In a rare Hollywood portrayal of Asian American audacity and heroism, Kim plays the supporting role of a doctor who--against the insistence of her selfish husband--risks her life to help the victims of a volcanic eruption in the middle of downtown Los Angeles. In addition to leveling LA, this "Volcano" also devastates a few Asian stereotypes within the confines of a major American picture. Our next hope is to show these same characteristics in an Asian / Asian Pacific American male! Since Bruce Lee died, can anyone think of a major Asian Pacific American male star! Jackie Chan is starting to become a star, Jason Scott Lee, Russell Wong, etc. are getting there. Actors such as Pat Morita, Soon Tek Oh, Mako, Jack Ong, James Hong, Clyde Kasatu, etc. are a little old to be the "next" thing!?! Any thoughts, anybody!?! [Guy Aoki]

The only thing really notable about this sequel to "Mortal Kombat" (see above) is that--due to the attrition of the original's big-name cast members--Robin Shou gets top billing. Oh, yes, and his romance with Kitana (Soto) is beefed up from the original. This movie also adds another Asian face by casting the Siberian model Pantaeva as the "femme fatale" that switches sides and joins the heroes. But the story keeps changing the goal post--keeps altering the stakes of the battle--so often that we're not really sure who or what to root for. Not as good as the original.

Lo and Behold - Kicked out from his asylum in Hell, Archangel Gabriel (Christopher Walkins) begins his campaign against humanity anew, this time working against time to prevent the joining of angelic power to the free will of mankind within a mother's womb. I guess the important thing is that Russell is always working.

From Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide - Frankly erotic, spirited feminist saga of sex and sexual politics in 16th-century feudal India, telling the story of Maya (Varma), an independent-minded servant who seduces a young king. He becomes obsessed with her, but weds a princess whom he does not love. A pointed portrait of a woman who is unwilling to accept a woman's ``destiny'' of being her father's property one day and her husband's property the next. Rated for video as NC-17, and as R (113m. ). Copyright© Leonard Maltin, 1998, used by arrangement with Signet, a division of Penguin Putnam, Inc.

This highly contrived tale of adultery is ploddingly plotted and ultimately unrewarding. With Robert Downey Jr. in the supporting role of a gay catalyst, this story of sexual attraction between two married couples appears to be veering towards some kind of pan-sexual union--but ultimately cops out.

Director Figgis ("Leaving Las Vegas") gets screenplay credit, too, but only because Joe Eszterhas ("Basic Instinct") took his name off the project.

Still, this otherwise disappointing film features one remarkable quality: no big deal is made about the interracial marriage between the Snipes and Wen characters. It's just taken as a given. Wen shocks in her uninhibited sex scenes--exploding her nice "Joy Luck Club" image. Word on the street is that African American star Snipes didn't want his character to be seen leaving a black wife for Nastassja Kinski, so he was given an Asian American wife instead. (Maybe we should call using Asians to bridge divisions between blacks and whites the "Lance Ito solution.") Although the film was a commercial and critical flop in this country, it found some admirers in Europe, and Snipes won the Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival. Go figure.

Video artist Cheang turns feature-film director with this surreal story of an interracial lesbian couple (Choudhury and McMurtry) trying to raise a daughter against a bizarre backdrop of corporate monopolization, ecological calamity, and cover-up. The photography (by Jane Castle) and set design stun the eye. Filipina American poet Jessica Hagedorn, who has a small role, wrote the stream-of-consciousness screenplay. But the monologue-heavy individual scenes overpower the coherence of the over-all story. The film ultimately fails to engage. Still, one can appreciate the movie's portrayal of multiculturalism in New York as a no-big-deal fact of life.

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