Deep Blue Sea 8/1/1999 7:30pm West New York B- Okay so we get some brainy sharks trapped in a research facility and they decide to destroy everything and so we get a disaster movie combined with the sinking and flooding chases scenes of Titanic or Aliens, as well as the combat scenes from Jaws. Oh, and these sharks are bigger, faster, and a lot more vicious. Samuel L. Jackson is aging well, and does a professional job, as expected. This is the first time I've really noticed Thomas Jane, he did a fine job as action hero, and a little research shows that he's been in quite a few action movies in the past. I hope we see more of him. The movie also heavily pushes the moral of "gene research on stupid animals to improve the lives of people is evil", which I found highly repugnant. Mystery Men 8/6/1999 6:00pm Greenwich Village B- William H. Macy, Janeane Garofalo, Ben Stiller and others make up a fun ensemble cast of comic-book-style characters who are superhero wannabes. Janeane is absolutely adorable in this, as always. Macy and Stiller also give excellent performances. You have to appreciate their performances and the special effects as much as you can, because the wacky piecemeal script does get in the way. The entire plot changes halfway through the film, as well. This is sad, because had this movie been put together a little more rigorously, it would have been a much greater success. Instead, it's just a goofy sideshow in the highway of these actors' fine careers. Bowfinger 8/13/1999 7:00pm East Village A- Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy team up in this goofy and highly entertaining tale of a desperate movie producer/director who is about to go about of business when he decides to bet everything he has one last script. He loves this script, but he can't hire the actor, so he and his crew set about filming the movie around the actor without his knowledge. It's a lot of fun and filled with little goofs, and much better than I expected it to be. Universal Soldier: The Return 8/21/1999 7pm Gutenberg B- Jean Claude van Damme returns, this time as a senior consultant to a high tech DoD contractor firm that is building the newest generation of universal soldier, cybernetically enhanced corpses that are absolute killing machines. Things go awry when a general comes into town to shut things down due to budgetary constraints, and the sentient supercomputer running the lab takes over and directs the super soldiers to defend the lab. Bill Goldberg, a big star from WCW, plays the role of one of the toughest universal soldiers. He does an excellent job of it, too. Sadly, van Damme is starting to show his age, and he can't fight as well as he used to. The 13th Warrior 8/27/1999 6pm Union Square A+ Antonio Banderas plays a foreigner from the arabian lands who happens to join up with a band of northmen in this medieval tale of combat and adventure. He does an excllent job. The story is very well done too, taken from Michael Crichton's "Eaters of the Dead". The story takes place in medieval times, around the 10th century. The sets and costumes are very well done, but what I really enjoyed was the vikings and their combat. If you've ever enjoyed Dungeons & Dragons or similar fare, you'll love this film. There's even a part of the film where they are adventuring in a complex of caves. Excellently executed, with good pacing, and a great score. The Sixth Sense 8/29/1999 6:45pm Secaucus B Bruce Willis plays a child psychiatrist who suffers a gunshot wound from one of his former patients, one that he wasn't able to cure. A year later he tries to help a troubled little boy who can see ghosts that no one else can see. It's a pretty interesting story with very unique plot twists, especially near the end. The film is pretty well done, but I didn't find it outstanding. Personally, I'm waiting for Willis to return to action/adventure films.