ARMAGEDDON Earth faces destruction
from a wayward asteroid in this smash summer blockbuster. With only 18 days
before impact, Bruce Willis (in normal gonzo mode) heads a crew of misfit
roughnecks on a mission to outer space to drop a nuclear device on the rock to
knock it out of orbit. Great story (despite its maudlin hokiness), non-stop
action that doesn't let you breathe or feel the melodramatic conceits tugging at
your, fabulous jump cutting and editing, spectacular effects. In widescreen and
pan-and-scan. Co-stars Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Keith David
and Steve Buscemi.
Director: Michael Bay. Stars: Bruce
Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Keith David, Steve Buscemi.
CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13, 154 min.), Action, 1998, Box office gross: $200.000
million, (Buena Vista), $22.99 SRP, Available: 11/13,
DVD: Due Jan 5.
BILLBOARD DAD The child stars
of TV's "Full House" and now pre-teen stars of ABC's primetime series "Two of a
Kind" -- Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen - - take their girlish adventures
direct-to-video in this comedy about two sisters determined to find their single
dad a mate. When the pair paint a personals ad on a giant billboard in the heart
of Hollywood, they get more than they bargained for. Innocuous fun for the
entire family -- especially the target audience of pre-teen girls.
Director: Alan Meter. Stars:
Mary-Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen. CC, (MPAA rating: NR, 90 min.), Family, 1998,
(Warner), $19.96 SRP, Available: 11/10
CAN'T HARDLY WAIT After
four frustrating years of high school, what's a new grad to do but let it all
explode at one final blow-out party before moving on to the real world? Coming
together for a night of romance and fun is an assortment of jocks, geeks,
bimbos, prom queens, headbangers and misfits. Everyone has an agenda to fulfill:
some geek grads want to get even with the studs for four years of humiliation,
others want to proclaim their unrequited love for their teen heartthrobs. It's
every student's dream -- and nightmare. What may seem to be a silly adolescent
comedy actually turns out to be a sweet paean to teen angst: it's a kind of
"American Graffiti" for the '90s. Take a chance on this one. Stars Jennifer Love
Hewitt and Ethan Embry.
Director: Deborah Kaplan and Harry
Elfont. Stars: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ethan Embry, Seth Green, Jenna Elfman. CC,
(MPAA rating: PG-13, 101 min.), Comedy, 1998, Box office gross: $25.339
million, (Columbia TriStar), No SRP, Priced for rental
Available: 11/17, DVD: Day & Date.
DIRTY WORK Low concept,
ill-mannered comedy has pair off foul-mouthed schemers come up with the idea of
creating a professional service that offers revenge against its clients'
enemies. This allows for all manner of bathroom-humor gags and gagging offal
jokes. Still, this strikes a chord for anyone who ever wanted to get sweet
revenge but never had the opportunity -- which means just about everyone. Stars
"Saturday Night Live's" Norm Macdonald with Artie Lange, Jack Warden, Don
Rickles, and Chevy Chase.
Director: Bob Saget. Stars: Norm
Macdonald, Artie Lange, Jack Warden, Don Rickles, Chevy Chase. CC, (MPAA rating:
PG-13, 82 min.), Comedy, 1998, Box office gross: $10.020 million, (MGM),
No SRP, Priced for rental, Available:
11/17, DVD: No.
DR. DOLITTLE
Pleasingly funny
remake of the 1967 film that starred Rex Harrison as a man who could talk to
animals. Murphy here eschews his regular scenery-chewing for a more laid back
presence as a physician whose life gets complicated when he finds that denizens
of the animal world talk to him -- and not only does he understand them but he
can talk back. When critters start to fill his house with all sorts of animal
ailments, everyone thinks he's crazy -- including himself -- and he has to come
to grips with his humanity in deciding whether to give up or give in to his
unusual abilities. Agreeable family fare.
Director: Betty Thomas. Stars:
Eddie Murphy, Ossie Davis, Oliver Platt, Kristen Wilson. CC, (MPAA rating:
PG-13, 85 min.), Comedy, 1998, Box office gross: $138.000 million, (Fox),
$19.98 SRP, Available: 11/24, DVD:
No.
FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS
VEGAS It took 27 years for Hunter S. Thompson's celebrated book
(based on a series of articles in "Rolling Stone") to come to the big screen and
boomers hoping that the film would capture some of the excitement of the time
(and Thompson's drugged out attack on the establishment and the craziness of the
American Dream) will be sorely disappointed. The film is much more of a
slapstick pastiche than the cohesive satire it should be. For fans of Johnny
Depp (who plays Thompson) only.
Director: Terry Gilliam. Stars:
Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro, Tobey Maguire. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 123 min.),
Comedy, 1998, Box office gross: $10.35 million, (Universal), No SRP,
Priced for rental, Available: 11/17, DVD:
Day & Date.
GODZILLA
The likeable lizard that
trampled Tokyo some 40 years ago now does the same for Manhattan, all spiffed up
with the best CGI that money can buy. The movie got a bum rap from critics and
bad buzz from Hollywood pundits but it still made $135 million in the U.S.
alone. The film deserved all it earned -- and more: it's rip-roaring fun as
underdog scientist Matthew Broderick and French secret agent Jean Reno figure
out how to beat the creature before it destroys all of New York. You really have
to suspend disbelief -- the reality level keeps deteriorating as the film
progresses -- but it's well worth the effort. Microwave an extra bag of popcorn
for this one. In pan-and-scan and widescreen versions.
Director: Roland Emmerich. Stars:
Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Harry Shearer, Maria Pitillo. CC, (MPAA rating:
PG-13, 139 min.), Sci-Fi, 1998, Box office gross: $135.669 million,
(Columbia TriStar), $22.95 SRP, Available: 11/3,
DVD: Day & Date.
HORSE WHISPERER, THE
Based on the popular novel,
this story of a 14-year-old girl emotionally and physically scarred after a
horse riding accident is a real heartstring-tugger. Desperate to help her
daughter, the girl's mother (Kristen Scott Thomas), a high-powered magazine
editor, searches for a "horse whisperer," someone who can cure troubled horses,
finding Robert Redford, who eventually works to rebuild all the lives shattered
by the accident. Naturally love blossoms between the horseman and the
sophisticate, resulting in unexpected consequences. In widescreen and
pan-and-scan versions.
Director: Robert Redford. Stars:
Robert Redford, Kristin Scott Thomas, Sam Neill, Scarlett Johansson. CC, (MPAA
rating: PG-13, 168 min.), Drama, 1998, Box office gross: $74.766 million,
(Touchstone), No SRP, Priced for rental, Available:
11/10, DVD: Day & Date.
LES MISERABLES Not the
well-received musical but a beautifully filmed dramatic version of the Victor
Hugo novel. Here Liam Neeson stars as the eternally hunted Jean Valjean --
imprisoned for stealing bread and condemned to a life on the run -- and Geoffrey
Rush stars as the driven policeman Javert whose sole mission in life is to track
Valjean down. A faithful rendering of the complex -- and long -- tale. Co- stars
Uma Thurman and Claire Danes.
Director: Billie August. Stars:
Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman, Clair Danes. CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13,
134 min.), Drama, 1998, Box office gross: $13.871 million, (Columbia
TriStar), No SRP, Priced for rental, Available:
11/3, DVD: Day & Date.
NEGOTIATOR, THE Psychological
thriller about a police hostage negotiator (Samuel L. Jackson) charged with
murder and embezzlement who takes an Internal Affairs Division hostage to
negotiate the truth behind the trumped up charges, eventually facing off with
another negotiator (Kevin Spacey). Plenty of action and excitement but the plot
gets a bit too convoluted before the denouement.
Director: F. Gary Gray. Stars:
Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, David Morse, Ron Rifkin, J. T. Walsh. CC, (MPAA
rating: R, 138 min.), Thriller, 1998, Box office gross: $43.088 million,
(Warner), No SRP, Priced for rental, Available:
11/24, DVD: Due Dec. 15.
PHOENIX Ray ("Rat Pack") Liotta stars
as a police detective whose gambling habit has gotten him into trouble. Caught
between a brutal bookie, a lethal loan shark and a heist gone wrong, he comes up
with a daring plan to settle his debts once and for all. Passions erupt, tempers
flare and greed burns out everything in sight in this action thriller. Stars
Anthony LaPaglia, Anjelica Huston, Daniel Baldwin, Jeremy Piven.
Director: Danny Cannon. Stars: Ray
Liotta, Anthony LaPaglia, Anjelica Huston, Daniel Baldwin, Jeremy Piven. CC,
(MPAA rating: R, 107 min.), Thriller, 1998, Box office gross: $0.043
million, (Trimark), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 11/2, DVD: Day & Date.
SMALL SOLDIERS Toy soldiers
come alive in this special effects laden saga of a "reformed" military
contractor that takes over a toy manufacturer and ends up putting military
technology into mass-produced toys, setting off a war between foot-high GI
armies the Gorgonites and the Commando Elite when the son of a toy store owner
inadvertently discovers the hidden agenda. Unfortunately, the film was a bit too
violent for its intended audience -- the pre-teen set -- and Universal had a
battle of its own to win over moviegoers. Stars Gregory Smith, Kirsten Dunst,
Jay Mohr, David Cross, Phil Hartman, Denis Leary, Ann Magnuson and the voices of
Tommy Lee Jones and Frank Langella.
Director: Joe Dante. Stars: Gregory
Smith, Kirsten Dunst, Jay Mohr, David Cross, Phil Hartman, Denis Leary, Ann
Magnuson. CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13, 109 min.), Fantasy, 1998, Box office
gross: $56.600 million, (Universal), $22.99 SRP, Available:
11/10, DVD: No.
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