MOVIES

Movies are rated on a letter-grade scale, from A to F. Opinions by R-J movie critic Carol Cling (C.C.) are indicated by initials. Other opinions are from wire service critics.

Motion Picture Association of America ratings:

G - General audiences, all ages.

PG - Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

PG-13 - Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children under 13.

R - Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or guardian.

NC-17 - No one under 17 admitted.

NR - Not rated.

BOY CULTURE

(B) A cynical Seattle hustler (appealing, self-deprecating Derek Magyar) with a wealthy clientele ponders the possibility of love rather than sex, considering everyone from his platonic roommates (Darryl Stephens and Jonathon Trent) to an elegant older man (versatile Patrick Bachau). This slick, absorbing adaptation of Matthew Rettenmund's novel, from writer-director Q. Allan Brocka, serves up a cerebral blend of insight, wit and raunchy self-awareness. (88 min.) NR; nudity, profanity.

DEEP SEA 3D

(B) Get up close and personal with ocean wildlife, unveiled in the reach-out-and-touch weirdness of Imax 3D at the Luxor. This giant-screen documentary introduces exotic denizens of the deep so extravagantly extraterrestrial, nothing created by Hollywood's special effects labs could possibly compete. (40 min.) G; all ages.

DELTA FARCE

(D) In this blue-collar comedy, three drinking buddies (Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall and DJ Qualls) git 'er done -- sort of -- when a gung-ho Army sergeant (Keith David) mistakes them for reservists and puts them on a plane headed for Iraq. It's dopey Army comedy in the tradition of "Buck Privates" and "Stripes" -- with the sights aimed lower and blissfully unaware of its own monumental tastelessness. (90 min.) PG-13; crude and sexual humor.

DINOSAURS 3D: GIANTS OF PATAGONIA

(B+) Now at Luxor's Imax theater, this excursion traces the evolution -- and extinction -- of giant prehistoric beasts that rip each other's faces off in thrilling computer-generated segments showcasing species we didn't see in "Jurassic Park." Paleontologist Rodolfo Coria proves a congenial tour guide, while Donald Sutherland's droll narration emphasizes a quality all but extinct in large-format documentaries: humor. (40 min.) NR; very large, very loud dinosaurs.

DISTURBIA

(B-) Think of "Rear Window" with digital equipment and front lawns and you'll know what to expect from this spirited, smart-alecky thriller in which an eavesdropping teen (Shia LaBeouf) tries to figure out if the soft-spoken bachelor (David Morse) next door is a cold-blooded killer. So what if you can see every plot twist bearing down like a rush-hour commuter express? (104 min.) PG-13; sequences of terror and violence, sexual references.

DOA: DEAD OR ALIVE

(C) Based on the video game series, this kick-butt workout focuses on a martial arts tournament on a mysterious island, sponsored by an evil, enigmatic mastermind (Eric Roberts) with a hidden agenda. In short, it's nothing but a brief vacation from genuine thought, with most of the scenery taken up by buff, beautiful, scantily clad babes (led by Devon Aoki and Jaime Pressly) kicking, punching and tumbling. Only Roberts, having a bad day as the bad guy, spoils the view. (86 min.) PG-13; martial arts and action violence, sexuality, nudity.

FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER

(C+) It's clobberin' time! But maybe yawnin' would be a more appropriate response to the Marvel-ous foursome's second big-screen adventure, as a new metallic menace (played by Doug Jones, voiced by Laurence Fishburne), plus returning nemesis Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon), give the title quartet (Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis) plenty of trouble. Between the special-effects set pieces and multiple villains, this movie doesn't have much time for, or interest in, its title characters. As a result, neither do we. (89 min.) PG; action violence, mild profanity and innuendo. (C.C.)

FIGHTER PILOT

(B) Wild blue yonder: Nellis Air Force Base zooms into the giant-screen spotlight with this Imax documentary, now at the Luxor, focusing on Red Flag combat training exercises. The midair sequences are almost sickeningly exhilarating, but plodding on-the-ground portions seem earthbound. (48 min.) NR; all ages.

FIREHOUSE DOG

(B) After a botched stunt, Hollywood's top dog, the pampered canine star of "Jurassic Bark" is presumed dead -- but has really been adopted by a single firefighter's sullen son in a family-friendly tail (oops, tale) that's really the canine version of "Doc Hollywood" anchored by moving performances by veteran Bruce Greenwood and young Josh Hutcherson. (111 min.) PG; action peril, mild crude humor and profanity.

GRACIE

(B) A warm, coming-of-age drama -- with an edge -- about a feisty girl (a terrific Carly Schroeder) dealing with her brother's death, her father's aloofness, and a desire to play varsity soccer in '70s New Jersey. Inspired by the experiences of "Leaving Las Vegas" star Elisabeth Shue, this fact-based tale (directed by Shue's husband, "An Inconvenient Truth" Oscar-winner Davis Guggenheim) proves that a movie about decent people dealing with believable problems can be a winner in a summer full of ogres, superheroes and pirates. (92 min.) PG-13; brief sexual content.

HOSTEL: PART II

(C) Talk about hostile: there's more gore in store at writer-director Eli Roth's sinister Slovakian hotel, where three American exchange students (Lauren German, Bijou Phillips, Heather Matarazzo) join a model from one of their art classes (Vera Jordanova) for a getaway stay that threatens to slay them -- literally. Sure, it's graphic (and gratuitous), but that's the point. And Roth is darn good at making it -- repeatedly. (93 min.) R; sadistic scenes of torture and bloody violence, terror, nudity, sexual content, profanity, drug use.

JINDABYNE

(B) The same Raymond Carver short story that inspired a vignette in Robert Altman's 1993 "Short Cuts" gets the full-length treatment -- and an Australian setting -- as a marriage crumbles after friends on a camping trip wait to report the gruesome discovery of a dead body near their favorite fishing hole. Gabriel Byrne and Laura Linney co-star for "Lantana" director Ray Lawrence, who gets great work from his cast as he explores a mystery far beyond a young woman's death, focusing on why people make the choices that they do -- and how they live with those decisions, right or wrong. (123 min.) R; profanity, violence, nudity.

KNOCKED UP

(B) The "40-Year-Old Virgin" team of writer-director Judd Apatow and co-stars Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann (alias Mrs. Apatow) reunites for this seriously hilarious (and surprisingly sweet) tale of a drunken one-night stand and its all-too-permanent aftermath, as a rising cable TV reporter ("Grey's Anatomy's" Katherine Heigl) discovers she's expecting -- and that a chubby, schlubby stoner (Rogen, scoring an at-long-last breakthrough as a leading man) is the equally shocked papa-to-be. (132 min.) R; sexual situations, drug use, nudity, profanity. (C.C.)

MR. BROOKS

(C+) A respectable businessman, devoted husband and father (a surprisingly convincing Kevin Costner) battles his maniacal alter-ego (gleefully evil William Hurt), who transforms him into a notorious serial killer. Dane Cook co-stars as a voyeur who catches him in the act -- and blackmails him so he can learn his murderous ways; Demi Moore's the detective on everybody's trail. Despite Costner and Hurt's Jekyll-and-Hyde dynamic, "Mr. Brooks" suffers from plodding pacing that makes us more anxious to get things moving than to learn the characters' fates. (120 min.) R; strong bloody violence, graphic sexual content, nudity, profanity. (C.C.)

NANCY DREW

(B-) Clued in: The venerable title sleuth, who's been thrilling generations of kids since 1930, proves equally at home in the 21st century, solving a legendary Hollywood homicide while surviving the challenge of being the new girl in school. Despite a contemporary setting, this adventure takes its cue from its oh-so-retro heroine, embodied by Roberts (Eric's daughter, Julia's niece) with crisp aplomb. (99 min.) PG; mild violence, brief profanity, thematic elements. (C.C.)

OCEAN'S THIRTEEN

(B-) Honor among thieves: When a megalomaniacal casino mogul (Al Pacino) double-crosses Reuben (Elliott Gould) just before the opening of the Strip's latest megaresort, Danny (George Clooney) and the gang (including Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Carl Reiner, Bernie Mac, Don Cheadle and Andy Garcia) reunite in Neon Nirvana to avenge their pal. This second sequel to the 2001 remake of the original 1960 Rat Pack romp (whew!) cruises along on the easy camaraderie and roguish charm of its all-star cast -- and the filmmaking savvy of its almost-slumming director, Oscar-winner Steven Soderbergh. (122 min.) PG-13; brief sexual references. (C.C.)

ONCE

(A-) This year's Sundance Film Festival yielded nothing as widely beloved as writer-director John Carney's captivating, winningly low-tech tale of a an Irish guitarist (real-life rocker Glen Hansard) and a Czech émigré pianist (Markéta Irglová) who meet on a Dublin street corner and literally make beautiful music together. No matter your musical tastes, "Once" will reinforce your belief in the power of melody and harmony to heal one's inner wounds. (88 min.) R; profanity.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END

(B-) Yo ho-hum -- and then some -- as this rollicking buccaneer band gets a few new hands on deck (including Chow Yun-Fat as a Singapore pirate lord) and resurrects some old friends -- notably Geoffrey Rush as the scoundrelly Barbossa and, inevitably, the deliriously swishbuckling Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), who'd never let a little thing like being trapped in the limbo of Davy Jones' Locker interrupt his (or our) fun. This movie could use a lot more Depp (what movie couldn't?), but for all its blockbuster bombast, it delivers enough rib-tickling hijinks to power through occasional rough seas. (168 min.) PG-13; intense action/adventure sequences, frightening images. (C.C.)

SHREK THE THIRD

(C+) Talk about your middle-aged spread: the latest installment in the fractured fairy-tale franchise proves it's tough to generate laughs when we already know the joke. This time around, the title ogre (once again voiced by Mike Myers) and pals Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) search for an heir to the throne of Far, Far Away, while Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) plots to seize power with a little help from his villainous f(r)iends. (93 min.) PG; crude humor, suggestive content, swashbuckling action. (C.C.)

SPIDER-MAN 3

(B-) The third time's hardly the charm in a diverting but less-than-equal sequel (also in Imax at the Palms), as our friendly neighborhood webslinger (Tobey Maguire) confronts his dark side, quarrels with a whiny Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) and battles three villains (James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace). It all adds up to too many plot twists and not enough plot, too many characters and not enough character. (139 min.) PG-13; intense action violence. (C.C.)

SURF'S UP

(B-) Following "Happy Feet's" singing and dancing penguins, this computer-animated mockumentary focuses on motion in the ocean as newcomer Cody Maverick takes the annual Penguin World Surfing Championship by storm -- and revives the life of a washed-up beach bum. Hardly the stuff of legend, but undeniably pleasant, thanks to a top-chop vocal cast (led by "Disturbia's" Shia LaBeouf and veteran dude Jeff Bridges) and hypnotic water imagery that's the best since the instant-classic "Finding Nemo." (85 min.) PG; mild profanity, rude humor. (C.C.)

VACANCY

(D-) Bickering spouses (Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale) suffer car trouble and wind up in an isolated motel -- the locale for a series of snuff films starring unsuspecting guests. Yes, it is a horror flick and supposed to be violent. But the way in which it gets off on the violence -- and, ostensibly, hopes the audience does too -- is especially distasteful. When it's over, you'll feel grimy, sickened and desperately in need of a shower. (97 min.) R; brutal violence and terror, brief nudity, profanity.

THE VALET

(B-) French farce master Francis Veber focuses on a restaurant parking valet (endearingly hapless Gad Elmaleh) who's hired by a French business tycoon (the able Daniel Auteuil) to squire his supermodel mistress (Alice Taglioni) so his canny wife (Kristin Scott Thomas, scintillating as always) won't catch on to his infidelity. It's not a patch on such riotous Veber classics as "La Cage aux Folles" and "The Dinner Game," but this whirligig comedy just begs for an English-language remake -- set in Las Vegas. In French with English subtitles. (83 min.) PG-13; sexual content, profanity. (C.C.)

WAITRESS

(B+) A pregnant, small-town waitress (winsome Keri Russell) finds herself caught between an unhappy marriage to a possessive lout (Jeremy Sisto) and a risky affair with her dreamy new doctor (Nathan Fillion) in a bittersweet slice of life that's a little flaky, yet undeniably tasty. Writer-director Adrienne Shelly (who co-stars with "Curb Your Enthusiasm's" Cheryl Hines and old pro Andy Griffith) finds the humor in the movie's heartfelt observations -- and the shadows lurking beneath its sunny disposition. (104 min.) PG-13; sexual situations, profanity, brief violence, mature themes. (C.C.)