Independence Day (1996)

Independence Day (1996)

[8] The disaster film is alive and well in this summer blockbuster in which evil aliens threaten to destroy Earth, leaving it up to a rag-tag team of politicians, soldiers, and scientists (plus a drunken crop-duster and a pole dancer!),…
Beautiful Girls (1996)

Beautiful Girls (1996)

[8] Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People) heads up an ensemble cast in this warm and funny comedy/drama from director Ted Demme (The Ref) and screenwriter Scott Rosenberg (Venom, Disturbing Behavior). Hutton's a Chicago piano-player returning to his small, blue-collar hometown for…
Striptease (1996)

Striptease (1996)

[4] Demi Moore received a whopping $12.5 million to appear topless in this film about a woman who starts strip-dancing to make ends meet after a judge grants full custody of her young daughter (played well by Moore's real life…
Mars Attacks! (1996)

Mars Attacks! (1996)

[5] Director Tim Burton (Batman, Edward Scissorhands) turns an infamous 1960s line of trading cards into a mad-cap feature film with Mars Attacks! Patterned after star-laden disaster flicks from the '70s, the film follows a large ensemble of characters in…
Mission: Impossible (1996)

Mission: Impossible (1996)

[4] It's a testament to Tom Cruise's raw charisma and screen presence that I was able to make it through director Brian DePalma's boring big screen upgrade of the '60s television show Mission: Impossible. Because despite having a script co-written…
The Rock (1996)

The Rock (1996)

[7] Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery headline this amped-up action thriller from reliable hit-makers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer (producers of Crimson Tide, Days of Thunder, and Top Gun). Cage plays an elite chemist who is paired with Connery's ex-con…
The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)

The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)

[8] Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas star in this true story adaptation about two man-eating lions who killed dozens of railroad workers in Tsavo, Kenya, in the late 1800s. Kilmer plays a bridge engineer who enlists Douglas, a world-famous big…
The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)

The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)

[8] Director Milos Forman (Amadeus) tackles the life of Hustler magazine founder Larry Flynt with Woody Harrelson playing the infamous smut-peddler. The screenplay, another superb biography from Ed Wood screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, focuses on Flynt's many legal…
The Birdcage (1996)

The Birdcage (1996)

[8] A gay couple who own a drag show cabaret must pretend to be straight when their son invites his fiancée's Christian conservative family to meet them for dinner. The Birdcage is an American remake of a French film, which…
Big Night (1996)

Big Night (1996)

[7] In 1950s New Jersey, two Italian brothers struggle to keep their restaurant open as a rival eatery woos their clientele. Part of the problem is a philosophical rift between the brothers, played by Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub. Tucci…