The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas • Page 28

'D4 FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 8, 2006 encore! SALINA JOURNAL ACCEPTED CENTiiAL -kVi A cliche-ridden waste of time with too few jokes to amuse even its college-age target audience. Despite the charm of Justin Long, as the boy who dreams up a fake colleqe for kids unable to get into any school, this film flunks out Dig time. (Bill Zwecker, The Chicago Sun-Times) Showtimes: 4:30, 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. today; 1:30, 4:30, 7:30 and 9:45 p.m.

Saturday; 1:30, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday; 5 and 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday. THE COVENANT CENTRAL PG-13, 97 min. No review available.

Showtimes: 4, 7 and 10:15 p.m. today; 1, 4, 7 and 10:15 p.m. Saturday; 1, 4 and 7 p.m. Sunday; and 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

CRANK CENTRAL 83 min. Hit man Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) awakes to discover that he has been drugged with a synthetic poison that will kill him in "about an hour." It's a fate, he soon learns, that can only temporarily be held at boy by keeping his adrenaline pumping. But "Crank," like Chelios, is pulled downward by its nihilistic rush for a rush. Writer-directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor play Chelios' manic, pointless rage for a gleefully violent romp, stomping on anything and everything along the way, including the life an old woman's parrot. If Statham is going to ascend to the big leagues of action stardom, he has ffie talent to do it without sacrificing everything for the sake of 0 quick pulse.

(Jake Coyle, AP) Showtimes: 4:30, 7:30 and 10:15 p.m. today; 1:30, 4:30, 7:30 and 10:15 p.m. Saturday; 1:30, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday; 5 and 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

HOW TO EAT FRIED WORMS CENTRAL PG, 98 min. A nice interpretation of the hugely successful children's best seller that has been charming kids and their parents for three decades. An engaging group of natural young actors gives a believable twist to the story, teaching important lessons about acceptance and bullying without becoming too preachy. (Bill Zwecker, The Chicago Sun-Times) Showtimes: 4:20, 7:20 and 9:45 p.m. today; 1:20, 4:20, 7:20 and 9:45 p.m.

Saturday; 1:20, 4:20 and 7:20 p.m. Sunday; and 4:50 and 7:10 p.m. Monday through Thursday. AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH ART CENTER CINEMA PG, 120 min. Global warming is real, and unless it is reversed, the planet will pass a "tipping point" in about 10 years and start a slide into the destruction of civilization.

Al Gore says this is not his opinion, "but the consensus of 100 percent of the scientists who have studied the subject." It is not a political issue, Gore says, but a moral issue. This documentary, skillfully directed by David Guggenheim, is not the boring lecture you might expect, but fascinating and relentless. In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. (Roger Ebert, Universal Press Syndicate) Showtimes: 5 and 7p.m. today; 2, 5, 7 and 9 p.m.

Saturday; 2, 5 and 7 p.m. Sunday; and 5 and 7p.m. Monday through Wednesday. INVINCIBLE CENTRAL PG, 108 min. A good guy who gets a break and runs with it, as Mark Wahlberg plays Vince Papale, whose unlikely leap from ticket holder to NFL player is the basis for "Invincible," the latest in a string of uplifting, inspired-by-true-events sports movies from Disney (Richard Roeper, The Chicago Sun-Times) Showtimes: 4:10, 7:10 and 10 p.m.

today; 1:10, 4:10, 7:10 and 10 p.m. Saturday; 1:10, 4:10 and 7:10 p.m. Sunday; and 4:40 and 7:20 p.m. Monday through Thursday. TALLADEGA NIGHTS CENTRAL PG-13, 110 min.

Ricky Bobby goes straight, then he turns left. Then he goes straight, then he turns left again. Around and around, over and over. Such is lire in NASCAR, but it's also true of this auto-racing comedy. Like the sport it spoofs, the movie has its thrilling moments but mostly feels repetitive.

It's also just too much like "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy." Same star (Will Ferrell), same director (Adam McKay), same writers (Ferrell and McKay again). Same basic cnaracter, same plot, some outcome. (Christy Lemire, AP) Showtimes: 4:10, 7:10 and 10 p.m. today; 1:10, 4:10, 7:10 and 10 p.m. Saturday; 1:10, 4:10 and 7:10 p.m.

Sunday; and 4:40 and 7:20 p.m. Monday through Thursday. THE WICKER MAN CENTRAL -kVz PG-13, 106 min. There's a deliriously delightful weird streak that runs through this, at least for a while, with Nicolas Cage as a cop investigating the disappearance of a child from a creepy, private island in Washington's Puget Sound. Apparently, these people are into all kinds of pagan rituals, and Cage's character has arrived in time for the harvest festival.

So there he is running around, banging on doors with a gun in his hand, yanking the piggy and bunny masks off the faces of cherubic little blond girls in search of the one who's gone missing. It's wild, really and before it spirals into irretrievably ridiculous territory toward the end, it can even be fun, just because the mystery gets so bizarre. Ifs never scary or suspenseful, but it might just be the greatest bad movie of the year. (Christy Lemire, AP) Showtimes: 4:20, 7:20 and 10:15 p.m. today; 1.20, 4:20, 7:20 and 10:15 p.m.

Saturday; 1:20, 4:20 and 7:20 p.m. Sunday; and 4:50 and 7:10 p.m. Monday through Thursday. WORLD TRADE CENTER Cet PG-13, 129 min. There isn't a single gratuitous minute in Oliver Stone's film, which recreates the endless hours in which two Port Authority police officers (Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena) were trapped beneath the rubble of the twin tovvers on Sept, 11 and tracks the panic of their family and friends who waited anxiously for news of their rescue.

It's visceral and intense, exceedingly faithful in its depiction of the fear and chaos that enveloped New York that day, and yet it provides no insight, offers no political statement, doesn't even begin to broach the subject of terrorism. (Christy Lemire, AP) Showtimes: 4, 7 and 10 today; 1, 4, 7 and 10 Saturday; 1, 4 and 7 Sunday; and 4:30 and 7:30 Monday through Thursday. WEEK WST WEEK TOP GROSSING FILMS GROSS IN MIUJONS WEEKEND TOTAl 1 1 Invincible $15.4 $38.1 2 Crank $12.9 $12.9 3 The Wicker Man, $11.7 $11.7 4 3 Little Miss Sunshine $9.6 $35.7 5 The Illusionist $8.1 $12.2 6 2 Tallodega Nights $7.6 $138.3 7 10 Barnyard: Original Party Animals $6.6 $63.8 8 5 World Trade Center $5.9 $63.8 9 6 Accepted $5.6 $29.1 10 8 Step Up $5.6 $58.5 THIS WEEK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 TOP RENTAL FILMS Poseidon Silent Hill 1 RV 3 Inside Man 2 Scary Movie 4 just My Luck 4 Larry The Cable Guy 5 The Benchwarmers 6 for Vendefto 7 The Shaggy Dogg NEW DVDS AT SALINA LIBRARY Cry Baby My Friend Flicka The Nightmare Room The Producers Starring Mickey Source: Exhibitor Relalions of Sept. -i. Source: Billboard magazine Apple sets scene for movies Company may launch service for online downloads By MAY WONG and GARY GENTILE Tlw Associated Press SAN JOSE, Calif.

Could the company that helped catapult the legal music download market with iPods and iTunes now kick-start the online movie market? Rumors of Apple Computer's plans to launch a movie download service gained momentum Tuesday after the company sent invitations to the media, saying, "It's Showtime," next week. The media event scheduled for Tuesday is set in San Francisco and coincides with the opening day of the Apple Expo in Paris. Sources at several Hollywood studios confirmed Tuesday they were in talks to sell their films through iTunes. But substantial disagreements between studios and Apple remain to be resolved and Apple's movie service could launch with a limited number of films, according to two studio executives who asked to remain anonymous because talks were stiH ongoing. Speculation of the iPod maker adding full-length feature films to its online iTunes Music Store have swirled for months.

Already, the Cupertino, based computer company has become a multimedia powerhouse with its song and TV show downloads. Analysts said it would only be a matter of time before Apple started distributing movies online. Apple CEO Steve Jobs became a board member and the largest stockholder at The Walt Disney Co. earlier this year through its acquisition of PLxar Animation Studios, which Jobs also headed. That connection provides a natural toehold for Disney to be among the first to sign a distribution deal.

Apple's first experiment with a full-length TV movie on iTunes was last March when it started offering the Disney Channel's original TV movie, "High School Musical," for $9.99. Apple and Hollywood studio representatives refused to comment on tlie speculation of a movie licensing deal. Also, analysts and industry obsei-vers expect Apple to soon introduce a new iPod player with a widescreen display which would be better suited for viewing movies. Several studios are balking at Apple's demands, including selling aU fikns for one price and making all films available for download the same day they are released on DVD, according to studio sources. Studios already sell films through otlier online services, including Movielink, Cine- maNow and Cuba.

Those deals allow the studios to vary pricing and availability Studios also have some concerns about the digital protection offered by Apple. Other deals use Microsoft's Windows Media software, which more tightly controls how many times films can be transferred to various devices. Studios want to retain more control over their product, believing, as the mantra goes, that "content is king" and that Apple needs big studio faro to sell any new video player more than studios need to sell fJms through iTunes. One studio executive said Tuesday that deals being struck for a similar download service planned by Amazon.com are more flexible and allow for higher profit margins. Studios az-e exploring new distribution methods for films.

On Tuesday, Sprint Nextel announced a deal with four studios to offer full-length films on a "pay-per-view" basis on theii; mobile phones. The Sprint Movies service will offer films from Disney, Sony Pictures, Li- onsgate and Universal Studios. But watching movies meant for the big screen on a small portable display is still not ideal. Neither is watching video on a computer screen. An AP-AOL Video poU released Tuesday found that only one in five online video viewers have watched or downloaded a fuU-length movie or television show.

And fledgling online movie services such as Cine- maNow and MovieLink have acknowledged that one of their biggest challenges remains the difticulties consumers face if they were to try to hook up their televisions to play videos from their computers. Apple, in the meantime, has been forging ahead to make its products the digital media hub for consumers. Its iconic iPod player is designed for music and video on-the-go, its iTunes store is a leading destination for getting digital content, and its Macintosh computers are touted for managing all the multimedia. Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research is one of many analysts who expect Apple to enter the living room soon with a product designed to connect to televisions. Bernoff" predicted in a report in January that Apple was creating a new set-top box and will unveil video licensing deals.

Such an integrated hardware and software package would rattle video distribution similar to how its iPod-iTunes franchise transformed the music industry, he said. Costner leaves mark at famed Hollywood theater By The Associated Press LOS ANGELES Oscar winning actor-director Kevin Costner sunk his hands and feet into wet cement on Wednesday in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre following, literally. In the footsteps of other stars. "I feel so lucky today I feel so guilty," mused the 51-year-old. "I've been able to live my dream.

I've been able to stare down the buUy, kiss the girl and save the day The staple of aU Hollywood movies, the fantasy of every man." Quietly handsome, Costner jump-started his sparkling film career with a lead role in 1985's comedy "Fandango," and went on to headline dozens of films, including "JFK" and "Field of Dreams." In 1990, his CivU War epic "Dances with Wolves" snagged him Academy Awards for recting and best picture. He was also nominated for best actor. Other movies under his director's shingle include 1997's "The Postman" and 2003's "Open Range." At the ceremony Costner thanked both fans and co-workers, firom writers and directors to the "stuntmen who've taken risks to make me look stronger or jump farther than I ever could." McPherson Arts Lecture Series Presents RENOWNED SOPRANO Rachael Carlson, Piano IN RECITAL on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2006 3pm in Brown Auditorium, McPherson College, McPherson, KS AduJt tickets are $10 and will be available at the door only. Students and preschoolers arc admitted free of charge.

Families arc encouraged to attend as Rebecca hopes to have any children in the audience "help her" with a special selection in the program. Movie times can be found on the Almanac page daily. Get involved at Access OPEN TV! more hours for you to sound off and let your voice be heard! New Saturday Hours Starting Saturday, September 9th AccessTV will be open 10am-6pmfor Classes Studio Shoots Edit Sessions Camera Checkouts Speak up, speak out, join us Saturdays at COMMUNITY 'Television of Salina, Inc. 410 W. Ash'Memorial Hall 785-823-2500 the Valassis coupon book in your paper the week of September 10th.

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