ShareThisBy ROBERT DENERSTEIN
ACCEPTED (C+) An agreeably mediocre and highly derivative comedy about slackers who start their own college. Justin Long stars as the slacker-in-chief. Think "Animal House" meets "Revenge of the Nerds."
Rated: PG-13. Profanity.
THE ANT BULLY (B) Some terrific actors (Meryl Streep, Paul Giamatti, Nicolas Cage and Julia Roberts) lend their voices to this entertaining helping of kid-oriented animation about a 10-year-old boy who shrinks to ant size so that he can be taught important lessons about humility and cooperation. Strong enough to keep younger children from getting (you'll pardon the expression) antsy _ and that should keep their parents happy, as well.
Rated: PG.
BEERFEST (C) A beer belch of a comedy from Broken Lizard, the troupe that gave us "Super Troopers." Two Colorado brothers visit Germany to bury the ashes of their late grandfather. Once in Munich, the brothers get caught up in the world of competitive drinking. None too deftly assembled, this insistently low-brow comedy has the feeling of something barfed onto the screen. Still, amid the spray of humor, a few jokes click.
Rated: R. Profanity, off-color humor, beer drinking and gross-out humor.
BOYNTON BEACH CLUB (C+) Director Susan Seidelman, whose movies ("Smithereens" and "Desperately Seeking Susan") defined hip cinema in the '80s, turns her attention to widows and widowers living in retirement in Florida. Standout performances from Brenda Vaccaro and Sally Kellerman help create interest, and Seidelman deserves credit for turning her attention away from a youth demographic. Too bad the movie too quickly reveals itself as a routine relationship movie _ albeit with an older cast.
Unrated.
CLERKS II (C) Kevin Smith serves up more crude humor in this sequel to his 1994 indie hit. Most of the original crew is back, but the laughs are limited _ at least for non-fans. Dante (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson) return, this time working at a burger joint called Mooby's. And, yes, Smith tries to be as outrageous as possible, particularly in the film's "comic" finale, which either will make you laugh or make you sick. I wasn't laughing.
Rated: R. Crude humor, drug use, profanity and jokes that attempt to push the envelope of bad taste.
THE DA VINCI CODE (C) A plodding adaptation of Dan Brown's 2003 novel about a symbologist (Tom Hanks) and cryptologist (Audrey Tautou) who race around Europe trying to evade the law and solve a puzzle about the life of Jesus. They're opposed by Opus Dei, a conservative Catholic sect that wants to preserve a secret that threatens all of Western belief. Director Ron Howard works in most of the ideas from Brown's book, but can't translate the material to the screen in ways that make us feel invested in the story's outcome. The performances are relatively weak, aside from Paul Bettany (as an assassin monk) and Ian McKellen (as an eccentric consumed with the study of Mary Magadalene and the Holy Grail).
Rated: PG-13. Adult subject matter.
THE DESCENT (C+) This one qualifies as a better-than-average slice of low-rent horror with its story about six women who descend into a cave in Appalachia and find a whole lot more than they bargained for. Too bad some nicely generated tension turns into one more big-screen bloodbath.
Rated: R. Extreme violence and gore.
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA (B) Meryl Streep approaches perfection as Miranda Priestly, the tyrannical editor of a powerful fashion magazine in a big-screen adaptation of Lauren Weisberger's popular novel about an aspiring journalist (Anne Hathaway) who becomes Miranda's tormented assistant. The fashion-industry satire is light and the story fluffy, but Streep's performance weaves real fiber into the proceedings.
Rated: PG-13. Adult situations.
THE HEART OF THE GAME (B) The heart of this documentary about girls' high-school basketball in Seattle belongs to Darnellia Russell, a black student at a predominantly white school. An excellent basketball player, Russell goes through a variety of personal problems. Director Ward Serrill also spends a lot of time on Bill Resler, the coach of the Roosevelt Roughriders. Resler, a University of Washington accounting professor, seems stronger on motivation than strategy, but he definitely helped revive a foundering program. Sketchy at times, but the movie keeps us involved with its mixture of basketball excitement and the suspense generated by a legal proceeding after Russell is declared ineligible.
Rated: PG-13. Language.
IDLEWILD (B-) Idlewild has just about everything that can fit into a single movie: music, glamour, creativity, drama, violence, sex and boundless quantities of pizzazz. Stylishly turned out and exploding with energy, the members of the movie's large cast take on a tall order, attempting to revive and re-create the movie musical. They don't really succeed, but they don't entirely fail, either. the movie's genius stroke involves pushing stars Andre Benjamin and Antwan "Big Boi" Patton of OutKast into a retro world centered on a 1930s Georgia nightclub fondly referred to as Church. Not everything works, but the movie's admirably ambitious.
Rated: R. Profanity, violence and sexual situations.
THE ILLUSIONIST (B) A visually accomplished period piece about a magician (Edward Norton) reunited with a childhood sweetheart (Jessica Biel). Only she's engaged to a ruthless nobleman who orders a police stooge (Paul Giamatti) to keep an eye on the "illusionist." Ultimately the film aims too high, but not before it delivers an entertaining blend of secrets, plot twists and decent acting.
Rated: PG-13. Sexuality, violence
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH (B+) Director Davis Guggenheim and narrator Al Gore have created a documentary, but not one that tries to look at both sides of a debate. Most of "Truth" is a film of Gore's slide show on global warming, a show he's presented hundreds of times through the years. The film contains bits and pieces most people have heard before, but it puts the big picture together so that it's impossible to miss.
Rated: PG, for mild thematic elements
INVINCIBLE (B) It's no surprise that the producers who brought us "The Rookie," a baseball movie about an improbable triumph, have turned their attention to Vince Papale, the oldest non-kicking rookie to land a job in the NFL as a wide receiver who logged heavy time on special teams for the Philadelphia Eagles in '76. Mark Wahlberg stars as Papale, and Greg Kinnear plays his coach, Dick Vermeil. The movie does a decent enough job mixing Philly grit and pro football to make us overlook a few fumbles.
Rated: PG. Adult situations.
LITTLE MAN (D) Let's go along with the central conceit. Let's say a young man (Shawn Wayans) actually might believe that a little person (Marlon Wayans' head morphed onto a kid's body) is a real infant who has been left on the doorstep of the home occupied by Wayans' character and his wife (Kerry Washington). I was prepared to give this Keenen Ivory Wayans-directed movie the benefit of the doubt, but the Wayans brothers ("Scary Movie" and "White Chicks") found few laughs in a crude, one-joke comedy.
Rated PG-13. Crude comedy, sexual material.
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (B+) The season's best comedy centers on a lumbering trip from Albuquerque in an antiquated VW van as the movie follows the misfit Hoovers en route to a kids' beauty pageant in California. Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell and Alan Arkin help to make this a feel-good movie about folks who have every reason to feel bad. In serving up a big helping of offbeat fun, the movie manages to drive right past the pitfalls of formula. How offbeat? Consider this: Grandpa (Arkin) spews profanity, has developed a heroin habit and has a fondness for porn.
Rated: R. Profanity, sexual material, drug use.
LEONARD COHEN I'M YOUR MAN (B+) Leonard Cohen, the fine Canadian songwriter and poet comes off as bright, literary and deep in interviews wrapped around a 2005 tribute concert. Although the concert performances (from singers such as Nick Cave, Rufus Wainwright and Kate and Anna McGarrigle) won't please everyone, the movie definitely captures the meditative calm and deep pain that defines Cohen's best work.
Rated: PG-13. Adult subject matter.
MATERIAL GIRLS (D) Christy Lemire of the The Associated Press says Paris and Nicky Hilton exhibit more character nuance than real-life sisters Hilary and Haylie Duff in this shrill comedy about heiresses who take over the family's cosmetics empire. Martha Coolidge ("Valley Girl" and "Real Genius") directs in an uncharacteristically tone-deaf manner.
Rated: PG. Language and rude humor.
MIAMI VICE (B) Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx team in this tough-talking update of the 1980s TV show. Director Michael Mann gives the movie enough seductive allure to carry it past some plot confusion, and the movie winds up in the plus column. Farrell and Foxx play undercover vice cops trying to penetrate a Latin American drug ring. That's not exactly a novel idea, but the small roles are well acted, and, at its best, the movie boasts just the right mixture of style and sleaze. The fine Chinese actress Gong Li lands her best English-language role yet.
Rated: R. Violence, profanity, drug use.
MONSTER HOUSE (B) An animated look at three kids battling (what else?) a monster house. The movie plugs right into childhood fears about the kind of rundown houses that strike fear into every kid's heart. We're talking houses occupied by meanies who never return balls that stray onto their lawns. The movie may scare younger children, but it's a fairly knowing hunk of animation, right up until it's somewhat overblown finale. Still, "Monster House" is furnished with a whole lot more imagination than you might expect.
Rated: PG. Scenes that may frighten younger children
THE NIGHT LISTENER (C+) Robin Williams goes into full hangdog mode as a radio storyteller who may be the victim of a literary hoax. The movie, an adaptation of a probing novel by Armistead Maupin, creates some intrigue but overall seems sparkless. With Toni Collette and Bobby Cannavale.
Rated: R. Adult subject matter, profanity.
ONCE IN A LIFETIME (B) This documentary about the short, gleaming life of the New York Cosmos is about more than just soccer. It's also about showbiz glitter and corporate hubris, as the Cosmos' owners acquired some of the sport's biggest names in the '70s to create a team rich in intrigue, ego and hoopla. Relying on archival footage and interviews, "Lifetime" may not be the best documentary, but it ably shows that the Cosmos were a hoot.
Rated: PG-13.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST (B) Brilliance meets brilliance in the eagerly awaited sequel to the 2003 mega-hit. We're talking about some splendid visual comedy from director Gore Verbinski and the amusingly bizarre performance of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. The rest of the movie is an overly long, wildly extravagant amalgam of hit-and-miss thrills with some exceptional make-up and special effects, notably Bill Nighy's Davy Jones, a creature who typifies the movie's crustacean chic.
Rated PG-13. Violence.
A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION (B+) Director Robert Altman and co-writer/actor Garrison Keillor gathered a top-tier cast to sing, tell corny jokes and have an aimless good time, chronicling the fictional final broadcast of Keillor's real-life, long-running variety program. Fans of the radio show will bask in its loose, easy charm; people who have never tuned in may wonder what the fuss is all about. It all goes down smoothly, just like the real radio show.
Rated: PG-13. Risque humor.
QUINCEANERA (B) Two alienated teenagers (Emily Rios and Jesse Garcia) try to cope with life in a traditionally Hispanic Los Angeles neighborhood that's experiencing gentrification. Directors Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland build their movie around quinceaneras, ceremonies that mark a girl's 15th birthday. Another coming-of-age story, but the characters react in unexpected ways, and that keeps the movie feeling fresh.
Rated: R. Adult material.
SCOOP (C) Woody Allen follows the brilliance of "Match Point" with a dull comedy about an aspiring journalist (Scarlett Johansson) chasing the story of her life. Allen begins with an imaginative conceit about a dead journalist communicating with a live one, but the London-based movie comes up short on both laughs and substance. Moreover, Allen's appearance in the film _ as a second-rate magician named Splendini _ weighs the proceedings down. He's like an alien in his own movie. With Hugh Jackman as an upper-crust charmer who's suspected of murder.
Rated: PG-13. Adult subject matter, sexual material.
SNAKES ON A PLANE (C+) Hyped by Internet buzz, the film delivers on the rudimentary promise of its title, although the delivery system isn't all that great. Still, this cheesy offering is the kind of movie that many will see in groups, and they will hoot, holler and have a good time as Samuel L. Jackson leads the battle against plane load of venomous foes.
Rated: R. Profanity, nudity, gross-out material.
STRANGERS WITH CANDY (C) Transferred to the big screen, this extended version of the now defunct Comedy Central show starring Amy Sedaris quickly wears out its welcome. Sedaris plays one of the strangest characters ever, a 47-year-old former prostitute who returns to high school. There, the movie tries for a mixture of silly and outrageous humor. Some funny moments keep this one from becoming unbearable, but can't turn 22 minutes into 87. A little "Strangers With Candy" goes a long way.
Rated: R. Profanity, sexual material.
TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY (B-) Will Ferrell disappears inside the role of NASCAR driver Bobby Ricky in a comedy that has strong laughs, a few comedy crashes and lots of nice work from supporting performers, notably John C. Reilly as Bobby's best friend and Sacha Baron Cohen as his arch rival, a gay French racecar driver. Silly in the extreme _ and that's precisely why it merits a look.
Rated: PG-13. Adult subject matter.
WORLD TRADE CENTER (B) It's impossible not to be moved while watching Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center," which re-creates the rescue of two Port Authority policemen trapped in the rubble. Precious little plot augments Stone's spare tale, aside from scenes that show us how the families tried to cope with the unimaginable. The movie can lag, and Nicolas Cage might have been too recognizable a face for the main role, but ultimately Stone accepts the workaday values of his heroes and bathes them in an appreciative glow.
Rated: PG-13. Intense content, disturbing images and language.
YOU, ME AND DUPREE (C-) Owen Wilson is the houseguest from hell in a lame comedy about how Wilson's character nearly wrecks the fledgling marriage of his best friend. We're asked to believe that Matt Dillon and Kate Hudson are a couple, which isn't easy. Really, though, this one has nothing going for it besides Wilson's patented ill-kempt, slothful act: It's not enough.
Rated: PG-13. Sexual situations, profanity.
