BOGUS
Seven-year-old Albert is a magic-loving child who is suddenly
orphaned when his single mom is killed in a car crash. Sent to
live with his mom's childhood friend (Whoopi Goldberg), the boy
not only brings a fresh set of problems to the new household, he
brings along a new friend -- an imaginary gentle giant of a
Frenchman named Bogus (Gerard Depardieu).
Director: Norman Jewison. Stars: Whoopi
Goldberg, Gerard Depardieu. CC, (MPAA rating: PG, 112 min.),
Comedy, 1996, Box office gross: $4.34 million, (Warner Bros.
13634), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 2/4
BULLETPROOF
Once the best of friends, small-time crook Adam Sandler and
undercover cop Damon Wayans are at each other's throats as Wayans must
bring his fugitive ex-pal back to L.A. to testify against a drug
kingpin. Not only does the drug lord (James Caan) want to
stop them, so does an FBI traitor, and the pair find that they
must trust each other in order to survive. Typical bang-up
effects and action sequences.
Director: Ernest Dickerson. Stars: Damon
Wayans, Adam Sandler, James Farentino, Kristen Wilson, James
Caan. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 85 min.), Action, 1996, Box office
gross: $21.16 million, (Universal Studios Home Video 83006),
No SRP, Priced for rental, Available:
2/25
FEELING
MINNESOTA
This romantic comedy features Keanu Reeves and Cameron Diaz in a love
triangle of sorts: Diaz finally meets the man of her dreams -- a
drifter, played by Reeves -- on the day she's to marry his
brother (Vincent D'Onofrio). Now the groom is gunning for revenge and
the couple are on the lam, heading for one heck of a
honeymoon. Sound familiar?
Director: Steven Baigelman. Stars: Keanu
Reeves, Vincent D'Onofrio, Cameron Diaz. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 95
min.), Romantic Comedy, 1996, Box office gross: $3.12 million, (New
Line N4412V), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 2/11
FIRST KID
Secret Service agent Sam Simms (Sinbad) has always dreamed of
protecting the president but his outrageous ways keeps him from
getting on that elite force. He finally gets a last chance to
prove himself by guarding the President's son, a mischievous
"first kid" who's just as outrageous as the man sent to watch
him. Together they tear up Washington on their way to thwarting a
security threat to the first family. For Sinbad fans only.
Director: David Mickey Evans. Stars: Sinbad,
Robert Guillaume, Timothy Busfield. CC, (MPAA rating: PG, 103
min.), Comedy, 1996, Box office gross: $24.94 million, (Walt
Disney), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 2/11
FLY AWAY HOME
This fine family film has Jeff Daniels and Anna Paquin as father and
daughter who teach a flock of geese how to migrate south for the
winter -- strange but true since it's based on real-life
events. Thirteen-year-old Amy is suddenly reunited with her
estranged dad (Daniels) when her mom dies in an auto accident,
and their relationship is cemented when they team up to lead (in
gliders) the geese south.
Director: Carroll Ballard. Stars: Jeff Daniels, Anna
Paquin, Dana Delany. CC, (MPAA rating: PG, 110 min.),
Family Drama, 1996, Box office gross: $22.65 million, (Columbia
TriStar 82433), $15.95 SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 2/11
HOUSE ARREST
When the Beindorfs (Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Pollak) announce
they're planning a divorce, their kids resort to extreme measures to
keep them together: they lock them in the basement and order
them to work things out. When the neighborhood kids find out,
they also con their discontented parents into the Beindorf
basement. Suddenly, there's a host of moms and dads under "House
Arrest."
Director: Harry Winer. Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis,
Kevin Pollak. CC, (MPAA rating: PG, 111 min.), Comedy, 1996, Box
office gross: $7.03 million, (HBO Home Video 91296), No SRP,
Priced for rental, Available:
2/18
JACK
This comedy from Francis Ford Coppola features Robin Williams as Jack,
a boy born with a rare condition that makes him age four
times faster than normal (though the condition is fictional,
there are rare aging disorders in real life --Progeria, Werner's
Syndrome, Agrogeria, though not as drastic). Sheltered all his
life, Jack, now 10-years-old, wants to be with other kids, but
since he lives in an adult body, the situation is ripe for
laughs. Look out fifth grade.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola. Stars: Robin
Williams, Diane Lane, Jennifer Lopez, Brian Kerwin. CC, (MPAA
rating: PG-13, 113 min.), Comedy, 1996, Box office gross:
$57.61 million, (Hollywood Pictures 9180), No SRP,
Priced for rental, Available:
2/4
LAST MAN
STANDING
Bruce Willis stars in this Walter Hill-directed actioner that uses as
its inspiration Akira Kurasawa's classic 1961 samurai epic,
"Yojimbo." Here the story takes place in a Texas border town during
the prohibition era and revolves around two rival crime families
battling over the booze traffic from Mexico. Along comes a gun-toting
mercenary (Willis) who hires himself out to both the warring parties
and systematically betrays them for his own ends. Typical Hill action
gore.
Director: Walter Hill. Stars: Bruce Willis,
Christopher Walkin, Bruce Dern, Karina Lombard. CC, (MPAA rating: R,
101 min.), Action, 1996, Box office gross: $18.1 million, (New Line
N4507V), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 2/25
SOLO
Mario Van Peebles plays SOLO, an android programmed by the Army to be
the ultimate fighting machine. But SOLO is also programmed to learn,
and he learns that human life is valuable. When he's injured on a
mission to Latin America, his bosses send out an armed force to
reprogram him. Hiding in the jungle, he's befriended by villagers
under the thumb of ruthless rebels. Now SOLO must fight off his former
bosses and the band of murderous rebels.
Director: Norberto Barba. Stars: Mario Van
Peebles, William Sadler, Barry Corbin. CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13, 106
min.), Thriller, 1996, Box office gross: $5.01 million,
(Columbia TriStar 82583), No SRP, Priced for
rental, Available: 2/18
TRAINSPOTTING
Critically acclaimed film that charts the disintegrating friendship of
a group of heroin addicts and various junkies, psychopaths, liars and
thieves who move in and out of their lives in Scotland. The raw film is
definitely not for everyone in its candid, darkly comic look at the
unsavory drug culture of Edinburgh that intends to dissect and
understand rather than glorify the self-destruction of disenchanted
youth.
Director: Danny Boyle. Stars: Ewan McGregor,
Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kelly MacDonald. CC, (MPAA
rating: R, 94 min.), Drama, 1996, Box office gross: $16.32,
(Miramax 9440), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 2/11
2 DAYS IN THE
VALLEY
An always interesting-to-watch-but-flawed film about a variety of
characters --a failed movie star, a crazy Italian hit man and his
victim, a pair of inept undercover cops, robbers and hookers -- whose
lives somehow cross and become intertwined during the course of two
days in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. Stars Danny Aiello, Teri
Hatcher, Eric Stoltz, Jeff Daniels, Glenne Headley and James Spader.
Features a female Spandex-clad catfight.
Director: John Hertzfeld. Stars: Danny Aiello, Teri
Hatcher, Eroc Stoltz, Jeff Daniels, Glenne Headley, James
Spader. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 105 min.), Thriller, 1996, Box
office gross: $11.07 million, (HBO Home Video 91303), No
SRP, Priced for rental, Available:
2/25
VERY BRADY SEQUEL,
A
Sequel to "The Brady Bunch Movie" continues the inane adventures of
America's most vacuous family: mom, dad, three brothers and three
sisters whose values are stuck in the 1970s while residing in the
'90s. This installment takes a twist as mom Carol's long-lost ex-
husband shows up, kidnaps her and heads for Hawaii, only to be
followed by the Bradys in their paisley shorts and polka-dot bikinis.
Shelley Long is perfect here as Carol. For fans only.
Director: Arlene Sanford. Stars: Shelley Long, Gary
Cole, Tim Matheson. CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13, 90 min.),
Comedy, 1996, Box office gross: $21.43, (Paramount 332443),
No SRP, Priced for rental, Available:
2/11
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