Movies opening this week

The Black Dahlia (Josh Hartnett, Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Scarlett Johansson, Mia Kirshner, dir. Brian De Palma)
My review in Las Vegas Weekly
I was really disappointed to come out of the press screening of this film to discover that I was pretty much the only person there who had liked it (and I liked it a lot). I've been even more disappointed to watch its Rotten Tomatoes score plummet (to a sad 31 percent at the moment) this week as more negative reviews have piled on. This is one of my favorite movies of the year, a lush, rich and exciting stylistic exercise that's, first of all, really entertaining, and, secondly, a great celebration of the allure and power of cinematic history and images. Thankfully some of my favorite critics, including my friend Jeannette Catsoulis, my sometime-colleague Jeff Anderson, NY Press critic and blogger Matt Zoller Seitz and, of course, the De Palma-obsessed guys at Slant, liked it as much as or more than I did, which makes me feel validated. If you expect a serious, sober thriller, look elsewhere, but for one of the most sensuous, visceral and luxurious film experiences of the year, give this movie a chance. Wide release