Joel Segal Movies

A funky little record shop provides the setting for this youthful comedy that centers on the workers there as they try to help poor Joe Anthony LaPaglia), the manager who really wants to buy the place, recoup his losses after his well-meaning, but dim-bulbed employee Lucas (Rory Cochrane ) steals his savings and loses it all in Atlantic City while trying to increase it twofold at the gaming tables. If they cannot come up with the loot, the mega-chain Music City will buy it. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The Crush is a psychological thriller wherein a young man is the object of the obsession of a mentally unbalanced young girl. Journalist Nick Elliot (Cary Elwes) rents the guest house of a wealthy couple. The family's 14-year-old daughter Darien (Alicia Silverstone) flirts with him, and when her advances are not reciprocated she becomes increasingly obsessed with him resorting at last to violence and murder. Alicia Silverstone is beautiful and surprisingly good as the obsessed girl. Cary Elwes is also good in conveying his attraction and restraint in his dealings with so young and troubled a girl. However, the premise of the man being trapped by the aggressive, vengeful female is somewhat outdated and cliched. The Crush which should concentrate on the motivations of the girl, instead focuses on her increasingly violent acts, which include the vandalism of Nick's car and the attempted murder of his girlfriend. None of the characters are very real, and the plot is contrived, depending on illogical coincidence and implausible behavior by the principal characters. The Crush, an exploitive, cliched melodrama masquerading as a thriller, fails to either surprise or thrill. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi

Quirky comedy, intense drama, and warm nostalgia are all combined in this eccentric look at one night in 1964 amongst the residents of the Five Corners neighborhood of the Bronx. The bulk of the film concerns Linda (Jodie Foster), a young woman who finds herself stalked by a disturbed rapist fresh out of prison. Needing protection, she turns to her formerly tough ex-boyfriend, only to discover that a recent political awakening has transformed him into a pacifist. The tension of Linda's situation is leavened by the film's attention to its bizarre subplots, which include a stolen penguin, partying teenagers who encounter trouble with an elevator, and a pair of detectives investigating a series of mysterious bow-and-arrow attacks. The script by John Patrick Shanley, who won the 1987 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Moonstruck, manages to (for the most part) bring these seemingly unrelated stories together into a fairly logical conclusion. Even though numerous critics felt that Five Corners' mixture of widely disparate tones was not completely successful, the end result is a surprisingly charming and unique tribute to a time and a place. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi