AMERICAN HISTORY
X
Two brothers become involved in the neo-Nazi movement in this
disturbing look at hate, racism, and anti-Semitism. Stirring
performances by Edward Norton, as a hateful young man
incarcerated for a hate murder, and Edward Furlong, as the boy
who picks up where his older brother left off. Unfortunately the
film's topic makes for heady going.
Director: Tony Kaye.
Stars: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D'Angeleo, Fairuza
Balk, Avery Brooks, Stacy Keach. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 119 min.),
Drama, 1998, Box office gross: $6.314 million, (New Line),
No SRP, Priced for rental, Available:
4/6, DVD: Day & Date.
APT PUPIL
A high school honor student discovers that a Nazi war criminal
has been quietly living in his hometown and, obsessed with the
history of the Holocaust and its atrocities, he blackmails the
old man, opening up a riveting game of cat and mouse. Stars Brad
Renfro, Sir Ian McKellen and David Schwimmer.
Director: Bryan
Singer. Stars: Brad Renfro, Sir Ian McKellen, David Schwimmer. CC,
(MPAA rating: R, 112 min.), Drama, 1998, Box office gross:
$8.838 million, (Columbia TriStar), No SRP, Priced
for rental, Available: 4/13, DVD: Day &
Date.
AT FIRST SIGHT
A story of faith, hope and love about a blind young man whose
sight is restored by a remarkable operation. Val Kilmer is a
blind masseur whose hands heal stressed out Manhattanite Mira
Sorvino, and they promptly fall in love. But their burgeoning
romance is put to the test after the surgery when he has to
learn to see the world for the first time.
Director: Irwin
Winkler. Stars: Val Kilmer, Mira Sorvino, Kelly McGillis, Steven
Weber, Bruce Davison, Nathan Lane. CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13, 126
min.), Romantic Drama, 1999, Box office gross: $21.825
million, (MGM), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 4/27, DVD: Day &
Date.
BELOVED
Based on Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, this
over-long melodrama centers on the tribulations of a former slave
tortured by the ghosts of her horrific past, marring her attempts
to free herself emotionally and spiritually. Stars Oprah Winfrey,
Danny Glover, Thandie Newton, Lisa Gay Hamilton and Beah
Richards.
Director: Jonathan
Demme. Stars: Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton, Lisa
Gay Hamilton, Beah Richards. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 172 min.),
Melodrama, 1998, Box office gross: $22.746 million,
(Touchstone), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 4/13, DVD: No.
BUG'S LIFE, A
Delicious story and fabulous 3-D computer animation made this
family feature a smash hit. A group of ants -- toiling for their
grasshopper overlords -- enlist the aid of out-of-work bug
performers from a second-rate flea circus to save their society
from oppression. Spirited and goofy, with the voices of Dave
Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Phyllis Diller, David
Hyde Pierce.
Director: John
Lasseter. Voices of Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia
Louis-Dreyfus, Phyllis Diller, David Hyde Pierce. CC, (MPAA
rating: G, 94 min.), Animated, 1998, Box office gross:
$155.000 million, (Buena Vista), $26.99 SRP,
Available: 4/20, DVD: Day &
Date.
I STILL
KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER
Weak sequel to the smash horror hit of 1997, this one has the
survivor of the original's bloodbath taking a holiday in the
Bahamas with some friends in hopes of shedding her paranoia and
hallucinations about the original killing spree a year earlier.
Naturally the vacation is ripped apart when she's again
confronted by the crazed murderer. Stars Jennifer Love Hewitt and
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Director: Danny
Cannon. Stars: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., Brandy,
Muse Watson, Mekhi Phifer. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 100 min.),
Horror, 1998, Box office gross: $39.842 million, (Columbia
TriStar), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 4/6, DVD: Day & Date.
MEET JOE BLACK
Loose remake of "Death Takes a Holiday," with Brad Pitt as the
personification of death come to visit a media tycoon (Anthony
Hopkins), who's on the verge of a heart attack. The otherworldly
presence decides to give the businessman a new lease on life,
sticking around to learn the ways of the world and to savor this
thing called life. Matters become complicated when Death falls
for the mogul's daughter. At three hours it's way too long and
overblown. In widescreen and pan-and-scan. Director: Martin Brest. Stars: Brad Pitt,
Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Tambor, Claire Forlani, Marcia Gay
Harden. CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13, 180 min.), Drama, 1998, Box
office gross: $44.522 million, (Universal), No SRP,
Priced for rental, Available: 4/6, DVD: Day
& Date.
NIGHT AT THE
ROXBURY, A
Dumb teenage boy oriented comedy about a pair of losers who are
the epitome of unhip. Because of a fluke car accident with
Richard Grieco (playing himself), these clueless dunderheads have
their dreams come true: they get into the fashionable Los Angeles
Roxbury club and actually meet women! Things go down hill from
there. Stars Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan; the film is based on
their "Saturday Night Live" skits.
Director: John
Fortenberry. Stars: Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan, Molly Shannon,
Dan Hedaya, Loni Anderson. CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13, 81 min.),
Comedy, 1998, Box office gross: $30.324 million, (Paramount),
No SRP, Priced for rental, Available:
4/20, DVD: No.
SIEGE, THE
New York City comes under siege by a group of Arab zealots who
blow up, first, a bus loaded with passengers and then a
full-house Broadway theater in an effort to blackmail the
government into freeing one of their leaders. Counterterrorist
Denzel Washington gets on the case, but his pursuit of terrorist
cells is hampered by the CIA (Annette Bening) and the military
(Bruce Willis). What starts out as an exciting thriller bogs down
into a misguided and misplaced anti-Fascist tract.
Director: Edward
Zwick. Stars: Denzel Washington, Annette Bening, Bruce Willis,
Tony Shalhoub. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 120 min.), Thriller, 1998,
Box office gross: $40.932 million, (Fox), No SRP,
Priced for rental, Available: 4/20, DVD:
Day & Date.
SIMON BIRCH
Simon Birch was the smallest birth at Gravestown Memorial
Hospital and his mischievous idyllic childhood is lacking only
one thing: parental love. With an old soul and a funny voice, he
hangs with a loser friend -- being troublemakers and just having
fun -- until a chain of events change their lives forever. A
charming, humorous period piece. Stars Ian Michael Smith, Joseph
Mazzello, Ashley Judd, Oliver Platt and David Strathairn.
Director: Mark
Steven Johnson. Stars: Ian Michael Smith, Joseph Mazzello, Ashley
Judd, Oliver Platt, David Strathairn. CC, (MPAA rating: PG, 110
min.), Comedy-Drama, 1998, Box office gross: $18.239 million,
(Buena Vista), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available:4/20, DVD: No.
SOLDIER'S
DAUGHTER NEVER CRIES, A
Based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Kaylie Jones,
daughter of author James Jones ("From Here to Eternity," "The
Thin Red Line"), about her family's life first as expatriates in
Paris in the '60s and '70s, then their return to the States,
focusing on the young girl's rites of passage in a turbulent
time. Wonderfully moving melodrama with fine turns by Kris
Kristofferson and Barbara Hershey.
Director: James
Ivory. Stars: Kris Kristofferson, Barbara Hershey, Jane Birkin,
Jesse Bradford, Leelee Sobieski. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 128 min.),
Drama, 1998, Box office gross: $1.738 million, (Universal),
No SRP, Priced for rental, Available:
4/6, DVD: No.
STEPMOM
Weepy melodrama from director Chris Columbus ("Mrs. Doubtfire,"
"Home Alone") about the turmoil of an upper-middle class family
when mom (Susan Sarandon) and dad (Ed Harris) separate and dad
takes up with a younger, career-minded fashion photographer
(Julia Roberts) who's forced into the role of stepmother for his
two kids. The amicable split-up gets testy when mom begins to
resent the younger woman's "intrusion" into her family and her
handling of the kids -- and the kids in turn aren't too crazy
about their stepmom. Plenty of laughs, warm moments and tears
before the final reel.
Director: Chris
Columbus. Stars: Julia Roberts, Ed Harris, Susan Sarandon. CC,
(MPAA rating: PG-13, 125 min.), Melodrama, 1998, Box office
gross: $90.002 million, (Columbia TriStar), No SRP,
Priced for rental, Available: 4/27, DVD:
Day & Date.
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