James Franco

Navy officials said yesterday that they had not given the green light to a script for a Disney movie set at the Naval Academy because of scenes portraying a midshipman involved in acts of hazing, fraternization and violence - all forbidden by the academy's code of conduct. Concerns about the script for Annapolis - which required Defense Department approval to be filmed on campus - surfaced after the Walt Disney Corp. apparently canceled plans to film in Annapolis and Baltimore and shoot in Philadelphia.

We are on the verge of receiving a movie titled Milk. It will open Oct. 29 in the Castro District of San Francisco with a great cast playing the roles of the real-life protagonists in the story of the late Harvey Milk. In case you've forgotten, Milk was the first openly gay city supervisor of San Francisco. He was assassinated, along with Mayor George Moscone, in 1978, becoming a martyr to the cause against sexual discrimination. The 1984 documentary The Times of Harvey Milk won an Academy Award and was then made into an opera.

now playing "Apollo 18" (PG-13). Supposed "lost footage"-style movie details the mission of Apollo 18. Two American astronauts are sent on a secret mission to the moon, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. TownMall Cinemas (1:10, 3:20, 5:30, 7:40, 10:00) "Colombiana" (PG-13). A young woman (Zoe Saldana), grows up to be an assassin after witnessing the murder of her parents as a child. TownMall Cinemas (1:20, 4:20, 7:20, 10:05) "Conan the Barbarian" (R)

SUN SCORE **1/2 City by the Sea is a lot like Long Beach, the decrepit New York seaside resort in which it is set: compulsively, sometimes creepily watchable on the outside, but look beneath the surface, and there's not much there. The surface here looks mighty impressive. The cast includes Robert De Niro (in a tightly controlled performance that suggests there are layers to his cinematic persona that still haven't been plumbed fully), Frances McDormand, James Franco, Patti LuPone, William Forsythe, George Dzundza and Eliza Dushku - an impressive collection of Oscar winners, established supporting players and rising stars.

More than the apes are smart in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes. " This smartly packaged prequel in the long-running simian series rejuvenates what had seemed like a tired franchise. Don't be surprised if these digitally created apes continue to rise in future installments. What makes this latest ape movie work is that it adheres to traits that seem old-fashioned in the current summer movie marketplace. Working with a solidly crafted script by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, director Rupert Wyatt oversees a deliberately paced, detail-oriented story.

There are at least two Nicolas Cage personae. One is the wildly eccentric, Oscar-winning character of Leaving Las Vegas, as well as similar loose cannons in Adaptation, Raising Arizona and Wild at Heart. The other is the action hero of The Rock, Con Air and Gone in 60 Seconds. National Treasure, which opened Friday, combines both of them. Cage plays an eccentric, scholarly treasure hunter who seeks riches possibly buried by our Founding Fathers, who wanted to prevent the booty from falling into British hands.

It's to laugh Judging by all the talent headed this way, there might be no funnier place in the entire world than Baltimore this weekend. First up is the master of his domain himself, Jerry Seinfeld , training his bemused, all-observant eye on the world and the people in it. He'll be at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St., for two shows Friday, at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $62-$77. Also Friday, over at the Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, it's the ever-opinionated Bill Maher , who undoubtedly will be casting aspersions on politics, religion, popular culture and anything else that crosses his mind.

Baltimore Restaurant Week (and Baltimore County Restaurant Week) Have you longed to try one of Baltimore's fancier restaurants, but felt you couldn't afford it or had no idea what to order? Baltimore Summer Restaurant Week, starting today and running through Aug. 22, tries to address both those roadblocks by offering fixed menus at reduced prices — $35.10 for a three-course dinner, $20.10 for lunch — at 100 city restaurants, from Mount Vernon's Abacrombie Fine Foods to Fells Point's Ze Mean Bean.

now playing "Apollo 18" (PG-13). Supposed "lost footage"-style movie details the mission of Apollo 18. Two American astronauts are sent on a secret mission to the moon, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. TownMall Cinemas (1:10, 3:20, 5:30, 7:40, 10:00 p.m.) "Colombiana" (PG-13). A young woman (Zoe Saldana), grows up to be an assassin after witnessing the murder of her parents as a child. TownMall Cinemas (1:20, 4:20, 7:20, 10:05 p.m.) "Contagion" (PG-13)

The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection [MPI Home Video] $130 MPI Home Video's delectable The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection ($130) includes all 14 features that starred Basil Rathbone as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's remarkable sleuth and Nigel Bruce as his partner-in-crime-solving Dr. John H. Watson. The tall, hawklike Rathbone was one of cinema's busiest character actors -- appearing in such films as Romeo and Juliet, Anna Karenina, The Adventures of Robin Hood and If I Were King (for which he received an Oscar nomination)