Hideaway
B-
3/4 6pm Paramus
This is a movie about a man who has a car accident, dies, and is somehow
revived after being out for two hours.  This gives him a trip to the "other
side" where he acquires some sort of "gift".  Meanwhile, another person
who had been revived after being out for so long is lurking the streets...
he also had received a gift, but his visit was to a dark and red place,
not the light and blue place our lead saw.  This leads to a generic
conflict between good and evil.  There's some neat computer-generated
special effects, and one is forced to wonder if these were discovered
and then someone decided to write a movie around them.

The Hunted
A
3/19 3:20pm Jersey City
Christopher Lambert plays an unfortunate businessman who gets caught up
in a feud between a samurai clan and a ninja clan.  There's lots of really
cool martial arts, scenes of Japan, and even spicy romance scenes.  One
of the best parts is a bloody battle that takes place on a bullet train.
Lambert really just plays a pawn; he has no martial arts skill.  However,
because he is lucky and befriends a swordmaker, he happens to acquire just
enough skill to get by.  The real focus is on the heads of the clans, and
the character development is enough that we begin to realize that both parties
have evil parts to them.

Dolores Claiborne
C
3/24 7:30pm Secaucus
Cathy Bates plays a middle-aged house nurse accused of murdering the
elderly woman in her care.  On the surface, all the evidence points
to her guilt.  The detective investigating the case really wants to
nail her, because he failed to convict her many years ago when her
husband mysteriously died.  Her daughter is drawn in, and has to deal
with seeing her mother, who she's avoided for many years.  Overall, the
movie is a psychodrama, with little real action, suspense, or mystery.
The pacing is barely enough to keep you in your seat, but the story
is slightly intriguing.  If you're into psychodramas, check it out,
otherwise pass.

Muriel's Wedding
A
3/25 10:45pm Secaucus
This is an Australian film about an ugly duckling of a woman
whose primary goal in life is to get married.  She obsesses about
this to an unhealthy degree.  She suffers the rejection of her
beautiful friends, thinking they are the perfect ones and she is
the one that is the nothing.  This is a movie about self-discovery,
finding a purpose in life, a reason for living, and learning what
is important and what is just shallow.  There is a lot of growth
of characters, but not to the point where they become perfect.  The
movie maintains a sense of reality, mixed in with the chaos of some
very oddball characters.  It's an adorable feel-good film, and not
sappy or sweet.