ALARMIST, THE
A home security systems salesman (David Arquette) finds success
on his very first day on the job when he not only sells a
complete home alarm system but he seduces his very first customer
(Kate Capshaw). But things take a sinister turn
when he discovers that his boss (Stanley Tucci) is breaking into homes to scare
residents into buying systems, with devastating results. A wry and nastily funny
thriller.
Director: Evan
Dunsky. Stars: David Arquette, Stanley Tucci, Kate Capshaw, Mary
McCormick. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 93 min.), Thriller, 1998, Box
office gross: $0.085 million, (Columbia TriStar), No
SRP, Priced for rental, Available: 2/2,
DVD: Day & Date.
ANTZ
The folks at DreamWorks, Steven Spielberg's film company, came up
with a wonderfully hip animated film their first time at bat with
this computer-generated feature starring a stellar cast of voice
talent (Woody Allen, Dan Aykroyd, Anne Bancroft, Jane Curtin,
Jennifer Lopez, Danny Glover, Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone,
Christopher Walken). The story revolves around a neurotic and
self-absorbed ant whose discontent with conformity leads to a
subversion of the military-run nest. Tightly drawn characters and
plotting make for an above-average adventure for kids and adults
alike. Director:
Eric Darnell, Tim Johnson. Stars: Voices of W Allen, Aykroyd,
Anne Bancroft, J Curtin, J Lopez, D Glover, S Stallone, S Stone,
Walken. CC, (MPAA rating: PG, 83 min.), Animated, 1998, Box
office gross: $90.000 million, (DreamWorks), $26.99
SRP, Available: 2/9, DVD:
No.
JOHN CARPENTER'S
VAMPIRES
Violent modern day vampire saga about a contingent of mercenaries
who hunt down bloodsucking nightstalkers with a religious fervor.
When his Team Crow group of warriors is all but devastated by the
legions of the undead, led by 600-year-old Master Vampire Valek,
Jack Crow (James Wood in a typical scenery-chewing performance)
enlists a prostitute (bitten by Vampire Valek) as a psychic link
to hunt the ghouls down and prevent them from implementing a
ritual that will give them omnipotent daylight power. Not for the
queasy.
Director: John
Carpenter. Stars: James Woods, Daniel Baldwin, Sheryl Lee. CC,
(MPAA rating: R, 108 min.), Horror, 1998, Box office gross:
$19.915 million, (Columbia TriStar), No SRP, Priced
for rental, Available: 2/9, DVD: Day &
Date.
LEGIONNAIRE
Jean-Claude Van Damme's box office cachet has plummeted in recent years, but
that hasn't prevented him from making his trademark action movies. This
direct-to-video big budget
Van Damme starrer, though short on characterization and beset by a weak story
line, has enough punch to satisfy most action-adventure fans. Here he plays a
boxer in 1920s Marseilles who has to join the French Foreign Legion to avoid
some nasty hoods who want to kill him for not throwing a fight; in Morocco he
fights traitorous legionnaires as well as marauding tribesman in an all-out
battle to the death. For Van Damme fans and those who get guilty pleasure from
blood and guts films. Director:
Peter MacDonald. Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Berkoff, Jim Carter,
Nicholas Farrell. CC, (MPAA rating: NR, 99 min.), Action-Adventure, 1998,
(Sterling Home Entertainment), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 2/9, DVD: Day & Date.
MULAN
Disney's best animated musical since "The Lion King," "Mulan"
clicks for all the right reasons: fine songs, luscious animation,
luminous story and characters you can care about. Refreshingly,
the heroine here (a Chinese girl who saves her kingdom from
invading Huns) is more down to earth than most Disney caricatures
of females, giving the girls in the audience someone to root for.
Voices by Ming-Na Wen, B.D. Wong, Donny Osmond, Harvey Fierstein,
Gedde Watanabe and Eddie Murphy (delightful as Mushu, an outcast
stone dragon who comes to life to aid the girl).
Director: Barry
Cook, Tony Bancroft. Stars: Voices of Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy,
B.D. Wong, Donny Osmond, Harvey Fierstein, Gedde Watanabe. CC,
(MPAA rating: G, 82 min.), Animated, 1998, Box office gross:
$120.387 million, (Walt Disney), $26.99 SRP,
Available: 2/2, DVD:
no.
NEXT STOP
WONDERLAND
Tale of a man and a woman, both searching for meaning in their
lives, whose paths constantly brush against each other. The
woman's just been dumped by her Marxist boyfriend; the man is an
ex-plumber working his way through a marine biology course. She's
dating guys from a personal ad; he's dodging a love-starved
fellow student. Their paths come closer and closer as the film
moves along in fits and starts. For the romantically inclined.
this "search-for-true-love" story will hit a resonant note. Stars
Hope Davis and Alan Gelfant.
Director: Brad
Anderson. Stars: Hope Davis, Alan Gelfant, Victor Argo, Jon
Benjamin, Cara Buono. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 96 min.), Drama,
1998, Box office gross: $3.386 million, (Miramax), No
SRP, Priced for rental, Available: 2/9,
DVD: No.
PRACTICAL
MAGIC
Two hot female leads strut their stuff in this fantasy tale about
a pair of witchy sisters -- modern day sorceresses who try to
peacefully co-exist with normal folk -- who nevertheless resort
to white magic when things don't quite go their way. Sandra
Bullock and Nicole Kidman star as the siblings whose lives are
overshadowed by the family curse: any man who falls in love with
the witches is doomed to die. The pair struggle to make their
way: one eventually vows to "give up" magic, the other pursues a
series of bad affairs. Unfortunately, there's not enough on-
screen chemistry to make the magic really work.
Director: Griffin
Dunne. Stars: Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Dianne Wiest,
Stockard Channing, Aidan Quinn. CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13, 104
min.), Fantasy, 1998, Box office gross: $42.262 million,
(Warner), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 2/16, DVD: Day &
Date.
RONIN
Intelligent actioner about ex-Cold War operatives, kind of
modern-day Ronins -- samurai without masters -- who are hired by
a mysterious employer in France to recover, at all costs, a
well-guarded suitcase, killing anyone who gets in their way. The
world-weary warriors -- led by Robert De Niro and Jean Reno --
have no idea what's in the suitcase, and it matters little as the
story intricately plots their preparations, the snatch and the
terrible aftermath of their actions, all keenly directed by John
Frankenheimer, who again shows his skillful hand ("The Manchurian
Candidate," The French Connection II") at mystery and suspense.
Plenty of plot twists and turns peppered with great action
sequences (all amazingly done sans special effects).
Director: John
Frankenheimer. Stars: Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Natascha
McElhone, Jonathan Pryce, Sean Bean. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 122
min.), Thriller, 1998, Box office gross: $41.486 million,
(MGM), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 2/23, DVD: Day &
Date.
ROUNDERS
Story of a rounder (serious card player) whose new life as a law
student goes astray when he comes to the aid of a friend and
returns to gambling. Matt Damon stars as the legal eagle whose
past creeps up on him, Edward Norton as his friend Worm, and John
Malkovich as a Russian gambler out to clean their clocks. Though
there's scams galore, complicated rounds of Texas Hold 'Em and
life-savings riding on every hand, the film ends up being a bit
too predictable. For Damon fans only.
Director: John Dahl.
Stars: Matt Damon, Edward Norton, Gretchen Mol, John Malkovich,
John Turturro, Martin Landau, Famke Janssen. CC, (MPAA rating: R,
121 min.), Drama, 1998, Box office gross: $22.905 million,
(Miramax), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 2/9, DVD: No.
SHOOTING FISH
This delightful comedy about two likeable con artists in London, on the verge of
retiring after their last big score, starts out slow but rewards patient viewers
with plenty of laughs and good feelings. Dan Futterman and Stuart Townsend play
the young scammers, raised in orphanages, saving to buy the mansion they've both
dreamed about all their lives. Kate Beckinsale plays a young medical student
they've hired to help pull-off an elaborate computer con. When they get involved
with her romantically, things begin to go awry: a side venture back fires and
they end up in jail. When Beckinsale is enlisted to help them out, she gets the
pair involved in a scam of her own -- to raise cash for a good cause. While not
quite "The Sting," there's enough deceptions, fast talk and character
interactions to keep you involved till the end. A pleasant departure from the
spate of recent -- and violent -- caper films.
Director: Stefan
Schwartz. Stars: Kate Beckinsale, Dan Futterman, Stuart Townsend.
CC, (MPAA rating: PG, 93 min.), Comedy, 1998, Box office
gross: $0.254 million, (Fox), No SRP, Priced for
rental, Available: 2/2, DVD:
No.
SNAKE EYES
A corrupt Atlantic City detective gets embroiled in investigating
the assassination of the U.S. Secretary of Defense at a boxing
match, with 14,000 screaming fans as potential suspects. Nicolas
Cage stars as shady cop who seals off the casino in the hopes of
piecing together pieces of the murder puzzle and tracking down a
mysterious woman who may have links to the killer. Director Brian
De Palma weaves a thrilling tale of truth and deception. Co-stars
Gary Sinise, Carla Gugino, John Heard.
Director: Brian De
Palma. Stars: Nicolas Cage, Gary Sinise, Carla Gugino, Joan
Heard. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 99 min.), Thriller, 1998, Box
office gross: $55.104 million, (Paramount), No SRP,
Priced for rental, Available: 2/16, DVD:
No.
THERE'S
SOMETHING ABOUT MARY
The Farrelly Bros.' smash summer hit about a nerdy, angst-driven
man (Ben Stiller), still suffering from his high school crush on
a girl named Mary (Cameron Diaz), who tracks her down 13 years
later, only to have the detective (Matt Dillon) he hired and a
host of others get in his way. Full of slapstick comedy bits,
bathroom humor and veiled sex jokes, "Mary" grabbed America's
dumb funny bone and went for the gold. Co-stars Chris Elliott.
Director: Peter and
Bobby Farrelly. Stars: Ben Stiller, Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon,
Chris Elliott, Markie Post, Keith David. CC, (MPAA rating: R,
119 min.), Comedy, 1998, Box office gross: $180.000 million,
(Fox), No SRP, Priced for rental,
Available: 2/2, DVD: No.
URBAN LEGEND
A demented killer murders college students in quaint New England
college town, basing his deeds on well-know urban legends --
those macabre folk tales that make the rounds of campouts,
sleepovers and slumber parties (such as the killer hiding in the
back seat of a car). One student takes it upon herself to get to
the bottom of the dastardly deeds, uncovering a gruesome past
that may result in her own demise. Typical teen killer flick.
Director: Jamie
Blanks. Stars: Alicia Witt, Rebecca Gayheart, Joshua Jackson,
Jared Leto. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 99 min.), Horror, 1998, Box
office gross: $36.494 million, (Columbia TriStar), No
SRP, Priced for rental, Available: 2/23,
DVD: Day & Date.
|