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By The Tampa Tribune | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 21, 2007

HAIRSPRAY

The oddball John Waters movie that spawned the Broadway musical turns back into a movie, with a star-studded cast that includes Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken and, in distractingly bad drag, John Travolta. Newcomer Nikki Blonsky plays chubby Baltimore teen Tracy Turnblad, who just wants to dance — and possibly achieve racial integration at the same time. Tween favorites Amanda Bynes and Zac Efron also appear.

PG; 117 minutes

LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD

The fourth go-round in the "Die Hard" franchise pits an indestructible Bruce Willis against a succession of outrageous special effects, as well as the obligatory sneering bad guys — this time a bunch of cyber-terrorists intent on crippling our national infrastructure (or something like that). Fortunately, Willis has a little buddy (Justin Long, the semi-annoying kid from those Mac commercials) to help press his buttons.

PG-13; 130 minutes

RESCUE DAWN

Eccentric German filmmaker Werner Herzog ("Aguirre, Wrath of God") returns to the moving story of POW Dieter Dengler (Christian Bale) — a Navy pilot shot down during the Vietnam War — previously explored in his documentary "Little Dieter Needs to Fly." The feature film concentrates on Dengler's horrific experiences in a prison camp from which he is determined to escape; Steve Zahn plays a fellow prisoner.

PG-13; 126 minutes

THE SANTA CLAUS 3: THE ESCAPE CLAUSE

There are a few scenarios in which a sane adult might select this title — in which Tim Allen reprises his role as an ambivalent St. Nick — for an evening's entertainment: 1. You have very young children who have already evidenced an utter lack of taste; 2. You spent too much money on "Fred Claus," and want reassurance that it isn't the worst holiday movie ever made.

G; 98 minutes

HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A FILMMAKER'S APOCALYPSE

Eleanor Coppola's fascinating 1991 documentary about the making of "Apocalypse Now" — directed by her husband, Francis — is finally available on DVD. Although generally regarded today as a cinematic masterpiece, "Apocalypse" was a famously troubled production, suffering from natural, political, creative and physical disasters — all of which are unsparingly captured both on film and in the audiotapes secretly recorded by Eleanor.

R; 96 minutes

ICE ROAD TRUCKERS: SEASON 1

Fans of the "life-threatening modes of employment" subgenre of reality TV will delight in this series about a treacherous Canadian highway made of ice. The show follows the construction of the road, which is only passable two months a year, as well as a half-dozen of the drivers who risk life and rig to transport tons of supplies to distant mining outposts, braving storms, extreme cold and thin ice.

Not rated; 470 minutes

Synopses by Amanda Henry; ratings from The Associated Press

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