Suffering from a major case of prenuptial jitters, a young man, Roland, played by Taye Diggs, flees the scene hours before the event and returns to the safer turf of Inglewood, New Jersey, the "Wood" of the title, where he grew up.
There he encounters his old buddies and his high school sweetheart, and they begin to reminisce about growing up in the '80s. His buddies can't believe Roland is taking "the big step," and this engenders some wild, if not exactly nostalgic, antics.
The film, replete with '80s hip-hop, is a collaboration of MTV and Paramount Pictures, spawned by director Rick Famuyiwa's own memories of growing up in Inglewood, a middle class, predominantly African-American neighborhood.
Probably the best thing about the film is Diggs' performance as the beset young groom. You may remember him as the hunk who helped "Stella" get her groove back. He also starred in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway show "Rent."
The picture, now showing at Caribbean Cinema Market Square East, is rated R.

Described by some sources as "the Exorcist girl grows up," this latest in the religious horror genre stars Patricia Arquette as an atheist who suddenly starts to have religious visions and to exhibit mysterious crucifixion scars (the stigmata).
When word of these would-be miracles reaches the Vatican, a young priest
played by Gabriel Byrne is dispatched to investigate the claims. Well, he finds not only the supernatural phenonomena visiting the young unbeliever, but a plot against her life as well.
This seems to be another attempt to rival the success of "The Exorcist," but is described as "good summer fun." Ah, if only winter would arrive.
The film is directed by Rupert Wainwright, who brought us "Blank Check"
("Blank Check"?) and is rated R. It is showing at Caribbean Cinema Market Square East.

From the opening of Kidscope Inc. on Oct. 20, 1997, through June 30, 1999, the St. Thomas not-for-profit agency has compiled the following statistics regarding the clientele served:
We have opened 221 new cases — 125 involving physical abuse and 96 of sexual abuse victims; 160 were female and 61 were male; 189 were of African descent, 20 were Hispanic, 11 were of European descent and one was self-described as "other."
When they came to us, most of these clients were between infancy and 18 years of age. We also serve non-offending family members of victims as well as adults who may have been victimized as children many years ago. Often, when young children come to us and we start taking a family history, we learn that other members of the family have been victimized at some time and that often the mothers were sexually molested as children.
Given our population demographics, it is not surprising that the majority of our clients are black females. However, we suspect that there is a much larger number of young male victims of abuse by adult males than the data would suggest. For a variety of reasons, it is a taboo for males to reveal sexual molestation. One significant reason is that the perpetrator may be a community leader, and the child victim feels he will not be believed. Another is that the boy may believe that because he was molested by another male, this means he is homosexual, and he does not want that known.
The data seem to us to suggest that a significant number of molesting cases are never reported, and that when some are, children are not believed and, therefore, the perpetrators are not prosecuted.
These numbers do not represent all of the child abuse or child molestation cases on St. Thomas. Quite the contrary, they are but the tip of the iceberg. Everyone on this island should be horrified at the numbers of our children who are being traumatized in this way. Every person who calls him- or herself a "Christian" should rise up and speak out against this unforgivable crime against these most vulnerable members of our community. Every parent, grandparent, guardian, aunt, uncle, sibling, teacher, minister, friend, colleague, acquaintance and stranger should be incensed and insist that the abuse stop.
We know from experience that perpetrators can be and are prosecuted and convicted. Just days ago, in Territorial Court Presiding Judge Verne Hodge's courtroom, a man was convicted of multiple felony counts of child abuse and unlawful sexual contact. This is a victory for all of us who stand up for children's rights and justice. But it is not enough. It will not be enough until every child abuser and molester learns that their behavior is unacceptable and there will be serious consequences. It will not be enough until we learn to cherish our children, protect them from harm and treat them as the precious resource they are.
Joyce Pruitt is administrative director of Kidscope Inc.

On Sunday, Sept. 12, the St. Thomas Association of Roadrunners will host its first event of the 1999-2000 season, its annual Sunset Run.
The two-mile run will begin at 4:30 p.m. across from the Lucinda Millin Home for the Aged. Runners, joggers and walkers are welcome to take part, and there's no entry fee. Call 775-6373 to learn more.

On Sunday, Sept. 12, the St. Thomas Association of Roadrunners will host its first event of the 1999-2000 season, its annual Sunset Run.
The two-mile run will begin at 4:30 p.m. across from the Lucinda Millin Home for the Aged. Runners, joggers and walkers are welcome to take part, and there's no entry fee. Call 775-6373 to learn more.

Here's the latest update from the National Hurricane Center on Tropical Storm Floyd:
The storm, which is expected to gain strength and could reach hurricane status within 24 hours, turned this morning from a west-northwest movement to a westerly track, but was expected to return to a west-northwesterly path later today.
It is currently projected to pass some 145 miles north of the Virgin Islands over the weekend, bringing rain and rough seas locally.
As of 11 a.m., Floyd was centered about 385 miles east of the Leeward Islands. The storm, with maximum sustained winds continuing at about 60 mph, had been projected at 5 a.m. to pass about 270 miles northeast of St. Thomas and St. John around 2 a.m. Saturday. Further projections will depend on whether it continues westward or again moves into the expected northwesterly course.
According to weather analysts, Floyd is still expected to pass north of the Leeward Islands, but if the westerly track persists, storm watches and/or warnings may be required for some of those islands later today. The storm "appears poised to undergo significant strengthening," they said.
Tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 145 miles from the center of Floyd. Its inner core may be getting better organized, weather personnel said early today. A low-level trough approaching the U.S. mainland East Coast could impact on its course but analysts now say it may not be sufficient to redirect Floyd.
The coordinates of the storm's center at 11 a.m. Thursday were 17.2 degrees north latitude and 55.5 degrees west longitude.
Local coordinates are 18.3 degrees north and 65.0 degrees west for St. Thomas, and 17.7 degrees west and 64.8 degrees north for St. Croix. A degree equals 360 miles.
Gene Walker, executive director of the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency, said local residents should be "tightening the screws" in terms of finalizing routine hurricane season preparations for the passage of Floyd over the weekend.
This, he said, should include making sure the household emergency kit contains a three-day supply of drinking water, food and medications and a radio with extra batteries.
As for VITEMA itself, "We are ready," Walker told Radio One News.
He said the telephone numbers to call the agency for further information are 774-2244 on St. Thomas, 773-2244 on St. Croix and 693-5050 on St. John (not 776-6444, the number given in telephone books).

Here's the latest update from the National Hurricane Center on Tropical Storm Floyd:
The storm, which is expected to gain strength and could reach hurricane status within 24 hours, turned this morning from a west-northwest movement to a westerly track, but was expected to return to a west-northwesterly path later today.
It is currently projected to pass some 145 miles north of the Virgin Islands over the weekend, bringing rain and rough seas locally.
As of 11 a.m., Floyd was centered about 385 miles east of the Leeward Islands. The storm, with maximum sustained winds continuing at about 60 mph, had been projected at 5 a.m. to pass about 270 miles northeast of St. Thomas and St. John around 2 a.m. Saturday. Further projections will depend on whether it continues westward or again moves into the expected northwesterly course.
According to weather analysts, Floyd is still expected to pass north of the Leeward Islands, but if the westerly track persists, storm watches and/or warnings may be required for some of those islands later today. The storm "appears poised to undergo significant strengthening," they said.
Tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 145 miles from the center of Floyd. Its inner core may be getting better organized, weather personnel said early today. A low-level trough approaching the U.S. mainland East Coast could impact on its course but analysts now say it may not be sufficient to redirect Floyd.
The coordinates of the storm's center at 11 a.m. Thursday were 17.2 degrees north latitude and 55.5 degrees west longitude.
Local coordinates are 18.3 degrees north and 65.0 degrees west for St. Thomas, and 17.7 degrees west and 64.8 degrees north for St. Croix. A degree equals 360 miles.
Gene Walker, executive director of the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency, said local residents should be "tightening the screws" in terms of finalizing routine hurricane season preparations for the passage of Floyd over the weekend.
This, he said, should include making sure the household emergency kit contains a three-day supply of drinking water, food and medications and a radio with extra batteries.
As for VITEMA itself, "We are ready," Walker told Radio One News.
He said the telephone numbers to call the agency for further information are 774-2244 on St. Thomas, 773-2244 on St. Croix and 693-5050 on St. John (not 776-6444, the number given in telephone books).

How well you do your job just might be affected by who knows you're doing it, and if you do it well, people should know whom to thank. If Tourism Commissioner-designate Michael Bornn has his way, these workplace theories will be put to the test locally in the hospitality sector.
Bornn would like to see all service industry businesses provide nametags for their personnel to wear on the job. Employees interacting with the public “need to be accountable for the type of service they provide — whether good or bad," he stated in a release.
Customers should know who is serving them, he said. When they receive good service, they can let the management know who provided it. And in the case of poor service, they know whom to complain about.
To maintain a leadership position in tourism, "We need to become the No. 1 quality service destination," Bornn stated. "We should be proud and accountable for the service we provide."

How well you do your job just might be affected by who knows you're doing it, and if you do it well, people should know whom to thank. If Tourism Commissioner-designate Michael Bornn has his way, these workplace theories will be put to the test locally in the hospitality sector.
Bornn wants to see all service industry businesses provide name tags for their personnel to wear on the job. Employees interacting with the public “need to be accountable for the type of service they provide — whether good or bad," Bornn said in a release.
Customers should know who is serving them, he said. When they receive good service, they can let the management know who provided it. And in the case of poor service, they know whom to complain about.
To maintain a leadership position in tourism, "We need to become the No. 1 quality service destination," Bornn said. "We should be proud and accountable for the service we provide."

Gasoline is being considered as one possible source of water contamination in cisterns at the Joseph Sibilly School and its James Monroe Annex, according to the head of the Planning and Natural Resources Department division investigating the situation.
Hollis Griffin, head of the department's Environmental Protection Division, made the comment to Radio One News and also said there is a possibility that the cisterns were deliberately contaminated. However, he said, PNR has not asked law enforcement authorities to get involved in the ongoing investigation.
Environmental protection personnel are "trying to assess what kind of work was being done" at the school sites that might have contributed to the contamination, Griffin said.
In tests conducted in June, different combinations of toxins known as volatile organic chemicals, or VOCs, were found in water taken from each of the two school sites. Chloroform, a volatile toxic and carcinogenic liquid, was found in water from both locations.
Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, who chairs the Legislature's Planning and Environmental Protection Committee, said the committee hearing scheduled for tonight will address these concerns as well as many others. He told Radio One that he and Sen. Norman Jn-Baptiste, chair of the Education Committee, are "combining efforts" to seek answers to all of the questions concerning the water contamination and to ensure that such problems not occur again.
Donastorg's committee meets at 7 p.m. in the legislative chambers. He has asked personnel from the Education, Health, and Planning and Natural Resources Departments to testify and has urged Sibilly parents and others concerned about the water situation in the schools to be present. He said he expects a second hearing will be held on St. Croix soon.
Editor's note: See preceding story headlined "48 pupils, teachers get exams, blood tests" for further information.