Ah, spring is here. It is a time of birth. The lawn sprouts new grass, the garden is rich with new flowers, and my cat feels a need to redefine his space by marking my furniture. For some, love is in the air; a rekindled romance, a new fling, a one-night stand whose name you never knew. Or in my case, I hope that the warm weather leads the woman across the street from me to raise the curtains in her bedroom.

But enough of my personal fancy. While most of the country feels that Y2K will bring death and destruction across the face of the nation, the film industry is more worried about Y1.3809K, also known as May 19th, when Star Wars: Episode I opens. As a result, far too many films of the past few months do not reach my high standards of excellence.

To help lead you through the difficult swamp of recent films, I have grouped my reviews into categories:

I can't keep up with the frantic pace of movies these days. At the time of this writing, these movies were in theaters: The Matrix, Pushing Tin, Election, and Shakespeare In Love.		QUICK PICK: Shakespeare In Love: A EdTV: A- 200 Cigarettes: A- Election: B+ Truman Show: B+ 20 Dates: B+ Pushing Tin: B Pleasantville: B 10 Things...: C+ The Matrix: C- Antz: C- Practical Magic: D+ 8MM: D+ Sphere: D Urban Legend: D- Carrie 2: D-
As America becomes a television-taught nation, Hollywood offers their thoughts with The Truman Show, Pleasantville and EdTV.
When $9.00 is just too much for a ticket, Practical Magic, Antz, Urban Legend and Sphere represent the quality that $2.50 can get.
Can you count? Then you can give a film its title. Learn the new math in 8MM, 10 Thing I Hate About You, 20 Dates,200 Cigarettes and Carrie 2.