Jan. 9 thru 16

8 Mile (R)
First Purple Rain, then (shudder) Glitter, now this. In case you haven't read the headlines (or listened to his lyrics), Eminem grew up on the streets of Detroit, yo. His mom was abusive and his dad was a no-show. And since he's spent a few years on top of the charts, Mr. Slim felt obligated to make this self-indulgent biopic.
Now Showing: Wynnsong 16, Carmike 10

About Schmidt (R)
Jack Nicholson gives up his crochety-but-cool persona, for once, to play a schmuck who's just plain crochety. Driving to his daughter's wedding, the 60-something, J. Alfred Prufrock-esque Warren Schmidt realizes he's wasted his life. With Kathy Bates; directed by Alexander Payne (Election, Citizen Ruth).
Now Showing: Downtown West

Adaptation (R)
Check out our Psychic Movie Prediction!
Now Showing: Downtown West

Analyze That (R)
More De Niro, more Crystal, more contrast between a tough-guy mobster and his neurotic shrink.
Now Showing: Downtown West

Antwone Fisher (PG-13)
Check out our Psychic Movie Prediction!
Now Showing: West Town Mall

Bowling for Columbine (R)
The NRA's been saying it for years: "Guns don't kill people. People kill people." Now leftist author, filmmaker, muckraker and all-around curmudgeon Michael Moore agrees. Well, sort of. As he totes his rolling camera from an interview with accused killer-of-innocent-children-through-music Marilyn Manson, to a bank that's giving away free firearms to customers, Moore tries to discover why America's violent death rate far surpasses that of Canada, a nation with just as many guns.
Now Showing: Downtown West

Brown Sugar (PG-13)
When Harry Met Sally set to hip hop. Can a man and a woman (in this case, Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan) be best of friends and not sleep together? With Queen Latifah and Mos Def.
Now Showing: Movies 7

Catch Me if You Can (PG-13)
Steven Spielberg demonstrates an uncharacteristically light touch in this playful autobiography of con artist Frank Abagnale (Leonardo DiCaprio), who convinces the world he's by turns a doctor, lawyer, and airplane pilot, all the while dodging FBI agent Tom Hanks.
Now Showing: Halls Cinema 7, Cinemark's Tinseltown, Farragut Towne Square, Knoxville Center, Wynnsong 16, Foothills 12

Chicago (PG-13)
The long-running musical hits the big screen in what some say is the best Broadway-to-film adaptation since Cabaret. Catherine Zeta-Jones returns to her toe-tapping roots as Velma, while Renee Zellweger and even Richard Gere transform themselves into song-and-dance machines.
Now Showing: Downtown West

Die Another Day (Pg-13)
Yes, Bond is back (again... and again... and again) and this time Halle Berry's his groovy sidechick. Plot has something to do with criminal mastermind scheming to take over the world, I think.
Now Showing: Carmike 10, Cinemark's Tinseltown, West Town Mall, The Ritz

Drumline (PG-13)
A hip-hop drummer from Harlem is in for a rude awakening when he joins the regimented marching band at a southern university. From the director of the "Wassaaaaaaap?!" Budweiser commercials, so you know it's gotta be good.
Now Showing: West Town Mall, Farragut Towne Square, Carmike 10, Foothills 12, Cinemark's Tinseltown

El Crimen del Padre Amaro (R)
Check out our Psychic Movie Prediction!
Now Showing: Downtown West

The Emperor's Club (PG-13)
There's this increasing trend of big-budget films premiering at Downtown West and no where else in town, as if to claim some sort of indie cachet. Well, I won't stand for it. Know this film comes to you from Universal Pictures, and stars Kevin Kline as an inspirational treacle... I mean teacher.

Now Showing: Cinemark's Tinseltown (So sue us, we were wrong.)
Empire (R)
Ahh, 'tis the season for gangsters. This first offering from Universal's Latin-oriented Arenas division draws parallels between the "money is king" attitudes of a South Bronx drug dealer (John Leguizamo) and a Wall Street investment banker (Peter Sarsgaard). Of course, an ocean still divides the two New York worlds; so when the dealer attempts to go "legit," repercussions aren't always pleasant.
Now Showing: Wynnsong 16, Cinemark's Tinseltown

Friday After Next (R)
If you've been following Ice Cube's career, you'll know this is the sequel to Next Friday (2000), itself a sequel to—guess what?—Friday (1995). This guy just can't let go of a character: Barbershop 2 is already in the works. Anyway, the plot's nominally about tracking down the guy who robbed him on Christmas, but it's really about getting booty and smoking doobie.
Now Showing: Carmike 10

Gangs of New York (R)
What detail can we tell you about this movie that Entertainment Weekly hasn't breathlessly pored over already? Simple facts: Scorsese made it. Daniel-Day Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Cameron Diaz star in it. Therefore, you are going to see this movie. Or so we've heard.
Now Showing: Farragut Towne Square, Knoxville Center, Cinemark's Tinseltown, Wynnsong 16, Halls Cinema 7, Foothills 12

Ghost Ship (R)
Talk about scary—filmmaking as marketing strikes again. A salvage crew tries to tow a haunted ship in from sea. Evil strikes. People scream. Occasionally, as the sound track swells, some of them die, awfully.
Now Showing: Movies 7

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (PG)
Some kinda sequel to some kinda thing about a kid who goes to a weird school. Starring a whole bunch of Brits—including the irresistably named Rupert Grint.
Now Showing: Knoxville Center, Cinemark's Tinseltown, Wynnsong 16, Foothills 12

The Hot Chick (PG-13)
Ahh, the well of body-switching plots never does run dry, does it? Unfortunately, neither does Rob Schneider.
Now Showing: Farragut Towne Square, Knoxville Center, Wynnsong 16, Foothills 12, Cinemark's Tinseltown

I Spy (PG-13)
An updating of the 1960s TV series, with Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson replacing Bill Cosby and Robert Culp. The new duo must team up to rescue a space-age U.S. warplane from an evil arms dealer (Malcolm McDowell), who plans to sell the aircraft to—who else?—terrorists with nuclear weapons.
Now Showing: Movies 7

In Praise of Love (PG)
Check out our Psychic Movie Prediction!
Now Showing: Downtown West

Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (G)
The first feature film from Big Idea, a maker of videos, plush toys and other kids' stuff. They maintain, "The irresponsible use of popular media has had a profoundly negative impact on America's moral and spiritual health... The best way to improve people's lives is to promote biblical values and encourage spiritual growth." So they've created a cartoon with characters named Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber.
Now Showing: Movies 7

Just Married (PG-13)
Check out our Psychic Movie Prediction!
Now Showing: Halls Cinema 7, Cinemark's Tinseltown, Farragut Towne Square, Knoxville Center, Wynnsong 16, Foothills 12

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (PG-13)
Who says the 21st-century lifestyle has bred short attention spans? Not when we keep breeding drawn-out series of epics. Well, the wait is over for Book Two, which will present more of the same (hobbits, orcs, yada yada) and some new stuff (tree beings called ents, lots more screen time to a remarkably life-like CGI Gollum). It all clocks in at about three hours.
Now Showing: Halls Cinema 7, West Town Mall, Farragut Towne Square, Cinemark's Tinseltown, Carmike 10, Foothills 12

Maid in Manhattan (PG-13)
New York hotel housekeeper Jennifer Lopez just happens to be trying on a wealthy guest's clothes when a handsome politician (Ralph Fiennes) walks in on her (no, he doesn't catch any skin). An elaborate ruse must then be produced to further the illusion, by which we mean Royal Shakespeare Company alum Fiennes must somehow pass for Richard Gere.
Now Showing: Halls Cinema 7, Farragut Towne Square, Knoxville Center, Wynnsong 16, Foothills 12, Cinemark's Tinseltown

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (PG)
Yet another indie melting-pot film, about a 30-year-old Greek-American woman (Nia Vardalos, who also wrote the script) falling in love with a WASPy guy. Cultural complications ensue, but (as the title suggests) love carries the day.
Now Showing: Downtown West, Knoxville Center

Narc (R)
Check out our Psychic Movie Prediction!
Now Showing: Knoxville Center, Wynnsong 16

Pinocchio (G)
The Disney classic about a little puppet boy who wants to be real. Don't let the rating fool you: the whale scene scared my knickers off when I was four.
Now Showing: Cinemark's Tinseltown, Carmike 10, Foothills 12

The Santa Clause 2 (G)
Oy gevalt. Must I convey this plot to you? Isn't it sufficient to know that the whole dreary enterprise once again stars Tim Allen? I thought so.
Now Showing: Wynnsong 16, Carmike 10

Signs (PG-13)
Director M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) is back with another creepfest, this one about a single father (Mel Gibson) who discovers crop circles on his Pennsylvania farm. And then there are the strange lights in the sky... also with Joaquin Phoenix.
Now Showing: Movies 7

Solaris (PG-13)
Steven Soderbergh's version of Stanislaw Lem's 1961 sci-fi classic novel about a spaceman and his dead wife. With George Clooney, whose bare bottom asked for top billing.
Now Showing: Wynnsong 16

Star Trek: Nemesis (PG-13)
There seems to be a strange electromagnetic signature coming from Kolarus III, Captain Picard. Could it have anything to do with the dismantled pieces of android, or the impending peace with the Romulans, or your bio-engineered replica who's now promising not to use his weapons of mass destruction?
Now Showing: Halls Cinema 7, Farragut Towne Square, Knoxville Center, Wynnsong 16, Foothills 12, Cinemark's Tinseltown

Sweet Home Alabama (PG-13)
Talented Reese Witherspoon continues a disappointing descent into fluffier and fluffier fare with a by-the-books romantic comedy. She stars as Melanie, a hotshot New York designer who heads home to 'Bama to seek a divorce from the "redneck husband" she married in high school. Since she's now engaged to the NYC mayor's son, it's all a bit urgent.
Now Showing: Movies 7

Treasure Planet (PG)
From the folks who brought you The Little Mermaid—an animated updating of Stevenson's Treasure Island set in space.
Now Showing: Cinemark's Tinseltown, Carmike 10

Tuck Everlasting (PG)
Based on Natalie Babbitt's pre-teen classic. A 15-year-old girl falls for a 104-year-old forest dweller—hey, get your mind out of the gutter. Her beau looks 17; it's just that he and his family have slurped from the fountain of youth, that's all. Will she do the same?
Now Showing: Movies 7

Two Weeks Notice (PG-13)
Like the abysmal You've Got Mail, this Hugh Grant/Sandra Bullock vehicle pits a cuddly do-gooder female against an evil corporate man. Here, environmental lawyer Bullock gets hired by real estate developer Grant. The burning question, according to the filmmakers: "Is it ever too late to say, 'I love you'?"
Now Showing: West Town Mall, Farragut Towne Square, Halls Cinema 7, Cinemark's Tinseltown, Carmike 10, Foothills 12

The Wild Thornberrys Movie (PG)
Yet another kids' feature based on a Nickelodeon series. For those who live in minorless households: it's about a 12-year-old girl who travels the world communicating with animals. In the film, she also communicates with Rupert Everett, Brenda Blethyn and Marisa Tomei.
Now Showing: West Town Mall, Farragut Towne Square, Halls Cinema 7, Cinemark's Tinseltown, Carmike 10, Foothills 12