HOLES (PG) Shia La Beouf and Sigourney Weaver star in this adaptaton of the award-winning children's book of the same name. Holes is about a teen sent to a detention camp for a crime he didn't commit. (Not Reviewed)
HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES (R) Rob Zombie's loooong delayed (and reportedly veeeery troubled) production finally gets a national release. Expect lots of gore, recycled 1970's atmosphere, cannibalism, inbred mutant families and other odds and ends left over from The Hills Have Eyes. Stars Rainn Wilson, Chris Hardwick and Jennifer Jostyn. (Not Reviewed)
HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS (PG-13) This one marks the first time that Kate Hudson has truly been able to command the screen: She's utterly winning as a women's magazine columnist who, for the sake of a story on what females shouldn't do when dating, hooks up with a guy with the intent of driving him away within ... well, check the film's title. She settles on a slick ad man (Matthew McConaughey), unaware that he's made a bet that he can get any woman to fall in love with him within the same time period. For a film that wallows in the usual male/female stereotypes, this one's surprisingly light on its feet, thanks in no small part to its well-matched leads. Alas, the third act follows the exact pattern as almost every other romantic comedy made today: The deceptions become unearthed, the pair break up, some soul searching takes place, and bliss arrives after a madcap chase. Leave before this excruciating finale and you should have an OK time. 
1/2
THE HUNTED (R) Ex-military assassin (Benicio Del Toro) offs deer hunters to get his kicks. His former instructor (Tommy Lee Jones) teams up with the FBI to catch him. (Not Reviewed)
MALIBU'S MOST WANTED (PG-13) Jaime Kennedy and Ryan O'Neal star is this California tale of a struggling (and very white) rapper whose father is running for governor. (Not Reviewed)
OLD SCHOOL (R) Returning to his distinguished oeuvre of college comedies, director Todd Phillips (Frat House, Road Trip) takes a promising gimmick of three thirtysomething friends (Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn) who decide to start their own fraternity. Phillips unfortunately forms that tasty notion into a bland soy retread inspired by films like Animal House, but without the brains to retool the collegiate comedy genre. Vaughn and Ferrell, however, make an honorable effort to inject some much-needed goofiness into their parcel of the film. 1/2 —FELICIA FEASTER
PHONE BOOTH (PG-13) A nifty little pulp thriller that's considerably more than the advance publicity would lead us to expect. Collin Farrell turns in another fine performance as an ethically challenged PR guy who finds himself trapped in a booth and in the telescopic sights of a clever psychopath with a major grudge against him. The movie-length mindfuck that ensues is quite a ride, as they say, especially considering the film's minimalist premise — a hero unable to move from a patch of ground measuring only a few square feet — and the fact that one of the two main characters is a disembodied voice. It's a slight but, in its way, perfect concept, played with precision and verve, and building skillfully on a claustrophobic tension that keeps us on the edge of our proverbial seats. At an ultra-brisk 80 minutes, this is one no-frills popcorn movie that's high energy almost all the way. Also stars Forest Whitaker and Katie Holmes. 1/2
THE PIANIST (R) Roman Polanski's film is based on the memoirs of Polish-Jewish classical pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, who continued to be devoted to his art even as he watched his world crumble and suffered an endless series of horrors and humiliations designed to rob him and others like him of dignity, humanity and, ultimately, life. The film's cool, reserved and utterly unsentimental style might sound at odds with the extremity of the subject matter, but it's all the more haunting for it. Stars Academy Award-winner Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Ed Stoppard and Frank Finlay.
PIGLET'S BIG MOVIE(G) Audiences may feel exhausted at the prospect of another journey into the Hundred Acre Woods and at the feeling they'd seen all the Heffalumps and Woozles they could handle. But director Francis Glebas does a remarkable job injecting a much-needed dose of reality into A.A. Milne's tales of honey-crazed bears and manic-depressive donkeys. Stepping out from behind Pooh's shadow, Piglet proves himself a uniquely gifted and engaging performer, bringing poignancy to this story of a piglet who feels unappreciated and overlooked by the friends who eventually understand how much they need him. Bring a hankie. —Felicia Feaster
