Many lesbian movies are long on charm and short on production values; Better Than Chocolate has a solid dose of both and steamy sex scenes to boot. Our heroine Maggie (Karyn Dwyer), a clerk at a lesbian bookstore, meets footloose butch Kim (Christina Cox) and, after Kim's van is towed away, they move in together. Unfortunately for their romantic bliss, Maggie's mother, Lila (Wendy Crewson), and teenage brother move in that very evening thanks to Lila's impending divorce. But what really complicates matters is that Maggie can't bring herself to come out to her mother; even when she tries, Lila steamrolls through the conversation, like she knows what's coming and doesn't want to hear it. Interwoven with this is the struggle of Judy (Peter Outerbridge), a male-to-female transsexual who's in love with the bookstore's owner, Frances (Ann-Marie MacDonald), who's freaking out because customs officers are holding a list of books at the border that they claim are obscene. The overlapping plots are deftly juggled, the personal and political are compellingly interwoven, and, most satisfying of all, the characters have problems that aren't going to be easily resolved. A handful of candy-colored lip-synching musical numbers give the movie some flash and the sex scenes give the movie some heat, but it's the elements of sorrow and ambiguity that really make the joy in Better Than Chocolate something to savor. -Bret Fetzer.

Based on a manga series by Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell), Appleseed is an interesting, early mecha adventure. After World War III, "General Management Control Office" created the model city of Olympus for the survivors. They also created the "Biodroids," half-human cyborgs designed to serve humanity. Dunan Nats is a tough female cop; her partner, Buliarous Hekatonecles, was badly injured in the war and rebuilt with mechanical limbs and sensors. Together they pursue a cyborg terrorist and a rogue officer who want to destroy Olympus, which they see as an elaborate cage that limits human freedom. Released the same year, 1988, Akira pointed the way to much of the future of anime. Appleseed largely summarized its past. The character designs display a strong Western influence, the mecha are simpler than they would become in a few years, the violence looks tame by contemporary standards, and the chase sequences are accompanied by what sounds like elevator music. Although Dunan is clearly the ancestor of Motoko in Ghost in the Shell, she keeps her clothes on. Significantly, the forces of law and order emerge victorious, rather than the freedom-seeking rebels of this elegant dystopia. [+]

Anthony Perkins gets a thorough workout in Edge of Sanity, and it looks as if the actor decided to have fun with his wild role. Good decision, because this movie crosses the edge of sanity right away and sails off the cliff. The concept has possibilities: what if Robert Louis Stevenson's fictional Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde were implicated in the crimes of Jack the Ripper? Perkins, of course, plays Jekyll as well as the demented "Jack" Hyde, whose nighttime perversions are unusually lurid, even for a serial-killer picture. The movie's utter sleaziness overwhelms whatever promise the original idea had, with no help from the low budget. We're left with the class of Perkins, who incorporates welcome bits of Norman Bates into his role(s). When his eyebrow begins arching and the nervous grin goes quivering, you know Perkins is in his element. -Robert Horton.

While most of the recent outpouring of gay cinema tries to coast on a smile and a little bit of charm, Trick provides some considerable filmmaking cojones to back up its good looks: a talented cast, a witty screenplay, and a sweet sense of romance. Unfolding as part stressed-out fever dream and part farce, Trick chronicles one tumultuous night in the life of aspiring Broadway songwriter Gabe (Christian Campbell), who's suffering from both a heterosexual roommate (who kicks him out when there's female companionship) and a bad case of writer's block. Making an impulsive side trip to a gay bar, he locks eyes with a hunky go-go boy (J. P.  Pitoc), who magically appears later that night on the subway, with amorous intentions to boot. Hotfooting their way back to Gabe's apartment, they're interrupted in medias res by Gabe's roommate, girlfriend in tow. From there it's downhill fast, as the two unsuccessfully scramble to find a place to finish things up. On their nighttime odyssey, though, both discover that there's more than sex and heat to their interaction. And much like its premise, Trick evolves from what seems to be a quickie one-night stand to something more substantial, a film with heart and a very funny soul. Jason Schafer's screenplay puts the luckless couple into one bind after another, and furnishes them with incredibly entertaining dialogue; fortunately, both the leads are up to the challenge of bringing it to life. [+]

When Mac MacIntyre (played with deadpan perfection by Peter Riegert) is sent by his star-gazing, slightly insane Knox Oil and Gas boss (Burt Lancaster) to Scotland's West Coast to buy the rights to a seaside town slated to be the site of an oil refinery, Mac embarks on his journey reluctantly. "Why do I have to go to all the way to Scotland?" Mac complains to a coworker. "I'm really more of a Telex man. " But on the way to closing the deal, a funny thing happens: the place takes root in Mac. The town's eccentric inhabitants, eventful night sky, and stunning scenery soak into his psyche and combine to bring a very different Mac to the surface, a Mac who collects seashells, walks on the beach in his jeans instead of his suit, and throws his calendar watch, beeping "meeting time in Houston," into the sea. Mac eventually vies to switch places with Gordon Urquhart-accountant, bartender, innkeeper, and community representative in the land deal. After an evening spent drinking 42-year-old scotch ("old enough to be out on its own," Mac chirps, and then laughs smugly at his own joke) and negotiating the real estate deal, Mac tries to negotiate a deal for himself-to trade his high-rise Houston apartment, Porsche, and oil-company job for Urquhart's less traditional, but more fulfilling, life. The plot runs along almost as if behind the scenes, and the characters are intriguing, but the real appeal here is the incisive yet gentle humor. During a visit to a Knox Oil lab, Mac is shown into a room that contains a miniature of the town he has been sent to purchase. The head of the lab says, "Welcome to our little world," and then gives Mac the plastic replica of the town as a souvenir. [+]