1996

[7] Eddie Murphy plays an overweight professor who invents a potion that sheds the pounds in a dramatic fashion. Problem is, the transformation also comes with a personality change of Jekyll and Hyde proportions. Murphy thinks he needs the potion to court a young teacher played by the beautiful Jada Pinkett, not realizing that the new alter ego plans to vanquish the professor’s fatter, friendlier …

[5] Gwyneth Paltrow stars as the title character in this adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma. Emma Woodhouse takes it upon herself to be a matchmaker for all her friends and neighbors. While her interference tends to do more harm than good, Emma fails to notice that her own opportunity for courtship may be just under her nose. Director Douglas McGrath (Nicholas Nickleby) abides by Miramax …

[7] Angelina Jolie stars as a transient teen who helps four other young ladies defend themselves against a predatory high school teacher. They form a bond, get expelled from school together, and take up residence in an abandoned home together. Their ‘gang’ gets a reputation and inspires other young women to stand up for themselves, but their rebellious recreational activities end up getting them in …

[6] Arnold Schwarzenegger is a witness protection agent trying to keep Vanessa Williams alive long enough to testify against her former employer, a manufacturer of new, deadly high tech assault weapons. Matters are made worse when Arnold realizes members of his own team are working against him. Eraser is a summer-time explosion movie with non-stop action. It mostly satisfies as a popcorn flick, but could …

[8] This is the best of the Next Generation films, in large part because it deals with one of Star Trek‘s most formidable foes, the Borg. The movie also incorporates a subplot involving warp drive inventor Zephram Cochran (James Cromwell) and the pivotal moment in human history when we made first contact with an alien species. Yes, First Contact dabbles in time travel, something the …

[7] A woman with amnesia begins discovering her past as a deadly assassin in this high-octane action flick from director Renny Harlin. The Long Kiss Goodnight is good hokey fun at a frantic pace. Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson are both good in an action movie, even if their chemistry leaves something to be desired. Screenwriter Shane Black’s dialogue is hit and miss, sometimes …

[7] Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon headline this taut, engaging thriller from screenwriter Christopher Crowe (Last of the Mohicans) and director James Foley (After Dark My Sweet, Glengarry Glen Ross). Witherspoon plays a high schooler who falls head over heels for the sexy-as-fuck Wahlberg, a former underwear model who is introduced in this movie wearing a shirt pulled so tight across his chiseled body it’s …

[2] Swingers is the reason we cannot let college students with broken hearts have movie cameras. If I had to say something nice about the movie, which somehow launched the careers of director Doug Liman and writer Jon Favreau, it’s that Heather Graham has probably never been photographed more beautifully. And I guess the male leads, including super-skinny Vince Vaughn, are all attractive. But that’s …

[8] This British independent flick is a far better gay ‘coming out’ movie than most. Glen Berry plays Jamie, a teenager who skips school to avoid harassment during gym class, and Scott Neal plays Ste, Jamie’s next door neighbor. When Ste’s father and brother get particularly abusive, he asks to stay over night with Jamie — and you can probably guess what happens from there. …

[7] The Irwin Allen disaster epic is alive and well in this 1996 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!), to save humanity. The writing and directing team of Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin (Stargate, Godzilla) almost strike the perfect tone for …

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