Movie Reviews

The Story: Evelyn Waugh's complex novel about Catholicism, class distinction and sexuality finds its way to the big screen. The Lowdown: Both an intelligent and intelligently condensed version of the book that not only replicates the story, but also comments on its themes.

The Story: A look into the lives of a Parisian mother and son -- largely through the eyes of the nanny, a Chinese film student. The Lowdown: Luxuriant in its slowness, Flight of the Red Balloon will either captivate you with its striking visuals and subtle character shadings, or send you in search of the…

The Story: The Mummy franchise continues as adventurer Rick O’Connell and his family travel to China to stop an undead Chinese emperor from conquering humankind. The Lowdown: The third installment of this rebooted franchise is second-rate summer entertainment in every sense: It's cheesy, incoherent and chock full of terrible CGI.

The Hendersonville Film Society will show Lucrezia Borgia at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 10, 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 man thinks back on his relationship with his father who is dying of cancer. The Lowdown: A not very promising premise is turned into a remarkable -- and remarkably moving -- film through a great script, acting and direction.

Catch Us If You Can, part of a series of Classic Cinema From Around the World, will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 8, at Courtyard Gallery, 9 Walnut St. in downtown Asheville. Info: 273-3332.

The Story: Documentary on the Nazi plundering of the world's art treasures. The Lowdown: An intriguing premise that works best in broad strokes, but tends to bog down in the specifics.

The Story: When a technical glitch causes a vote to go uncounted, the supposed voter is given the chance to vote again -- with his single vote determining the outcome of a presidential election. The Lowdown: A fairly preposterous scenario that might have worked as satire, but instead falls into a tub of mush and…

The Story: Two unemployed 40-year-old slackers who live with their parents behave like improbably vulgar grade-school children for an hour and a half. The Lowdown: Within 10 minutes, the tone of this unfunny film has been established. The movie merely keeps repeating it.

The Hendersonville Film Society will show Excalibur at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 3, 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…

Marat/Sade, part of a series of Classic Cinema From Around the World, will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 1, at Courtyard Gallery, 9 Walnut St. in downtown Asheville. Info: 273-3332.

The Story: Fox Mulder is called back to work for the FBI to help them on a case involving a missing agent and a psychic priest. The Lowdown: A largely botched attempt to bring new life to the cult TV show. It features interesting ideas, but barely develops them, and moves at a glacial pace.

The Story: The sequel to Batman Begins finds Batman up against the Joker, an unpredictable, seemingly unstoppable madman with no desire for anything but mayhem and destruction. The Lowdown: Bleak, but often brilliant, and with the powerhouse performance of Heath Ledger at its center, the latest Batman movie is powerful filmmaking that simply goes on…

The Story: A young bride invites the three men who had flings with her mother to her wedding in hopes of determining which is her father. The Lowdown: Your fondness -- or lack thereof -- for ABBA songs will likely determine your tolerance for this shrill film version of the hit stage musical cobbled together…

The Hendersonville Film Society will show The Wicked Lady at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 27, 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…

Troll 2 is being shown by TV Eye's Weird Wednesdays on Wednesday, July 23, at 9:30 p.m. at Asheville Brewing Company on Coxe Avenue.

Cemetery Man, part of a series of Classic Cinema From Around the World, will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday, July 25, at Courtyard Gallery, 9 Walnut St. in downtown Asheville. Info: 273-3332.

The Story: Ham III and two other chimps are sent on a mission into space in search of a missing space probe. The Lowdown: Harmless, adequate kiddie fodder that's at least a little odd.

The Butcher Boy, part of a series of Classic Cinema From Around the World, will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday, July 18, at Courtyard Gallery, 9 Walnut St. in downtown Asheville. Info: 273-3332.

The Hendersonville Film Society will show The Big Sleep at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 20, 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: A woman is being interrogated for an unspecified crime, while sometime in the past another woman finds herself asking a stranger to pose as her fiancé. How is this related and who are these people -- in fact, which of them is real and which is a fabrication? The Lowdown: A splendidly entertaining…