhere to a Luddite lifestyle -- filled with its own creepy superstitions -- start to panic when someone inadvertently breaks a truce with their menacing neighbor in the nearby woods. (Simmons) AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Holiday 12, Movies 8
VOLCANOES OF THE DEEP SEA -- Actor Ed Harris narrates this look at life 12,000 feet below sea level, including the strange creatures that thrive near underwater volcanoes. Entergy IMAX
WE DON'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE (R) -- John Curran directed Naomi Watts, Mark Ruffalo, Laura Dern and Peter Krause as disaffected mate-swappers in this story based on a combination of Andres DuBus' (In the Bedroom) novella of the same name and his short story 'Adultery.' Causeway Cinema
WICKER PARK (PG-13) -- Heartbroken investment banker Josh Hartnett can't move on with his life, including an upcoming wedding, when he thinks he sees his previous flame in a restaurant and becomes obsessed in this thriller remake of the 1996 French film, L'Appartement. Directed by Brandon Boyce (Apt Pupil) and co-stars Matthew Lillard, Jessica Pare, Diane Kruger and Rose Byrne. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, North Shore Square
WITHOUT A PADDLE (PG-13) -- City slickers Seth Green, Matthew Lillard and Abraham Benrubi decide to pick up on their dead friend's quest for stolen loot on a canoe trip in this film billed by more than one source as City Slickers meets Deliverance (insert Ned Beatty joke here). AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8 YU-GI-OH! (PG) -- The popular Japanese animation show comes to the big screen courtesy of director Ryosuke Takahashi, with the evil spirit Anubis rising from the sands of Egypt. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8
