OnVideo May 1996 Releases
AMERICAN PRESIDENT, THE
Director Rob Reiner's latest outing features Michael Douglas as an unmarried President of the United States who not only must worry about affairs of state but also about affairs of the heart. In this gentle romantic comedy, Douglas' president falls unexpectedly for an environmental lobbyist (Annette Bening); their romance faces the harshest critics of all: the American public. Co-stars Michael J. Fox, Richard Dreyfuss, Samantha Mathis and Martin Sheen.
Director: Rob Reiner. Stars: Micahel Douglas, Annette Benning, Michael J. Fox, Samantha Mathis. CC (PG-13 114 min.) Romantic Drama 1995 (Columbia TriStar 80173) No SRP Available: 5/14
CARRINGTON
Endless devotion and ardor confront the perils of society in the love tales of Dora Carrington (Emma Thompson(, ayoung painter pursued by some of the most attractive men in England's artistic circles. But Carrington yearns for only one man, the writer Lytton Strachey (Jonathan Pryce), whose heart she will never win.
Director: Christopher Hampton. Stars: Emma Thompson, Jonathan Pryce. CC (R 122 min.) Drama 1995 PolyGram 800-630-231-3) $96.99 SRP Available: 5/7
CASINO
This may be the film to test the viewing mettle of Martin Scorsese devotees. The director again returns to the milieu he loves best: the world of "good fellows," gangsters, gamblers, pimps and cheaters. At three hours, "Casino" may appear tedious but its nuts-and-bolts behind-the-scenes look at the sleazy mobster world of Las vegas is involving and awe-inspiring. Not for the easily-intimidated. Stars Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci and James Woods.
Director: Martin Scorsese. Stars: Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci, James Woods. CC (R 179 min.) Drama 1995 (MCA/Universal 82592) No SRP Available: 5/21DEAD PRESIDENTS
"Dead presidents' is street slang for money; "urban" action-thriller is the term attached to yarns such as this. Larenz Tate plays a bright 18-year-old in 1968 who enlists to fight in Vietnam rather than go on to college. When he returns to his downtrodden South Bronx neighborhood, unemployed and with no future, he discovers that one way to survive is to team up with some of his fellow vets and rob an armored car. Naturally, things don't go as planned.
Director: Hughes Brothers. Stars: Larenz Tate, Chris Tucker. CC (R 120 min.) Thriller 1995 (Hollywood Pictures 5263) No SRP Available: 5/21
DUNSTON CHECKS IN
This formulaic comedy plays by the rules and delivers an easy-going if bland fun-fest about the trials and tribulations of the manager (Jason Alexander) of a posh hotel who not only must deal with demanding clientele, his ruthless boss and his two rambunctious kids, but he has to outsmart a jewel thief who uses a captive orangutan, Dunston, to accomplish his nefarious goals. Dunston makes a monkey of everyone here.
Director: Ken Kwapis. Stars: Jason Alexander, Faye Dunaway, Eric Lloyd, Paul Reubens. CC (PG 88 min.) Comedy 1996 (FoxVideo 8962) $19.98 SRP Available: 5/28GET SHORTY
This spoof of Hollywood and gangsters stars John Travolta as Chili Palmer, a Miami loan shark sent to Los Angeles to collect on a gambling debt owed by film producer Harry Zimm (Gene Hackman). Turns out that Chile is an avid movie fan and instead of breaking Harry's legs, he pitches him a movie deal that he just can't refuse. Co-stars Danny DeVito and Rene Russo.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld. Stars: John Travolta, Rene Russo, Danny DeVito, Gene Hackman. CC (R 105 min.) Comedy 1995 (MGM/UA 905493) No SRP Available: 5/28GOLD DIGGERS: THE SECRET OF BEAR MOUNTAIN
Anna Chlumsky and Christina Ricci star in this family film about two teen-age girls -- one a 13-year-old city slicker, the other a neglected tomboy at home in the woods -- who meet in a small Northwestern town and team up to search for a legendary treasure in the caverns of Bear Mountain.
Director: Kevin James Dobson. Stars: Christina Ricci, Anna Chlumsky, Diana Scarwid. CC (PG 94 min.) Family 1995 (MCA/Universal 82790) No SRP Available: 5/14
GOLDENEYE
World famous secret agent 007 is back on the scene with a world-class assignment, fast cars, beautiful women and a whole new arsenal of hi-tech gadgetry in this new installment in the James Bond series that's spanned 17 films. Pierce Brosnan stars as the suave, sophisticated agent with a license to kill who races to Russia in search of the stolen access codes for "GoldenEye," an awesome space weapon that can fire a devastating electromagnetic pulse toward Earth.
Director: Martin Campbell. Stars: Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Izabella Scorupco, Famke Janssen. CC (PG-13 130 min.) Action 1995 (MGM/UA 905495) No SRP Available: 5/21IT TAKES TWO
TV's Olsen twins star in this contemporary take on Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper." The light-hearted family film follows the lives of a social worker (Kirstie Alley) and a charming widower (Steve Guttenberg), each responsible for a 9-year-old girl: one a feisty orphan, the other the widower's well-bred daughter. The pair are world's apart -- until they switch places in a effort to bring-their respective grown-ups together.
Director: Andy Tennant. Stars: Mary-Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen, Kirstie Alley, Steve Guttenberg. CC (PG 101 min.) Family 1995 (Warner Bros. 14600) $22.98 SRP Available: 5/7
JUMANJI
Based on a book by children's author Chris Van Allsburg, "Jumanji" is the story of a board game that literally envelopes its players: whoever sits down to play the game sets loose upon the world all the natural disasters and animals that inhabit the board's jungle universe. In this case, Robin Williams has been stuck in the board game's world for 26 years, and is set free by a pair of youngsters -- but look out, the jungle follows close behind.
Director: Joe Johnston. Stars: Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunst, Bonnie Hunt. CC (PG 100 min.) Comedy-Fantasy 1995 (Columbia TriStar 11743) No SRP Available: 5/14MONTH BY THE LAKE, A
Vanessa Redgrave, Um Thurman and Edward Fox star in this period romantic drama set in 1937. An attractive middle-aged woman (Redgrave) falls for a handsome stranger (Fox) while vacationing at beautiful Lake Como in Italy. The fun begins when a sexy younger woman (Thurman) turns Fox's head and Redgrave contrives to make him jealous. As Thurman makes a fool out of Fox, Redgrave starts an innocent flirtation with a younger man who, much to her surprise, returns her affection twofold.
Director: John Irvin. Stars: Vanessa Redgrave, Edward Fox, Uma Thurman. CC (PG 91 min.) Drama 1995 (Miramax 5943) No SRP Available: 5/14NICK OF TIME
Johnny Depp and Christopher Walken star in this psychological thriller about a businessman who must become a political assassin in order to save his daughter's life. While at Union Station in Los Angeles, Depp and his 6-year-old daughter are taken hostage by police impostors. Depp is told he must murder an innocent public figure within the next 90 minutes or his daughter will die. The clock starts ticking as the film unfolds in virtually real time.
Director: John Badham. Stars: Johnny Depp, Christopher Walken, Charles S. Dutton. CC (R 98 min.) Thriller 1995 (Paramount 33041) No SRP Available: 5/21POWDER
Seltered since birth in the dark cellar of his grandparents' farmhouse in rural Texas, an astonishing and mysterious young man is discovered. Endowed with a high IQ and extraordinary abilities the man -- called powder because of his startlingly white skin -- is rejected by his peers. Despite local fear and prejudice, he's befriended by the head of a school for troubled youths and a science teacher. Ultimately, Powder has a profound effect on all who come in contact with him. Stars Lance Henriksen, Sean Patrick Flanery, Mary Steenburgen and Jeff Goldblum.
Director: Victor Salva. Stars: Jeff Goldblum, Mary Steenburger, Sean Patrick Flanery. CC (PG-13 112 min.) Fantasy 1995 (Hollywood Pictures 7046) No SRP Available: 5/14THREE WISHES
In a time of prosperity and whole, happy families, Jeanne Holman (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) and her two sons are different; Jeanne's husband (and the boys' father) is missing in the Korean War and without him life becomes unbearably hard. But things change when she picks up a drifter (Patrick Swayze) and takes him in to her home. The family soon finds the magic that comes with kindness when the stranger returns the favor in unusual but exhilarating ways. An enjoyable family outing.
Director: Martha Coolidge. Stars: Patrick Swayze, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Joseph Mazzello. CC (PG 115 min.) Family 1995 (HBO Video 91291) No SRP Available: 5/7TOM AND HUCK
This is Disney's version of Mark Twain's classic "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," with Jonathan Taylor Thomas of TV's "Home Improvement" playing Tom and Brad Renfro ("The Client") playing Huck Finn. The original "bad" boys sashay through 19th century Hannibal, Missouri, witness a murder, learn of a valuable treasure map, and go to their own funeral in this wonderful tale by this genius of American letters.
Director: Peter Hewitt. Stars: Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Brad Renfro. CC (PG 91 min.) Family 1995 (Walt Disney 7769) $19.99 SRP Available: 5/1WILD BILL
This historical look at legendary Western gunslinger Wild Bill Hickock took a nose dive at the box office despite its attempt at veracity. Jeff Bridges is a hard fighting, hard gambling, hard drinking Hichock who knows that his glory days are fleeting past him. Only problem is: its hard to back away from a challenge from someone who wants to make a name for himself. Co-stars Ellen Barkin and John Hurt.
Director: Walter Hill. Stars: Jeff Bridges, Ellen Barkin, John Hurt. CC (R 98 min.) Western 1995 (MGM/UA 905103) No SRP Available: 5/28
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