Apocalypto (R, 138 minutes) For the follow-up to his worldwide smash, The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson has chosen this dark adventure drama set in the fading days of the Mayan empire. The story centers around Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood), a young man chosen for human sacrifice who flees the kingdom to avoid his fate. In Maya with English subtitles. Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4
Blood Diamond (R, 138 minutes) Leonardo DiCaprio stars as an opportunistic South African smuggler who teams up with an enslaved farmer (Djimon Hounsou) to hunt down a fabulous pink diamond. With the help of an American journalist (Jennifer Connelly), the two men embark on a quest that could return one man to his family and offer great wealth to the other. Amid the adventure and thrills are some pointed comments about Africa’s unscrupulous diamond industry. Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (R, 82 minutes) Is he funny because he’s an annoying jerk or is he funny because he’s pretending to be an annoying jerk? Either way, the end result is the same. Rabid fans of Brit comedian Sasha Baron Cohen (“Da Ali G Show”) will love this embarrassingly rude faux documentary about a Kazakhstani journalist (Cohen) who comes to America to make a film. Non-fans will simply be aghast at the endless footage of fat, fully nude guys wrestling that comprises this film’s humor. Most of the run time is simply made up of “Jackass”-style pranks in which the racism and xenophobia of Americans is allegedly exposed. (Although it should come as no big surprise to anyone that rednecks at the rodeo get a little mad when you make up words to the National Anthem.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
Casino Royale (PG-13, 144 minutes) Forget the 1967 version of Casino Royale starring Woody Allen. (Never heard of it? Good, that saves us time.) Like GoldenEye a few years back, we’ve got a successful reboot of the James Bond series. Daniel Craig (Munich) takes over as the younger, buffer 007, sent on his first mission to stop a banker from winning a casino tournament and using the prize money to fund terrorists. Eva Green (Kingdom of Heaven) is our Bond girl of the hour, Vesper Lynd. The film is dark, gritty and relentlessly thrilling. It’s just kind of a bummer they replaced Baccarat with Texas Hold ’Em. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
Charlotte’s Web (G, 96 minutes) This live-action adaptation of E.B. White’s much-beloved book stars adorable Dakota Fanning as plucky farm gal Fern whose pet pig Wilbur conspires with a wise spider to avoid a one-way trip to the dinner table. The requisite all-star cast (Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey, Kathy Bates, Cedric the Entertainer, Reba McEntire, André Benjamin, Robert Redford) is on hand to provide cute animal voices. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
Deck the Halls (PG, 95 minutes) Remember that 1996 movie Jingle All the Way with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad as two suburban dads who tried to outdo one another over the Christmas holidays? Well, this one stars Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito instead. Not a vast improvement exactly, but at least everyone learns a valuable lesson about the true meaning of Christmas at the end. (Awww.) From the director of See Spot Run, Malibu’s Most Wanted, Big Momma’s House 2 and the upcoming Cats & Dogs 2: Tinkles’ Revenge. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
Déjà Vu (PG-13, 128 minutes) In this far-fetched, but fun action/sci-fi/romance/thriller, Denzel Washington stars as an ATF agent racing against time (literally) to save hundreds of innocent people. While investigating the deadly bombing of a ferry in New Orleans, our hero uncovers a secret government project that allows him to view the past. Utilizing some Groundhog Day-ish time travel, can he alter the past? The time-juggling storyline leaves plenty of plot holes, but the action (courtesy of Top Gun’s Tony Scott) is intense. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
The Departed (R, 149 minutes) Martin Scorsese seriously reworks the 2002 Hong Kong hit Infernal Affairs, transferring the intense cops-and-robbers action from the Far East to the East Coast. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a fresh recruit from the Boston Police Academy who is put deep undercover in an Irish mob run by flamboyant gangster Jack Nicholson. At the same time, Nicholson has got his own undercover agent (Matt Damon) operating inside the police department. Much bloodshed erupts when our two moles are dispatched to find out each other’s identities. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
Flushed Away (PG, 86 minutes) Didn’t get enough CG-animated animals this summer? Here’s some more. This is actually the first computer-animated film from Aardman Studios (makers of the “Wallace & Gromit” films). The story follows the adventures of an uptown rat who gets flushed into the sewers of London. Voicecast includes Kate Winslet, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellan, Andy Serkis and Bill Nighy. It’s cute stuff, but you can expect a poop joke or two this time around. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
The Fountain (R, 96 minutes) Writer/director Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream) has spent quite a bit of time working on this long-brewing vanity project. The unusual story spans more than a thousand years. In one of the three parallel stories, a Spanish conquistador (Hugh Jackman) searches for the Biblical Tree of Life in South America. Meanwhile, in modern-day America, a scientist (also Jackman) desperately seeks a cure for his wife’s inoperable brain tumor. Finally, in some far-flung future world, a bald guy (Jackman, of course) flies across the galaxy in a giant snow globe to deliver a dying tree to some mysterious star cluster. The whole thing is quite beautiful in that trippy 2001: A Space Odyssey way, but it takes a lot of effort to make heads or tails of it all. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
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The Good Shepherd (R) Robert De Niro finally gets around to directing another film (after 1993’s A Bronx Tale). This one’s a detailed drama about the formation of the Central Intelligence Agency. Matt Damon plays an idealistic young man recruited to become the prototypical superspy. Angelina Jolie is his unsuspecting wife who watches her husband grow more paranoid and jaded as the Cold War wears on. The tone is grave and the pacing measured, but De Niro has created a Godfather-like saga about the Powers That Be. Coming Friday; check local listings
Happy Feet (G, 87 minutes) Wouldn’t March of the Penguins have been so much more interesting if the birds could sing and tap-dance? Well, that’s the premise of this CGI musical featuring the voices of Hugh Jackman, Elijah Wood, Nicole Kidman, Brittany Murphy, Hugo Weaving and Robin Williams. (Couldn’t rehab kept Robin out of at least a few movies this year?) Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4
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The Holiday (PG-13, 138 minutes) Two romance-hungry ladies (Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet) engage in a cross-continent home swap for the holidays. In America, Winslet meets Jack Black, while in England, Diaz hooks up with Jude Law. Another star-driven RomCom from writer/director by Nancy Meyers (What Women Want, Something’s Gotta Give). Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
The Nativity Story (PG, 100 minutes) Director Katherine Hardwicke makes an interesting subjective jump from her previous work (Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown) with this reverent, fairly realistic take on the Biblical tale of the Immaculate Conception. Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider) stars as the timid but resolute Mary, chosen by God to birth the Messiah. Newby Oscar Isaac is the faithful Joseph who takes his mysteriously pregnant wife on the long, dangerous journey to Bethlehem. The film treads a fine line between the secular and the religious, benefitting from some credible actors (Ciarán Hinds, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Alexander Siddig) and some realistic settings. (The film was shot in Italy and Morocco.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
Night at the Museum (PG, 108 minutes) Ben Stiller stars in this fantasy-filled adaptation of the best-selling children’s book of the same name. In it, he plays a bumbling new security guard at the Museum of Natural History who accidentally lets loose an ancient curse causing all of the displays to come to life. Hijinks ensue. Cameos include Robin Williams, Dick Van Dyke, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais, Mickey Rooney and Owen Wilson. Coming Friday; check local listings
The Pursuit of Happyness (PG-13, 117 minutes) Will Smith stars in this tear-jerking can-do drama as a struggling, largely homeless single father who takes custody of his young son (real-life offspring Jaden Smith). Unable to support himself, Dad makes a life-changing decison—to get a job as an unpaid intern on Wall Street. This “inspired by a true story” tale is just as schmaltzy as you would expect, but Smith the Elder does give a emotional, award-hungry performance. Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4
The Queen (PG-13. 97 minutes) U.K. director Stephen Frears (High Fidelity, The Grifters, Dangerous Liaisons) takes the death of Princess Diana and spins it into a pop culture biopic about Queen Elizabeth II. Expect Oscar attention for star Helen Mirren, whose portrait of QEII is both imperious and impartial. The script speculates on the week after Diana’s death, during which the royal family was conspicuously silent and unseen. Michael Sheen (Underworld) matches Mirren note-for-note as the surprisingly sympathetic Prime Minister Tony Blair, who tries to talk the Queen out of her stiff upper-lip resolve. An absorbing appeal for governmental sympathy in an era when many leaders seem content to simply fiddle while Rome burns. (Hurricane? What hurricane?) Playing at Vinegar Hill Theatre
Rocky Balboa (PG, 102 minutes) Sylvester Stallone returns to his beloved boxer for the sixth time. You’ve got to give him credit, though, for making it a gritty, heartfelt drama along the lines of the Oscar-winning original. Hard up for money and grieving over his dead wife (Adrian!), our aging pugilist accepts an exhibition match with the reigning heavyweight champ. Does Rocky still have what it takes to go the distance? Coming Wednesday; check local listings
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (G, 98 minutes) Yes, well, somebody’s got to keep Tim Allen employed. This time around, Martin Short arrives as the scheming Jack Frost who wants to…oh, you know, ruin Christmas or something. Stay home and watch “The Year Without a Santa Claus” instead. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
Stranger Than Fiction (PG-13, 113 minutes) This brainy, existential comedy (along the lines of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or The Truman Show) finds a humble IRS auditor (Will Ferrell) going slowly insane because he believes a narrator only he can hear is dictating every event in his life. Turns out, it’s the work of a reclusive novelist (Emma Thompson), who’s planning on killing off her main character. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman and Queen Latifah join in on the fun. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
Unaccompanied Minors (PG, 89 minutes) A gaggle of underaged kids gets snowed in for the holidays at a Chicago airport. Since there are no parents around, lots of slapstick mayhem ensues. Think Home Alone times five! Wilmer Vaderrama is on hand, looking for his next girlfriend. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
We Are Marshall (PG, 127 minutes) This inspirational sports drama is based on the true, tragic story of a 1970 plane crash that wiped out nearly all of the Marshall University football team. Despite some emotional oposition, the team’s new coach (Matthew McConaughey) tries to revive the team as well as the spirits of his traumatized community. Coming Friday; check local listings.
