OnVideo AUGUST 1996 Releases

ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN 2
Even dogs have their doubts about heaven in this sequel to the 1989 animated film by Don Bluth. After going through the canine pearly gates, Charlie decides that it's a lot more fun being on Earth and gets a chance at a return trip when Gabriel's horn is stolen. Charlie is assigned to retrieve it and joins up with old pal Itchy, a young runaway boy, and an Irish setter to battle a foul feline and a traitorous bulldog in order to get the horn and save heaven.
Director: Paul Sabella and Larry Leker. Stars: Voice talents of Charlie Sheen, Sheena Easton, Ernest Borgnine, Don DeLuise. CC (G 90 min.) Animated 1996 (MGM/UA 505541) $22.98 SRP Priced for rental Available: 8/27

BARB WIRE
Made to showcase the earthy talents of Pamela Anderson Lee of TV's "Baywatch," this scantily scripted futuristic thriller based on the comic book heroine Barb Wire shows much more body than brain. In the not-too-distant future where biology is used to kill instead of cure, Barb is the lone renegade recruited to help save society from a devastating civil war. For action genre fans only. Also available in an unrated version with 11 extra minutes for footage.
Director: David Hogan. Stars: Pamela Anderson Lee. CC (R 98 min.) Sci-Fi Thriller 1996 (PolyGram 800-638- 247-3) Priced for rental Available: 8/20

BIG BULLY
Mean-spirited comedy stars Tom Arnold and Rick Moranis and gets its laughs from wishy washy and predictable exploits and character set-ups. Moranis plays a novelist who returns to teach at his former high school only to discover that the current shop teacher (Arnold) is his old nemesis from high school days - the class bully. Naturally, the pair revert to their old selves, which is the underpinning of the movie. Should play better on the small screen than it did at theatres.
Director: Steve Miner. Stars: Rick Moranis, Tom Arnold. CC (PG 91 min.) Comedy 1996 (Warner 14167) Priced for rental Available: 8/06

BLACK SHEEP
Chris Farley and David Spade from "Tommy Boy" reunite in this Penelope Spheeris-directed comedy about the oafish little brother (Farley) of a Washington state gubernatorial candidate whose well-meaning attempts to help the campaign always ends up in disarray. Sent off to a remote backwoods cabin under the watchful eye of a campaign volunteer (Spade), the brother still finds a way to wreak havoc. For fans of this duo only.
Director: Penelope Spheeris. Stars: Chris Farley, David Spade. CC (PG-13 86 min.) Comedy 1996 (Paramount 33242-3) Priced for rental Available: 8/06

DARKMAN II: DIE DARKMAN DIE
Second sequel and direct-to-cable-and-video outing for the tormented Dr. Peyton Westlake - horribly disfigured by a crime baron and his vicious henchman in director Sam Raimi's inspired original theatrical film (which, by the way, starred Liam Neeson) - who, as the Darkman, has become a master of disguises to go along with his superhuman strength. In this one, Jeff Fahey, as an appropriately sinister arch villain, and the lovely Darlanne Fluegel, as an evil doctor, cook up a scheme to discover the source of the Darkman's strength. Well-done production and acting.
Director: Bradford May. Stars: Arnold Vosloo, Jeff Fahey, Darlanne Fluegel. CC (R 87 min.) Thriller 1996 (MCA/Universal 81898) Priced for rental Available: 8/20

DOWN PERISCOPE
This waterlogged comedy stars Kelsey Grammer as a sub commander whose drunken binge one night so offends the big brass that he's relegated to command a motley crew in a rusted-out scrap-heap of a diesel-powered sub. With his career at stake, his only salvation is to whip the boys and the ship into fighting shape to take on the Navy's nuclear best in war games. Leaky laughs at best.
Director: David S. Ward. Stars: Kelsey Grammer. CC (PG-13 92 min.) Comedy 1996 (FoxVideo 8979) Priced for rental Available: 8/6

ED
TV's Matt LeBlanc traded in the girls of "Friends" for a chimp in this baseball comedy. LeBlanc plays a farmboy who happens to be a fantastic pitcher. When he joins the Santa Rosa Rockets, however, he chokes in front of crowds, so the team makes him room with Ed the chimp, the team's mascot, in an effort to loosen him up. Ed, of course, turns out to be a great third baseman, and the pair become fast friends. For the kids in your house.
Director: Bill Couturie. Stars: Matt LeBlanc, Jack Warden. CC (PG 95 min.) Comedy 1996 (MCA/Universal 82829) SRP Priced for rental Available: 8/6

EXECUTIVE DECISION
This thriller has a lot going for it: action heroes Kurt Russell and Steven Seagal, spine-tingling mid-air stunts, evil villains and a taut deadline for thrills. The story follows a team of six elite military operatives who board a hijacked plane in mid-air to disable a bomb of nerve gas that could eradicate all life on the East Coast. It's "Die Hard" meets "Passenger 57" for non-stop suspense.
Director: Stuart Baird. Stars: Kurt Russell, Halle Berry, Steven Seagal. CC (R 133 min.) Action 1996 (Warner 14211) Priced for rental Available: 8/6

FAITHFUL
Paul Mazursky's domestic comedy has Cher playing a depressed housewife who discovers that her husband (Ryan O'Neal) has hired a hit man (Chazz Palminteri) to kill her. Too derivative to make much of a splash.
Director: Paul Mazursky. Stars: Cher, Ryan O'Neal, Chazz Palminteri. CC (R 91 min.) Thriller 1996 (New Line N4437V) Priced for rental Available: 8/27

FROM DUSK TILL DAWN
Action director Robert Rodriguez expands his ouvre with this blood-thirsty tale about two hoodlum-brothers (George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino) on a wild crime spree through the Southwest. After kidnapping a minister (Harvey Keitel) and his two kids, the pair head for Mexico, where they're offered sanctuary in the Titty Twister bar, inhabited, it turns out, by creatures of the night who give new meaning to the term "bloodbath."
Director: Robert Rodriguez. Stars: George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis. CC (R 108 min.) Action-Thriller 1996 (Miramax 8016) Priced for rental Available: 8/13

GIRL 6
Spike Lee makes another stab at urban comedy with mixed results. Starring Theresa Randle of "Bad Boys," the film follows the lifestyle of a struggling actress who takes a job as a phone-sex operator only to slowly get seduced by the fantasy life she creates. A sophisticated although detached romp with guest appearances by Madonna, Quentin Tarantino, Naomi Campbell, John Turturro, Ron Silver and Halle Berry.
Director: Spike Lee. Stars: Theresa Randle, Isaiah Washington, Spike Lee. CC (R 107 min.) Comedy 1996 (FoxVideo 8983) SRP Priced for rental Available: 8/06

IT'S MY PARTY
Large, talented cast in a film that just couldn't find its place in the theatrical marketplace. When a young man finds he has only a few days to live because of complications due to AIDS, he throws the party of a lifetime, saying goodbye to friends, family and, in particular, his old lover. Stars Eric Roberts, Marlee Matlin, Bronson Pinchot, Greg Louganis, Christopher Atkins, Lee Grant, Olivia Newton-John, Gregory Harrison, Margaret Cho, Bruce Davison, George Segal, Sally Kellerman, Roddy McDowall.
Director: Randal Kleiser. Stars: Eric Roberts, George Segal, Margaret Chow, Bronson Pinchot, Gregory Harrison, Marlee Matlin. CC (R 109 min.) Melodrama 1996 (MGA/UA 905527) Priced for rental Available: 8/13

MR. WRONG
This one is for fans of TV's Ellen DeGeneres, who plays a 90's woman with an age-old problem -- how to recognize Mr. Right when he comes along. Unfortunately for her, the handsome stranger she meets and hopes will sweep her off her feet is a loose cannon, and their romance quickly plummets as dream dating turns into nightmares. An off-kilter outing for all concerned.
Director: Nick Castle. Stars: Ellen DeGeneres, Bill Pullman. CC (PG-13 92 min.) Comedy 1996 (Hollywood 7077) Priced for rental Available: 8/20

MULHOLLAND FALLS
Despite a star-laden cast (Nick Nolte, Melanie Griffith, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn and John Malkovich) this mystery set in the early 1950s just couldn't get enough inertia for complete lift-off. Four no-nonsense cops are part of an elite LAPD "enforcer" squad that makes its own rules when it comes to dealing with criminals. But a routine murder case involving one of their own confronts the group with a power far greater than organized crime. Enjoyable viewing.
Director: Lee Tamahori. Stars: Nick Nolte, Melanie Griffith, Chazz Palminteri, Chriss Penn, John Malkovich, Michael Madsen. CC (R 107 min.) Action 1996 (MGM/UA 905534) Priced for rental Available: 8/27

RESTORATION
The Restoration was a period of daring scientific artistic and social adventurism that is beautifully captured by this film and its emphasis on Robert Merivel (Robert Downey, Jr.), a skilled student of medicine whose path in life is irrevocably altered when he becomes member of the decadent court of King Charles II (Sam Neil). Merivel's adventures take him from the bawdy and erotic to the bold and heroic. Co-stars Hugh Grant, Polly Walker and Meg Ryan.
Director: Michael Hoffman. Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Sam Neill, Polly Walker, Meg Ryan, Hugh Grant. CC (R 117 min.) Costume Drama 1996 (Miramax 5964) Priced for rental Available: 8/13

THE SUBSTITUTE
This sleeper of an action-adventure yarn stars Tom Berenger as a secret government mercenary who goes undercover as a substitute teacher after his girlfriend is brutally beaten by a notorious student gang. While on campus he discovers that the school is basically run by a drug cartel, and he sets out to teach the students the ultimate lesson in right and wrong. Pure revenge action.
Director: Robert Mandel. Stars: Tom Berenger. CC (R 114 min.) Thriller 1996 (LIVE 60196) $99.98 SRP Priced for rental Available: 8/20

THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD
Jimmy the Saint (Andy Garcia) is a romantic, reformed mobster now running a new-age video service that records the final words of the dying. Jimmy's life is quiet ... until, almost coincidentally, he meets the woman (Gabrielle Anwar) he's always dreamed of and is persuaded by his ex-boss (Christopher Walken) to come out of retirement and pull off just one more job. Jimmy gets his old gang together - a motley crew of small-timers played by William Forsythe, Christopher Lloyd, Treat Williams, and Bill Nunn - but the end result turns out not to be what Jimmy counted on. A wild, strange film that didn't hold up at the box-office.
Director: Gary Fleder. Stars: Andy Garcia, Christopher Lloyd, William Forsythe. CC (R 115 min.) Thriller 1996 (Miramax 6181) Priced for rental Available: 8/20

WHITE SQUALL
Based on a true story, this sea-going action-adventure stars Jeff Bridges as the skipper of a floating prep school well-known for giving students lessons in living. Toward the end of one voyage, however, the ship is hit by a white squall and capsizes, claiming young lives: a tribunal calls into question the skipper's actions as a leader. "Caine Mutiny" for the sail set.
Director: Ridley Scott. Stars: Jeff Bridges, Caroline Goodall, John Savage, Scott Wolf. CC (PG-13 98 min.) Action-Adventure 1996 (Hollywood 6698) Priced for rental Available: 8/06

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