CINEMA
At The Movies
Sneak Preview
School for Scoundrels
A beleaguered New York City meter maid tries to overcome his feeling of inadequacy by enrolling in an unorthodox and top-secret confidence-building class. Billy Bob Thornton, Jon Heder, Jacinda Barrett, Michael Clarke Duncan and Horatio Sanz star. (PG-13)
Opening
All the King's Men
1/2
Sean Penn plays a corrupt Southern politician in this adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, loosely based on the life of Louisiana Gov. Huey Long. Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Patricia Clarkson, Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Hopkins costar. Review on Page 18. (PG-13)
Another Gay Movie
Four gay high school friends, on their way to college, make a pact to lose their virginity by the end of the summer with the help of their lesbian gal pal. The movie spoofs its way knowingly through teen sex comedies and equally formulaic gay coming-of-age flicks. Depending on your tolerance for raunchiness and political incorrectness, this loud and stupid sex comedy is either hilarious or cringeworthy. (NR)
Confetti
A British mockumentary charts the journey of three couples as they battle it out to win the title of Most Original Wedding of the Year. Review on Thursday's Entertainment page. (R)
Flyboys
A tribute to the real-life Lafayette Escadrille, American volunteers who flew for the French during the early days of World War I. James Franco, Jean Reno and Martin Henderson star. Feature on Page 14 and review on Friday's Entertainment page. (PG-13)
Jackass: Number Two
1/2
Johnny Knoxville and his original crew of reprobates return for another round of pointlessly dangerous, absurd and disgusting stunts. Review will run on Monday's Entertainment page. (R)
Jet Li's Fearless
This is supposedly the martial arts star's last action film. He plays Huo Yuanjia, an early 20th-century fighter chosen to represent his country in a competition against the best in the world. Review in Friday's Today section. (PG-13)
Now Playing
G | General audiences.
Cars
1/2
Director John Lasseter and his Pixar animation team's latest feature is about a hotshot rookie race car (voiced by Owen Wilson) who learns about life in the slow lane when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured to the sleepy town of Radiator Springs. Kids will find the movie fast and colorful, but adults may find it quite facile.
Everyone's Hero
A CGI-animated story about a boy who crosses the country to return a very special baseball bat to his hero, Babe Ruth, on the eve of the 1932 World Series. It's a sweet, inspirational kids' movie tailormade for family viewing.
PG | Parental guidance suggested.
Barnyard: The Original Party Animals
1/2
An CGI-animated movie about a free-wheeling cow named Otis and his misfit farm animals who live the high life when humans aren't looking. But when a pack of coyotes attack, sending the entire farm into fear and turmoil, Otis must reluctantly step up to the grown-up role he's been avoiding his whole life. This movie actually has a clever concept and handles such sensitive topics as birth and death with unexpected grace.
How to Eat Fried Worms
Based on the popular children's book about a new kid who bets the school bully that he can eat 10 worms in a day. It's a fine family movie with a message of tolerance and understanding and a good dose of humor -- plus gross worms!
An Inconvenient Truth
A documentary about former Vice President Al Gore's touring multimedia talk about the moral challenge of global warming. The film's not so much about Gore but mainly on his presentation on the alarming effect of carbon-dioxide emissions on the world's climate, a talk he's given many times over the last few years. For that, it's a necessary film.
Invincible
Mark Wahlberg takes on the inspiring role of real-life zero-to-hero Vince Papale, a 30-year-old substitute teacher and part-time bartender who was plucked out of obscurity at an open tryout for the Philadelphia Eagles and won a spot on the team in 1976 as a wide receiver. The period detail is uncanny and the performances are solid all around.
Step Up
A rebel in trouble with the law becomes the dance partner of a beautiful ballet student at a prestigious performing arts school in Baltimore. It's a thoroughly formulaic but mildly enjoyable dance movie.
PG-13 | Parents strongly cautioned.
Accepted
1/2
Justin Long plays a guy rejected from every college he's applied to, so he and his friends start their own fake and functioning university. The movie has a certain subversive élan that keeps it light on its feet -- until the very end when it turns self-righteous and takes itself way too seriously.
Click
Adam Sandler's latest comedy overflows with the juvenile hijinks that made him a star and ventures into the serious adult territory of his later films. He stars as a harried architect who stumbles upon a universal remote that allows him to perform TiVo-like functions on his life. The first hour is tiresomely sub-moronic, so it's surprising that Sandler and director Frank Coraci are able to pull out a movie that shows real heart at the end.
The Covenant
It's studly teenage warlocks trying to destroy each other at an elite New England boarding school! Hack director Renny Harlin serves up a dreary movie that lacks genuine supernatural thrills.
The Devil Wears Prada
1/2
More college drab than haute couture, a hapless young woman (Anne Hathaway) becomes the assistant to a demanding editor (Meryl Streep) who oversees the fashion bible of New York. Like the hottest new fashion trend, the movie is initially irresistible. But then it drags the audience through a love triangle plotline that gets too complicated and heavy.
Gridiron Gang
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson stars as a true-life probation officer who coaches a football team made up of rival gangbangers in a youth detention camp. Director Phil Joanou is relentless in his attempts to inspire the audience, but the result is just overbearing and redundant.
The Illusionist
While fine technical wizardry went into this period film set in early 20th-century Austria, it lacks the magic of romance, drama, longing and faith you think would be generated in a tale about a love triangle involving a magician (Edward Norton), a noblewoman (Jessica Biel) and the heir to the throne (Rufus Sewell). Their supposed ardor is as illusory as the title character's stage magic.
Little Man
Brothers Marlon and Shawn Wayans' latest screwball comedy is about a short-statured criminal who poses as an adopted baby to recover a stolen diamond from an unsuspecting couple. While big on gross-out humor and slapsticky sight gags that appeal to the lowest common denominator, the movie is small on genuinely clever laughs.
Pulse
A computer hacker unleashes a wireless signal that's pure evil, in this English remake of a hit Japanese movie. Despite being co-written by horror master Wes Craven, this version bypasses the emotional and conceptual substance of the original and overcompensates with pumped-up visuals and every known genre cliché.
The Wicker Man
1/2
Indie fave director Neil LaBute presents his take on the 1970s horror movie about a cop (Nicolas Cage) who investigates the disappearance of a girl on a remote island inhabited by a matriarchal cult. A deliriously delightful weird streak runs through the film before it spirals into ridiculous territory toward the end. It might be the greatest bad movie of the year, with its clunky writing resulting in some surprisingly entertaining kooky moments.
R | Restricted.
The Black Dahlia
Crime novelist James Ellroy and director Brian De Palma present a classic noir Hollywood period drama of a struggling actress who winds up a murder victim, her frozen grin mocking the detectives on the case. The film begins as a slow but intriguing character study that gradually unravels into a turgid mess. The convoluted story gets choked amid the flash of director De Palma's visual excess, and characters who start out promisingly idiosyncratic become caricatures by the end. Of the all-star cast, Hilary Swank and Mia Kirshner come off the best.
Clerks II
1/2
Director Kevin Smith checks back in with the slackers from his indie breakout film to find out what they're up to a dozen years later. Even though the movie goes disastrously awry in the third act, when the insults are flowing and the graphic banter is crackling, "Clerks II" frequently achieves a rhythm that's hilariously infectious.
Crank
Action star Jason Statham plays a hitman who wakes up one morning and finds himself juiced with a poison that'll stop his heart unless he can keep his adrenaline extremely high. The filmmakers play up the manic, pointless rage for a gleefully violent romp, stomping on anything and everything along the way, including the reputations of its cast that includes Amy Smart and Efren Ramirez.
Idlewild
1/2
OutKast's Antwan "Big Boi" Patton and André "André 3000" Benjamin play childhood friends who run a Southern speakeasy in this Prohibition-era musical. Some patches of the movie are invigorating and fresh -- especially the musical numbers and vibrant choreography -- while the rest is predictable and dull.
The Last Kiss
Zach Braff plays a young man struggling with commitment. He knows his pregnant girlfriend is "the one," yet he's tempted by a younger, flirtatous beauty. Though well-acted and filmed, depending on where you're at in life, this film will either seem deep and illuminating, or petty, indulgent and annoying.
Little Miss Sunshine
A hit at this year's Sundance Film Festival, the film follows an oddball clan as they race across three states to get their 7-year-old daughter to a beauty pageant. It's a sunny, prefabricated charmer of a comedy, looking at the all-American obsession with winning and chortles darkly.
Miami Vice
Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx star in director Michael Mann's updated version of his popular action-crime TV series of the '80s. While the film looks fantastic, the story -- the duo infiltrates a drug cartel to determine the source of an intelligence leak -- is simultaneously convoluted and forgettable.
The Protector
Martial arts superstar Tony Jaa plays a Thai fighter who must battle his way across Australia to recover stolen elephants, and in doing so protect a traditional way of life that has been ruined by outsiders. Ah, forget the plot, and just watch the thrilling Jaa in full-tilt action.
Quinceañera
A couple of disaffected Mexican American teenagers -- a pregnant girl, who will soon celebrate her 15th birthday in an elaborate fashion, and her gay cousin -- come of age in a gentrifying community in the Echo Park district of Los Angeles. It's a modest but remarkably poignant comedy -- an impressive document of transition -- and authentic in all its small details.
Snakes on a Plane
1/2
Samuel L. Jackson cusses up a storm as an FBI agent trying to protect a mob murder witness from hundreds of nasty serpents (real and CGI-generated) while trapped in an airliner hurtling across the Pacific 30,000 feet in the air. With all the Internet hype surrounding its pre-release, the movie delivers on its promise of reptilian fun, with a camp mix of comedy, horror and suspense.
NR | No Motion Picture Association of America rating.
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont
Dame Joan Plowright and newcomer Rupert Friend star in the story of a lonely London retiree who befriends a struggling young writer who conspires with her to act as her grandson.
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):
The Roadto Guantánamo
Review on Page 15. (R) At 7:30 p.m. Friday, 4 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 25 and 1 p.m. Sept. 26.
The Puffy Chair
Review on Page 13. (R) At 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Cinema Italiano in Hawai'i
See detailed schedule on Page 16. Starting Sept. 26.
Movie Museum
3566 Harding Ave.; $5, $4 members; reservations recommended due to limited seating (735-8771):
Gloomy Sunday
At 12:30, 3, 5:30 and 8 p.m. Friday.
Lucky Number Slevin
At 2, 4, 6 and and 8 p.m. Saturday.
Tsotsi
At 2, 4, 6 and 8 p.m. Sunday.
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
At 1, 4 and 7 p.m. Sept. 25.
Brick
At 2, 4, 6 and 8 p.m. Sept. 28.
UH Cinema Series
Spalding Hall Auditorium, University of Hawaii at Manoa; $5 general and $3 UH students/faculry:
The First Battle: The Battle for Equality in War-Time Hawaii
At 3 p.m. Sunday.
What the Bleep ... Down the Rabbit Hole
At 5 p.m. Sunday.
Beyond Oil: Alternative Energy Solutions
Cold Fusion: Fire from Water / Element One: Hydrogen (Key to Sustainable Energy)
At 7 p.m. Sept 27.