Movie Reviews

The Story: Bruce Banner (aka the Hulk) is on the run from General Ross, who wants to use him to benefit the military. The Lowdown: An effective enough comic-book movie that suffers from a lackluster hero and the limitations of CGI.

The Story: An unknown force or disease or virus is causing mass suicides. Can a humble science teacher learn the cause and save himself and his rapidly diminishing charges? The Lowdown: A silly thriller with uninteresting characters -- who in real life might qualify for Darwin Awards -- and a preposterous plot.

The Story: A mad killer stalks overage teens in a bowling alley. The Lowdown: A lot of people you never heard of and Robert Carradine flounder in this drab horror opus that wouldn't make the cut in the Wal-Mart DVD dump bin.

The Story: A lazy panda is accidentally chosen to be the Dragon Warrior and must become a kung-fu master in order to save his valley from an evil leopard. The Lowdown: Visually striking, simply plotted and generally charming and entertaining, this movie makes for quality family entertainment.

Alice Neel is being presented by the Asheville Art Museum at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 12, at the Fine Arts Theatre. Tickets are $10 general admission and $8 for museum members, seniors and students.

The Hendersonville Film Society will show Housekeeping at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 15, in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community, 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville. (From Asheville, take I-26 to U.S. 64 West, turn right at the third light onto Thompson Street. Follow to the Lake Point Landing entrance and park in…

Walk-In Theater will present Repo Man Friday, June 13, starting at dusk in the parking lot behind the Bledsoe Building in West Asheville. Sponsored by the merchants of the Bledsoe Building. Admission is free. And as usual, patrons are asked to leave pets and coolers at home, but to bring lawn chairs.

The Story: A lady of easy virtue loses her sugar daddy through an indiscretion with a hotel barman and sets out in search of a new source of income -- with the barman in close pursuit. The Lowdown: Wit, style and charm -- along with the irresistible Audrey Tautou and the likable Gad Elmaleh --…

The Man Who Fell to Earth, part of a series of Classic Cinema From Around the World, will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday, June 13, at Courtyard Gallery, 9 Walnut St. in downtown Asheville. Info: 273-3332.

The Story: An Israeli superagent goes to New York City to follow his dream of becoming a world-class hairstylist. The Lowdown: Despite a few laughs and a fair number of surprisingly subversive ideas, this is your standard-issue random, lazy, sloppy Adam Sandler comedy.

The Phantom of Liberty, part of a series of Classic Cinema From Around the World, will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday, June 6, at Courtyard Gallery, 9 Walnut St. in downtown Asheville. Info: 273-3332.

The Hendersonville Film Society will show Twilight's Last Gleaming at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 8, in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community, 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville. (From Asheville, take I-26 to U.S. 64 West, turn right at the third light onto Thompson Street. Follow to the Lake Point Landing entrance and…

The Story: Two mismatched friends set out to make their own version of a Rambo movie with nothing but a camcorder and determination. The Lowdown: A truly wonderful, funny and charming evocation of childhood and the bonding power of the movies; while it may bite off a bit more than it can chew, it scales…

The Story: Three masked maniacs terrorize a couple in a lonely house with predictable results and an alarming lack of imagination. The Lowdown: A couple of B-list stars run around doing stupid things in this unpleasant, humorless attempt at milking our fears of home-invasion horrors.

The Story: The four women of the wildly popular HBO series Sex and the City return to continue quests for love and fashion. The Lowdown: A predictable, shallow movie that comes across more as an extended version of the TV show than anything that should be playing in theaters, and -- at a running time…

Candy is part of a series of Classic Cinema From Around the World being presented at 8 p.m. Friday, May 30 at Courtyard Gallery, 9 Walnut St. in downtown Asheville (enter at Walnut next to Scully's or at 13 Carolina Lane. For more information call 273-3332).

The Hendersonville Film Society will show The Comic at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 1 in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community, 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville. (From Asheville, take I-26 to U.S. 64 West, turn right at the third light onto Thompson Street. Follow to the Lake Point Landing entrance and park…

The Story: A malaise-ridden college professor finds his life happily shaken when he discovers two illegal immigrants -- victims of real estate fraud -- living in his New York apartment. The Lowdown: An amazingly resonant humanistic character study anchored to a mesmerizing lead performance -- and three terrific supporting ones -- that has the ability…

The Story: Prof. Henry Jones (aka: Indiana Jones) picks up the fedora and the whip for more adventures when an old friend is kidnapped. The Lowdown: Ridiculous entertainment that tries too hard, coasts too much on nostalgia, but offers reasonably preposterous entertainment -- as long as you don't think about it too hard -- before…

Leon the Pig Farmer is part of a series of Classic Cinema From Around the World being presented at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 23, at Courtyard Gallery, 9 Walnut St. in downtown Asheville (enter at Walnut next to Scully's or at 13 Carolina Lane). For more information, call 273-3332.

The Hendersonville Film Society will show The Illusionist at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 25, in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community, 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville. (From Asheville, take I-26 to U.S. 64 West, turn right at the third light onto Thompson Street. Follow to the Lake Point Landing entrance and…