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OnVideo SEPTEMBER 1996 Releases
BEFORE & AFTER
Meryl Streep plays a respected small town pediatrician whose life is thrown into turmoil when her teenage son (Edward Furlong) disappears and is suspected of brutally murdering his girlfriend. She and her husband (Liam Neeson) struggle to confront the tragedy, protect their son, and find the real killer in this suspense thriller that explores the dynamics of family relationships. As always, Streep saves the day.
Director: Barbet Schroeder. Stars: Liam Neeson, Meryl Streep, Edward Furlong. CC (MPAA rating: PG-13 108 min.) Thriller 1996 (Hollywood 7047) Priced for rental Available: 9/24
BIRDCAGE, THE
Robin Williams and Nathan Lane headline this wildly successful American remake of the French comedy "La Cage Aux Folles," about a happily married gay couple who have raised a son to be a responsible, mature adult. Trouble is, the son has become engaged to the daughter of a conservative Senator, who wants to visit his new in-laws-to-be, not knowing they don't quite represent his idea of traditional family values. Co-stars Gene Hackman and Dianne Wiest.
Director: Mike Nichols. Stars: Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane, Diane Wiest. CC (MPAA rating: R 120 min.) Comedy 1996 (MGM/UA 905536) Priced for rental Available: 9/17
HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS
Michael Myers is back and he wants to finish what he started: killing people in his home town of Haddonfield, Illinois. It's been six years since he was presumed burned to death in a fire, and the town is finally back to normal. It's Halloween, and everyone wants to celebrate a safe holiday -- including Michael, who wants to make the streets safe for horror. Another chapter (the sixth) in one of the most successful horror series ever.
Director: Joe Chappelle. Stars: Donald Pleasence, Mitch Ryan, Paul Rudd, George P. Wilbur. CC (MPAA rating: R 88 min.) Horror-Thriller 1995 (Dimension/Miramax 3629) Priced for rental Available: 9/10
IF LUCY FELL
This romantic comedy stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Eric Schaeffer as best friends who vow to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge if they don't find love by age 30. Both have prospects: she meets an eccentric yet charming and successful painter (Ben Stiller) and he finally strikes up a relationship with the woman of his dreams (Elle MacPherson). With the deadline fast approaching, both may find true love after all. Overlooked at the box office.
Director: Eric Schaeffer. Stars: Sarah Jessica Parker, Eric Schaeffer, Elle MacPherson, Ben Stiller. CC (MPAA rating: R 92 min.) Romantic Comedy 1996 (Columbia TriStar 11683) Priced for rental Available: 9/24KIDS IN THE HALL BRAIN CANDY
The five "Kids in the Hall," transplanting their unique brand of humor from the tube to the big screen, try to have a good time in this hair-brained comedy about an obsessed scientist who invents a happiness drug that puts the entire country on cloud nine. There's only problem with all this joy: the early test subjects have all slipped into a coma. Watch out.
Director: Kelly Makin. Stars: Kids in the Hall. CC (MPAA rating: R 89 min.) Comedy 1996 (Paramount 331483) Priced for rental Available: 9/17MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND
This is Robert Lewis Stevenson with a Muppet twist. The classic swashbuckler features Kermit the Frog as the good Captain Smollet out to help young Jim Hawkins track down buried treasure. The pair go up against the evil (but charming) Long John Silver (Tim Curry) and bump into Treasure Island's worshipped love goddess, Benjamina Gunn (Miss Piggy), all on the way to a jolly good, fun- filled and innocuous Muppet romp.
Director: Brian Henson. Stars: Kermit, Miss Piggy, Tim Curry. CC (MPAA rating: G 99 min.) Family 1996 (Walt Disney 8899) $22.99 Available: 9/10OLIVER & COMPANY
Originally released theatrically in 1988, this was Disney's 27th full-length animated feature and the most successful up until that time. Set against the skylines, streets and subways of modern New York City, this contemporary re-telling of Dickens' classic story fields an animated cast of human and animal characters voiced by the likes of Billy Joel, Cheech Marin, Richard Mulligan, Bette Midler, Roscoe Lee Brown and Dom DeLuise. Features songs by Joel, Midler and Huey Lewis.
Director: George Scribner. Stars: Voices of Billy Joel, Cheech Marin, Richard Mulligan, Bette Midler, Roscoe Lee Brown, Dom DeLuise. CC (MPAA rating: G 73 min.) Animated 1988 (Walt Disney 7897) $26.99 Available: 9/25QUEST, THE
Jean-Claude Van Damme stars in and directs this martial arts epic about a 1920s New York City street criminal whose run from the police thrusts him into a forbidding realm of gun smugglers, pirates and an ancient, underworld martial arts competition in the mysterious Lost City of Tibet that pits the world's deadliest fighters against each other in a winner-take-all battle. Co-stars Roger Moore.
Director: Jean-Claude Van Damme. Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Roger Moore, James Remar, Janet Gunn. CC (MPAA rating: PG-13 95 min.) Action 1996 (MCA/Universal 82869) Priced for rental Available: 9/17SGT. BILKO
Steve Martin was the perfect choice to play the inimitable Sgt. Ernie Bilko, the fast-talking, conniving, cheating and charming head of the U.S. Army's Ft. Baxter motor pool. In this man's army, the pool of cars is there to turn a profit and the garage doubles as a gambling casino. All Bilko has to do to keep level is fend off an investigation by a nasty arch-rival out to settle a 15-year-old score. Based on the 1955-1959 TV series starring Phil Silvers.
Director: Jonathan Lynn. Stars: Steve Martin, Dan Aykroyd, Phil Hartman, Glenne Headly. CC (MPAA rating: PG 95 min.) Comedy 1996 (MCA/Universal 82596) Priced for rental Available: 9/10THIN LINE BETWEEN LOVE & HATE, A
Martin Lawrence stars in and directs this comedy-thriller about Darnell, a charming playboy who meets his match when he goes after a beautiful woman, Brandi (Lynn Whitfield), who turns up the heat when she finds that she has competition for Darnell's heart. When Darnell gets ready to let Brandi down, she becomes an obsessed femme fatale, stalking "the new love of her life." Features an all-star R&B soundtrack.
Director: Martin Lawrence. Stars: Martin Lawrence, Lynn Whitfield, Regina King, Bobby Brown. CC (MPAA rating: R 106 min.) Comedy/Thriller 1996 (New Line N4442V) Priced for rental Available: 9/24TRUTH ABOUT CATS & DOGS, THE
Janeane Garofalo and Uma Thurman team up in a warm romantic comedy about insecurity, mistaken identity and love in the 1990s. Garofalo plays a radio vet who's pursued by one of the callers to her show; afraid that she won't meet up to his expectations, she lies and describes herself as being the tall, sexy model (Thurman) who lives in her building. What follows, of course, is enough gentle slapstick, farce and romance to please most everyone.
Director: Michael Lehmann. Stars: Uma Thurman, Janeane Garofalo. CC (MPAA rating: PG-13 98 min.) Comedy 1996 (FoxVideo) Priced for rental Available: 9/10UP CLOSE & PERSONAL
Here's a pairing that was long overdue: Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer as lovers set in the world of television news. Pfeiffer plays an ambitious up-and-coming journalist with a raw talent fine-tuned by her mentor, news director Redford. Her meteoric rise to stardom is paralleled by their fiery love affair, which comes to a close when her star eclipses his. Kind of "A Star is Born" for the electronic set.
Director: Jon Avnet. Stars: Robert Redford, Michelle Pfeiffer. CC (MPAA rating: PG-13 124 min.) Romantic-Drama 1996 (Touchstone 7892) Priced for rental Available: 9/10
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