Capsule reviews of films opening this week:

"Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans" – It's post-Katrina New Orleans and there are snakes in the water – none bigger than Terence McDonagh (Nicolas Cage), an exceptionally corrupt detective, who slinks through town snorting coke, smoking heroin, harassing women and brandishing a .44 Magnum stuffed in the front of his pants. "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans" is a kind of remake of Abel Ferrara's 1992 cult classic "Bad Lieutenant," which was set in New York and starred Harvey Keitel in a similar role. Director Werner Herzog has summoned the sensational spirit of the original while making something fresh and gloriously insane. Cage dives headlong into the madness, and it's plain fun to see the actor give himself so fully to a character after several years of mostly forgettable action movies. The film keeps closer to the original's plot than one might want of a movie by a highly skilled director. And the ending feels like a forced, extra dose of Herzog mania. But it has a pulse, and it's a marvel to watch. R for drug use and language throughout. 122 minutes. Three stars out of four.

_ Jake Coyle, AP Entertainment Writer

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"The Blind Side" – This redemption-minded sports flick serves its inspiration straight-up with no twist. Writer-director John Lee Hancock wisely lets the true story of Michael Oher – the African-American teen who found a home and, eventually, football stardom, after being adopted by a wealthy Memphis family – speak for itself. That direct focus delivers a feel-good crowd-pleaser, but it also drains the film of the kind of subtle nuances that might have separated it from other Hollywood Hallmark-like efforts, including Hancock's own "The Rookie." The movie dutifully chronicles the transformation of Oher (newcomer Quinton Aaron) from blank slate to a fully formed young man, emphasizing the involvement of Leigh Ann Tuohy (Sandra Bullock). Bullock brings her trademark spunkiness to the mother hen role, delivering an iron-willed woman who looks past appearances to do the right thing. PG-13 for one scene involving brief violence, drug and sexual references. 128 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

_ Glenn Whipp, for The Associated Press

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"Red Cliff" – John Woo's Hollywood movies never quite captured the grace and gutsiness of his Hong Kong action films. Woo has brought a good dose of Hollywood scale and style to his first film shot in mainland China, though. The U.S. release of "Red Cliff" suffers from the inevitable emasculation of a historical pageant chopped in half – it was cut down from a two-part, five-hour version for Asian audiences. Yet what remains on screen is impressive – grand battles, dazzling action, sumptuous sets, magnificent panoramas. What's lost in the abbreviation is the emotional element as Woo chronicles an epic clash of warriors in the 3rd century. Fine moments of humanity and heroism do remain, particularly in the friendship forged between a warrior (Tony Leung, star of some of Woo's Hong Kong films) and a sage (Takeshi Kaneshiro) as their outnumbered forces square off against a power-mad general (Zhang Fengyi). R for sequences of epic warfare. 148 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

_ David Germain, AP Movie Writer