Apollo 13
B+
7/5 9:30pm Secaucus
It seems like every year now, Tom Hanks stars in a blockbuster hit.  This
year he plays the commander of the doomed Apollo 13 space mission.  This is
based on the true story, so if you know the history, then you know how
everything is going to turn out.  Still, they try to drive you crazy
with the suspense, and overdo it in places.  Overall though, it's an
exciting movie about astronauts... who can resist astronauts?

First Knight
A
7/7 8:30pm Secaucus
Sean Connery stars as King Arthur in this movie about Sir Lancelot (Richard
Gere) and his affair with the King's wife.  It's a sad love story, and an
action-adventure film, too.  The battle scenes are much different from
Braveheart and Rob Roy; the knights wear much fancier armor, which appears
to glow blue-silver in the night.  The violence is nowhere near as nasty
as in Braveheart.  The acting is pretty good, but Connery's role and lines
just aren't up to the power that the actor possesses.  They wasted him,
basically.  Gere put in a fine performance, though.

Under Siege 2: Dark Territory
A-
7/14 8:20pm Secaucus
Steven Seagal returns in a decent sequel where we find our hero stuck on a
train with a band of terrorists.  It's all pretty formula stuff but still
is quite fun to watch, very exciting, and has neat special effects.

Nine Months
C
7/21 7:50pm Secaucus
This is a humorous tale about a guy who absolutely hates children.  From
there, everything obvious happens, from his girlfriend getting pregnant,
to the breakup, reunion, birth, screaming babies, etc.  I guess you could
call it a woman's feel-good film, but unless you like children, you're
better off going to watch Batman Forever again.

The Indian in the Cupboard
B
7/23 3:45pm Jersey City
This is the story of a boy and his magic cupboard he gets for his birthday.
When plastic toy figures are placed inside the cupboard, they become real.
The first toy to do so is an indian, who develops a friendship with the
boy.  The best scene in the film is when he puts in Darth Vader, Robocop,
and several other action figures into the cupboard... but that only lasts
a few seconds.  The rest of the film is a lesson in morality.

Clueless
B
7/26 8:30pm Secaucus
A movie about some ditz girls in an upper class high school set in southern
california.  It has light romance, humor, and some statements to say and
some morals to teach.  It's very cute in places.

The Net
B+
7/28 8:35pm Secaucus
Sandra Bullock plays a computer professional.  Her occupation appears to
be either an expert developer or a glorified alhpa-tester.  In any case,
while surfing the web she comes across a secret entrance to a computer
system that is run by an evil underground computer group that conspires
against the government.  It's an exciting, fast-paced film about the
web, hacking, and has strong statements about how computers control too
much of our lives and invade our privacy.  However parts of the movie
are just too fake to stand, like an IP address in the 300's, etc.

Waterworld
A-
7/30 3:45pm Secaucus
Kevin Costner returns in the most expensive movie made to date.  However,
it's just a poorly-written science fantasy that doesn't even try to be
realistic.  One keeps expecting some really good movie-making but there's
only so much you can do while floating in the water.  Plus, nothing seems
to make sense.  How did the mariner get such a nice boat?  How do people
make a living when the entropy is so high?  Sure, it had great special
effects and sets, and the acting was okay, but the story just wasn't up
to it.