BEAUTICIAN
AND THE BEAST, THE
"The King and I" updated with TV's Nanny Fran Drescher as a
teacher to the children of the not-so-benevolent dictator
(Timothy Dalton) of a formerly Communist Eastern European nation.
Drescher is a beautician and is mistaken as an academic by the
dictator's emissary to New York. When she's hired to Westernize
the ruler's three kids, there's more in store for the tradition-
bound family than just a book-learned education. Definitely for Drescher
fans.
Director: Ken Kwapis. Stars: Fran Drescher,
Timothy Dalton. CC, (MPAA rating: PG, 107 min.), Comedy, 1997,
Box office gross: $11.483 million, (Paramount 3340003), No
SRP, Priced for rental, Available:
8/19
BOOTY CALL
A young man's plans for romance are foiled by his crude best
friend, safe-sex girlfriend, and a voluptuous neighbor. Rushon
(Tommy Davidson) is about to get somewhere with girlfriend
Nikki (Tamala Jones), despite his obnoxious best friend (Jamie
Foxx) and his best friends sexy date (Vivica A. Fox). But Nikki's dog
destroys the couple's only protection, and Rushon and buddy hit the
streets of Chinatown in search of new condoms. A provocative urban
comedy.
Director: Jeff Pollack. Stars: Jamie Foxx,
Tommy Davidson, Vivica A. Fox. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 79 min.),
Comedy, 1997, Box office gross: $19.503 million, (Columbia
TriStar ), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 8/5
CATS DON'T
DANCE
This animated musical tale about a cat who tries to make it in
Hollywood didn't have nine lives at the box office but has all
the makings for a home video family favorite. Set in the
Hollywood of the 1930s, it follows the adventures of cool cat
with hot dancin' feet, Danny from Kokomo, Indiana, who travels to tinseltown
only to discover that animals aren't allowed to become
film stars, despite their talents. There's good guys and bad
guys, plenty of singing and dancing, and the moral that
perseverance and hard work pays off. This definitely deserves
better play on home video. Music by Randy Newman, voices of Scott
Bakula, Jasmine Guy, Kathy Najimy, George Kennedy, Rene
Auberjonois, John Rhys-Davies, Hal Holbrook; singing by Natalie
Cole.
Director: Mark Dindal. Stars: Voices of Scott
Bakula, Jasmine Guy, Kathy Najimy, George Kennedy, Rene
Auberjonois, John Rhys-Davies, Hal Holbrook; singing by Natalie
Cole; songs by Randy Newman. CC, (MPAA rating: G, 77 min.),
Animated, 1997, Box office gross: $3.562 million, (Warner Home Video
6430), $22.96 SRP, Available:
8/19
CRASH
Bizarre story of group of people who get erotic thrills from
witnessing and partaking in auto crashes. Based on great social
satire novel by J.G. Ballard. This off-kilter love story has
James Spader getting sexual thrills with crash victims before,
during and after auto accidents after falling in with group of
people with similar inclinations. There's weirdo goings-on such
as reenactments of famous star auto crashes (James Dean, Jayne
Mansfield) and plenty of artificial limb stimulation. Despite
reality catching up with fiction ("Crash" was written in 1973),
the David Cronenberg-directed bleak look at how our lives become
all too entwined with the machinery we use still packs an
impressive punch. Stars James Spader, Holly Hunter.
Director: David Cronenberg. Stars: James
Spader, Holly Hunter, Elias Koteas, Rosanna Arquette. CC, (MPAA rating: NC-17,
100 min.; MPAA rating: R, 90 min.), Drama, 1997, Box office gross: $3.373
million, (New Line N4565V/N4566V), No SRP, Priced
for rental, Available: 8/12
DANTE'S PEAK
The town of Dante's Peak won't believe that their beloved
mountain is about to blow. It does. Pretty predictable stuff
here, with heros and heroines, death and destruction, and a
properly nerve jangling ending. Despite prosaic story line --
scientist goes out on a limb, loses job, is finally vindicated --
it's a lot of fun to see that volcano erupt. Stars Pierce Brosnan,
Linda Hamilton. In both pan-and-scan and widescreen (with 10
minutes of additional footage) versions.
Director: Roger Donaldson. Stars: Pierce
Brosnan, Linda Hamilton. CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13, 97 min.),
Action, 1997, Box office gross: $67.090 million, (Universal
83389), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 8/19
DEVIL'S OWN,
THE
Thriller about an IRA soldier (Brad Pitt) who secretly comes to
the U.S. and is put up with the family of an unsuspecting Irish
New York City cop (Harrison Ford). Pitt is here to procure
stinger missiles for the revolution back home, but along the way
he gets used to the "family he never had." All hell breaks loose
when his true mission is revealed, and Ford must now attempt to
stop the young man he has taken under his wing. Though exciting,
the whole thing is a bit too unbelievable, especially Pitt's
brogue.
Director: Alan J. Pakula. Stars: Harrison Ford,
Brad Pitt, Margaret Colin, Ruben Blades, Treat Williams. CC,
(MPAA rating: R, 111 min.), Thriller, 1997, Box office gross:
$42.640 million, (Columbia TriStar 82463), No SRP,
Priced for rental, Available:
8/12
EVERYONE SAYS I
LOVE YOU
Woody Allen's latest foray into neurotic love and romance follows
an eccentric and very extended New York upper East Side family as
they fall in and out of love. Allen stars as a divorced father
living in Venice, Italy, wooing married woman Julia Roberts.
While he's flopping around the canals, his family back home is
also having its trials and tribulations. Allen's first musical
here attempts to mesh his whiny longing with song and dance, but the
juxtaposition doesn't work. Allen's wimpy character has grown a bit tiresome
after all these years and what was once cut has now turned despicable. For his
fans only. Co-stars Drew Barrymore, Edward Norton, Alan Alda, Gaby Hoffman,
Natalie Portman, Goldie Hawn.
Director: Woody Allen. Stars: Drew Barrymore,
Edward Norton, Alan Alda, Gaby Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Goldie
Hawn, Julia Roberts. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 105 min.), Comedy,
1996, Box office gross: $9.714 million, (Miramax 10488), No
SRP, Priced for rental, Available:
8/12
EVITA
Filmed version of hit musical about Eva Peron, the young woman
with the scandalous past who rose to international fame as the
wife of Argentinean dictator Juan Peron. Director Alan Parker
used the Broadway and London plays as a stepping stone for his
film, keeping his story a little more faithful to Eva's life but
still retaining the opera conceit: there is no dialogue save for
the singing, making the film basically one long Andrew Lloyd
Webber/Tim Rice musical number. Stars Madonna, Antonio Banderas,
Jonathan Pryce. In both pan-and-scan and widescreen versions.
Director: Alan Parker. Stars: Madonna, Antonio
Banderas, Jonathan Pryce. CC, (MPAA rating: PG, 133 min.),
Musical drama, 1996, Box office gross: $50.038 million,
(Hollywood Pictures 11853), No SRP, Priced for
rental, Available: 8/5
LOVE JONES
This sexy romantic comedy captures the rhythms of modern
courtship as it follows the personal involvements of the over-educated
and under-employed young professionals in downtown Chicago. It's an
urban love story without lethal weapons: "the only wound is a
broken heart." Features a hot alternative R&B soundtrack as well
as a dynamic ballroom scene highlighting 40 of Chicago's best
"steppers." Stars Larenz Tate, Nia Long, Lisa Nicole Carson, Bill
Bellamy and Isaiah Washington.
Director: Theodore Witcher. Stars: Larenz Tate,
Nia Long, Isaiah Washington, Lisa Nicole Carson. CC, (MPAA
rating: R, 110 min.), Comedy, 1997, Box office gross: $12.006
million, (New Line 4573), No SRP, Priced for
rental, Available: 8/26
MOTHER
Albert Brooks directs and stars in this comedy about a two-time
divorcee and science fiction writer who realizes that his
failures with women date back to his relationship with his mother
(Debbie Reynolds); he moves back home to figure out why and
straighten things out. When changes start to occur, they also
affect his younger brother (Rob Morrow). If you've ever been guilted by your
parents (or if you guilt your kids), this is for you. Co-stars Lisa Kudrow.
Director: Albert Brooks. Stars: Albert Brooks,
Debbie Reynolds, Rob Morrow, Lisa Kudrow. CC, (MPAA rating:
PG-13, 104 min.), Comedy, 1996, Box office gross: $19.119
million, (Paramount 332473), No SRP, Priced for
rental, Available: 8/12
MURDER AT 1600
He's a Washington, D.C., cop; she's a Secret Service agent. Both
track a White House homicide to the First Family's front door.
Wesley Snipes and Diane Lane star in this weak thriller about a
local homicide detective summoned to investigate a murder in the
White House. The cop finds himself confronted, mislead and
targeted for assault by members of the government intent on a
coverup. It's only after the Secret Service agent comes to his aid
that the veil of secrecy is pierced. Will the real killer please
stand up?
Director: Dwight Little. Stars: Wesley Snipes,
Diane Lane. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 108 min.), Thriller, 1997,
Box office gross: $25.232 million, (Warner Home Video 14915), No
SRP, Priced for rental, Available:
8/26
 ROSEWOOD
True story of a prosperous black town in central Florida burned
down in 1923 by racist whites from a less prosperous neighboring
town. When a white woman falsely claims that she was assaulted by
a black intruder, her entire town becomes a vigilante posse bent
on destruction and mass murder. A shopkeeper (Jon Voight) and an
out-of-town visitor (Ving Rhames) join forces to engineer a
rescue. Directed by John Singleton.
Director: John Singleton. Stars: Jon Voight,
Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 142 min.),
Drama, 1997, Box office gross: $13.104 million, (Warner Home Video
14536), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 8/26
THAT DARN CAT
Updating of 1965 family classic has Christina Ricci as a bored
16-year-old whose cat D.C. (Darn Cat) uncovers an important clue
in a mysterious kidnapping. Doug E. Doug plays the hapless FBI
agent called in on the case, who attempts to solve the crime from
a cats-eye view. There's some unwarranted violence between rival
gas station mechanics and a destruction-derby ending that's a bit
excessive, but for the most part this is rather innocuous Disney
fluff. Ricci here acts as if she were a Winona Ryder understudy
in "Beetlejuice." Let's hope she has more range in the future.
Co-stars George Dzundza, Peter Boyle, Michael McKean, Bess
Armstrong.
Director: Bob Spiers. Stars: Christina Ricci,
Doug E. Doug, George Dzundza, Peter Boyle, Michael McKean, Bess
Armstrong. CC, (MPAA rating: PG, 89 min.), Family, 1997, Box
office gross: $17.052 million, (Disney 9186), No SRP,
Priced for rental, Available:
8/5
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