FX 2 (1991), which IMDB calls F/X2, is a two and a halfer. That is, it is about 2 1/2 stars, or watchable but not in any way memorable. Maltin agrees with me, Ebert is even lower at 2 stars, and Apollo says 24. IMDB readers give it 5.2/10. The film grossed $21.082m. The exposure is from one time wonder, Lisa Fallon, who was used as a decoy to catch a peeper/attacker.

Special effects expert Bryan Brown agrees to help the police nail a suspect. When things go horribly wrong, he ends up battling the NYPD, the mob and a deputy DA. He brings in his old police buddy, Brian Dennehy, to help. The film is not without entertainment value. In my favorite scene, Brown uses items from the shelves of a supermarket to defeat an armed attacker. For instance, he turns three cans of hairspray and a can of baked beans into a grenade. That scene was cut in New Zealand, who felt their deviant youth didn't need any more great ideas like that.

This is a sequel to FX, which was not much better. C-.

Be sure to pay Graphic Response a visit at his website. www.graphic-barry.com.

Golden Globe-winner Berry is starring with John Travolta in his new thriller Swordfish. She got the extra cash for agreeing to some tasteful nudity, the New York Daily News reports.

The actress, who appeared in Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and the X-Men, had initially refused to strip for her role in the film.

But director Dominic Sena promised her a bonus on top of her $2 million salary for appearing opposite the Saturday Night Fever star.

Eventually she agreed to bare all for $500,000.

"Yep, $250,000 per," Mr Sena told the newspaper.

The money is earned in a scene where she is sunbathing with her chest covered by a book, which she removes to gain the attention of her co-star Hugh Jackman.

Halle said the role was a change from the serious characters she was more used to playing in the past.

"I got to be just a girl who's sexy and strong and smart and used every part of me that I could to get my way," Halle told USA Today.

"I always wanted to be taken seriously and tried to do character things. I finally got to be a femme fatale, which I was afraid of my whole career. And that felt really fun."

The film stars Travolta as a maniac hired by the CIA to coerce Jackman's character, a computer hacker, into stealing six billion dollars in government funds.

CANNES, France (Reuters) - Former model Rebecca Romijn-Stamos said Sunday she had taken to the bottle to calm her nerves and do a strip tease in Brian De Palma's forthcoming erotic thriller "Femme Fatale."

"It was the scariest thing I've ever done...practice and a couple of shots of tequila got me through it," she told Reuters at the Cannes film festival.

Romijn-Stamos, who starred in the recent hit "X-Men" and the soon-to-be-released remake of "Rollerball," plays Laure in "Femme Fatale," a con woman who is trying to outrun her past by stealing another woman's identity.

"I'm a raving bitch," she said candidly of her part. The film, which also stars Antonio Banderas, is currently shooting in Paris and Cannes and is, according to Romijn- Stamos, a highly stylized homage to the great British director Alfred Hitchcock and film noir.

She also admitted that the film veered toward the absurd at times, though she thought this was De Palma's aim.

"He's a little twisted and this movie has a lot of those things," she said.

Thanks to Pat Reeder at The Comedy Wire for bringing us the stories.

1. Set all the alarm clocks to go off at ten minute intervals throughout the day
2. Put M&M's on layaway.
3. Walk up to an employee and tell him in an official tone, "I think we've got a Code 3 in house wares," and see what happens.
4. Tune all the radios to a polka station; then turn them all off and turn the volumes to "10."
5. Challenge other customers to duels with tubes of gift wrap.
6. Make a trail of orange juice on the floor, leading to the rest rooms.
7. Move "Caution: Wet Floor" signs to carpeted areas.
8. Set up a tent in the camping department; tell others you'll only invite them in if they bring pillows from Bed and Bath.
9. When someone asks if you need help, begin to cry and ask, "Why won't you people just leave me alone?"
10. Look right into the security camera, and use it as a mirror while you floss your teeth.
11. Take up an entire aisle in Toys by setting up a full scale battlefield with G.I. Joes vs. the X-Men
12. Ask other customers if they have any Grey Poupon.
13. While handling guns in the hunting department, suddenly ask the clerk if he knows where the antidepressants are.
14. Switch the men's and women's signs on the doors of the rest rooms.
15. Dart around suspiciously while humming the theme from "Mission Impossible."
16. Set up a "Valet Parking" sign in front of the store.
17. Sit on a chair and read a book for hours.
18. Hide in the clothing racks and when people browse through, say things like "pick me! pick me!!"
19. When an announcement comes over the loudspeaker, assume the fetal position and scream, "No, no! It's those voices again!"
20. If the store has a food court, buy a soft drink; explain that you don't get out much, and ask if they can put a little umbrella in it.

And last, but not least...
21. Go into the dressing room and yell real loud..."Hey, we're out of toilet paper in here!"