Knock Off
B-
9/4/1998 8:15pm Ridgefield Park
Jean Claude VanDamme stars in Hong Kong film directed by Tsui Hark, who is
supposed to have talent.  Well there's lots of action and fighting here, to
be sure, but the editing is pretty shoddy, and the sound is atrocious.  Parts
of the film were dubbed, and other parts weren't.  It was amusing to see
Rob Schneider play an action role though.  Tsui Hark did better in last year's
"Double Team".  The plot?  A couple of guys selling knock-off products in
Hong Kong get in trouble with some terrorists who plant "nano-bombs" the
size of buttons in their products.  Basically though it's a just a vehicle
for the martial arts, gunfights, and explosions.  The fight scenes would
have been better if we could actually see what was going on; sometimes the
editing massacres the scene and you miss parts.  Other times it works well.

Slums of Beverly Hills
C
9/6/1998 9:45pm North Bergen
An odd, sometimes bizarre tale of a girl and her family as they travel
from one apartment to the next.  There is no real plot, just a collection
of scenes, many of them depressing, about how fucked up their family is.
Some of the scenes are a bit odd and the characters a bit odd but nothing
truly amazing.  For example, the neighborhood drug dealer hits on the girl
and she uses him to explore her sexuality; meanwhile the father has to cope
with the wreck he's made of his life, raising a family without a mother,
and with no money, either.  Some critics like this one but that's because
they like movies that are "different".  Different does not equal better.

54
B-
9/12/1998 10:30pm North Bergen
Mike Myers plays the role of the owner of Studio 54 during this pseudo-
historical tale of a young jersey kid who works his way into a job at the
club in an attempt to get closer to his lust object.  Well the story is a
bit stupid but the scenery and soundtrack are nice.  It's almost sad to see
how much drugs people did back then.  The movie is very predictable and
straightforward, and not very memorable, but good for disco nostalgia.

Cube
C+
9/13/1998 7:35pm Times Square
This was supposed to be an art-house film, but like much alternative music,
it was crap.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't very good, either.  I felt like
they were almost trying to make some enlightening philosophical points, but
every time they came close, the movie turned into a horror film.  It was
billed as science fiction but there wasn't really any science.  It was all
a bit absurd.  And thanks to the story, there was no scenery to appreciate.

Rush Hour
A
9/19/1998 7:45pm Secaucus
Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker star in a martial-arts comedy-drama about two
detectives looking for the kidnapped daughter of a friend.  They really
hit it off well, they're quite funny together, and Tucker isn't annoying
like he's been in his other films (such as The Fifth Element).  Everyone
had a great time, it's hysterical in places, and paced well with Jackie's
typical extremely choreographed martial arts fights.  I loved it.