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Scheduled to Open Wednesday
THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS (PG) -- Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel co-star in this story about four teen friends looking at their summer apart just as they're all turning 16, bound together by a pair of jeans. Directed by Ken Kwapis ( Dunston Checks In ).
Scheduled to Open Friday
CINDERELLA MAN (PG-13) -- Already considered a heavyweight Oscar contender, Cinderella Man reunites A Beautiful Mind 's Ron Howard and Russell Crowe, the latter of which portrays Depression-era boxer Jim Braddock in the days leading up to his bout with the lethal Max Baer. Co-stars Renee Zellweger, Paul Giamatti and Craig Bierko.
LORDS OF DOGTOWN (PG-13) -- Catherine Hardwicke ( Thirteen ) continues her passion for California teens with this fictional look at the surfers-turned-skateboarders in the '70s-era Dogtown neighborhood that stretched between Venice Beach and Santa Monica. Stars Heath Ledger, Emile Hirsch, Johnny Knoxville and John Robinson as Stacy Peralta, who directed the critically acclaimed 2001 documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys and wrote the script for this film.
Now Showing
THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (R) -- The sleeper 1974 thriller hit (based on a true story) about a family that buys a severely haunted house gets the remake treatment with a script by the sudden prince of 1970s remakes, Scott Kosar (the recent remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the upcoming The Longest Yard ). Directed by Andrew Douglas and starring Jimmy Bennett, Melissa George and Philip Baker Hall. AMC Palace 20
CALLAS FOREVER (NR) -- Forget Angelina and Brad -- there are no two sexier people on film than Fanny Ardant ( Ridicule ) and Jeremy Irons ( Damage ). So appealing are these two that, together, they manage to almost ameliorate the mediocre material of this latest Franco Zeffirelli project. Callas Forever is the Italian director's love letter to his old friend, Maria Callas; Zeffirelli cowrote the script, which imagines the tempestuous singer (played by a ferocious, theatrical Ardant, late in life after her voice has gone, attempting to regain her former glory through the magic of technology. Friend and promoter Larry Kelly (Irons) convinces Callas to film Carmen , promising her that the audio will be pulled from old recordings. Zeffirelli's stagings are appropriately operatic, and Callas' voice is, of course, divine. Ardant (as Callas lip-synching Callas) mouths the words perfectly and, more importantly, creates an effortless multi-dimensional portrait of opera's most enduring diva with all her eccentricities, flights of ego and insecurities. The supporting cast falls flat, however, and the script's vitality peters out far too soon. (Carlson) Chalmette 9
CRASH (R) -- The lives of Los Angelenos of almost every racial and ethnic stripe and class continually intersect with sometimes tragic results in this drama featuring the feature-directing debut of Million Dollar Baby screenwriter Paul Haggis. We've seen this type of narrative approach before in films like Short Cuts and particularly Magnolia , and while it wanders into portentousness more often than it should, Crash benefits from Haggis' desire to approach racism with a rare sense of intelligence and perspective. A fine ensemble cast includes Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Sandra Bullock, Thandie Newton, Jennifer Esposito, Larenz Tate and a particularly amusing Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges. Haggis co-wrote the screenplay with Robert Moresco. (Simmons) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Canal Place, Chalmette 9, Grand, Holiday 12
ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM (NR) -- Proceeding from a book by business reporters Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, writer/director Alex Gibney's documentary details the noxious rise and scandalous collapse of the energy conglomerate. This film about the largest white-collar crime in history will make you furious and will make you hope that top Enron executives Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling get what they will no doubt escape -- life without parole -- when they go on trial in January 2006. (Barton) Canal Place
FORCES OF NATURE (NR) -- George Casey's documentary about the study of such natural phenomena as earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes. Narrated by Kevin Bacon. Kenner MegaDome
HEAD-ON (NR) -- Fatih Akin's ragged love story stars Birol Unel and Sibel Kekilli as unlikely Turkish-German lovers who meet in a psychiatric unit and get married for convenience's sake and then must face life on the outside. Akin deservedly won for Best Director and Unel and Kekilli won for Best Actor and Actress, respectively, at the 'Lolas' -- Germany's equivalent of the Academy Awards -- while the movie won the Golden Bear (top prize) at the International Film Festival Berlin. Akin deftly probes love from different perspectives, not just romantically but also for our homeland, and how both loves are put to the test. (Simmons) (Reviewed in this issue.) Canal Place
THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY (PG) -- Douglas Adams' 1979 classic British radio series and novel survives the adaptation to the big screen better than most expected. The sparseness of the radio show and the wittily methodical writing in Adams' books are too often replaced by special effects, but those charms still shine through on occasion. The movie has an unexpected note of political satire, as the bad guy aliens are the universe's ultimate bureaucrats, and Sam Rockwell plays galaxy president Zaphod Beeblebrox as a younger George W. Bush. Still, putting such a distinctly British book through the Hollywood process created a movie that's little more than a charming, odd distraction. Co-stars Martin Freeman, Mos Def, Zooey Deschanel and the voice of Alan Rickman. (Rawls) AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Holiday 12
HOUSE OF WAX (R) -- A bunch of friends get trapped in a small town's wax museum only to find two murderous brothers have made wax figures out of visitors -- and are looking for more victims! A perfect vehicle for the queen of 'That's hot!' Paris Hilson. Also stars real actors Elisha Cuthbert, Jared Padalecki, Jon Abrahams and Chad Michael Murray, with Jaume Collet-Serra making his feature-film directing debut. Loose remake of André de Toth's 1953 horror classic starring Vincent Price. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette 9, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9
THE INTERPRETER (PG-13) -- Sidney Pollack's ( Random Hearts ) first film in six years stars Nicole Kidman as a U.N. translator and Sean Penn as the Secret Service agent assigned to protect her when she reports overhearing a death threat made against an African leader. Fine performances and a compassionate heart make this well worth seeing, even though the picture could use and extra trick or two. And the core material is so powerful, we keep wanting the picture to move us in a way it never quite does. (Barton) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 20, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9
INTO THE DEEP (G) -- IMAX cameras take a journey through the undersea world. Entergy IMAX
KICKING AND SCREAMING (PG-13) -- No pair of actors this side of Harvey Korman and Tim Conway have had as much obvious fun as Robert Duvall and Mike Ditka, who liven up this family comedy as a pair of ex-jock feuding neighbors blowing smoke and leaves at each other. Meanwhile, Will Ferrell defies all laws of comedy by continuing to find yuks doing pretty much the same loveable-overgrown-kid-with-serious-issues bit that he did in Elf and countless SNL s. Here, a combination of macho pride and too much cappuccino render Gentle Dad into Coach Hyde, willing to sacrifice all for a big win for his kid's soccer team. (Tisserand) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette 9, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (R) -- Director Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven attempts to embrace the bloody birthright that is the struggle for Jerusalem, his crusader's tale a lovely lamentation of the weary fight of faith against fanaticism and of ideals free of ideologies. As a young widower driven to the Holy Land in search of God's forgiveness, Orlando Bloom ably steps into a leading role, supported by the exotic Eva Green, as Sibylla, sister to Jerusalem's king; the elegant Jeremy Irons, as the war-weary counselor Tiberias; and the Syrian actor and director Ghassan Massoud as the enigmatic Saracen general Saladin. The film is beautifully shot, from the wind coming off the desert dunes to the churning legs of a line of cavalry horses charging into battle. Massive battle sequences, with all the accoutrements of medieval war, punctuate the film with their chaotic choreography, a particular specialty of Scott's. (Carlson) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9
LAYER CAKE (R) -- Matthew Vaughn's British crime film is the story of a nameless real estate broker (Daniel Craig) amassing a fortune as a cocaine distributor. Perhaps more complicated than necessary and with thick accents sometimes hard for the American ear to decipher, this picture, in the end, is a cautionary tale about hubris, about the habit smart people too often have of underestimating others. (Barton) (Reviewed in this issue.) Canal Place
THE LONGEST YARD (PG-13) -- Adam Sandler takes over for Burt Reynolds in this remake of the surprise 1974 hit about a high-living pro quarterback who winds up in a remote prison and is forced by the mean warden to put together a football team among the teammates to play (and lose) against the guards. Supporting cast includes Chris Rock, James Cromwell, Nelly, William Fichtner, Tracy Morgan, Cloris Leachman and Reynolds himself sliding into Michael Conrad's old role as the coach. Directed by Peter Segal ( 50 First Dates ). AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette 9, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9
LOOK AT ME (PG) -- This romantic comedy from writer-director Agnes Jaoui and writer/co-star Jean-Pierre Bacri traces the love life of seven characters who circulate in and around Paris' book-publishing industry. In French with English subtitles. Canal Place
MADAGASCAR (PG) -- Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, Jada Pinkett-Smith, David Schwimmer and others provide the voices for this latest CGI animation project from DreamWorks about a bunch of 'residents' of the Central Park Zoo who, through a series of misadventures, wind up on the shore of Madagascar and forced to fend for themselves for the first time ever. Directed by Eric Darnell (co-director of Antz ) and Conrad Vernon. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette 9, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9
MINDHUNTERS (R) -- A group of FBI agents receiving training on psychological profiling on a remote island learn that of them is a serial killer is ready to do a little Ten Little Indians number on the rest of the gang in this thriller directed by Renny Harlin ( Deep Blue Sea ) and starring Val Kilmer, Christian Slater, LL Cool J and Patricia Velasquez. AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette 9
MONSTER-IN-LAW (PG-13) -- Professional dog walker Jennifer Lopez (insert joke here) finally finds the perfect man in boyfriend Michael Vartan but runs into a brick wall in his mother (Jane Fonda) in this comedy directed by Robert Luketic ( Legally Blonde ). Marks the first movie role for Jane Fonda since 1990's Stanley and Iris . Co-stars Wanda Sykes, presumably as someone sassy. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette 9, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9
NO MORE JOY (NR) -- Director David D'Entremont and producer A.J. Roquevert's melancholy documentary tells the story of local New Orleans film exhibition industry from Vitascope Hall in 1896 through the dominance of the grand movie palaces on Canal Street to the advent of the mall cinemas in the 1960s and their replacement by today's stadium seating megaplexes. For New Orleanians of a certain age, this is a rose-tinted journey into a altered universe, one, as the film's segment on segregated seating and single-race theaters acknowledges, wasn't really as sweet as we would choose to recall it. (Barton) Chalmette 9
OCEAN WONDERLAND 3D (G) -- The Great Barrier Reef and the Bahamas are explored, with a focus on the diversity of marine and coral life, in this film using new HD digital 3D 1570 cameras. Entergy IMAX
OLDBOY (R) -- Chan-woo Park directed this thriller about a Seoul businessman who finds himself imprisoned for 15 years after being framed for his wife's murder, and then is unexpectedly released and ultimately confronted with the reason for his imprisonment. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at last year's Cannes Film Festival. Chalmette 9
SAHARA (PG-13) -- Hunky explorer Matthew McConaughey and witty sidekick Steve Zahn explore the fabled desert looking for a lost battleship and run into comely doctor Penelope Cruz in this adventure film directed by Breck Eisner. AMC Palace 16
SHARKS 3D (G) -- Jean-Michel Cousteau presents this underwater, 3D look at such famous sharks as the Great White and the Hammerhead. Entergy IMAX
STAR WARS: EPISODE III -- THE REVENGE OF THE SITH (PG-13) -- The darker Sith benefits from the best of what has come before. In this last act, director and writer George Lucas has recaptured the series' swagger and vitality, mostly by pumping up the action quotient and undoubtedly by bringing Darth Vader back to the big screen. Lucas trusts the still-vibrant outlines of his original threads and themes and brings us back to the beginning quite nicely, showing the death of the Republic and the birth of Lord Vader. (Carlson) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette 9, Grand, Holiday 12, Hollywood Cinemas 9, Prytania
UNLEASHED (R) -- Jet Li ( Hero ) tries to balance his acting chops with his karate chops as a man raised as a pet-like killer by mid-level loan shark Bob Hoskins until befriended by blind piano tuner Morgan Freeman and his loveable teen stepdaughter Kerry Condon. It feels inappropriate to harsh all over this extremely well-meaning film that reunites Li with Luc Besson, who helped Li produce and write 2001's Kiss of the Dragon . But it doesn't get much more obvious and clumsy than this, and Li's noble attempts at pet-dog mimicry and likeability grates by the end. Hoskins is at his scene-gnashing best, while Freeman is merely along for the ride here. Louis Leterrier ( The Transporter ) directed. (Simmons) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette 9, Grand
THE WILD PARROTS OF TELEGRAPH HILL (NR) -- At only 83 minutes, Judy Irving's documentary about a self-taught naturalist studying a flock of parrots in San Francisco imperfectly fails to address all the pertinent questions that arise. Nonetheless, Wild Parrots provides a memorable portrait of a fascinating man and offers arresting details about wild creatures that are far more complicated than most of us ever realized. The picture affects you the way a good movie should: it stimulates your mind; it touches your heart. (Barton) Canal Place
XXX: STATE OF THE UNION (PG-13) -- Ice Cube takes over for Vin Diesel (a dubious distinction, but an upgrade nevertheless) in this sequel to the 2002, with the Cube playing a master criminal hired by the government to take on a renegade general (Willem Dafoe) who plans a coup. Lee Tamahori ( Die Another Day ) replaced Rob Cohen as the director. Co-stars Samuel L. Jackson. AMC Palace 16, Grand Special Screenings GERMAN FILM SERIES -- The Deutsches Haus film series continues. This week: Bernhard Wicki's 1959 classic anti-war film, The Bridge , about eight teenage boys drafted into military service during World War II to defend a bridge to their hometown. 7 p.m. Thursday at Deutsches Haus
JAPANESE CONTEMPORARY AND AVANT-GARDE FILMS -- Zeitgeist's series continues. Tuesday-Thursday (8 p.m.): Norifumi Suzuki's 1974 cult epic, School of the Holy Beast , about a woman who joins a convent to find her mother's killer and is sucked into a world of sex, drugs, fetishism and a whole lot more. Friday and Sunday, Tuesday-Thursday (8 p.m.): Pirjo Honkasalo's 2004 film, The 3 Rooms of Melancholia , an award-winning documentary about the psychological impact of the Chechen war on the children of both Russia and Chechnya. Zeitgeist
NEW ORLEANS LYCEUM -- Spring Film Series continues. This week: Jon Shear's intriguing 2000 drama, Urbania , starring Daniel Futterman as a gay man trying get over losing his boyfriend while roaming the urban jungle of New York City over the course of one night. 7 p.m. Thursday at 1827 Terpsichore St.
| 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
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