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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 12, 2007

Updated: 10/10/2007 07:44 pm

OPENING

Elizabeth: The Golden Age *½
Cate Blanchett reprises her regal role as Queen Elizabeth I for this lavish mixture of historical fact, romance-novel melodrama and ornate costumery. Review, Page 5. 115 minutes (PG-13; violence, sexuality and nudity)

The Final Season (not reviewed)

Relentlessly good-natured, loosely fact-based tale of an Iowa high school baseball team that won 19 state championships before a school district boundary change threatened to dilute its talent pool. 114 minutes (PG; profanity and teen smoking)

Hallows Point (not reviewed)
Horror flick about a group of kids trapped in an abandoned schoolhouse with someone or something horrifying - presumably not their homework. The film was apparently shot in and around the Tampa area. 105 minutes. (Not rated)

Michael Clayton ***
George Clooney shows range as a 'fixer' at a prestigious New York law firm who copes with mounting professional and personal complications in this smart, cynical thriller. Review, Page 4. 118 minutes (R; profanity and sexual dialogue)

We Own the Night **

Joaquin Phoenix plays a black-sheep brother from a family of policemen who runs a nightspot from which Russians operate their drug business in 1980s New York. His cop-brother (Mark Wahlberg) and cop-dad (Robert Duvall) try to enlist him to spy on his clientele, forcing Phoenix's prodigal son to choose between crime and justice. Review, Page 5. 117 minutes (R; strong violence, drug material, profanity, sexual content and brief nudity)

Why Did I Get Married? (not reviewed)

Big-screen adaptation of Tyler Perry's stage play about a marriage that's put to the test when a sexy young temptress enters the mix. 113 minutes (PG-13; mature themes, sexual references and profanity)

TAMPA THEATRE

A historic film house at 711 Franklin St. in downtown Tampa; (813) 274-8981. Tickets for regular screenings: $8.50 adults; $6.50 seniors age 55 and older, military, students, children 12 and younger. Weekend matinees: $6.50. Admission includes pre-show Mighty Wurlitzer Theater Organ mini-concert.

Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival

18th annual event features 50 films in 11 days (some screenings at BayWalk 20 in St. Petersburg); runs through Sunday; tickets are $9 adults, $7 students; see tiglff.com for more information.

Moliere (not reviewed)

Historical fiction speculates about the brief but mysterious disappearance of the famed French dramatist. 120 minutes (Not rated)

Show times: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday

STILL IN TOWN

Across the Universe **½

Inspired by the music of the Beatles, director Julie Taymor's sprawling musical starring Evan Rachel Wood and Jim Sturgess is visually imaginative but frequently plays like a bad night at a karaoke bar. 134 minutes (PG-13; drug content, nudity, sexuality and violence)

The Alps (not reviewed)

A mountain climber attempts to scale the Swiss mountain where his father died in this adventure-documentary, filmed in glorious Imax. 45 minutes. (Not rated)

Balls of Fury **

Washed-up former ping-pong prodigy (Dan Fogler) is recruited by the FBI to take down a table-tennis-loving criminal mastermind (Christopher Walken) in this slapstick comedy. 90 minutes. (PG-13; crude humor and profanity)

Becoming Jane (not reviewed)

This not-quite-a-biopic embellishes the story of a young Jane Austen (Anne Hathaway) and her problematic romance with a mischevious Irishman (James McAvoy), who may or may not have been the inspiration for Mr. Darcy in 'Pride and Prejudice.' 120 minutes. (PG; brief nudity and profanity)

The Bourne Ultimatum ***½

Amnesiac CIA assassin Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) gets closer to answering some burning questions about his murky past in this third installment of the series based on Robert Ludlum's novels. Despite the requisite car chases and fistfights, this is the rare action movie with a brain. 110 minutes. (PG-13; violence and intense action)

The Brave One **½

Jodie Foster channels Travis Bickle in this vigilante story of a woman who goes on a killing spree after thugs attack and kill her fiance (Naveen Andrews of 'Lost'). 108 minutes (R violence, profanity, sexuality)

Daddy Day Camp (not reviewed)

Once-promising Cuba Gooding Jr. sinks even further in this family-friendly sequel, a predictable pastiche of low-brow slapstick, camp-kid stereotypes and a relentless supply of poop jokes. 89 minutes. (PG; mild bodily humor, profanity)

Death at a Funeral **

Matthew Macfadyen ('Pride & Prejudice') tries to keep his sanity when chaos reigns and secrets are threatened to be revealed at his father's funeral. Frank Oz directs this British farce. 90 minutes (R; profanity, drug content)

Deep Sea 3D (not reviewed)

This 3-D exploration of the ocean's depths is filmed in Imax and narrated by Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet. 41 minutes. (Not rated)

Dragon Wars: D-War (not reviewed)

Mythical computer-generated creatures - one good, one bad, naturally - wreak havoc on Los Angeles, while the woman they seem to be after (Amanda Brooks) does her best to flee. 107 minutes. (PG-13; violence)

Eastern Promises ***

Naomi Watts starts as a midwife, witnesses the death of a girl giving birth and goes in search of her family and identity. Her quest puts her at the center of a Russian mob sex-trafficking business where she strikes up a friendship with Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen), who may not be who he seems. 100 minutes (R strong, brutal and bloody violence, graphic sexuality, profanity and nudity)

Evan Almighty *½

Expect big laughs and possible floods in this sequel to 'Bruce Almighty.' Congressman Evan Baxter (Steve Carell), enjoying his new career serving the public, finds that God (Morgan Freeman) has bigger plans for him. Hint: It involves building an ark. Lauren Graham also stars. 95 minutes. (PG; rude humor and some peril)

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer *½

The Fantastic Four battle to save the Earth from Dr. Doom, the Silver Surfer (voiced by Laurence Fishburne) and Galactus - evil superpowers from another land. Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis star. 92 minutes. (PG; action violence and mild profanity)

Feast of Love *½

Starring Morgan Freeman and Greg Kinnear, this movie is a meditation on love and its various incarnations, set within a community of friends in Oregon. 105 minutes (R; strong sexual content, nudity and profanity).

Feel the Noise (not reviewed)

A South Bronx man (Omarion Grandberry) dreams of making it big as a rapper, until a run-in with thugs forces him to hide in Puerto Rico with his estranged father. 87 minutes (PG-13; sensuality and innuendo, violence, drug use and profanity)

The Game Plan **

The Rock stars as a quarterback living the bachelor lifestyle until he discovers he has a 7-year-old daughter from a one-night stand. 110 minutes (PG)

Good Luck Chuck (not reviewed)

Dane Cook plays a dentist under a curse - every woman he sleeps with will marry the next man she dates. When he falls for accident-prone Cam (Jessica Alba), he must find a way to break the curse. 96 minutes (R; strong sexuality, nudity, profanity and drug use)

Hairspray **½

John Travolta (in drag) and newcomer Nikki Blonsky star in the latest adaptation of a 1988 movie that went on to become a Broadway hit. Blonsky stars as Tracy Turnblad, a pleasantly plump teen who challenges stereotypes when she is chosen to dance on a popular 1960's television show. Christopher Walken, Zack Efron, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeifrer and Brittany Snow also star. 107 minutes. (PG; profanity, suggestive content and teen smoking)

Halloween (not reviewed)

Rocker-director Rob Zombie recasts the John Carpenter horror classic as an over-the-top freakshow with the masked slasher Michael Myers at the center of the action. 97 minutes. (R; violence, nudity, sex, profanity and drug use)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ***

Nobody believes Harry or Dumbledore when they say Lord Voldemort has returned to Hogwarts, so it's up to Harry and his pals to go to battle. In addition to main characters Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, the movie stars Ralph Fiennes, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson and Helena Bonham Carter. (Reviewed by Kevin Walker.) 138 minutes. (PG-13; fantasy violence and frightening images)

The Heartbreak Kid **

Days into his honeymoon, a man (Ben Stiller) discovers his new bride is a nightmare and begins wooing another - the girl of his dreams. Review, Page 4. 115 minutes (R; strong sexual content, crude humor, profanity and drug use)

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry *

Two straight firefighters from Brooklyn (Adam Sandler and Kevin James) pretend to be gay in order to receive domestic partner benefits. When their relationship is challenged, the duo hires an attractive (maybe too attractive) lawyer played by Jessica Biel. 140 minutes. (PG-13; crude sexual content, nudity, profanity and drug references)

In the Valley of Elah **½

Vietnam vet Hank Deerfield (Tommy Lee Jones) joins forces with a police detective (Charlize Theron) to discover what happened to his son, a soldier who goes AWOL after returning from Iraq and is later found dead. 120 minutes (R; violent and disturbing content, profanity, sexuality and nudity)

The Jane Austen Book Club (not reviewed)

Five women (including Maria Bello and Emily Blunt) and one man (Hugh Dancy) join a club to discuss the works of Jane Austen and soon find their love lives paralleling the author's novels. 106 minutes (PG-13; sexual content, profanity, drug use)

The Kingdom **½

A team of FBI agents (Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner and Chris Cooper) travel to Saudi Arabia to determine who was behind a massive, deadly bombing at an American oil-company compound in Riyadh. 110 minutes (R; intense sequences of graphic brutal violence and profanity)

Mr. Bean's Holiday **

The bumbling Brit (Rowan Atkinson) tours France in his second big-screen adventure, leaving comic devastation in his wake. 90 minutes (G)

Mr. Woodcock (not reviewed)

A self-help author (Seann William Scott) returns to his hometown to find his mom has fallen for his arch enemy - a junior high school gym teacher (Billy Bob Thornton) who tormented him mercilessly. 87 minutes. (PG-13; crude humor, sexual content, profanity, drug references)

Ratatouille ***

A young rat with culinary aspirations and a cook desperate to keep his job team up to create the best ratatouille in Paris in this animated family film by Disney Pixar. Cast of voices includes Patton Oswalt, Ian Holm, Peter O'Toole and Janeane Garofalo. 110 minutes. (G)

Resident Evil: Extinction (not reviewed)

The third movie based on the popular video game has survivors of Raccoon City trying to get to Alaska when Alice (Mila Jovovich) joins their fight to stop the evil zombie virus. 95 minutes (R; strong horror violence and nudity)

Rush Hour 3 *½

Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan return to cash big, fat paychecks in the unnecessary third installment of this buddy-cop franchise. 91 minutes. (PG-13; action violence, sexual content, nudity and profanity)

Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure (not reviewed)

Stunning photo-realistic computer-generated animation transports audiences back to the Late Cretaceous period, when a great inland ocean divided North America in two. 40 minutes (Not rated)

The Seeker: The Dark is Rising (not reviewed)

Based on the Susan M. Cooper novels, a child living in a British village learns he's the last of a line of immortal warriors and must confront The Rider, a black knight whose goal is to spread evil throughout the universe. 94 minutes (PG; fantasy action and scary images)

The Simpsons Movie **½

Writer Matt Groening brings everyone's favorite dysfunctional cartoon family to the big screen. When Homer accidentally causes an environmental disaster, all of Springfield is evacuated. Watch for cameos from stars like Tom Hanks, Minnie Driver, Kelsey Grammer and the boys from Green Day. (Reviewed by Curtis Ross.) 87 minutes. (PG-13; irreverent humor)

Stardust ***

This fairy tale for grown-ups follows the adventures of a star that falls from the sky in the form of an ethereal blond named Yvaine (Claire Danes), whose magical abilities make her the target of various people with nefarious plans. Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Peter O'Toole and Charlie Cox also star. 125 minutes. (PG-13; fantasy violence and some risque humor)

Superbad ***

A raucous comedy that follows one night in the lives of two co-dependent high school seniors (Jonah Hill and Michael Cera) trying to score beer and girls before going their separate ways and onto college. 92 minutes. (R; profanity, drug use)

Sydney White (not reviewed)

A modern-day re-telling of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves' set on a college campus. Amanda Bynes and Crystal Hunt star. 108 minutes (PG-13; profanity and sexual humor)

3:10 to Yuma ***½

A rancher (Christian Bale) and an outlaw (Russell Crowe) form an unlikely alliance in this remake of the 1957 cult classic from director James Mangold ('Walk the Line'). 117 minutes (R; violence and profanity)

Transformers **

There's more than meets the eye in this live-action film based on the popular 1980's cartoon about robots who transform into cars, jets and other machinery. Rival robotic clans, the Autobots (good guys) and the Decepticons (bad guys), engage in a war that threatens all of mankind. Earth's only chance for survival lies in the hands of Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBoeuf), a young man whose first car turns out to be an Autobot in disguise. The cast includes Josh Duhamel, Megan Fox and John Voigt. 144 minutes. (PG-13; intense action violence, brief sexual humor and profanity)

Underdog (not reviewed)

A labrotory mishap gives a beagle superpowers. Jason Lee ('My Name is Earl') voices the floppy-eared pooch who fights crime and sniffs butts. Kids and grownups are sure to find big laughs in this live-action Disney flick. 84 minutes. (PG; rude humor, mild profanity and action)

Listing compiled from Tribune wires and staff reports; Associated Press critics' ratings are out of four stars.

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