FILM
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A ROOM WITH A VIEW
Listings editor: Lauren LaBorde listingsedit@gambitweekly.com FAX:483-3116 Deadline: noon Monday Submissions edited for space
NOW SHOWING 127 HOURS (R) — Screenwriter
Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) chronicles the true story of an American mountain climber (James Franco) who was trapped in an isolated Utah canyon after a boulder fell on his arm. AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Grand
BIUTIFUL (R) — In this Cannes hit, Javier Bardem stars as a Barcelona man facing his own mortality and struggling to reconcile with his family and lover. Canal Place BLACK SWAN (R) — Darren Aronofsky directs Natalie Portman as a veteran ballerina whose psyche begins to crumble after nabbing the lead role in Swan Lake. AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Canal Place, Grand, Hollywood 9, Hollywood 14, Prytania BLUE VALENTINE (R) — Ryan
Gosling and Michelle Williams star as a couple who rely on one night and memories of their courtship to revive their rocky marriage. Canal Place
THE GREEN HORNET (PG-13) — After his media mogul
father dies, a directionless playboy (Seth Rogan) decides to fight crime. AMC Palace 10, AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette Movies, Grand, Hollywood 9, Hollywood 14
GULLIVER’S TRAVELS (PG) —
Jack Black stars as a modernday Gulliver, who is mistakenly assigned a travel piece on the Bermuda Triangle and finds himself trapped on an island of tiny people. AMC Palace 20, Hollywood 14
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 1 (PG13) — The Hogwarts gang sets
out to find and destroy the secret to Voldemort’s vitality. AMC Palace 20 HEARTLESS (NR) — A troubled man in East London with a disfiguring birthmark must destroy a violent gang of demons. Chalmette Movies
THE KING’S SPEECH (R) — Colin Firth stars as King George VI, who unexpectedly becomes king when his brother Edward relinquishes the throne. AMC
Won't Get Fooled Again
There’s no good excuse for being fooled by one of Alan Abel’s hoaxes. He first went on New York TV news in the early 1970s posing as Omar the Beggar, an instructor in the art of panhandling. During hard economic times, it seemed plausible. But as Abel’s daughter points out in her chronicle of her father’s oddball career, people — and the media in particular — love an outrageous story. She includes footage of Omar doing TV interviews in 1981 and 1987, each time in a more ridiculous fake mustache, spewing the same old story about “securing non-repayable loans from strangers.” Jenny Abel will attend the screening of her 2005 documentary Abel Raises Cain, so attendees can inquire about her role in one scam as a 4-year-old who could cry on cue. The film is a loving portrait, but it is full of amazing TV footage from the fourdecade career of a man who should be recognized as one of the world’s most prolific pranksters. In the late 1950s, Abel stumbled upon his first hoax rather innocently. He was stuck in a mini traffic jam while a cow and a bull copulated in the road in front of the drivers. He noticed how uncomfortable many of the other witnesses were and started a campaign calling for all animals to be clothed. Wearing a suit and armed with nothing more than a drawing of a horse wearing shorts, he found it easy to walk into TV stations and get on the evening news. As long as he maintained a serious tone, few would question his identity or cause. For decades, rallies protesting breastfeeding as “incestuous” never failed to outrage talk radio callers. When Dr. Jack Kevorkian was in the news, Abel ran advertisements for a “euthanasia cruise” for seniors who wanted to relax on their departure. The movie is full of hilariously offbeat causes and stunts, and it includes interviews with TV personalities who fell for Abel’s antics. His work thrives on the opposite of a story being too good to be true. He trafficked in outrage, and the most easily offended people seem to be the most gullible. Abel never sought to make money or become famous from his charades, a la Candid Camera, and he wasn’t a political activist, like filmmaking duo The Yes Men. He’s neither smug nor disdainful, and by the end of the film, it’s hard not to find him as charming as his daughter clearly does. Free admission. — Will Coviello
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Abel Raises Cain 7:30 p.m. Friday Cafe Rose Nicaud, 632 Frenchmen St.; www.neworleansafrikanfilmfest.org
Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Canal Place, Grand, Hollywood 9, Hollywood 14
Hollywood 14
THE MECHANIC (R) — An elite assassin takes on a young apprentice in the New Orleans-shot remake of the 1972 film. AMC Palace 10, AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette Movies, Grand, Hollywood 9,
Portman and Ashton Kutcher) try to have a strictly sexual relationship. AMC Palace 10, AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette Movies, Grand, Hollywood 9, Hollywood 14
NO STRINGS ATTACHED (R) — Two friends (Natalie
SCREEN GEMS PRESENTS A VERTIGO ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTION “THE ROOMMATE” MUSIC ALY MICHALKA MUSIC ZANE SUPERVISION BY MICHAEL FRIEDMAN DANNEEL HARRIS FRANCES FISHER AND BILLYPRODUCED BY JOHN FRIZZELL EXECUTIVE WRITTEN BY DOUG DAVISON AND ROY LEE PRODUCERS BEAU MARKS SONNY MALLHI BY SONNY MALLHI DIRECTED BY CHRISTIAN E. CHRISTIANSEN check local listings for theaters and showtimes
Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > febrUarY 08 > 2011
THE FIGHTER (R) — Mark Wahlberg stars as boxer “Irish” Micky Ward, a world lightweight champion trained by his brother (Christian Bale). AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 20, Grand
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