Okumoto, Yuji

Better Off Dead

Lane Myer (John Cusack) is stuck in a personal hell. A compulsive, adolescent Everyman growing up in Suburbia, USA, not only does he fail to make the prestigious high school ski team (again), but his beloved sweetheart, Beth, also leaves him for Roy, the team's popular, arrogant captain. If this isn't bad enough, he's stuck with a mother who frighteningly experiments--rather than cooks--with food, a brother who builds rockets out of models, and a best friend so desperate for drugs that he settles for snorting powdered snow. Faced with these prospects, Lane opts to end it all ... until he comes up with a ridiculous plan to gain acceptance and win Beth back. Director Savage Steve Holland warps this simple, clichéd premise, letting his wacky imagination twist it into a fairly original, slightly dark, and completely hilarious '80s teen comedy. Not as serious a "suicide-attempt" movie as, say, Harold and Maude but just as funny, the film's more a collection of screwball sketches than a narrative. Holland livens the high jinks with surrealistic fantasy touches, including Jell-O that crawls, a hamburger that sings Van Halen, drawings that mock its creator, Japanese race-car drivers who only speak Howard Cosell, and a psychotic paperboy seeking blood over a missing $2. Cusack puts the whole thing on his shoulders and carries the insanity with another one of his touching, obsessively romantic performances, which, along with Say Anything, The Sure Thing, and One Crazy Summer, made him the quintessential (and appealing) personification of lovestruck adolescence and suffering. --Dave McCoy

The Karate Kid II

Literally picking up about five minutes after the conclusion of the 1984 The Karate Kid, this 1986 sequel, also directed by John G. Avildsen, sends Ralph Macchio's and Pat Morita's characters to the latter's home turf in Japan, where the older man is confronted by an old rival, and Macchio's newly confident fighter gets a tougher challenge than the punks back home. Sillier than its predecessor, this follow-up at least has some distracting soap opera elements in Morita's coming to terms with an old flame, while Macchio woos a lovely local girl. Ironically, it's the action that evokes laughter, particularly a climactic fight that gets over the top quickly. --Tom Keogh

True Believer

Eddie Dodd (James Woods) is a former '60s radical lawyer who now spends his time cynically defending drug dealers for the big bucks. But an idealistic young protégé (Robert Downey Jr.) convinces him to take one case from the heart: a young Korean immigrant unjustly accused in a gang slaying. Woods (complete with add-on ponytail) fairly hums with energy once he gets cooking here. Playing the been-there-done-that mentor--not to mention legal gadfly--gives Woods plenty of opportunity to run off at the mouth with spicy one-liners and zingers. But it also allows him to do some real acting, capturing Eddie's denial and sense of disappointment in himself. Plus his vehicle is a not-too-shabby mystery by thrillmeister director Joseph Ruben (Sleeping with the Enemy). --Marshall Fine

American Yakuza

In America, they call it the Mafia... In Japan they call it Yakuza. When they meet they call it war! Viggo Mortensen (G.I. Jane) and Michael Nouri (The Hidden) star in this explosive action-thriller about the first American accepted into the savage brotherhood of Japan's criminal underworld. Sent to infiltrate the American arm of the Yakuza, FBI agent Nick Davis (Mortensen) rises through the ranks of assassins and is soon adopted into the powerful Tendo crime family. His work brings him into brutal conflict with not only the Italian mob, but also a hard-nosed FBI taskforce guided by unscrupulous Agent Littman (Robert Forster). Caught dead center in a war between the Yakuza, the mob, and the FBI, Davis must decide what's more important: his old loyalties--or his new bond of blood.

End Game

Cuba Gooding Jr. (Jerry Maguire Pearl Harbor) leads an all-star cast which includes Burt Reynolds (The Longest Yard The Dukes of Hazzard) James Woods (Any Given Sunday John Q) Anne Archer (Clear and Present Danger) and Angie Harmon (TV's 'Law and Order') in this political action/thriller opening with a presidential assassination and following a perilous path of intrigue. The Secret Service agent (Gooding Jr.) in charge of the president's protection detail blames himself for his team's failure and quits his post only to become obsessed with solving the crime. A tenacious reporter (Harmon) aids him in his quest. Together they unravel a web of lies as they try to divine the truth behind the conspiracy among shadowy assassins and ex-special ops.System Requirements:Running Time: 93 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS Rating: R UPC: 043396138186 Manufacturer No: 13818

An assassination whodunit, End Game stars Cuba Gooding Jr. as Alex Thomas, a Secret Service agent assigned to protect the president of the United States. When the president is killed during his watch, Alex is wracked with guilt. Plucky investigative reporter Kate Crawford (Angie Harmon from Law & Order) convinces him that the gunman didn't act alone and that a conspiracy theory in this case is valid. Gooding plays his role with quiet reserve, a 180-degree departure from his over-the-top Oscar-winning performance in Jerry Maguire. Harmon displays charm as the award-winning and highly unrealistic journalist. And Burt Reynolds shows up for a few minutes here and there to chew up the scenery as a general who may or may not be a rogue agent. Directed and co-written by Andy Cheng, the film has some thrilling action sequences. But its plot is transparent and when the mastermind behind the assassination is revealed, no one will be surprised. --Jae-Ha Kim

Mean Guns

Direct-to-video stylist Albert Pyun sets this plotless, gun-crazy frenzy to the mambo beat of Prez Prado and runs with it. Mobster Ice-T calls dozens of associates to a newly built prison the day before it's dedicated, locks them in, and pits them against one another for a prize of $10 million, which the last three survivors will split. Bleached blond Christopher Lambert is a grinning psycho having a little too much fun, while the soul of the group belongs to the craggy-faced Michael Halsey, a ruthless killer with an odd sense of purpose and a code of honor. The story is merely an excuse for unending gunplay and giddy violence and Pyun rises to the occasion, executing everything from riotous free-for-alls to elaborate chases to Western-style standoffs (complete with a haunting spaghetti Western style guitar and trumpet theme). The video titles, dingy lighting, and dusky color give away the low budget and ultimately the script doesn't make any sense, but Pyun wisely avoids the confusing plot (which he himself sometimes loses) and concentrates on his particular strength: wild, wicked, practically nonstop action driven by a restless camera and rat-a-tat editing. --Sean Axmaker

The Crow - Wicked Prayer

Tara Reid (AMERICAN PIE, MY BOSS'S DAUGHTER), David Boreanaz (TV's BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL), and Edward Furlong (TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY, AMERICAN HISTORY X) star in the latest chilling chapter of THE CROW: WICKED PRAYER -- an epic tale of death, revenge, and redemption. Just as ex-con Jimmy Cuervo (Furlong) tries to straighten out his life, he and his girlfriend Lily are brutally murdered in a satanic ritual by a renegade biker gang. But payback is at hand when Cuervo rises from the dead -- with the power of The Crow -- to avenge Lily's death and reunite with her in the afterlife! Also starring Dennis Hopper (TRUE ROMANCE), Danny Trejo (FROM DUSK TIL DAWN), and recording star Macy Gray!

I'll Remember April

Although the horrors of WWII are far removed from the Pacific Coast community where adolescent Duke Cooper (Trevor Morgan) and his three best chums play soldier, experiment with swearing, and earnestly patrol the beach for Japanese submarines, the realities of the war are about to come crashing down around them. Not when a Japanese soldier, stranded and wounded when his sub quickly dived, washes ashore; his capture by the foursome merely allows for more playtime and thoughts of becoming heroes. It's coming because Duke's older brother is on some island awaiting combat and the black sedans with military tags have already begun rolling through town to deliver their grim announcements. And Duke's Japanese American pal Willie Tanaka (Yuki Tokuhiro), all three feet and 55 pounds of him, has suddenly become a threat to national security, so he, his mother, and grandfather are soon to be shipped away to an internment camp. For a children's film, these are strong, potent themes to discuss; unfortunately any kid will be put off by I'll Remember April's obviousness and condescending tone in a heartbeat. The script by Mark Sanderson assumes its audience needs every point spelled out twice: Duke and his friends (among them Haley Joel Osment, top-billed on the video box despite a smallish role) have the strange habit of repeating ad infinitum their conclusions about the unfairness of it all. Composer Paul Zaza apparently finds that insufficient, since his score hammers home each preprogrammed emotion without mercy. Director Bob Clark has made wonderful movies (A Christmas Story, Murder by Decree) and awful ones (Porky's, Rhinestone); this one falls somewhere in between, sincere and blessed with a clutch of good child actors, but crassly manipulative and too intent on educating its audience to realize it is talking down to them instead. --Bruce Reid

Fortress 2: Re-entry

Christopher Lambert in a straight-to-video sci-fi film? You know it's gotta be good. Here he reprises his role as John Brennick, former leader of the Resistance and thorn in the side of the MEN-TEL corporation. In the first movie, Brennick escaped from and destroyed MEN-TEL's high-tech "inescapable" prison. In the 10 years since then, he's gotten himself a house in the woods and some horses, and has illegally procreated with his wife. When Resistance members find him and try to recruit him back into the cause, the bad guys are not far behind, and after some two-dollar action scenes he finds himself captured and thrown into MEN-TEL's brand-new prison, which happens to be orbiting the Earth. Surely, nobody could ever escape from this! Except maybe, just maybe John Brennick!

The plot is even more predictable than the placement of the co-ed shower scenes, to the point that you can practically quote the dialogue before it's spoken, with the only surprises being which cliché they're going to use, and when. (By the way, these violent prisoners are actually being used to build and modify the satellite they're imprisoned in!) Pam Grier has an embarrassing cameo as the owner of MEN-TEL, and the dignity she tries to bring to the role is entirely out of place. The only fun to be had is if you watch it as if you're watching a bunch of adults play "action film," making for a strange entertainment, indeed. --Andy Spletzer

Johnny Kapahala - Back on Board

Go from the surf to the turf and grab some air with JOHNNY KAPAHALA: BACK ON BOARD! Catch up with everybody's favorite teen surfing and snowboarding champ and go behind the scenes to get an inside look at the new extreme sport of dirtboarding! Johnny Kapahala returns to Hawaii to attend the wedding of his grandfather the legendary Johnny Tsunami. But instead of catching a few waves while he's in town Johnny's got his hands full keeping an eye on "Uncle Chris" the 12-year-old son of his grandfather's fianc e. Through Chris Johnny is introduced to the "Dirt Devils" -- the local dirtboarding team. When the Dirt Devils wind up in direct competition with Grandpa's surf shop it's up to Johnny and Chris to join forces and save the day. Packed with bonus features that bring you into the exciting world of dirtboarding JOHNNY KAPAHALA: BACK ON BOARD is an all-terrain adventure the whole family will love!System Requirements:Running Time: 92 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating: TV-G UPC: 786936739886 Manufacturer No: 5489003