Seasick 'Legend' is a mess
The unhappy mess of a movie calling itself "The Legend of 1900" is neither legend nor about a year. Discuss. More like a fable than a legend of any kind, the movie doggedly pursues greatness and enlightenment but has trouble finding either without pitching over into wide ocean. Hampered by a framing device in which trumpeter Max (Pruitt Taylor Vince) tells the sad story of his pianist friend 1900 (Tim Roth) to anyone who will listen, it seems at times to subsist on a friendship between two men which is barely expounded upon. It balances precariously on symbols and missed chances, on conflicts and the mysterious way that 1900 acquires perfectly tailored suits while living virtually penniless on a ship.

'Boys' a triumph for Swank
As the main character in "Boys Don't Cry," Hilary Swank has the near-impossible job of convincing the audience that she could not only pass herself off as a man, but a romantically successful one. This is certainly a task no more daunting than what Brandon Teena, on whose life this film is based, faced each day in his life after he made the conscious decision to flip pronouns and flop his name from Teena Brandon. The results of each of their efforts are as opposite as you can get: the real Brandon was tragically murdered by his intolerant "friends," while the real Swank gives the performance of a lifetime that immediately propels her into the high ranks of modern thesps.

'NBA 2K' scores for Sega at buzzer
With "NBA 2K," Sega has once again created a stellar looking sports game for their Dreamcast console. But it's not as amazing a piece of work as its sibling "NFL 2K."

'End of the Affair' illuminates details of love, loss and longing
"This is a diary of hate," Maurice Bendrix (Ralph Fiennes) deliberately, furiously punches out on his old typewriter in Neil Jordan's noir-soaked "The End of the Affair." Every key sings with suffering, every letter contains a manifesto on the dangers of misbegotten love. Jordan evokes an era of movie history where the play of the shadows was much more important than the play of the light, where relationships were both simply complicated and complicatedly simple. "The End of the Affair" takes these elements and molds them into a seductive musing on the nature of love and loss.

'Quest' makes Trek fun for everyone
I never really liked the original "Star Trek" television series and the seven movies that followed it. However, I have a friend that worships Captain Kirk and his adventures, debating technical details of phasers and arguing who was the best crew member with other Trekkies. Surprisingly enough, we both laughed out loud at "Galaxy Quest," a very clever parody of the sci-fi franchise. The humor in this film is drawn from the fans' obsession with the show, which allows for a great deal of inside jokes while simultaneously allowing the "Trek" outsider to laugh at the general dorkiness that ensues.

Despite problems, 'Rally 2' races
There's nothing like being a sequel to make a video game promising. The idea has already been hammered out, so the second try has room for finessing. The first "Sega Rally" was an arcade hit and a great title on the Saturn. "Sega Rally 2" was also an arcade hit and proves itself worthy of many of the Dreamcast's powers.

Grammy nods go for broke with tripe
Where's the towel? The Grammy voters have egg on their faces again. I know it sounds like a tired refrain, but what else can you say when they nominate the Backstreet Boys, Cher and Ricky Martin in their most prestigious categories? Who's kidding whom when it comes to pop-music award shows?

1-10-2000