BOXER, THE
Love story set amid the turmoil in Northern Ireland, with Daniel
Day-Lewis as former IRA member who takes up boxing in prison and
then attempts to fight in the ring instead of the streets when
he's released. Emily Watson plays the daughter of an IRA leader
and the wife of an another imprisoned IRA member; naturally they
fall in love.
Director: Jim
Sheridan. Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Emily Watson. CC, (MPAA
rating: R, 110 min.), Drama, 1998, Box office gross: $5.799
million, (Universal 83303), No SRP, Priced for
rental, Available: 7/7
CHAIRMAN OF THE
BOARD
Prop-driven comedian Carrot Top made the transition to the big
screen but he should have stayed home. The bland story has the
red-head playing a gadget inventor who befriends an industrialist
(Jack Warden) and is bequeathed the mogul's major company when
the man dies. Carrot Top promptly turns everything upside down
while fighting off the industrialist's disgruntled nephew (Larry
Miller) who inherited only a surfboard.
Director: Alex Zamm.
Stars: Carrot Top, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Raquel Welch, Larry
Miller. CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13, 98 min.), Comedy, 1998, Box
office gross: $0.306 million, (Trimark 6175), No SRP,
Priced for rental, Available:
7/14
DARK CITY
Sci-Fi film noir about a haunted everyman (Rufus Sewell) who
awakens one day with a severe case of amnesia to find a mutilated
female body in his apartment. Soon he's being chased by the
police and a cult of ominous beings known as only the Strangers,
who have discovered that he's the only resident in the city able
to withstand their mind-controlling, time-stopping, reality-
altering abilities. An exciting visual style saves the film's at-
times derivative story line. Paranoia runs deep!
Director: Alex
Proyas. Stars: Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer
Connelly, William Hurt. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 104 min.), Science
Fiction, 1998, Box office gross: $14.337 million, (New Line
N4656), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 7/28
GOOD WILL
HUNTING
Heart-warming drama about a therapist who tries to reshape the
life of a young man who lives an outcast life as a misunderstood
and non-productive genius. Matt Damon is disaffected Will
Hunting, who performs menial tasks jobs between drinks at the
local bar and run-ins with the law. With the help of the
therapist (Robin Williams) and a Harvard student (Minnie Driver),
Will finds the ability to reach his potential. Academy awards to
Damon and Ben Affleck for screenplay, Williams for supporting
actor. Directed by Gus Van Sant.
Director: Gus Van
Sant. Stars: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Robin Williams, Minnie
Driver. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 126 min.), Drama, 1997, Box
office gross: $121.566 million, (Miramax 1355903), No
SRP, Priced for rental, Available:
7/7
GREAT
EXPECTATIONS
Director Alfonso Cuaron updates Charles Dickens' classic to the
20th century, adding steam and decadence to the traditional mix.
Here Ethan Hawke plays young Finn, who falls madly for Estella
(Gwyneth Paltrow), making her his inspiration and his obsession
despite that warning from her guardian that "she'll only break
your heart." Thanks to a mysterious benefactor, Finn is sent to
New York, where he vows to win the icy lass.
Director: Alfonso
Cuaron. Stars: Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hank Azaria, Chris
Cooper, Anne Bancroft, Robert De Niro. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 111
min.), Drama, 1998, Box office gross: $26.176 million, (Fox
4492), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 7/21
KISSING A FOOL
A romantic triangle of sorts about a wild ladies man (David
Schwimmer) who falls for an unlikely lover: a lovely literary
type (Mili Avital). Is it love at first sight? Is she the right
one for him? As the wedding day approaches, he persuades a friend
(Jason Lee) to test her faithfulness but the pair hit it off --
all too well. There's a wedding at the end, but we won't tell you
whose.
Director: Doug
Ellin. Stars: David Schwimmer, Jason Lee, Mili Avital. CC, (MPAA
rating: R, 93 min.), Romantic Comedy, 1998, Box office gross:
$4.002 million, (Universal 83715), No SRP, Priced
for rental, Available: 7/21
KRIPPENDORF'S
TRIBE
Richard Dreyfuss stars as James Krippendorf, an anthropology
professor who's been supporting his dysfunctional kids with a
grant to study an "undiscovered" tribe in New Guinea. Naturally
there's no tribe, and the only thing he discovers is that he
needs filmed proof of the tribe's existence or he has to give the
money back. He creates an incredible scheme to save his hide: he
uses the only primitive group he knows about -- his family -- to
back his "research"! Dreyfuss' talent dominates this extremely
light comedy.
Director: Todd
Holland. Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Jenna Elfman, Lily Tomlin. CC,
(MPAA rating: PG-13, 94 min.), Comedy, 1998, Box office
gross: $7.218 million, (Touchstone 1357003), No SRP,
Priced for rental, Available:
7/21
LIVE FLESH
A handsome loner vows to become the world's greatest lover but
his attempts to seduce a wealthy, strung-out junkie lands him in
jail for six years. Released, he seeks revenge, crossing paths
first with an attractive, unhappily married older woman who helps
him in his first goal, then with the ex-junkie, who has married
cop who sent him away. Filmed with director Pedro Almodovar's
typical comic, spicy look at life.
Director: Pedro
Almodovar. Stars: Javier Bardem, Francesca Neri, Liberto Rabal.
CC, (MPAA rating: R, 91 min.), Drama, 1998, Box office gross:
$1.572 million, (Orion 2110157), No SRP, Priced for
rental, Available: 7/28
PALMETTO
A bitter reporter who has served jail time on trumped up charges
for exposing graft in his corrupt Florida small town gets
involved with sexy women and an extortion scheme that backfires.
Wanting to get even with the powers-that-be, the reporter (Woody
Harrelson) jumps at the opportunity to aid a leggy blond
(Elisabeth Shue) in calling her terminally ill husband to say
their daughter has been kidnapped. Soon matters take a turn for
the worse. Gina Gershon plays his steady girl. The film is a
poor, limp imitation of "Body Heat."
Director: Volker
Schlondorff. Stars: Woody Harrelson, Gina Gershon, Elisabeth
Shue. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 112 min.), Thriller, 1998, Box
office gross: $5.840 million, (Warner 2533), No SRP,
Priced for rental, Available:
7/7
PHANTOMS
Supernatural thriller about a terrifying force of evil that has
surfaced from below the earth to destroy mankind. Everyone in a
small Colorado town is destroyed by the strange force and only
four people -- two young women returning home from a trip, a cop
and a scientist-turned tabloid journalist -- are able to fend off
the creature, figure out its modus operandi, and attempt to kill
it. This jangled story has the creature in so many forms -- from
a phantom to an oozing blob -- that we hoped it would win out,
just to put the screenplay out of its misery.
Director: Joe
Chappelle. Stars: Ben Affleck, Liev Schreiber, Rose McGowan,
Joanna Going, Peter O'Toole. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 91 min.),
Horror Thriller, 1998, Box office gross: $5.573 million,
(Dimension 1355503), No SRP, Priced for
rental, Available: 7/14
SPHERE
Adaptation of Michael Crichton novel has great cast cavorting
undersea to investigate a space ship that has languished at the
ocean's bottom for 300 years, leading to alien thrills and
chills. Ultimately it's nonsensical and anti-climatic. Directed by Barry
Levinson and starring Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone, Samuel L. Jackson, Peter
Coyote and Queen Latifah.
Director: Barry
Levinson. Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone, Samuel L. Jackson,
Peter Coyote, Queen Latifah. CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13, 124 min.),
Sci-Fi Thriller, 1998, Box office gross: $36.976 million,
(Warner 15331), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 7/7
U.S. MARSHALS
Tommy Lee Jones returns as tough, relentless Chief Deputy Marshal
Sam Gerard in this spin-off from "The Fugitive" (sans Harrison
Ford as Dr. Richard Kimble of course). This time out Gerard
chases down a fugitive (Wesley Snipes) after he escapes from a
prisoner transport plane that crashes in the Ohio River. Exciting
stuff highlighted by tense cat-and-mouse chases and battles
in New York City. Co-stars Robert Downey Jr., Joe Pantoliano,
Kate Nelligan.
Director: Stuart
Baird. Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Wesley Snipes, Robert Downey Jr.,
Joe Pantoliano, Kate Nelligan. CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13, 131
min.), Action, 1998, Box office gross: $57.113 million,
(Warner 15625), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 7/21
WAG THE DOG
Terrific political satire (and most topical) about the spin
control put into motion to divert attention from a sex scandal in
the White House. When a media manipulator is called in to help,
he quickly hires a Hollywood producer to create a fake war in
Albania, misleading the press and setting off all sorts of
repercussions. Director Barry Levinson is at peak form in this
satirical milieu. Great acting by all concerned, highlighted by
Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro and Anne Heche.
Director: Barry
Levinson. Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Anne Heche. CC,
(MPAA rating: R, 105 min.), Comedy, 1997, Box office gross:
$42.224 million, (New Line N4642), No SRP, Priced
for rental, Available: 7/1
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