Thrills, sci-fi and a dud spoof at the movies

JAKARTA (JP): Here is the lineup of movies playing at local movie theaters, with reviews and grades by Rayya Makarim and Tam Notosusanto.

Arlington Road; thriller; starring Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack and Hope Davis. Directed by Mark Pellington.

Widowed history professor Bridges suspects that the couple who live next door (Robbins and Cusack) are not the charming suburban family they appear to be, but left-wing extremists bent on blowing up government office buildings.

It's a suspenseful, captivating film that benefits from a sharp, uncompromising script, a stellar cast and the visual prowess of former music video director Pellington. Graded B+ by TN.

The General's Daughter; detective story; starring John Travolta, Madeleine Stowe, James Cromwell, Timothy Hutton and James Woods. Directed by Simon West.

Travolta and Stowe are army investigators delving into the case of a murdered female officer, the daughter of an influential, politically ambitious war hero. It's one of those Hollywood movies that want to depict the military as shady, twisted and absolutely evil, only this one probably tries too hard. One aspect that makes it worth seeing is Woods' multilayered performance as a tormented army colonel. B- (TN).

Instinct; environmental campaign; starring Anthony Hopkins, Cuba Gooding Jr., Maura Tierney and Donald Sutherland. Directed by Jon Turteltaub.

Primatologist Hopkins will not speak a word after reemerging from years of closely studying African gorillas in their natural habitat. It's up to cocky psychiatrist Gooding to unlock the mystery surrounding the famed scholar, now incarcerated for killing people who hurt the apes.

In this film, the gorillas are really kept in the mist, leaving the terribly miscast Gooding ruining everything with his unforgivable overacting. Show him the door, somebody. C (TN).

Phantasm: Oblivion; horror; starring A. Michael Baldwin, Reggie Bannister, Bill Thornbury and Angus Scrimm. Written and directed by Don Coscarelli.

For the fourth time, the constantly victimized Michael Pearson (Baldwin) battles the sinister Tall Man (Scrimm) and his army of ghoulish dwarfs. Not much has changed: the flying spheres are still looking for foreheads to drill, and Michael's loyal sidekick Reggie (Bannister) apparently forgets what happens if he picks up strange chicks on the road.

If the previous episodes are pure trashy, schlocky fun, this one wants to be a quasi-existentialist journey that only ends up being too muddled and joyless. Oblivion is where it belongs. C- (TN).

Pushing Tin; comedy; starring John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Angelina Jolie and Cate Blanchett. Directed by Mike Newell.

Inside the pressure cooker that is New York's Terminal Radar Approach Control center, air traffic controllers Cusack and Thornton entangle themselves in a fierce competition of wits and derring-do, risking their marriages and the lives aboard the 7,000 flights that come in and out of New York. Glen and Les Charles, creators of the hit TV series Taxi and Cheers, wrote this superbly acted character-driven piece. B (TN).

The Sixth Sense; psychological drama; starring Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Haley Joel Osment, Olivia Williams and Donnie Wahlberg. Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

Child shrink Willis must get inside the mind of a troubled young boy who sees dead people walking around him. It's a moving human drama about relationships and the fragility of life, disguised as a mild ghost story.

It does not matter that Willis underperforms, because Osment, as the boy, steals all the scenes he is in with his staggering portrayal of a reluctant psychic. Look for the unrecognizable former New Kid on the Block Wahlberg in a chilling brief turn. A- (TN).

Universal Soldier: The Return; sci-fi action; starring Jean- Claude Van Damme, Michael Jai White, Bill Goldberg, Kiona Tom and Daniel Von Bargen. Directed by Mic Rodgers.

In a plot taken straight out of 2001: A Space Odyssey, a disgruntled ultraintelligent computer runs amok and mobilizes a new batch of the super-human Universal Soldiers to wreak havoc. But fear not, for ex-UniSol (and this sequel's coproducer) Van Damme is there to save the day. More plentiful of explosions and karate kicks but less exciting than the original, this flick mainly serves as Van Damme's martial arts demonstration and the big-screen debuts of wrestling champion Goldberg and TV fitness instructor Tom. C- (TN).

Wrongfully Accused; slapstick comedy; starring Leslie Nielsen, Kelly Le Brock and Michael York. Directed by Pat Proft.

This film is a spoof of The Fugitive. We know this because: 1. Ryan Harrison (Nielsen) is convicted of a murder he did not commit; 2. Richard Crenna does an exaggerated impression of Tommy Lee Jones' character; and 3. Everybody's looking for a one-armed, one-legged, (one-whatevered) man.

Wrongfully Accused is a lame excuse for a film. Its attempt to poke fun at The Usual Suspects, Fargo, Entrapment, Mission: Impossible, Field of Dreams, and Braveheart, only convinces us to watch the originals instead. Do yourself a favor, don't bother, it's on laser disc. D (RM).