Jackie Brown (18)
Many wondered how Quentin Tarantino would follow the global hype and frenzy of his first two films: in response he came up with a quieter, more mature movie while continuing to indulge his passion for blaxploitation movies, convoluted crime plots and dialogue riffs. Tarantino's version of an Elmore Leonard novel is actually closer in tone to Leonard's fiction than any previous adaptation. It's also great fun, with Pam Grier revelling in her first major leading role in many years, as air hostess Jackie Brown playing cops and crooks against each other, and good performances from Samuel Jackson, Robert De Niro and Bridget Fonda.
"Amistad" (15)
With Steven Spielberg back at the top of the pile with Saving Private Ryan, it's strange to remember it's only a few months since the cinema release of his distinctly underwhelming account of the legal case surrounding the slave ship Amistad in the mid-19th century.
This is a dim, dull little movie, weighed down by Spielberg's decision to sugar-coat the real facts of the case for a contemporary audience, by the leaden characterisation and uninspired storytelling. Perhaps his mind was on other things . . .
"Chasing Amy" (18)
After the critical and commercial disaster of his second movie, Mall Rats, writer-director Kevin Smith returns to his low-budget origins with this mildly enjoyable and sometimes very funny romantic comedy. Ben Affleck is the cartoon artist who falls for Joey Lauren Adams, and is undeterred when he finds out she's a lesbian. At its funniest when it's most foulmouthed (there's a memorable no-holds-barred discussion on the dangers of cunnilingus), but proceedings are marred by Adams's relentless cutesiness.
"Fallen" (18)
Denzel Washington plays a Philadelphia homicide cop who realises he's dealing with someone or something out of this world in this supernatural thriller from Gregory Hoblit (Primal Fear). Shot in what is rapidly becoming known as the post-Se7en style - all desaturated colours and dark shadows - Fallen follows Washington as he pursues an age-old demon capable of moving at will from one human host to another. It's a capable enough exercise in the genre, but somehow never particularly frightening.
"Flubber" (General)
It's not surprising that Disney decided to re-make the engaging 1960 comedy The Absent-Minded Professor with Robin Williams in the main role, but you still wish they hadn't. Flubber is a deeply formulaic and not very funny movie poured in the mould left over from the Home Alone movies. The trailers might lead you to believe it's full of excellent special effects, but if you've seen them, you've seen all the good bits already.
"Kiss The Girls" (18)
Gary Fleder's movie bears more than a passing resemblance to The Silence of The Lambs, with its Southern Gothic setting, older man-younger woman investigation team (Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd in this case) and serial killer subject. But, despite its undeniable visual style, this is a much shallower affair than Jonathan Demme's film, beset with non sequiturs and over-simplifications.
Liar (18)
Well constructed, admirably nasty indie movie from the precocious Pate twins, Jonas and Josh, with Tim Roth as a shifty young socialite subjected to a polygraph test by two cops (Chris Penn and Michael Rooker) investigating the murder of a young woman. The script is a little too clever for its own good, but the mood of claustrophobic tension is well maintained.
The Man in the Iron Mask (12)
Anything with Leonardo Di Caprio in it will sell at the moment, it seems, but this rather plodding version of the classic tale, with the young megastar in the roles of spoilt king and mysterious prisoner, relies more on the tried and trusted skills of Jeremy Irons, Gerard Depardieu, John Malkovich and Gabriel Byrne as the ageing musketeers. All four are quite adequate, but a little more swashbuckling might have helped keep Di Caprio's fans (and the rest of us) happier.
"Wild Man Blues" (cert not available)
Barbara Kopple's documentary following Woody Allen as he embarks on a tour of Europe with his jazz band, accompanied by (as Allen calls her) "the notorious Soon-Yi" rarely offers moments of real revelation by its subject. Allen talks about his love of jazz, his distrust of fame and sundry other matters, and Kopple's attempts to add a few Felliniesque touches to his peregrinations smack of desperation. The final moments, though, in which Allen visits his parents, are straight out of one of his own movies.
