Mafia! C+ 8/2/1998 8pm North Bergen Basically a spoof of Casino, the Godfather, and other mafia movies. There's a few good sight gags but not enough to make it a quality spoof. So, it drags a little in between the jokes. Disturbing Behavior C+ 8/3/1998 2:30pm Secaucus This movie plays out almost just like the trailer, and I hate it when they do that. What's the point of seeing the movie? Sure, there's action, and a little suspense, but all the surprises are pretty much revealed or are completely predictable. The soundtrack was pretty good though, obviously designed to draw top 40 action. The plot: wacko scientists reprogram bad students into "good students" with mental defects. Ever After B- 8/9/1998 4:30pm North Bergen A decent feel-good chick film about Cinderella, told with a female-adventure slant. The sets were nice, but not as nice as the trailers would lead you to believe. Overall, it's light and entertaining, but not very bold. By the time it's over you've just about overdosed on the on-again, off-again romance switches. The Avengers B- 8/16/1998 7:15pm North Bergen A very campy spy drama similar to James Bond films, starring Ralph Fiennes as John Steed, and Uma Thurman as Emma Peel. A lot of the appeal is Uma in a catsuit but she's not as young as she used to be and the makeup job is not very flattering. The plot is extremely lame, and doesn't make a whole lot of sense; the bad guys should've just shot the good guys, not invite them into the lair. The special effects are nice, and you get to see some of London's landmarks get abused. But, there's not enough of those really to make this movie stand out above others. Next Stop, Wonderland B 8/22/1998 7:45pm Angelika A pleasant, mindless tale of a woman who becomes single after having her liberal activist boyfriend leave her (not a loss, in my opinion) to go rescue an indian tribe somewhere. Her mother puts a personals ad in the paper for her, and this leads her to several "dates" (meetings in the local pub actually-- perhaps she should have checked into AA instead, meet more people there). In a parallel plot in the film, Mr. Right does the usual wonderful perfect things Mr. Right is expected to do, but she manages to miss meeting him on several occasions. I guess the movie is more of a testament to singles life in the '90s, and how we meet (and fail to impress) people. Seeing the couple dozen guys she ditched, it made me feel a little depressed. What will happen to those people? Are they just doomed to be single forever? Blade A+ 8/23/1998 8:45pm North Bergen This is the best vampire movie I've ever seen. No poseurs and no romances, this one flies fast and furious like a Hong Kong martial arts flick. Wesley Snipes is one hell of an action movie star, I hope we see a lot more of him. The bad guys are great, in a smart-aleck way. Plus, the use of technology is also interesting, for both the vampires and the vampire-hunters. The soundtrack was excellent, with great techno music delivering a fast-paced beat to match the high speed and intensity of the film. It turns out that the movie was made by Snipes's company, Amen Ra, which is their second film. Their first film was The Big Hit, which was the best film of the year until this one. Also stars Stephen Dorff and Traci Lords. Snake Eyes B 8/29/1998 2:30pm Guttenberg Nicholas Cage plays an Atlantic City police detective who gets caught up in a conspiracy to assassinate the Secretary of Defense at a boxing fight. The plot has a few twists and turns but is not really a true whodunnit, as things get revealed as time goes on. Cage gives a good performance, but I've seen him do better. The storyline is kind of odd, and the obligatory romance seems almost forced. Overall it's pretty entertaining as a crime drama, with the twists of how one deals with loyalties and friendships, but it doesn't go very deep. The Negotiator B 8/29/1998 9:15pm Secaucus Standard fare crime drama where super-negotiator takes hostages and the police department since super-negotiator from nearby town to take him on, and if you've seen the previews, you've seen most of the film, which really bugs me. As an action crime drama it's pretty good though.