Direct to Video
"The Trigger Effect" (18)
Although it does not fully realise its early Kafkaesque promise, this is quite a taut and intriguing psychodrama, strong on atmosphere and escalating tension as it chronicles the paranoia and hysteria which break out when suburban Southern California is hit by a long-term power cut. Echoes of The Twilight Zone are heightened by some eerily similar music. Elisabeth Shue, Kyle MacLachlan, Dermot Mulroney and Michael Rooker lead a capable cast in this, the first film directed by David Koepp, the screenwriter of Jurassic Park and Mission: Impossible.
"Beautiful Girls" (15)
An air of deja vu pervades Ted Demme's picture of small-town young men approaching 30 and forced to realise how little they have done with their lives, personally and professionally. They talk and talk, and while some of the writing is sharp, it sometimes seems oddly self-conscious dropping from their mouths. Matt Dillon and young Natalie Portman fare best in a cast that deserved better and includes Uma Thurman, Michael Rapaport, Lauren Holly, Rosie O'Donnell, Annabeth Gish, and refreshingly less twitchy than usual, Timothy Hutton.
Cinema to Video
"Get On The Bus" (15), from Wednesday
Spike Lee's compelling, illuminating and untypically restrained new movie brings together a disparate group of 15 African-American men on a bus journey to Washington for the Million Man march in October, 1995; along the way they discuss a range of personal and political issues. The fine cast features Andre Braugher, Hill Harper, Ossie Davis, and Lee himself.
"Intimate Relations" (18)
Set in post-war England and based on a true story of sexual obsession that ended in murder, Philip Goodhew's blackly comic film is well acted by Rupert Graves as a young sailor who takes boiled sweets to control his propensity for violence, and Julie Walters as the married woman who takes him in as a lodger and as a lover.
"One Fine Day" (12)
It's dislike at first sight when two harried adults, both of them single parents, are drawn together when their children miss a school trip. Could the adults just possibly fall in love with each other? They're played by Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney, and their chemistry sparks an appealing treatment of a familiar tale.
"Murder At 1600" (15)
The number in the title refers to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the address of the White House. When a woman is murdered there, a Washington D.C. detective (Wesley Snipes) gets on the case with secret agent Diane Lane. Alan Alda and Daniel Benzali are also this briskly efficient but rather over-plotted thriller directed by Dwight Little.
"Rumble In The Bronx" (18), from Tuesday
The agile, elastic-limbed Jackie Chan is in spirited form - eschewing special effects in favour of some remarkable stunt work - as a Hong Kong tourist detective on holiday in New York, only to get caught up in a South Bronx crime war.
"The Devil's Own" (18)
Alan J. Pakula's controversial thriller features Brad Pitt as a charming Provo in New York with Harrison Ford as the American police officer who unwittingly takes him in and grows to regard him as a surrogate son. The result is an uneven, politically simplistic movie which relies all too heavily on unlikely coincidences.
"The Fifth Element" (12)
Luc Besson's big-budget futuristic film is a bloated, naive and heavy-handed effort set largely in New York City in the year 2259 as our planet is threatened by a Supreme Evil Force. Enter salvation in the form of a stubbly New York cab driver played by Bruce Willis.
