NO HEADLINE
| MOVIE | WHAT IT’S ABOUT | DETAILS | TIMES AND LOCATIONS |
Opening: Raising Helen | Director Garry Marshall (Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride) brings us Helen (Kate Hudson), a fast-moving New York City career woman who is granted custody of her late sister’s three children. Joan Cusack play’s Helen’s other sister, a “career mother” who’s a bit surprised that her party-hardy kid sister is chosen to raise the children. – Tom Bowers, The Spokesman-Review. | Running time: 1:59 Rating: PG-13 (thematic issues involving teens) | NorthTown Mall: 12:05, 2:40, 5:20, 7:55. River Park Square: 12:45, 1:15, 3:45, 4:15, 6:45, 7:15, 9:40, 10:10. Spokane Valley Mall: 11:50 a.m., 4:05, 7:05, 9:50. Post Falls Theater: 1:50, 4:20, 6:50, 9:20. Showboat: 4:20, 7:15, 10. |
| Day After Tomorrow | Shortly after super-scientist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) predicts it, the effects of global warming cause an apocalyptic weather disaster, leaving most of the globe buried under a new ice age. Meanwhile, Jack’s son, Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal), tries to keep alive while stuck at the top of one of New York’s flash-frozen sky-cicles, as Jack makes the trek (on foot) from Washington, D.C., to try to save him. – Tom Bowers, The Spokesman-Review. | Running time: 2:04 Rating: PG-13 (for intense situations of peril) | NorthTown Mall: 11:45 a.m., 12:15, 1:10, 2:30, 3, 4:10, 5:15, 5:45, 7:10, 8, 9:40, 10:10. River Park Square: noon, 1, 1:45, 2:10, 3:10, 4:10, 4:40, 5:10, 6:10, 7, 7:40, 8:15, 9:10, 9:50, 10:30. Spokane Valley Mall: 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m., noon, 2, 2:50, 4:10, 5, 6:30, 7:10, 8, 9:40, 10:10. Post Falls Theater: 1:45, 4:15, 6:45, 9:15. Showboat: 4, 4:30, 7, 7:30, 9:50, 10:15. |
| Soul Plane | After an embarrassing incident aboard an airline, Nashawn Wade (Kevin Hart) sues and is awarded a large settlement. He uses the money to start the ghetto-fabulous NWA airlines, complete with luscious flight attendants, an in-flight dance floor and an acrophobic pilot played by Snoop Dogg. Tom Arnold and rapper Method Man also star. – Tom Bowers, The Spokesman-Review. | Running time: 1:26 Rating: R (strong sexual content, language and some drug use) | River Park Square: 2:15, 4:45, 7, 9:20. |
Continuing: 13 Going on 30 | Wishing that she were older, a girl goes to sleep one day at age 13 and wakes up … as 30-year-old Jennifer Garner! There’s not much about this teen fantasy that’s original, from the switching bodies theme to the notion that second chances can help us learn the lessons we missed the first time around. Yet the difference is, one, the fact that director Gary Winick (working from a group-written script) is able to have a sad and happy ending at once; two, the fact that the central role is played by Garner. | Running time: 1:38 Rating: PG-13 (sexual content, brief drug references) | Newport: 4, 6:35, 9:05. River Park Square: 2. Spokane Valley Mall: 11:35 a.m., 2:10, 4:40, 7:25. Coeur d’Alene Discount Cinemas: 1:45, 3:40, 5:35, 7:30, 9:30. |
50 First Dates | You know what to expect from an Adam Sandler movie: thin plot, a little romance, lots of bathroom jokes, Sandler’s brand of physical comedy and Rob Schneider. What “50 First Dates” also has is Drew Barrymore. Sandler plays an aquarium veterinarian living in Hawaii who, to avoid commitment, makes it a point to love-and-leave tourists. Then he falls for a “local,” Lucy (Barrymore), who suffers from a brain injury that affects her short-term memory. So, irony alert, he finds himself having to court her anew every day. | Running time: 1:36 Rating: PG-13 (sexual situations, crude humor, profanity, cartoon violence) | Garland: 5. Coeur d’Alene Discount Cinemas: 1, 3, 5:15, 7:15, 9:15. |
| Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk | Writer-director Marc Fafard uses the IMAX camera to explore sports such as base-jumping affect the human physiology. | Running time: :40 Rating: Not Rated (thrilling action scenes). | Imax (Riverfront Park): 1:50, 4:45. |
| Breaking All the Rules | Quincy Watson (Jamie Foxx) decides to turn apples to applesauce after being dumped by his fiancée (Bianca Lawson), and writes a best-selling book about breaking up. – Tom Bowers, The Spokesman-Review. | Running time: 1:25 Rating: PG-13 (sexual material/humor and language). | River Park Square: 4:30. |
Ella Enchanted | “Shrek” wasn’t the first movie to make fun of fairy tales. It was merely one of the best. “Ella Enchanted” tries to work in the same way, blending medieval with modern references (serf-driven escalators, Medieval Teen magazine, etc.), and doing another variation on the old Cinderella story. Anne Hathaway plays Ella of Frell, a young woman burdened with the “gift” of obedience. When mom dies and dad remarries, she finds herself at the mercy of her stepmother (Joanna Lumley) and stepsisters. Then she meets the future king, Prince Charmant (“Char” to his many female fans), and things go brightly … until Char’s evil uncle (Cary Elwes) throws a scepter into the works. | Running time: 1:35 Rating: PG (some crude humor and language) | Newport: 3:50, 6:45, 8:50. |
Hellboy | Taking off on Mike Mignola’s graphic comic series, Mexican director Guillermo del Toro (“Blade II”) brings some unexpected life to what could have been just another orgy of special effects. Not that the effects aren’t there, and naturally they’re impressive, but what makes this movie work is the title character as played by Ron Perlman. His character is a spawn of hell, created in Nazi labs during the last days of World War II. But he is caught and raised by a scientist (John Hurt), then used to “bump back” against other hellish forces. As he did with his excellent “Blade” entry, del Toro manages the action well. And Selma Blair, as a firestarter, has never looked prettier. But this is Perlman’s movie. It and the team that does his makeup. | Running time: 2:12 Rating: PG-13 (some sci-fi action violence, frightening images) | Coeur d’Alene Discount Cinemas: 4, 9:05. |
| Hidalgo | Viggo Mortensen goes from ruling Middle-earth to racing across the Middle East in a movie that’s so retro, it’s almost quaint – especially compared to the nouveau, computer-generated spectacle of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. You’d think Mortensen would be tired of riding a horse by now – and sore – but he’s back in the saddle again, this time playing a real guy, cowboy Frank T. Hopkins. A famed long-distance rider, Hopkins competed with his mustang, Hidalgo, in a 3,000-mile race across the Arabian desert in 1890. His story has resulted in a big, beautiful film that could have come out 40 years ago. – Christy Lemire, AP. | Running time: 2:16 Rating: PG-13 (adventure violence, some mild innuendo) | Garland: 7:05. Newport: 3:30, 6:15, 9. Coeur d’Alene Discount Cinemas: 12:55, 3:30, 6:20, 8:55. |
Home On the Range | About what you would expect from a Disney production, this is a decent example of a dying art: cell animation (blended with computer-generated images). It has a simple story line featuring good versus evil, and familiar voices playing individually eccentric characters. The story here is the attempt of a trio of cows (Roseanne, Judi Dench, Jennifer Tilly) to save their ranch from foreclosure. Their plan: catch the rustler Alameda Slim (Randy Quaid). An arrogant horse named Buck (Cuba Gooding Jr.) comes into the picture, as do a gaggle of other animals. | Running time: 1:26 Rating: PG (mild rude humor) | Coeur d’Alene Discount Cinemas: 1:20, 3:15, 5, 6:45. |
| The Human Body | By following the lives of four people, this IMAX documentary takes us into the inner workings of human anatomy. | Running time: :43 Rated: Not Rated | Imax (Riverfront Park): 12:55, 5:40. |
Kill Bill Vol. 2 | While well short of the masterpiece some critics are calling it, this second half of what last fall was being hailed as “Quentin Tarantino’s 4th Film” is a distinct improvement on the first. Here we have The Bride (Uma Thurman) in her continuing quest to avenge herself on those who, at the order of Bill (David Carradine), murdered everyone in what would have been her wedding party. What “Vol. 2” demonstrates best is Tarantino’s vast knowledge of martial-arts films, his uncanny ability to find the best music to suit certain scenes and his unerring ear for entertaining dialogue. | Running time: 2:26 Rating: R (violence, language, brief drug use). | River Park Square: 6:40, 9:45. Coeur d’Alene Discount Cinemas: 8:30. |
Laws of Attraction | Whoa, baby, an adult comedy! What in the infantalization of America is Hollywood thinking? Not of its typical teen audience, for sure, because this pairing of Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore features not one exploding car, fired weapon or homicide investigation. All we have is Brosnan and Moore as divorce attorneys on opposite sides of the courtroom representing their clients while fending off the spark of romance that is obvious to everyone but … well, her at least. The story comes to a climax when a rock star (Michael Sheen) gets sued for divorce by his wife (Parker Posey), and our heroes end up drunk and together in a Scottish castle. | Running time: 1:27 Rating: PG-13 (sexual situations, profanity) | Newport: 2:55, 5, 7, 9:10. |
| Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West | This new big-screen IMAX movie condenses the three-year Lewis and Clark expedition into 42 minutes, but what the film does, it does beautifully. Historical fact takes precedence in the National Geographic production; while actors play the members of the party, thankfully they mostly keep their mouths shut as Jeff Bridges narrates the bulk of the story. Director Bruce Neibaur does an exceptional job of capturing the glory and scope of the West, making us feel as if we are part of the expedition, seeing this vast country for the first time. – Jim Kershner, The Spokesman-Review. | Running time: :42 Rating: Not Rated (general audiences) | Imax (Riverfront Park): noon. |
Man on Fire | Denzel Washington could read the phone book and pull off an interesting performance. Problem is, acting in this Tony Scott movie must have been more like trying to perform while inhaling fumes from a burning phone book. One of the more imaginatively visual filmmakers ever to stand behind a motion picture camera, Scott shoots this adaptation of A.J. Quinnell’s suspense novel as if he were mixing film stock in a food processor. And that’s good, because Scott’s efforts, overdone as they are, are far more interesting than the story itself. Washington plays John Creasy, a former Marine with a death-wish drinking problem who is hired to protect the daughter (Dakota Fanning) of a Mexico City entrepreneur (Marc Anthony). Pretty soon, taken with the little girl’s affections, Creasy has once again begun to smell the azaleas. But then she gets kidnapped, he takes a few pistol rounds to the body during the abduction and, all too quickly, he returns to what he knows best: dealing out death. His targets are, he says, anyone involved in the crime. | Running time: 2:26 Rated: R (intense battle sequences, frightening images) | Newport: 4:30, 7:30. River Park Square: 12:15, 3:40, 7:05, 10:15. Spokane Valley Mall: 9:55. |
Mean Girls | Not a whole lot of good movie comedy has come from “Saturday Night Live,” but this Tina Fey-written film is an exception. It borrows bits and pieces from other, perhaps better, films such as “Heathers,” but there’s enough here to make you laugh once every three and a half minutes minutes or so. Lindsay Lohan stars as the new girl in school who, of course, is automatically adopted by the outsiders. When she attracts the attention of the Plastics, a trio of “popular” girls led by the evil Regina (Rachel McAdams), she agrees to spy on them and report back. Soon enough, however, the lines between pretense and reality get blurred, and she ends up learning a harsh lesson. It’s all pretty standard, but Fey (who plays a math teacher) adds in enough “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” moments to make it all entertaining enough. | Running time: 1:30 Rating: PG-13 (sexual innuendo, profanity) | NorthTown Mall: 11:55 a.m., 2:15, 4:45, 7:15, 9:35. River Park Square: 11:45 a.m., 2:10, 4:30, 7:20, 9:55. Spokane Valley Mall: 11:40 a.m., 2:20, 4:55, 7:20, 9:45. Coeur d’Alene Cinemas: 4:20, 7:15, 9:20. |
| Nascar 2D: The Imax Experience | Big-time NASCAR racing comes to the BIG screen. | Running time: :40 Rating: PG (crash scenes) | Imax (Riverfront Park): 2:45, 3:50, 6:40, 7:45, 8:50. |
| New York Minute | A Type A student (Ashley Olsen) tries to qualify for an overseas college program while her offbeat sister (Mary-Kate Olsen) tries to meet her favorite rock band, and weird things happen. | Running time: 1:31 Rating: PG (mild sensuality, thematic elements) | Newport: 3, 5:05, 7:10, 9:15. |
The Passion of the Christ 1/2 | Those who, like Mel Gibson, live their lives according to the Bible are likely to find everything they want, and need, in this version of the final 12 hours in the life of Jesus Christ. Taking his plot from the New Testament gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Gibson augments things with his own, for want of a better word, imagination. (No one ever wrote anything about children literally bedeviling Judas or a crow pecking at the eyes of the “bad” thief.) The result is a beautifully filmed, decently acted and exceedingly violent film that is likely to leave many viewers reeling with images of skin being flayed off of Jesus’ body. | Running time: 2:06 Rating: R (sequences of graphic violence) | Coeur d’Alene Discount Cinemas: 1:30, 6:30. |
| Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed | No dog puns needed here. No exclamations of “Jinkies!” or “Zoinks!” or even the easiest (and most appropriate): “Ruh-roh!” Just a few listless keystrokes and weary sigh of resignation that this is what continues to pass for family entertainment in Hollywood. The world doesn’t need a second scoop of Scooby and the gang any more than it needed the first, but here it is – and it is as it was. Neither film has managed to recapture the trippy, laid-back vibe of the original cartoon. Both seem more interested in distraction through cacophony and pandemonium. – Christy Lemire, AP | Running time: 1:31 Rating: PG (scary action, rude humor, language) | Newport: 3:10, 5:10, 7:20, 9:20. |
| Shrek 2 | Freshly-wed ogre couple Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz), and Shrek (Mike Myers) are invited to Fiona’s parents’ house for dinner, with Donkey (Eddie Murphy) in tow. Fiona’s father, King Harold (John Cleese), and Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders) enlist Puss-In-Boots (Antonio Banderas), an ogre-killing feline, to take Shrek out of the picture so Fiona can marry Prince Charming (Rupert Everett). – Tom Bowers, The Spokesman-Review. | Running time: 1:45 Rating: PG (some rude humor, a brief substance reference and some suggestive content) | NorthTown Mall: 11:50 a.m., 12:10, 12:35, 1:30, 2:05, 2:35, 2:55, 4, 4:30, 5, 5:30, 6:30, 7:05, 7:30, 8:05, 9, 9:30, 10. River Park Square: 11 a.m., noon, 12:30, 1, 1:30, 2, 2:30, 3, 3:30, 4, 4:30, 5, 5:30, 6, 6:30, 7, 7:30, 8, 8:30, 9, 9:30, 10, 10:25, 11:30. Spokane Valley Mall: 11:05 a.m., 11:25 a.m., 11:45 a.m., 1:45, 2:05, 2:25, 4:20, 4:45, 5:10, 7, 7:30, 7:50, 9:30, 10, 10:20. Coeur d’Alene Cinemas: 4:30, 5, 5:30, 7, 7:30, 8, 9:30, 10. Post Falls Theater: 2:30, 3:30, 4:30, 5:30, 6:30, 7:30, 8:30, 9:30. |
| Starsky & Hutch | Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson star as police detectives, with rapper Snoop Dogg as their informer Huggy Bear, in this big-screen remake of the ‘70s television series. | Running time: 1:37 Rating: PG-13 (drug content, sexual situations, partial nudity, language, some violence) | Garland: 9:50. Coeur d’Alene Discount Cinemas: 1:15, 3:20, 5:20, 7:20, 9:20. |
| Troy | After the Trojan Prince Paris (Orlando Bloom) runs off with Helen (Diane Kruger), wife of the Greek King Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson), the king and his brother, Agamemnon (Brian Cox), launch 1,000 ships to wage war on Troy. Brad Pitt plays the Greek warrior Achilles, and Eric Bana plays Paris’ brother Hector. – Tom Bowers, The Spokesman-Review. | Running time: 2:43 Rating: R (graphic violence and some sexuality/nudity). | NorthTown Mall: 12:20, 1, 3:50, 5:05, 7:45, 9:05. River Park Square: 11:40 a.m., 12:15, 2:30, 3:15, 4, 6:15, 7:05, 7:45, 9:45, 10:20. Spokane Valley Mall: 11:10 a.m., 12:10, 2:45, 4:30, 6:35, 8:10, 10:05. Post Falls Theater: 2:10, 5:15, 8:20. Showboat: 4:10, 4:40, 7:45, 8:15. |
| Van Helsing | Famed vampire hunter Dr. Gabriel Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) heads to Europe to hunt down Count Dracula, the Wolfman and Frankenstein’s Monster. | Running time: 2:05 Rating: PG-13 (nonstop creature action violence, frightening images, sensuality). | NorthTown Mall: 12:45, 3:35, 6:35, 9:45. River Park Square: 11:40 a.m., 1:30, 2:45, 4:45, 6:15, 8:05, 9:30. Spokane Valley Mall: 12:05, 4:15, 7:15, 10:15. Coeur d’Alene Cinemas: 4:15, 6:50, 9:35. Post Falls Theater: 2:35, 5:45, 8:45. |