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BY JASON BLAIR
Gateway Mall - Beltline @ Gateway 746-5202 - 9/22-9/28
Digital Sound in ALL Auditoriums
Special Event Thurs Sept 21 at 8pm
NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET R
Special Event Mon Sept 25 at 8pm
“DEPECHE MODE” PG-13
Adult $7.25 ¥ Fri & Sat $7.75 ¥ Child/Senior $5.00
Adult Matinee $5.25 (before 6pm) ¥ Student with ID $5.75
Early Bird Price is Back!!!
Mon thur Fri — First Matinee Showing of each Feature $4.50
JET LI’S FEARLESS PG13
12:50, 3:30, 7:00, 9:40
8 PM, MON 9/25 ONLY
12:25, 2:55, 5:25, 7:55, 10:35
CRANK R
ALL THE KING’S MEN PG13
12:30, 2:50, 5:10, 7:55*EXCEPT SAT &
MON, 10:20*EXCEPT MON
12:10, 3:15, 7:05, 10:10
FLYBOYS PG13
GRIDIRON GANG PG13
12:35, 1:05, 3:35, 4:00, 7:00, 7:30, 10:05,
10:30
1LJKWO\
5
6DW 6XQ0DW
%,-28/$7(1,7( RQO\ IULVDWVXQ
LQFOXGHV)5((SRSFRUQRUVRGD
120$0$12
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5
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/]MZZQTTI;KZMMVQVO;MZQM[ "XU
-]OMVMNQTUUISMZ[PW_KI[M
NZQ[]V
SPECIAL CONCERT:
DEPECHE MODE
JACKASS 2 R
12:55, 4:15, 7:25, 10:40
a
Bucky (Josh Hartnett) and Kay (Scarlett Johansson) in
The Black Dahlia.
CINEMARK - SPRINGFIELD
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE R
1:15, 3:55, 7:35, 10:15
INVINCIBLE PG
1:45, 4:40, 7:45, 10:25
TALLADEGA NIGHTS PG13
EVERYONE’S HERO G
1:00, 3:40, 6:55, 9:45
12:15, 2:40, 5:05, 7:30, 9:55
3D MONSTER HOUSE PG
BLACK DAHLIA R
PRESENTED IN DIGITAL AND 3-D $1.50
EXTRA
12:40, 3:10, 5:40, 8:10, 10:30
12:45, 3:50, 7:15, 10:25
THE LAST KISS R
1:30, 4:10, 7:10, 9:50
THE COVENANT PG13
2:00, 4:35, 7:40, 10:15
PIRATES OF THE
CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S
CHEST PG13
2:05, 6:30, 10:00
PROTECTOR R
Slight of Hand
12:20, 2:45, 5:20, 7:45, 10:20
SNEAK PREVIEW: SCHOOL
FOR SCOUNDRELS PG13
7:30 PM, SAT 9/23 ONLY
*NO PASSES/NO SUPERSAVERS
Brian De Palma’s new film noir
MOVIES 12 - SPRINGFIELD
Gateway Mall - Beltline @ Gateway 741-1231 ¥ 9/22-9/28
No children under age 6 will be admitted to any
R-rated feature after 6:00 PM
ACCEPTED PG13
CLICK PG13
[11:15] 2:10, 4:25, 7:00, 9:15
[11:45] 2:30, 5:00, 7:30, 10:10
PULSE PG13
CARS G
[12:05] 2:45, 5:10, 7:40, 10:05
[11:20, 12:10] 2:05, 3:05, 4:50, 6:50, 9:35
CLERKS II R
NACHO LIBRE PG
[11:55] 2:15, 4:35, 7:20, 9:45
2:50, 7:50
HOW TO EAT FRIED WORMS
PG
YOU, ME & DUPREE PG13
[11:30] 2:20, 4:30, 7:10, 9:30
LITTLE MAN PG13
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
PG13
[11:25] 1:55, 4:20, 6:55, 9:20
[11:40] 2:25, 4:55, 7:25, 9:55
SNAKES ON A PLANE R
OVER THE HEDGE PG
[11:35] 5:15, 10:25
[11:50] 2:40, 4:45, 7:05, 9:25
[ ] FRI THRU SUN ONLY
LADY IN THE WATER PG13
7:35, 10:20
[12:00] 2:35, 5:05, 7:45, 10:15
STEREO SURROUND SOUND IN ALL AUDITORIUMS
4-DAY ADVANCE TICKET SALES - NO PASSES -NO SUPERSAVERS
SHOWTIMES AVAILABLE AT CINEMARK.COM
JACKASS: NUMBER TWO (R) - ID REQ'D DIG (1200 230 500) 730
1000
(1135 230) 705 1015
ALL THE KINGS MEN (PG-13) DIG
(1130 240) 700 1010
FLYBOYS (PG-13) DIG
(1130 220) 710 1000
GRIDIRON GANG (PG-13) DIG
(1155 225 450) 720 950
THE LAST KISS (R) - ID REQ'D DIG
(1150 245) 715 1005
THE BLACK DAHLIA (R) - ID REQ'D DIG
(1145 220 455) 730 1010
THE ILLUSIONIST (PG-13) DIG
Fri., Sun. (1200 215 450) 715
EVERYONE'S HERO (G) DIG
Sat. (1200 215 450)
930
HOLLYWOODLAND (R) - ID REQ'D DIG
Sneak Preview: SCHOOL FOR SCHOUNDRELS (PG-13) DIG Sat.
700
Cans Film Festival - Thursday, Sept. 28th
JACKASS: NUMBER TWO (R) - ID REQ'D DIG
Fri. (245 515) 745
1015
Sat. & Sun. (1215 245 515) 745 1015
Sneak Preview: SCHOOL FOR SCHOUNDRELS (PG-13) DIG Sat.
700
(120 410) 700 955
THE BLACK DAHLIA (R) - ID REQ'D DIG
(100 355) 650 950
GRIDIRON GANG (PG-13) DIG
Fri. (255 505) 720
EVERYONE'S HERO (G) DIG
Sat. & Sun. (1235 255 505) 720
Fri. (250 510) 740 1005
THE COVENANT (PG-13) DIG
Sat. & Sun. (1230 250 510) 740 1005
Fri. (215 450) 725 1000
THE WICKER MAN (PG-13) DIG
Sat. & Sun. (1145 215 450) 725 1000
940
CRANK (R) - ID REQ'D DIG
Fri. (200 435) 710 945
INVINCIBLE (PG) DIG
Sat. (1130 200 435) 945
Sun. (1130 200 435) 710 945
JACKASS: NUMBER TWO (R) - ID REQ'D DIG
Fri. (310 525) 740
1010
Sat. & Sun. (1250 310 525) 740 1010
Fri. (340) 650 940
ALL THE KINGS MEN (PG-13) DIG
Sat. & Sun. (1230 340) 650 940
Fri. (400) 700 950
GRIDIRON GANG (PG-13) DIG
Sat. & Sun. (100 400) 700 950
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (R) - ID REQ'D DIG Fri. (350) 720 1000
Sat. & Sun. (110 350) 720 1000
Cans Film Festival - Thursday, Sept. 28th
Times For 9/22 - 9/24
©2006
28
SEPTEMBER 21, 2006
THE BLACK DAHLIA: Directed by Brian De
Palma. Written by Josh Friedman, based upon the
novel by James Ellroy. Cinematography, Vilmos
Zsigmond. Music, Mark Isham. Starring Josh
Hartnett, Aaron Eckhart, Scarlett Johannson, Hilary
Swank and Mia Kirshner. Universal Studios, 2006. R.
121 minutes.
A
re we still a willing audience for
film noir — or, for that matter, a
Brian De Palma film? De Palma, a
member of the New Hollywood generation
that includes Scorcese, Coppola and
Spielberg, hasn’t made a great film since
Carlito’s Way (1993). One would think that
film noir, with its emphasis on corruption
and the reassuring power of cigarettes,
would suit the director of Scarface (1983),
given his taste for suspense and tough-as-
bullets protagonists. But De Palma seems
confined rather than liberated by the noir
mode, and The Black Dahlia disappoints on
a number of levels.
Arguably L.A.’s most infamous
unsolved murder, the Black Dahlia investi-
gation was so open-ended that at one point
Woody Guthrie was a suspect. The Black
Dahlia was the name given by the press to
Elizabeth Short, the aspiring actress who
was brutally murdered in 1947. The refer-
ence is pure Hollywood, sensational and
crassly promotional: The Blue Dahlia was
a popular noir film in theaters at the time of
Short’s grisly death. The case became the
basis for James Ellroy’s breakout novel,
the first of the cycle that includes L.A.
Confidential. The filmed version of
Ellroy’s book has been in development for
years, inking De Palma only after he
released Femme Fatale (2002) — a femme
fatale, of course, being a principal element
of film noir.
The Black Dahlia has a long dramatic
setup, complete with a street riot, a boxing
match and the wise-guy narration of
Bucky Bleichert (Josh Hartnett), a beat
cop with the LAPD. Bucky gets partnered
with Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart), a ris-
ing star at the department, but Lee’s grim
and evasive demeanor clearly marks him
for trouble. It’s a promotion for Bucky, but
it comes with a leash, since Lee answers
only to himself. Between the two men
stands Kay Lake (Scarlett Johansson), a
former prostitute and Lee’s sultry girl-
friend. Neglected by Lee, Kay soon feels
drawn toward Bucky’s gentler harbors.
These are the good years, the simple
years of one success after another, which
should give you a good idea of the convo-
lutions ahead in The Black Dahlia.
When Short’s body is found, what was
bent in Lee finally breaks. He risks every-
thing to solve the murder, but it isn’t his to
solve. After a series of breakdowns, none of
which are particularly convincing, Eckhart
virtually disappears from the movie, leav-
ing the film on Hartnett’s shoulders. I’m
afraid it’s more weight than Hartnett can
bear. Hartnett’s eyes are too innocent, his
face too unlined. If Hartnett is lucky, he
might become a lightweight Brad Pitt,
another model with depth and grit. For now,
he’s a young Richard Gere without the edge
Gere showed in early films like Days of
Heaven (1978).
The revelation in The Black Dahlia is
Hilary Swank. As Madeleine Linscott,
Swank gives the darkest performance of her
career. I didn’t even recognize her, and I
knew what to look for. Sexy, confident and
exuding the boredom of the ultra-wealthy,
Swank’s Madeleine makes the film a deep-
er and stranger experience. She gives The
Black Dahlia the other gear that De Palma
keeps reaching for, a gear he loses whenev-
er Swank is offscreen. As the femme fatale,
death surrounds her. When Madeleine says,
“I like you, Bucky,” you feel her cursed cir-
cle widening. You want to tell Bucky to run.
Unfortunately, The Black Dahlia isn’t
content with strangeness. It’s constantly
reacting, explaining and pushing us forward
without taking us anywhere new, ultimately
making it a predictable exercise. It’s too
straight, but it’s less than faithful: Sadly,
important aspects of Ellroy’s novel are
changed outright, including the placement
of the clue that leads Bucky toward his sus-
pect. Sure, De Palma’s elaborate tracking
shots are here, including a terrific circular
take in Echo Park. But overall, the film
keeps tumbling headlong into melodrama
— note the long hold on the ejected teeth
after the boxing match — and the score,
instead of serving the action, keeps pressing
the movie further into your gut. I only felt
pushed away.
ew