Akeelah and the Bee (PG, 112 minutes) In case you hadn’t noticed, Hollywood is in the midst of a red-hot spelling bee craze. In the wake of Spellbound and… um, Bee Season, comes this drama about an 11-year-old girl from South Los Angeles who tries to make it to the National Spelling Bee. The story is, as expected, cute and inspirational. It’s also predictable, emotionally simplified and filled with clichés. Think The Karate Kid with a little girl taking over for Ralph Macchio, Laurence Fishburne doing the Mr. Miyagi thing, and words instead of crane kicks to the head. (Devin O’Leary) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
American Dreamz (PG-13, 107 minutes) Reviewed on page 57. Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4
An American Haunting (PG-13, 90 minutes) Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek star in this historical horror film about the Bell Witch, the very same rural legend that gave birth to The Blair Witch Project. Sutherland and Spacek are a pair of landowning parents in 1817 Tennessee who find themselves besieged by a nasty poltergeist. The film looks classy and has a few lightweight scares, but director Courtney Soloman (Dungeons & Dragons) doesn’t know quite how to take full advantage of his fine cast. Like The Exorcism of Emily Rose, this one feels more like a made-for-TV drama than a full-on horror story. (D.O.) Coming Friday; check local listings
The Benchwarmers (PG-13, 80 minutes) A trio of dorky dudes (David Spade, Rob Schneider and Napoleon Dynamite’s Jon Heder) try to make up for their pathetic childhoods by forming a three-man baseball team to compete against standard Little League teams. This one’s only funny if you like the lamest of output from Adam Sandler’s drinking buddies. (It’s written by Alan Covert, who gave us the glory of Grandma’s Boy.) (D.O.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
Capote (R, 114 minutes) Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood told the story of a Kansas farm family that was slaughtered by a pair of ex-cons, and Bennett Miller’s quietly enthralling Capote gives us the story behind the story, the years-long ordeal during which Capote had to use every trick in the reporter’s notebook to get people to talk to him. As Capote, Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman is simply brilliant, conveying both the tenderness and the toughness of a man who never recovered from his greatest work. (Kent Williams) Playing through Thursday at Jefferson Theater
Friends With Money (R, 88 minutes) Reviewed on page 57. Playing at Vinegar Hill Theatre
Good Night, and Good Luck (PG, 93 minutes) When Edward R. Murrow, America’s most respected broadcast journalist in the 1950s, went after Sen. Joseph McCarthy, the man who’d whipped the country into a frenzy of anti-Communist paranoia, it was one of the golden moments in the history of television, and George Clooney, who directed, co-wrote and stars as Murrow’s producer, has created a lively, artful profile in courage. We aren’t given much personal information about Murrow, but David Strathairn’s quietly confident performance has just enough charisma to help us understand why men and women would be willing to follow him off the edge of cliff. (K.W.) Playing through Thursday at Jefferson Theater
Hoot (PG) Hollywood finally gets around to following up Carl Hiassen’s infamous novel-to-movie Striptease with, oddly enough, this adaptation of the writer’s award-winning kids’ book. A young boy (Logan Lerman from “Jack & Bobby”) moves from Montana to Florida where he joins forces with a few other kids to stop an evil land developer (Tim Blake Nelson) from destroying the habitat of some endangered owls. Luke Wilson shows up as the clueless but good-natured sheriff. Sun-damaged crooner Jimmy Buffet (who produced this film) also makes an appearance. The film has a good ecological message, but isn’t much fun for the adults. (D.O.) Coming Friday; check local listings
Ice Age: The Meltdown (PG, 91 minutes) Gee, that was a pretty short ice age. Seems that the Earth is now warming back up again, and our heroes, the mastodon, the saber-toothed tiger, the sloth and the squirrel thing, must find a new home to live in. Queen Latifah, Jay Leno and Seann William Scott add their voices to the cast this time around. If your kids were entertained by the first one, they’ll be entertained by this one. (D.O.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
Inside Man (R, 129 minutes) Spike Lee tries his hand at a more mainstream thriller with this intermittently successful heist drama. A gang of bank robbers led by Clive Owen takes over a bank in Manhattan. Hostage negotiator Denzel Washington is called in to handle the situation. Naturally, there are lots of twists and turns along the way as the bank robbers scheme to get out with the dough. Do they have a secret plan? Will it be patently obvious to most viewers? Washington does good work (and Jodie Foster drops by for a short time), but Lee isn’t quite prepared for this sort of adrenaline-filled cinema. At least he avoids some of the more egregious genre clichés. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
Lucky Number Slevin (R, 109 minutes) Scotsman Paul McGuigan (Gangster No. 1) contributes this crazed crime story about a case of mistaken identity that leaves a down-on-his luck slob (Josh Hartnett) stuck in the middle of a gang war between Ben Kingsley and Morgan Freeman (scary). To make matters worse, he’s being pursued by an infamous assassin (Bruce Willis). Our boy Slevin’s situation is slightly ameliorated by the attentions of Lucy Liu, but the body count continues to rise. At times the film becomes wrapped up in its own twisty cleverness—which is wedged somewhere between the filmy smartness of Hitchcock and the showy self-awareness of Tarantino. Still, it’s a hell of zippy ride. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
Mission: Impossible III (PG-13, 126 minutes) J.J. Abrams (the guy behind “Alias” and “Lost”) takes over as director for this third outing. Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Laurence Fishburne, Keri Russell, Billy Crudup and Philip Seymour Hoffman (doing bad guy duty) make up the impressive cast list. Unfortunately, it’s scripted by the guys who wrote The Island. As in previous Impossible outings, the plot is baroque to the point of nonsensical. The explosions look pretty, though. (D.O.) Coming Friday; check local listings
RV (PG) Steve Martin must have been busy, because it’s fallen to Robin Williams to star in this pathetic, plotless excuse for a “family” comedy. Williams stars as a hapless dad who tries to pass off a business trip to Colorado as a family vacation. Along the way, the annoying clan has lots of wacky misadventures in a rented RV. That’s it, folks. Williams was starting to get annoying on screen, now he’s just sad. Go rent National Lampoon’s Vacation instead. It’s pretty much the same movie, only 20 times funnier. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4
Scary Movie 4 (PG-13) David Zucker (who pioneered this sort of spoofy genre back in 1980 with Airplane!) returns for yet another outing in the Scary Movie franchise. Anna Faris returns as well as the intrepid reporter trying to find out why so many wacky things are happening. There are send-ups of Saw, The Grudge, War of the Worlds, and others too numerous to count. Expect plenty of cameos as well, including a fairly clever sequence involving Shaquille O’Neal and Dr. Phil. The rest revolves around the usual lowbrow sex and potty humor that the kids so dearly love. (D.O.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
The Sentinel (PG-13) Kiefer Sutherland, taking time off from his TV gig as a government agent in a frantic race to save the president from assassination, signs on for this theatrical thriller as a government agent in a
frantic race to save the president from assassination. Michael Douglas is Sutherland’s foil and former mentor, a disgraced special agent to the White House, who is being framed in the murderous conspiracy (or is he?). Eva Longoria (“Desperate Housewives”) tags along for eye candy. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4
Silent Hill (R) For those of you who already have BloodRayne and Doom on DVD (or, more likely, PSP), here’s the latest videogame to make the leap to the silver screen. Radha Mitchell (Pitch Black) stars as a woman searching for her sick daughter in the creepy, fog-enshrouded environs of a mysteriously deserted town. (Deserted, of course, except for all the demons, monsters, ghosts and what-have-you.) At least Uwe Boll (Alone in the Dark, House of the Dead, BloodRayne) is not involved. French director Christophe Gans (Brotherhood of the Wolf) lends some polish to the rather predictable goings on. (D.O.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
Stick It (PG-13, 103 minutes) The rather rude title is meant to lead a certain air of attitude to this film’s subject, the world of competitive gymnastics. Seems we’ve got a rebellious teen (“Life As We Know It”’s Missy Peregrym) who gets herself enrolled in an elite gymnastics program run by legendary trainer Jeff Bridges. Naturally, our gal brings some of her street-smart ‘tude to the balance beam, making this the Bring It On of gymnastics movies. Unfortunately, it’s already been brought. (D.O.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
Take the Lead (PG-13, 108 minutes) Antonio Banderas is a ballroom-dance instructor who teaches a group of inner-city rejects how to glide through life’s difficulties in this hip-hop remake of Dangerous Minds. Banderas seems capable of generating heat, but the movie, for some strange reason, clamps a chastity belt on him, focusing instead on those detention students. (K.W.) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
Thank You for Smoking (R, 92 minutes) Based on Christopher Buckley’s satiric novel about a tobacco-industry lobbyist (Aaron Eckhart) who seems to feel good about what he does for a living, Jason Reitman’s refreshingly un-PC film lets both sides of the smoking/anti-smoking debate have it with both barrels. Encompassing a trip to Hollywood as well as a kidnapping, the movie gives off a caffeinated buzz, capturing the book’s slightly giddy tone. (K.W.) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
United 93 (R, 90 minutes) Whether people are actually ready to watch dramas about the events of 9/11 remains to be seen. Director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy) keeps it pretty close to the vest with this film about the doomed passengers of United flight No. 93 (the ones who provided Bush with his “Let’s roll!” catchphrase). A cast of unknowns dutifully acts out the events of that tragic day in real time, providing not so much dramatic insight as unflinching re-creation. You witnessed it on the news, you relived it in the TV movie Flight 93. Now, you can see it some more. (D.O.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6
V for Vendetta (R, 132 minutes) This adaptation of the cult comic book by Alan Moore and David Lloyd comes to us courtesy of writers/producers the Wachowski brothers. Don’t let the lingering funk of The Matrix Revolutions scare you off, though. This tight, dystopian thriller is a must-see for comic book fans. Hugo Weaving (The Lord of the Rings) plays a mysterious masked figure named V, who seeks to overthrow a totalitarian government in near-future London. Natalie Portman plays the poor waif who gets caught in our anti-hero’s complex plot. The dialogue is, of course, sluggish and ultraphilosophical (it comes courtesy of the Wachowskis, after all), but the plot is timely and the action is adrenalized. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
The Wild (G, 94 minutes) Despite the fact that this computer-animated toon features a group of animals (including a lion and a giraffe) escaping from the New York City Zoo and making a madcap trek to the wilds of Africa, Disney would like to inform you that this is nothing like last year’s Madagascar. Which, of course, it is. The voice cast (including Kiefer Sutherland, Janeane Garofalo, Eddie Izzard and William Shatner) has fun at least, and there are enough fart jokes to keep the kids laughing. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6
