At the movies
Opening
Caché (Hidden)
Writer/director Michael Haneke delivers a masterpiece of unsettlement. The comfortable lives of a bourgeois Parisian couple (Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche) and their adolescent son starts spiraling out of control when an anonymous videotape turns up on their doorstep, showing their house under surveillance from across the street. It's a creepy psychological thriller that commands the audience's attention throughout. Review on Page 22. (R)
Inside Man
1/2
A tough detective matches wits with a clever bank robber as a dangerous cat-and-mouse game unfolds during a perfectly planned bank robbery. A power broker with hidden agenda emerges to inject even more instability into an already volatile situation. This latest "joint" from director Spike Lee stars Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster. Review on Page 21. (R)
Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector
The popular comedian from the Blue Collar Tour stars as a workaday guy happy with his usual round of greasy spoon diners and low-rent ethnic eateries. His easygoing life is turned upside-down, however, when he's assigned to investigate an outbreak of food poisonings at the city's swankiest restaurants. (PG-13)
Stay Alive
It's "The Ring" meets "Zathura." Frankie Muniz and Samaire Armstrong are part of a group of teens who play a mysterious online video game -- and suddenly find themselves being murdered the same ways as their game characters. (PG-13)
Now Playing
PG - Parental guidance suggested.
Aquamarine
1/2
Two teenage girls try to help a mermaid capture the heart of a hunky lifeguard at their neighborhood beach club. Heartfelt but clunky, this mermaid-out-of-water story offers enough female-positive messages to make it worthwhile viewing for 'tween girls.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Based on C.S. Lewis' classic fantasy novel, the story follows four siblings in World War II England who enter the world of Narnia through a magical wardrobe. There they join a noble and mystical ruler, the lion Aslan, in fighting the evil White Witch, Jadis. The visual overload is impressive, Tilda Swinton is positively insane as the witch, and the young actors give winsome performances.
Eight Below
Paul Walker is a researcher in Antarctica who takes his small scientific expedition to recover their pack of sled dogs they left behind more than six months ago after they were caught in a storm. Charting the struggle for survival of the dogs, this movie represents achievements in directing (Frank Marshall), editing, cinematography and, most of all, animal training. It will enthrall youngsters and warm the hearts of adult dog lovers.
Nanny McPhee
1/2
Emma Thompson stars as a magical but tough nanny who shapes up a family with seven badly behaved children. Thompson and director Kirk Jones' twisted, dryly British sense of humor often makes the movie surprisingly funny. The visual effects, unfortunately, look jarringly cheesy.
The Pink Panther
1/2
Steve Martin plays Inspector Clouseau in this remake of the Peter Sellers 1960s original. The bumbling French detective takes on a mystery involving the death of a soccer coach, a missing diamond ring and a femme fatale pop star (Beyoncé Knowles). The movie is sporadically funny, and Martin engages in his silliest screen behavior since "The Jerk."
The Shaggy Dog
Another remake, this time of the 1959 Disney classic. A top-secret serum turns a high-powered district attorney (Tim Allen) into a pooch. Before he can become human again, he must stop the evil forces behind the serum. This is a well-intentioned but forgettable mutt without any new tricks, the gags harmlessly predictable.
PG-13 - Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate from children under age 13.
16 Blocks
1/2
A troubled New York cop (Bruce Willis) must escort a squirrelly convict (Mos Def) from jail to court, but dangerous forces are out to stop them. Helmed by "Lethal Weapon" director Richard Donner, this routine movie pushes Willis and Def through a ceaselessly exciting, though often outrageous, gauntlet of grit and grime.
Big Momma's House 2
1/2
Martin Lawrence goes back undercover in his disguise as a grandmother built like a brick house, this time to be a nanny for the three kids of a suspected killer. You get just about every fat joke ever made in the movie, and the plot doesn't hold much interest. But if you're a fan of Lawrence's manic comedy, this is for you.
Date Movie
1/2
Alyson Hannigan stars in a parody of modern romantic comedies from a couple of the writers of the successful "Scary Movie" series. The jokes come so fast and furious that part of the entertainment is merely keeping score. The movie works on the philosophy that if you didn't think the last joke was funny, wait 30 seconds and it'll find you a movie you were dying to make fun of.
Failure to Launch
Matthew McConaughey plays a 30-something slacker who still lives with his parents. They hire a professional motivator (Sarah Jessica Parker) to lure him out of the nest. The movie has something of a TV sitcom-y shine to it as it gets started, but it contains some surprises, such as quirky and appealing characters played by its talented cast, sly and hilarious dialogue, and slapstick magic realism.
Fun With Dick & Jane
1/2
Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni star as a materialistic couple who, when he loses his job in an Enron-like scandal, go on a crime spree to make ends meet. The movie's a light, likable distraction, and the two actors share a good comedic rapport.
Memoirs of a Geisha
1/2
Based on the bestselling novel, a poor girl (Ziyi Zhang) is taken from her penniless family in the years before World War II and trained to be a geisha who becomes the legendary Sayuri. It's the rare work of art, an American film with lush, languid look of Chinese cinema. Director Rob Marshall layers the story's despair with an easy grace and sensuality.
The New World
Director Terrence Malick settles in and takes his time telling the story of the settlement of Jamestown, Va., in particular his interpretation of the classic tale of Pocahontas and her relationships with adventurer John Smith and aristocrat John Rolfe. While the film is beautiful to look at, it's also lacking in narrative drive and character development, almost defiantly so. But your perseverance will be rewarded.
She's the Man
This movie takes a little bit of "Bend It Like Beckham" and a lot of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" and twists them into a cross-dressing teen farce with occasional forays onto the soccer field. Amanda Bynes pretends to be just one of the guys in this energetic but unspectacular comedy. While she's no Lindsay Lohan, she has a natural spunkiness that serves her and the film well.
Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion
1/2
The writer/director/actor reprises his grandmother character from last year's surprise hit "Diary of a Mad Black Woman." This time, Perry's Southern matriarch tries to organize a family reunion while caring for a runaway and counseling her nieces through their relationship troubles.
Ultraviolet
Milla Jovovich stars as a genetically altered woman with martial arts skills and chameleon-like abilities trying to protect a boy from a government out to kill him. The movie wants desperately to be a provocative, high-concept futuristic action thriller, but it's overstyled, deafening and incoherent.
The World's Fastest Indian
Anthony Hopkins stars in the true story of a New Zealand man who, at age 68, took his classic 1920 motorcycle to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah to try to break the world speed record.
R - Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
Brokeback Mountain
1/2
Oscar-winning director Ang Lee's epic love story between a ranch hand and a rodeo cowboy should be seen not for its hot-button topicality, but simply because it's a good movie, with a staggeringly fine performance by Heath Ledger. His portrayal of Ennis Del Mar is both ennobled and shamed by feelings for Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) he doesn't possess words to describe. Ledger turns the classic iconography of the Western male into protective clothing.
Dave Chappelle's Block Party
1/2
This kinetic documentary, part concert film, part impromptu comedy show, is as friendly and down-home as the title suggests. Chappelle proves that his comic allure cuts naturally across racial and generational lines. The musical highlights include thunderous performances from Kanye West, a reformed Fugees, Dead Prez, and the Roots.
Final Destination 3
A high school student who failed to stop a roller-coaster ride that killed several of her friends teams up with a schoolmate in a race against time to prevent the Grim Reaper from revisiting survivors of the first tragedy. The series aims for squeamish, appalled laughter as the teens die in grisly, elaborately choreographed death traps, mocking the conventions of the standard stalk-and-slash movie.
The Hills Have Eyes
A remake of Wes Craven's 1977 cult flick about a family stalked by a group of mutant killers. The script by director Alexandre Aja and Gregory Levasseur makes this remake more like a GOP pro-gun platform plank than a mindless horror thriller, and Aja aims to splatter, impale and eviscerate as many people as possible for as long as he thinks viewers can stand it.
The Libertine
Johnny Depp tops this 17th-century English drama about the rise and fall of writer John Wilmot, aka the Second Earl of Rochester, whose thirst for debauchery led to an early death. The movie is an oppressive experience and would be worth viewing if the film's characters came to life or its stylized moral observations went more than pockmarked-skin deep.
Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor)
Set in contemporary Moscow, an uneasy truce dating back to medieval times between the supernatural forces of light and darkness is threatened by a powerful Other that might tip the balance and plunge the world into a renewed war. Imagine "The Matrix" with vampires, or "Blade" with subtitles, and you get the idea of this narratively confused if visually robust film.
The Squid and the Whale
1/2
Writer-director Noah Baumbach reworks his own memories as a child of divorce into a small, sharply observed period piece, set in an upscale, intellectual area of Brooklyn in 1986. Two brothers take up separate sides with their writer-parents, their marriage on the rocks due to her infidelity and his arrogance. The performances of Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney are exquisite to watch.
Syriana
1/2
From the writer/director of "Traffic," Stephen Gaghan's political thriller weaves powerful moments of pathos, compassion and cross-cultural insight into its lesson on the realities of greed in international commerce. George Clooney won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as a CIA agent who uncovers secrets behind the oil industry.
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
Actor Tommy Lee Jones directs this moralistic and non-linear tale of a Texan taking the corpse of his Mexican best friend across the border south to bury him, accompanied by the patrolman that killed the man. Barry Pepper, January Jones and Melissa Leo co-star.
Transamerica
Felicity Huffman plays a pre-operative male-to-female transsexual who takes a cross-country road trip with her estranged teenage son. Huffman shows astounding range and grace in playing a battered soul, bruised by the conflict between inner longings and societal expectations. Her character is alternately detestable, empathetic, charming, cruel and disarming. The film is accessible and fun, while also deep and affecting.
Underworld: Evolution
This sequel starring Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman continues the centuries-old feud between vampires and lycans. It features the same green-gray color scheme, the same metallic tinge, the same self-serious characters over-emoting while running around in black leather dusters, trying to destroy each other.
V for Vendetta
1/2
Natalie Portman stars as a young British woman enlisted by a masked revolutionary to help fight against the totalitarian government in this thriller set in the near future. The saga scores well enough in its first hour, but loses focus midway through, the tone shifting from silly but smart to just silly. The Wachowski brothers wrote the screenplay based on Alan Moore's graphic novel, and the result lands somewhere between the neo-noir freshness of their original "The Matrix" and the indecipherable bombast of the two sequels.
Art House | Revival
THE DORIS DUKE THEATRE, HONOLULU ACADEMY OF ARTS
900 S. Beretania St.; $7 general; $6 seniors, students and military; $5 Academy members (532-8768):
Why We Fight
At 1, 4 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 4 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday; 7:30 p.m. March 27; and 1 and 7:30 p.m. March 28 and 29.
MOVIE MUSEUM
3566 Harding Ave.; $5, $4 members; reservations recommended due to limited seating (735-8771):
A History of Violence
At 2, 4, 6 and 8 p.m. Friday.
My Secret Cache (Himitsu no Hanazono)
At 2, 4, 6 and 8 p.m. Saturday.
The Black Camel / Million Dollar Weekend
At 1, 4 and 7 p.m. Sunday.
A Tale of Two Cities
At 12:30, 3, 5:30 and 8 p.m. March 27.
Supermarket Woman (Supah no Onna)
At 12:30, 3, 5:30 and 8 p.m. March 30.
"THE HEALING WORLD" FILM SERIES
Spalding Hall Auditorium, University of Hawaii-Manoa,; $5 general and $3 for UH students, faculty and staff (223-0130):
Ram Dass: Fierce Grace
At 5 p.m. Sunday.