Scheduled to Open Friday
NATIONAL TREASURE (PG-13) -- Modern-day treasure hunters led by archaeologist Nicolas Cage (Harrison Ford being too old and all) seek a chest of goodies left behind by the Founding Fathers. The twist: He's one of their descendants. Directed by John Turteltaub (Cool Runnings) and co-starring Christopher Plummer and Harvey Keitel.
THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE (PG) -- Nickelodeon continues to crank out movie versions of its popular TV series (The Wild Thornberrys, The Rugrats) with this animated film about the fry cook at the Krusty Krab diner in Bikini Bottom. Features the voices of Alec Baldwin, Scarlett Johansson and Jeffrey Tambor. Directed and written by Sherm Cohen and Stephen Hillenburg, respectively, who work on the TV series.
Now Showing
AFTER THE SUNSET (PG-13) -- Suave thief Pierce Brosnan thinks he's pulled off his last heist and is set for retirement on a remote island when his rival, an FBI agent, visits him and the two strike up the old rivalry. Brett Ratner (Red Dragon) directs; supporting cast includes Woody Harrelson, Salma Hayek and Don Cheadle. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8
ALFIE (R) -- B Charles Shyer's remake of the 1966 British film that made Michael Caine a star is now set in contemporary Manahattan. Jude Law is the philandering limo driver and Jane Krakowski, Nia Long, Marisa Tomei, Susan Sarandon and Sienna Miller are his women. Shyer's script does a good job of modernizing his female characters, but isn't as adroit with Alfie himself. Excellent performances all around, however, with Miller a particular standout. (Barton) (Reviewed in this issue.) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8, Prytania
BEYOND THE EVIL: NEW PERSPECTIVES FROM THE MUSLIM WORLD (NR) -- Zeitgeist brings this touring program from Women Make Movies, co-sponsored by Newcomb College Center for Research on Women, including films from Palestine, Afghanistan and Pakistan. This week: Afghanistan: The Lost Truth (7:30 p.m. Wednesday) and The Clay Bird (7:30 p.m. Thursday-Sunday). For descriptions visit www.zeitgeistinc.org.
BRIDGET JONES: THE EDGE OF REASON (R) -- The blissful relationship between Renee Zellwegger and Colin Firth is threatened by the entry of a drop-dead gorgeous intern and the reappearance of Bridget's former heartthrob boss. Starring Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant and Jacinda Barrett. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 20
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
DOON SCHOOL CHRONICLES (NR) -- Zeitgeist presents this five-part documentary series by director David MacDougall profiling India's Doon School, which some have dubbed 'the Eton of India' for its prestigious academic reputation in grooming the future leaders of the country in a post-colonial atmosphere. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Zeitgeist
DRIVE BY SCREENINGS -- Film series continues. This week: a 'Commie Noir' double feature, 1995's Red Hollywood directed by Thom Anderson and Noel Burch, and 1954's Johnny Guitar directed by Nicholas Ray. 7 p.m. Wednesday at the 3 Ring Circus' The Big Top
THE FORGOTTEN (PG-13) -- C+ Director Joseph Ruben crafts what amounts to a just-average X-Files rip-off starring Julianne Moore and Dominic West. Moore plays a grieving mother whose sorrow is compounded when husband Anthony Edwards and psychiatrist Gary Sinise tell her that the child she mourns never existed. (Carlson) Movies 8
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (PG-13) -- B Peter Berg's adaptation of H.G.Bissinger's book about the 1988 Permian High School football season in Odessa, Texas, is an effective look at a coach and a bunch of players under too much pressure from a town full of adults who need to live their own lives and not destroy the lives of their children. (Barton) AMC Palace 12, Chalmette, 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) Causeway Cinema
GERMAN FILM PROGRAM -- Series continues. This week: 1990's The Nasty Girl. 7 p.m. Thursday at Deutsches Haus
THE GRUDGE (PG-13) -- Japanese director Takashi Shimizu takes the trend of American directors adapting Japanese thrillers one step further by remaking his own film into English, with Sarah Michelle Gellar trapped in a haunted house. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, North Shore Square
I ♥ HUCKABEES (R) -- A- David O. Russell fulfills the promise of earlier works Spanking the Monkey and Three Kings with the most novel film of the year so far: a slapstick existential comedy. Rare is the director who can work a film on such seemingly disparate intellectual levels, which Russell does here in exploring the psyche of an environmentalist (Jason Schwartzman), a corporate drone (Jude Law) and an embittered firefighter (Mark Wahlberg), with a little help from 'existentialist detectives' Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin. (Simmons) AMC Palace 20, Canal Place, Causeway Cinema
THE INCREDIBLES (PG) -- Pixar CGI film follows an animated super-team that is actually a family with tons of inner squabbles who are in a witness protection program. Directed by Brad Bird (The Iron Giant) and featuring the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Wallace Shawn, Samuel L. Jackson and Jason Lee. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, North Shore Square
INTO THE DEEP (NR) -- IMAX cameras take a journey through the undersea world. Entergy IMAX
LADDER 49 (PG-13) -- Fireman Joaquin Phoenix (The Village) contemplates his life while waiting to be rescued from a nasty fire in this drama directed by Jay Russell (My Dog Skip) and co-starring John Travolta, Morris Chestnut and Jacinda Barrett of MTV's The Real World (London) fame. AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Movies 8
THE LIVING SEA (NR) -- Entergy IMAX's premiere film returns, with a look at aquatic life, narrated by Meryl Streep. Oscar-nominated for Best Documentary Short. Entergy IMAX
THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES (R) -- Gael Garcia Bernal, who was so compelling in both Amores Perros and Y Tu Mama Tambien, stars as a young Ernesto 'Che' Guevara at the beginning of his political awakening in this biopic directed by Walter Salles (Central Station) and co-starring Rodrigo de la Serna. 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. (Simmons) Causeway Cinema
THE POLAR EXPRESS (PG) -- A young boy whose faith in Santa Claus is put to the test by cynical friends and relatives is whisked away to the North Pole by train conductor Tom Hanks in this Robert Zemeckis film using computer-generated images. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, North Shore Square
RAY (PG-13) -- B+ Taylor Hackford's vibrant if sometimes cliched biopic of American music icon Ray Charles (here portrayed admirably by Jamie Foxx) features a strong ensemble cast, wonderful recreations of Charles performing his greatest hits, and deft use of New Orleans scenery and musicians and actors. (Simmons) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, North Shore Square
SANTA VS. THE SNOWMAN (NR) -- The holiday season warms up with this story about a jealous snowman who decides to battle Santa and the North Pole. Entergy IMAX
SAW (R) -- Cary Elwes and Leigh Whannell are stalked by a serial killer in this thriller directed by James Wan. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Movies 8
SEED OF CHUCKY (R) -- The fifth installment in the killer-doll series features Chucky facing fatherhood. Features the voices of Brad Dourif as Chucky, Jennifer Tilly as Tiffany, and John Waters doing God knows what. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Causeway Cinema, Chalmette, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8
SHALL WE DANCE? (PG-13) -- C Richard Gere is rich and in love with his wife (Susan Sarandon) and two kids, but he's nonetheless having a midlife crisis. This film has laudable values and some wisdom to share about marriage, but the script is very weak and the tone entirely uneven. (Barton) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Movies 8
SHARK TALE (PG) -- The mafia goes truly underworld, or more accurately, underwater, in this animated story about a little fish (voice of Will Smith) who is mistakenly blamed for the accidental death of the son of a shark mob boss (Robert De Niro). AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Grand, Holiday 12, Movies 8
SHAUN OF THE DEAD (R) -- London pub crawler Simon Pegg tries to rescue his friends from zombies, with disastrous results, in director Edgar Wright's spoof of the classic horror flick, Dawn of the Dead. Causeway Cinema
SIDEWAYS (R) -- B+ Sideways, like Alexander Payne's earlier works Election and About Schmidt, is a witty and delightful comedy with more than its share of drama. The loserly Miles (Paul Giamatti) and his aging TV star friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church) take a bachelor-party tour through wine country, in which the fruit of the grape serves as a not-always-subtle metaphor for life. Giamatti does his work well (he just might garner an overdue Oscar nod), and his chemistry with Church is a pure comic delight. (Simmons) (Reviewed in this issue.) AMC Palace 20, Canal Place
STAGE BEAUTY (R) -- England's admittance of women to actually play female roles in theatrical productions threatens the career of popular stage actor Billy Crudup in this film directed by Richard Eyre and co-starring Claire Danes, Ben Chaplin, Tom Wilkinson and Rupert Everett. Canal Place
STATE PALACE LATE-NIGHT MOVIE SERIES -- New film series continues. This week: Sam Raimi's 1993 horror classic, Army of Darkness, starring Bruce Campbell and Bridget Fonda. 9 p.m. and midnight Friday-Saturday at the State Palace
TAXI (PG-13) -- This latest version of the buddy movie (and Queen Latifah star vehicle) appropriately enough puts the Queen behind the steering wheel of a cab, recruited by detective Jimmy Fallon to help him catch a gang of pretty female bank robbers. AMC Palace 16, Chalmette
TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE (R) -- B+ South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker co-directed this puppet-character parody of Hollywood action movies (among other things), with an average Joe puppet recruited by a superhero team to battle evil around the world. (Eddy) AMC Palace 20
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
