4 Film Favorites: Urban Life

"ATL": Sometimes 17-year-old Rashad and his pals hang out at the Waffle House, trying to figure out what's next after they graduate. But on Sunday nights, they know what's coming. They'll be at the Cascade roller rink: laying down moves, chillin' with friends and for a few hours leaving what's outside outside. "New Jack City": Just as cool and topical today as when it first opened, "New Jack City" stars Wesley Snipes as the angel-of-death crack kingpin who holds a city in his grasp. Ice T, Judd Nelson and Mario Van Peebles (Who also directs) play police officers who lay it all on the line. "Menace II Society": The place is Watts, but it could be any urban area blighted by guns and poverty. The person is 18-year-old Caine, but he could be any young man in the 'hood. The movie could only be "Menace II Society", the bravura, uncompromising look at Caine's spiral from missed opportunities to inescapable missteps into the inner-city cycle of hate and death. "Set It Off": "If that crackhead Darnell could rob a bank, we can take a bank." That's what four tough and tough-times L.A. women think after a brother from the projects pulls off a bloody bank heist. So they armor up and make bank robbery a woman's game. Four memorable stars Jada Pinkett, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox and Kimberly Elise slam home the action in director F. Gary Gray's blistering, breakthrough thriller.