If you're ready for two hours and 40 minutes of Mel Gibson and the British Redcoat scoundrels, you're in the right place, the American Revolution as seen through the eyes of The Patriot Benjamin Martin (Mel).
A hero of the French and Indian conflict, Martin has returned to his South Carolina farm to raise his family in peace. A widower with seven children, he has renounced fighting forever. However, when he speaks out against taxation without representation, trouble starts, and things soon warm up a bit. Martin still steadfastly refuses to fight, but his 18-year-old son Gabriel (Heath Ledger) signs on with the Continental Army.
Two years later, Gabriel returns home wounded, along with other soldiers, rebels and Redcoats alike. Martin tends to them all, incurring the wrath of British Col. William Tavington (Jason Isaacs), who seizes Gabriel and orders Martin's house burned to the ground and all the colonial troops killed.
Enough is enough, and Martin again becomes a warrior. In the ensuing saga, he finally faces Tavington in one of the pivotal battles of the war where the British Gen. Cornwallis is forced to retreat. According to one reviewer, this "world-changing event serves as mere window dressing" as Cornwallis' retreat takes second stage to Martin's revenge against Tavington. But that's show biz, if not history.
The movie is directed by Roland Emmerich and is rated R for strong war violence.
It is showing at Market Square East.

A group of local water processors on Friday spoke before the Industrial Development Commission against the application for benefits of a Florida-based water treatment company.
James D. Walker, president and chief executive officer of TSG Technologies, told the commission extending benefits to his firm would allow it to expand and provide job opportunities for young Virgin Islanders. But commissioners questioned Walker about how many people actually would be needed to operate the company's desalination and waste water treatment technology.
And officials from three local firms .-Aqua Design, Poly Caribe and Seven Seas Water Corp.-said extending benefits to TSG would put them out of business.
"Benefiting one member of our industry wouldn't increase the size of the pie we have to split up. It would just give an off-island company competitive advantages at the expense of V.I. companies," said Robert Bergstrom, president of Seven Seas Water Corp.
TSG helped set up a new desalination system for the St. John Westin Resort, Walker said, and had acquired a 10-year contract to operate and maintain the equipment. The company had also secured an agreement to run equipment for the Sapphire Beach Resort on St. Thomas and assisted Texaco with the cleanup of Tutu Wells.
Commissioners expressed skepticism about several aspects of TSG's application, including the rationale given for making applications under two different company names. Walker said the split made bank loans easier to come by.
"I'm totally confused as to why they are before the commission for benefits," said Chairman Rafael Jackson.
Two other applications, by MOF Limited Partnership d/b/a American Yacht Harbor, and Kenzie Global Asset Management, a securities firm with offices in Chicago, were also heard. An official for MOF said the company wants to upgrade the yacht harbor at a cost of some $1.5 million. A Kenzie representative promised to hire more than two dozen V.I. residents if the firm relocates.
The fourth applicant, Gordon Ackley of Wireless World, offered the IDC a glimpse of things to come in telecommunications.
Internet communication driven through telephone modems is almost obsolete on the U.S. mainland, he said, and communications systems drawing their signals through antennae will draw high-tech industries to the territory.
Ackley said with the help of IDC benefits he hoped to provide enough infrastructure to make the Virgin Islands 90 to 95 percent ready for 2-way, high-speed Internet, digital telephone and telephone communications within 18 months.
IDC Director Frandelle Gerard said the four applicants who appeared before the commission Friday join about 16 other companies awaiting decisions on eligibility for tax benefits. After the hearings, the board met privately to grant final approval to five other companies.
Those decisions would not be revealed, Gerard said, until each company and Government House are notified.

Through the wonders of the internet, a reader was given the opportunity to post an article in the Op-ed section.
A glitch in the system, or human error? Well in my experience, every error blamed ona computer was actually at least two human errors (counting the one of blaming the computer!) In any case, it has been my pleasure to point out the fallibility of the Source's update procedures, and they can be grateful that I did not choose to write some inappropriate drivel, but rather appropriate drivel.
Thank you for your kind audience and have a nice day.

Tropical Storm Alberto picked up strength Friday afternoon as it continued its westerly trek across the far eastern tropical Atlantic.
Maximum sustained winds have increased to 60 miles per hour and additional strengthening is expected. In fact, hurricane forecaster Lexion Avila said Alberto could be upgraded to hurricane status either Saturday or Sunday.
The newly-formed tropical storm was located at 12.9 north latitude and 25.9 west longitude at 5 p.m. Friday or about 2,588 miles east of the Virgin Islands. The position of the storm was based on satellite and ship reports, according to an advisory issued by the National Hurricane Center. Alberto is moving to the west at 17 miles per hour and should continue the motion over the weekend.
Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 70 miles mainly to the north of the center. The estimated central pressure is at 999 millibars, or 29.50 inches.
Knight Quality Stations chief meteorologist Alan Archer said late Friday the storm is forecast to pass to the north of the islands in the Eastern Caribbean by Tuesday and perhaps east of the Bahamas by Thursday. But he cautioned that the storm is a long way off and could change its forecast direction as it intensifies.
Archer also noted that two impressive weather systems are set to roll off the west coast of the African continent on Saturday and Sunday, and they will be closely watched for development.
The next complete advisory will be issued by the National Hurricane Center at 11 p.m. Friday.

Tropical Storm Alberto picked up strength Friday afternoon as it continued its westerly trek across the far eastern tropical Atlantic.
Maximum sustained winds have increased to 60 miles per hour and additional strengthening is expected. In fact, hurricane forecaster Lexion Avila said Alberto could be upgraded to hurricane status either Saturday or Sunday.
The newly-formed tropical storm was located at 12.9 north latitude and 25.9 west longitude at 5 p.m. Friday or about 2,588 miles east of the Virgin Islands. The position of the storm was based on satellite and ship reports, according to an advisory issued by the National Hurricane Center. Alberto is moving to the west at 17 miles per hour and should continue the motion over the weekend.
Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 70 miles mainly to the north of the center. The estimated central pressure is at 999 millibars, or 29.50 inches.
Knight Quality Stations chief meteorologist Alan Archer said late Friday the storm is forecast to pass to the north of the islands in the Eastern Caribbean by Tuesday and perhaps east of the Bahamas by Thursday. But he cautioned that the storm is a long way off and could change its forecast direction as it intensifies.
Archer also noted that two impressive weather systems are set to roll off the west coast of the African continent on Saturday and Sunday, and they will be closely watched for development.
The next complete advisory will be issued by the National Hurricane Center at 11 p.m. Friday.

Tropical Storm Alberto picked up strength Friday afternoon as it continued its westerly trek across the far eastern tropical Atlantic.
Maximum sustained winds have increased to 60 miles per hour and additional strengthening is expected. In fact, hurricane forecaster Lexion Avila said Alberto could be upgraded to hurricane status either Saturday or Sunday.
The newly-formed tropical storm was located at 12.9 north latitude and 25.9 west longitude at 5 p.m. Friday or about 2,588 miles east of the Virgin Islands. The position of the storm was based on satellite and ship reports, according to an advisory issued by the National Hurricane Center. Alberto is moving to the west at 17 miles per hour and should continue the motion over the weekend.
Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 70 miles mainly to the north of the center. The estimated central pressure is at 999 millibars, or 29.50 inches.
Knight Quality Stations chief meteorologist Alan Archer said late Friday the storm is forecast to pass to the north of the islands in the Eastern Caribbean by Tuesday and perhaps east of the Bahamas by Thursday. But he cautioned that the storm is a long way off and could change its forecast direction as it intensifies.
Archer also noted that two impressive weather systems are set to roll off the west coast of the African continent on Saturday and Sunday, and they will be closely watched for development.
The next complete advisory will be issued by the National Hurricane Center at 11 p.m. Friday.

As the trouble-plagued 2000 World Youth Games lurch toward their conclusion this weekend, the sport of finger-pointing by those trying to salvage the event is in full swing.
On Friday, Ophelia Williams-Felix, "bureau chief for sports" at the Housing, Parks and Recreation Department, said she had no connection with the games until things started to fall apart Tuesday, when the opening ceremony for 500 visiting youngsters from five mainland cities was canceled because there was no transportation for the youngsters from their hotels. "That’s when the madness started," she said.
Williams-Felix, who is also president of the V.I. Volleyball Federation, said she had told the president of V.I. Youth Games Inc., Ralph Wilson, at the beginning of the year that she would help but not as a coordinator. Later, on the advice of local event promoter Hugh Dalton and others, it was recommended to Wilson that the games be canceled because the $400,000 needed to put the event together had not been raised.
In May, after Wilson had left the territory and moved to Texas, Maureen Rabsatt-Cullar, another officer of V.I. Youth Games Inc., stepped in to keep the games going, Williams-Felix said.
"We tried to inform Mrs. Cullar we couldn’t go on with it, because we didn’t have any money," Williams-Felix said. "But Mrs. Cullar wasn’t listening."
Rabsatt-Cullar, who is on the staff of Senate President Vargrave Richards on St. Thomas, couldn’t be reached for comment Friday.
On Wednesday, she had blamed lack of funding from the government and the private sector for the difficulties. "Unfortunately the support we received from the community wasn’t what we hoped it would be," she said then.
Following the opening ceremony debacle, Richards stepped in to garner community contributions and arrange transportation to keep the games from stopping altogether.
In addition to Richards, Williams-Felix, V.I. Olympic Committee president Hans Lawaetz and a host of other volunteers pulled together the support needed to keep the event going. Young athletes from Birmingham, Ala.; Newark, N.J.; Washington, D.C.; Boston, Mass; and Columbia, S.C., are taking part. Events in basketball, volleyball, tennis, golf, track and field, swimming, bowling and in an academic quiz bowl have begun at various venues across St. Croix.
The biggest obstacle, Lawaetz said, was transportation. By Thursday, Vitran buses and others from Abramson Enterprises had been pressed into service. The Birmingham team had booked its own vans before leaving Alabama, according to team assistant track coach William Ray. As for the organizational disarray, Ray was forgiving. "After the first day, almost everything was in line," he said.
Williams-Felix, though, was anything but forgiving. She charged that Richards had known about the event a year ago, so his last-minute intervention was nothing more than an effort to save face. "He’s trying to act pure now because of the mess his executive director, Maureen Cullar, started," she said.
Other government officials were aware of the plans a year ago, too. Then-Tourism Commissioner-designate Michael Bornn announced at the time that the deparment would lend its support to the event by providing marketing and promotional assistance. In October, Gov. Charles W. Turnbull withdrew Bornn's nomination. On Friday, neither Tourism Commissioner Rafael Jackson, who was sworn into office just a week ago, nor his assistant commissioner for St. Croix, Pamela Richards, could be reached for comment.
Williams-Felix said the $2,300 needed for awards at the end of the games has yet to be found. "They don’t have awards because they don’t have any money," she said.

As the trouble-plagued 2000 World Youth Games lurch toward their conclusion this weekend, the sport of finger-pointing by those trying to salvage the event is in full swing.
On Friday, Ophelia Williams-Felix, "bureau chief for sports" at the Housing, Parks and Recreation Department, said she had no connection with the games until things started to fall apart on Tuesday, when the opening ceremony for 500 visiting youngsters from five mainland cities was canceled because there was no transportation for the youngsters from their hotels. "That’s when the madness started," she said.
Williams-Felix, who is also president of the V.I. Volleyball Federation, said she had told the president of V.I. Youth Games Inc., Ralph Wilson, at the beginning of the year that she would help but not as a coordinator. Later, on the advice of local event promoter Hugh Dalton and others, it was recommended to Wilson that the games be canceled because the $400,000 needed to put the event together had not been raised.
In May, after Wilson had left the territory and moved to Texas, Maureen Rabsatt-Cullar, another officer of V.I. Youth Games Inc., moved to keep the games going, Williams-Felix said.
"We tried to inform Mrs. Cullar we couldn’t go on with it, because we didn’t have any money," Williams-Felix said. "But Mrs. Cullar wasn’t listening."
Rabsatt-Cullar, who is on the staff of Senate president Vargrave Richards on St. Thomas, couldn’t be reached for comment on Friday.
On Wednesday, she had blamed lack of funding from the government and the private sector for the difficulties. "Unfortunately the support we received from the community wasn’t what we hoped it would be," she said then.
Following the opening ceremony debacle, Richards stepped in to garner community contributions and arrange transportation to keep the games from stopping altogether.
In addition to Richards, Williams-Felix, V.I. Olympic Committee president Hans Lawaetz and a host of other volunteers pulled together the support needed to keep the event going. Young athletes from Birmingham, Ala.; Newark, N.J.; Washington, D.C.; Boston, Mass; and Columbia, S.C., are taking part. Events in basketball, volleyball, tennis, golf, track and field, swimming, bowling and in an academic quiz bowl have begun at various venues across St. Croix.
The biggest obstacle, Lawaetz said, was transportation. By Thursday, Vitran buses and others from Abramson Enterprises had been pressed into service. The Birmingham team had booked its own vans before leaving Alabama, according to team assistant track coach William Ray. As for the organizational disarray, Ray was forgiving. "After the first day, almost everything was in line," he said.
Williams-Felix, though, was anything but forgiving. She charged that Richards had known about the event a year ago, so his last-minute intervention was nothing more than an effort to save face. "He’s trying to act pure now because of the mess his executive director, Maureen Cullar, started," she said.
Other government officials were aware of the plans a year ago, too. Then-Tourism Commissioner-designate Michael Bornn announced at the time that the deparment would lend its support to the event by providing marketing and promotional assistance. In October, Gov. Charles W. Turnbull withdrew Bornn's nomination. On Friday, neither Tourism Commissioner Rafael Jackson, who was sworn into office just a week ago, nor his assistant commissioner for St. Croix, Pamela Richards, could be reached for comment.
Williams-Felix said the $2,300 needed for awards at the end of the games is yet to be found. "They don’t have awards because they don’t have any money," she said.

In less than two weeks on the job, Schneider Hospital's newest physician has performed more than 25 gastrointestinal procedures, most of which previously would have required a visit off-island.
Dr. Lawrence Goldman has filled a critical need at the hospital, according to a statement by chief executive officer Eugene Woods. Woods said preliminary results from the cancer database being developed at the hospital indicate an unusually high incidence of colon cancer in the V.I.
The addition of Goldman to the staff enables Schneider to offer state-of-the-art colonoscopies to those at risk for the colon cancer, Woods said. A gastroenterologist who has served as director of two gastroenterology labs in Southern California, Dr. Goldman has also completed postgraduate work in the latest techniques for endoscopies, in which various instruments including lasers are used to visualize the interior of hollow organs such as the colon.

It's an odd way to go job hunting, but that's what Kimberly and Charles Engeman did in 1992 when they left Boston, Mass. and headed for a sailboat in the Virgin Islands.
Both are practicing attorneys, and Engeman said his wife's specialty, banking law, wasn't flourishing in New England so they decided to add a little potential business to their sailing vacation.
Lo and behold, when Engemen looked up local attorneys, he saw the name of George Dudley, who had attended Kimberly Engeman's alma mater, Villanova.
Though Engeman didn't know Dudley, he applied – and Dudley hired both Engemans.
Engeman practiced with Dudley until this year. In July, he became a shareholder in the first national labor and employment law firm to enter the Caribbean market, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., known as Ogletree Deakins.
The firm plans to expand its practice in the Caribbean from its St. Thomas office.
Engeman is extremely pleased with his new post, and happy to see a national firm representing local clients.
"It is wonderful for our clients to have the resources of Ogletree Deakins," Engeman said. He would like to bring the national resources of the firm to address the Wrongful Discharge Act and has been retained by both the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce and the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel and Tourism Association.
"The law is so out of line," Engeman said, "No state has anything close to that."
He added, "Basically, the V.I. is the most difficult place for employers to do business in the country."
Many employers feel the controversial law is used indiscriminately, giving unfair advantage to employees even though employers win the vast majority of wrongful discharge cases that go to a hearing.
Engemen has brought to his new position many of his previous clients including the Marriott Hotel properties, American Airlines and the Caneel Bay Resort on St. John. His practice will continue to focus on wrongful discharge, discrimination, breach of contract, unionization, collective bargaining and unemployment insurance.
In the meantime, Engeman has twice become a father, and Kimberly now is a full-time practicing mom. They have two children, Amanda, 2, and Jack, who was born one-and-a-half months ago – just about the time Engeman embarked on his new career.
"These past few months have been incredible," he said. "Very busy, but exciting."
And Engeman still finds time to get out on the water – what drew him here in the first place. He sailed with Chris Rosenberg when they won the Rolex Regatta in 1998.