At the theaters 7/15/05

New at the theaters

'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'

Starring Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore and AnnaSophia Robb. Charlie Bucket is so poor he only gets to buy one chocolate bar a year -- so there's really no chance he'll be lucky enough to find one of the five golden tickets hidden inside of Wonka Bars, manufactured at the top-secret factory owned by Willy Wonka. But when the unlikely event occurs, Charlie's invited on a guided tour of Mr. Wonka's surreal building. Rated PG for quirky situations, action and mild language, running time 116 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'Howl's Moving Castle'

Starring the voices of Jean Simmons, Christian Bale and Blythe Danner. In this animated movie, a young woman named Sophie is cursed by the evil Witch of the Waste. Sophie leaves her home and finds safe harbor in the peculiar moving castle of the wizard Howl, who she hopes can reverse the curse. Rated PG for frightening images and brief, mild language, running time 119 minutes. (Town Plaza Cinema)

'The Wedding Crashers'

Starring Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams and Will Ferrell. Using a secret set of rules developed over many years of bachelorhood, two partying dudes crash weddings to meet girls. When they hear about a huge wedding to be held at the estate of the U.S. secretary of the treasury, the boys are truly stoked. But things get complicated when one of them does the unthinkable and falls for a bridesmaid. Rated R for sexual content/ nudity and language, running time 119 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

Still in theaters

'The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl'

Starring George Lopez, Taylor Dooley, Taylor Lautner, Cayden Boyd, David Arquette and Kristin Davis. Ten-year-old Max invents two imaginary superheroes with whom he plans great adventures. Miraculously, they really come to life. Soon he's blasting off to Planet Drool with Shark Boy, a child raised by sharks, and Lava Girl, a cutie who emits flames. Shown in 3-D. Rated PG for mild action and some rude humor, running time 94 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'Batman Begins'

Starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Katie Holmes and Ken Watanabe. Industrial heir Bruce Wayne has been seeking vengeance for his parents' deaths since childhood. He heads to the East, where he begins training with a corrupt ninja master named Ra's Al-Ghul. It isn't until he takes up with a more honorable warrior, Henri Ducard, that he's able to find the inner peace necessary to return to Gotham. Once home, he finds his city in ruins and terrorized by two villains: his former mentor Al-Ghul and the Scarecrow. To save Gotham, Wayne transforms into the Dark Knight, Batman. Rated PG-13 intense action violence, disturbing images and some thematic elements, running time 135 minutes. (Town Plaza Cinema)

'Bewitched'

Starring Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell, Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine and Jason Schwartzman. Against the wishes of her father, Isabel Bigelow, a witch, decides to move to the L.A. Valley and live a normal life. She meets Jack Wyatt, a down-on-his-luck film actor who's trying to revive his career by playing the lead role, Darrin, in a big-screen remake of the old Bewitched TV show. Jack then decides that Isabel would be the perfect choice to play his TV wife. Rated PG-13 for some language, including sex and drug references, and partial nudity, running time 116 minutes. (Town Plaza Cinema)

'Cinderella Man'

Starring Russell Crowe, RenŽe Zellweger, Paul Giamatti, Craig Bierko, Bruce McGill and Paddy Considine. Depression-era boxer Jim Braddock starts taking fights to feed his wife and family, but as he piles up unlikely victories, he becomes a national hero whose spectacular comeback inspires the nation. Rated PG-13 for intense boxing violence and some language, running time 144 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

-- From staff reports

'Dark Water'

Starring Jennifer Connelly, Shelley DuVall, Ariel Gade, Tim Roth, John C. Reilly, Camryn Manheim, Pete Postlethwaite, Dougray Scott and Perla Haney-Jardine. In the middle of a nasty divorce, Dahlia Williams packs up and moves into a new apartment with her young daughter, Ceci. But her new digs are run-down and cramped, plus, she keeps hearing mysterious noises and a strange liquid begins leaking through the ceiling. And that's never good. Rated PG-13 for terror and disturbing situations, running time 120 minutes. (Town Plaza Cinema)

'Fantastic Four'

Starring Michael Chiklis, Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans, Jessica Alba, Julian McMahon, Maria Menounos, Kerry Washington, Hamish Linklater and Laurie Holden. After an accident in space, a team of scientists find that their DNA has been forever altered. The result? Superpowers, of course. Lead geek Reed Richards transforms into Mr. Fantastic, a man who can stretch his body. Susan Storm becomes the Invisible Woman, while her brother, Johnny Storm, finds that as the Human Torch, he can set himself ablaze. Finally, Ben Grimm turns into the Thing, a creature made of rocks. Together, dubbed the Fantastic Four, they take on the evil Dr. Doom. Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action, and some suggestive content, running time 110 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'Herbie: Fully Loaded'

Starring Lindsay Lohan, Justin Long, Breckin Meyer, Matt Dillon and Michael Keaton. When Maggie Peyton becomes the new owner of an old Volkswagen Beetle, she discovers the car has a mind of its own. Before long, Maggie is well on her way to taking the old Bug for a spin on the NASCAR circuit. Rated G, running time 101 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'The Longest Yard'

Starring Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, James Cromwell, Nelly, William Fichtner and Burt Reynolds. Former pro quarterback Paul Crewe and ex-college coach Nate Scarborough are stuck doing time in the same prison. After they're asked to put together a team of inmates to challenge the guards on the gridiron, they discover that the game is fixed. Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, violence, language and drug references, running time 113 minutes. (Town Plaza Cinema)

'Madagascar'

Starring the voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett-Smith, David Schwimmer, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter and Gwen Stefani. Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe, and Gloria the hippo have spent their whole lives living happily in a zoo. Then Marty falls in with a crowd of devious penguins, who bring him along in their escape attempt. When Alex realizes his friend is missing, he leads a company of critters on a search that takes them all outside the zoo for the first time. But before they know it, they're captured, crated, and put on a ship traveling to Africa. Rated PG for mild language, crude humor and some thematic elements, running time 80 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'Mr. and Mrs. Smith'

Starring Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Vince Vaughn, Adam Brody, Angela Bassett and Keith David. John and Jane Smith lead boring suburban lives, and their marriage has grown routine. But John has a secret, and so does Jane: They're two of the world's most sought-after assassins. The truth comes out only when they're hired to kill each other by competing organizations. Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence, intense action,sexual content and brief strong language, running time 120 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'The Perfect Man'

Starring Hilary Duff, Chris Noth, Mike O'Malley, Heather Locklear and Carson Kressley. Holly Hamilton tires of seeing her perpetually single mom strike out on the dating front. She decides to invent a suitor to show her mother that there are better guys out there. But when mom falls for the imaginary man, Holly's forced to find a real guy to fulfill the fantasy romance. Rated PG for some mildly suggestive content, running time 96 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'Star Wars Episode III'

Starring Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, James Earl Jones, Hayden Christensen, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniel, Kenny Baker, Bai Ling, John Rhys-Davies and Matthew Wood. The Clone Wars have been dragging on for three years, and Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi have emerged as heroes in the battle against evil Gen. Grievous' droid warriors. Skywalker returns to his secret wife, PadmŽ Amidala, only to discover that she is pregnant; he soon begins to have horrible dreams of her dying during childbirth. In order to prevent his fears from becoming reality, Skywalker begins to take steps down a path toward the Dark Side, resulting in an eventual Lightsaber duel between student and mentor. Rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence and some intense images, running time 142 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

'War of the Worlds'

Starring Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto, Justin Chatwin and Tim Robbins. This Steven Spielberg-directed adaptation of the H.G. Wells story follows a deadbeat dad whose attempts at reconciling with his wife and child are interrupted by an alien invasion. Rated PG-13 for frightening scenes of sci-fi violence and disturbing images, running time 116 minutes. (Cape West Cine)

-- From staff reports