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…
Twister (1996)

Twister (1996)

[7] Following in the tradition of Irwin Allen disaster movies like The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure comes this tornadic thrill ride from director Jan de Bont (Speed). Helen Hunt (As Good As It Gets) and Bill Paxton (Frailty)…