Movie Renter's Guide

Current Movies - Part 35 - February, 1998

Staff

Ratings:
		Extraordinary
		Good
		Acceptable
		Mediocre
		Poor

"187", Warner Brothers, 1997, Color, Filmed spherically and presented at measured aspect ratio (laserdisc) 1.87:1, Surround Sound, DD, 1 Hr 59 min, Rated R; Samuel L. Jackson, John Heard, Kelly Rowan; Trevor Garfield (Jackson), a high school teacher in New York City, is stabbed by a student who received a failing grade. Trevor recovers and moves to Los Angeles, where he takes up teaching again, and finds that the school and students are not much different than they were in New York. One of his colleagues, Mr. Childress (Heard) is very impressed that Trevor came back to work, while Ellen (Rowan) is suspicious of him, although she wants his help in thwarting an aggressive student. A series of violent crimes goes unsolved, and the question arises as to whether they were committed by students or the teachers who condemn them. The film was written by a teacher, and it is extremely well done. P.S. 187 is the police code for homicide. - JEJ -

Entertainment:
Video Quality:
Audio:
Photography:
Violence:	yes
Sex:	nudity
Language:	the "F" and "S" words

"Event Horizon", Paramount Pictures, 1997, Color, Filmed in Panavision and presented at measured aspect ratio (laserdisc) 2.32:1, Surround Sound, DD, 1 Hr 37 min, Rated R; Laurence Fishburne; Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan; In the year 2047, the United States Aerospace Command (USAC) receives a message from a ship, named the Event Horizon, that was believed to have been lost seven years before. Captain Miller (Fishburne) and his crew take Dr. Weir (Neill) to an orbit around Neptune where the signal was heard. They locate the ship and board it, only to find that it has been travelling through a space/time warp and seems to have a life of its own. The space/time warp is described as using gravity to bend the space/time continuum such that point A and point B in space are moved closer together, and then a ship can get from A to B in a much shorter time. Click here to see animated explanation. Whatever life force the ship has is unfriendly, and the crew is in mortal danger. Too bad the movie is just another quasi-alien wannabe, filled with arcade-like special effects. - JEJ -

Entertainment:
Video Quality:
Audio:
Photography:
Violence:	yes
Sex:	nudity
Language:	the "F" and "S" words

"Excess Baggage", Columbia Pictures, 1997, Color, Filmed spherically and presented at measured aspect ratio (laserdisc) 1.78:1, Surround Sound, 1 Hr 41 min, Rated PG-13; Alicia Silverstone, Benicio del Toro, Christopher Walken; Emily (Silverstone) has a very rich father who doesn't give her enough attention. So, she pretends to be kidnapped for $1,000,000 ransom. She tapes herself up and gets into the trunk of her car, to be found by the police. Before she can be "rescued", Vincent the car thief (del Toro), steals the car with her in the trunk. He finds her, and Emily, being the brat she is, decides to make trouble for Vincent while she continues to scare her father. She and Vincent become romantically involved, but Vincent's partners decide that kidnapping a rich girl can make them more money than stolen cars. Frankly, the weather channel is more interesting than this movie. - JEJ -

Entertainment:
Video Quality:
Audio:
Photography:
Violence:	no
Sex:	no
Language:	the "S" word

"Nothing to Lose", Touchstone Pictures, 1997, Color, Filmed spherically and presented at measured aspect ratio (laserdisc) 1.76:1, Surround Sound, DD, 1 Hr 38 min, Rated R; Martin Lawrence, Tim Robbins, Kelly Preston; Advertising Executive Nick Beam (Robbins) is happy in his job, and happy in his marriage to Ann (Preston) until he comes home unexpectedly and finds her in bed with another man. Distraught, he drives his car aimlessly and would-be robber T. Paul (Lawrence) jumps in and orders him to turn over the keys. Nick speeds up, hoping they will both be killed, but his car goes through stop light after stop light without hitting anyone. They end up in Arizona without any money, and they rob stores to get some (gee, what a realistic plot). When they finally steal a bundle, two other thieves try to take it away from them. In the meantime, Nick finds that he was mistaken about his wife. Somehow, the line between TV and theater films has become so thin, it's no longer visible. With a few TV sitcom stars making a million a week, for stories better than this, HDTV is looking like a good bet for late this year. - JEJ -

Entertainment:
Video Quality:
Audio:
Photography:
Violence:	yes
Sex:	yes
Language:	the "F" and "S" words

"Money Talks", New Line Cinema, 1997, Color, Filmed spherically and presented at measured aspect ratio (DVD) 2.32:1, Surround Sound, DD, 1 Hr 35 min, Rated R; Chris Tucker, Charlie Sheen, Heather Locklear; Investigtive TV reporter Jim Russell (Sheen) is trying to nail that great story to get ahead in his job, and films hustler Franklin Hatchet (Tucker) being arrested. Hatchet is handcuffed to an international criminal, and when the criminal is rescued by his friends, Hatchet has to go with him. The police think Hatchet is responsible for killing fellow officers in the escape. Russell sees Hatchet as his way to stardom and decides to protect him until he can be turned in. Hatchet convinces Russell that he is innocent and that he should aid him in proving it by catching the real murderer. Some stolen diamonds concealed in a classic Jaguar automobile complicate matters, and Hatchet gets hold of the gems, so now the European is after Hatchet, along with the police. Chris Tucker is another Eddie Murphy, and his jokes hold the story until the end, where all the action occurs. - JEJ -

Entertainment:
Video Quality:
Audio:
Photography:
Violence:	explicit
Sex:	no
Language:	the "F" and "S" words

� Copyright 1998 Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity
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