K Movie Reviews

The first broadcast series reaches its climax as Tenchi, his friends, and the restored knights Azake and Kamidake challenge Kagato, who has usurped the throne of Jurai. (This Kagato is not the "Ruins Buster" villain from Tenchi Muyo! but a rebel Jurai prince banished ages ago.) Kagato attacks, wounding Tenchi's grandfather and kidnapping Ayeka, then withdraws to his fortified palace. Washu creates a computer virus that sabotages the Jurai defense network; Ryoko sneaks Tenchi, Azake, and Kamidake into the palace while bounty hunter Nagi creates a diversion. It's a foregone conclusion that Tenchi will triumph over Kagato, but director Hiroshi Negeshi makes their duel a surprisingly dramatic confrontation between good and evil. Although he's the rightful crown prince of Jurai, Tenchi returns to Earth, his adventures in space counted as "an excused absence" from school. The final episode, "No Need for a Conclusion," returns to the bittersweet tone of the initial "No Need for Discussions." After describing what's become of each friend, Tenchi sighs for the days when "life was like a carnival," although he enjoys the peace that now reigns in Okayama. But as fans of the series know, things never stay calm around Tenchi for long. Rated 13 and up for cartoon violence. --Charles Solomon

These two short episodes rank among the silliest anime series of all time. Years ago, a king sent his greatest knight, Ruth the Great Red Lightning Bolt, to slay a dragon; but instead of killing her, the warrior married her. Mink is the result of that union: a scantily clad redhead with horns, wings, and a short tail. (Although she commands an array of super powers, Mink didn't inherit brains from either parent.) In "Mink's Voyage" the lecherous king sends his top warriors to slay Ruth so he can marry the curvaceous dragon himself, but Mink clobbers all of them. She enters a no-holds-barred contest, hoping to win the plane fare to pop star Dick Saucer's next concert in "The Brutal, Killer Martial Arts Tournament." Mink triumphs, defeating a demon who "doesn't care about story continuity." Rated 15 Up: Violence, profanity, nudity. --Charles Solomon

A not very subtle variation on the buddy picture, this fluff comedy/action story squeaks by on the surprising charm generated by Jim Belushi (About Last Night, Salvador). Belushi plays the typically acerbic loner cop who relentlessly pursues a criminal mastermind while trying to juggle a relationship at home with girlfriend Tracy, played by Mel Harris of television's thirtysomething. The catch is that Belushi is saddled with a partner, an unruly German shepherd named Jerry Lee, and the gruff but lovable cop learns to love the dog of his dreams. The film is predictable from its first moments and survives only on the strength of the loose charm of its lead and the inoffensive performance of its lead canine. --Robert Lane

Few early rockers were more gifted or less honored in their prime than the late Roy Orbison, whose vaulting tenor and vulnerable love songs conjured heartbreak and desire with operatic intensity. This 1987 concert special, originally broadcast on Showtime, came two decades after Orbison had retreated from pop's front lines, yet neither Orbison nor his music coasts on mere nostalgia: in every respect, A Black and White Night survives as a triumphant performance and a superb video production, as well as a first-rate retrospective of Orbison's hits.

Filmed in black and white against the streamlined art deco stage of the since-demolished Coconut Grove in downtown Los Angeles, the concert is buoyed by a remarkable cast of A-list Orbison fans who signed on as his accompanists. Under the direction of producer T-Bone Burnett, the stage band thus includes Jackson Browne, Burnett, Elvis Costello, k.d. lang, Bonnie Raitt, J.D. Souther, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, and Jennifer Warnes, along with the rhythm section from Elvis Presley's fabled late '60s and early '70s touring band. That astonishing lineup is all the more noteworthy for the restraint with which they collaborate--it's evident that those superstars came to honor Orbison, not upstage him, resulting in a gratifying cohesion to the performances.

Orbison himself sounds as powerful as ever, his soaring falsetto cresting as dramatically as it did on the studio versions of the hits that inevitably dominate. Those songs meanwhile confirm that his blue chip admiration society came as much for the caliber of his writing as for his ravishing voice: if he remains best known for the jaunty come-on of "Pretty Woman," Orbison was first and foremost a rock balladeer, capable of bringing lumps to our throats with such classics as "Crying" and "Only the Lonely," or conjuring romantic trances through such gentle charmers as "Dream Baby." On this night, he handled all of them with fervor and finesse. --Sam Sutherland

Would you believe the most enchanting musical of the year is an almost four-hour-long epic about a ragtag group of 19th-century Indian farmers who form a cricket team to take on an arrogant British captain? The old-fashioned Hollywood musical is alive and well in India's Bollywood industry, where the joyful explosion of music and dance and innocent romance abounds in sweeping epics. In this infectious tale of bloodless revolution, the underdog outcasts and oddballs of a fractured village pull together into a unified team to take on the oppressive colonial Brits at their own game. Think The Longest Yard meets The Seven Samurai by way of Rudyard Kipling, with cricket bats, choreographed dance numbers, romantic triangles, and a rousing call to solidarity. There are no surprises, but what spirit, what color, what good fun! --Sean Axmaker

Would you believe the most enchanting musical of the year is an almost four-hour-long epic about a ragtag group of 19th-century Indian farmers who form a cricket team to take on an arrogant British captain? The old-fashioned Hollywood musical is alive and well in India's Bollywood industry, where the joyful explosion of music and dance and innocent romance abounds in sweeping epics. In this infectious tale of bloodless revolution, the underdog outcasts and oddballs of a fractured village pull together into a unified team to take on the oppressive colonial Brits at their own game. Think The Longest Yard meets The Seven Samurai by way of Rudyard Kipling, with cricket bats, choreographed dance numbers, romantic triangles, and a rousing call to solidarity. There are no surprises, but what spirit, what color, what good fun! --Sean Axmaker