Film Archive
|
| HENRY AND JUNE |
| 010491 |
 |
| Based on the journals of noted Parisian diarist Anaďs Nin, HENRY AND JUNE portrays the love triangle that developed in the 1930s between Nin (Maria de Medeiros), expatriate writer Henry Miller (Fred Ward), and Miller's wife (Uma Thurman). At the height of the bohemian expatriate influx in Paris, brash American author Henry Miller meets Anaďs Nin, a French writer struggling to finish her first book on noted novelist D.H. Lawrence. Nin is sexually adventurous and looking for fulfillment that her sweet yet mild-mannered husband, Hugo (Richard E.Grant), cannot provide. Nin's initial attraction to the brooding and sexually virile author leads to a steady infatuation with Miller's enigmatic and hauntingly beautiful wife, June. June is an American actress who visits her husband in Paris and leaves both of her new lovers dissatisfied and ultimately unfulfilled. However, her sexual presence awakens a desire in Nin that leads to a deeper understanding and acceptance of her own sexuality. Nin's sexual awakening is a voyage of self-discovery, faithfully notated in her diaries, that are filled with erotic and exotic fantasies. After June's departure from Paris, Nin succumbs to a passionate love affair with Miller while taking other lovers to satisfy her new sexual appetite. In their search for new truths, Miller and Nin were a tantalizing match, creating some of the most highly regarded fiction of bohemian Paris with unbounded creative and sexual energy. The sensuous mood and tone of the film is supported by an ethereal soundtrack and hauntingly beautiful cinematography, including a series of highly creative shots meant to replicate the vision of noted Parisian erotic photographer Brassai. |
| FESTIVAL OF ANIMATION |
| 010491 |
|
| no synopsis available |
| PREDATOR 2 |
| LATENITE 010491 |
|
| The invisible creature from another world is back - but this time seeking out heat and conflict - is drawn to the gang-ruled and ravaged city of Los Angeles, 1997. The detective-lieutenant and his police force set out to capture this brutal murderer, ignoring the warnings from a mysterious government agent to stay away. |
| YOUNG GUNS II |
| LATENITE 010491 |
|
| Billy, Doc and Chavez find themselves jailed in the same place and plan an escape. Together with new recruits, they head for the Mexican border not knowing that Billy's one-time friend now wears a badge and is leading a posse with one mission - get Billy the Kid. Academy Award nominations: Best Song ("Blaze of Glory"). |
| MAY FOOLS |
| 011191 |
|
| A French drama that looks at issues of personal behavior in the context of the larger political situation -- in this case the turbulent 1968 Paris student uprising. When the esteemed matriarch of a French family dies, most of the relatives seem much more concerned with their inheritance than with grieving. The son of the deceased, who truly mourns his mother's passing, is appalled by the actions of his greedy, selfish daughter. |
| THE KRAYS |
| LATENITE 011191 |
|
| From Great Britain, a furious and fact-based gangster melodrama with Freudian subtexts. Twin siblings Ronald and Reginald Kray resented the English upper crust and flaunted their poor roots like honor badges. Thoroughly brutal men, the only genuine love they had was for their perversely doting mum. In the 1950s and '60s, the Krays rapidly learned the basics of machine guns and racketeering, and they rose quickly to the top echelon of the British underworld. Alas, the brothers came unglued by their tumultuous romantic lives. Ronald took up a gay affair that soured, and Reginald tried, lamentably, to court a sweet girl from the middle-class. |
| AKIRA KUROSAWA'S DREAMS |
| 011891 |
|
| Akira Kurosawa's DREAMS consists of eight short films based on actual dreams of the director. The first sequence, "Sunshine Through the Rain," features a young boy sneaking off into the forest on a rainy day to watch a procession of enchanted foxes. In "The Peach Orchard," a slightly older boy witnesses tree spirits performing a delicate dance. Weary travelers in "The Blizzard" face the elemental wrath of a snow enchantress, while "The Tunnel" finds a military officer haunted by the ghosts of his dead regiment. In "Crows," an art aficionado literally walks into the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh (played by Martin Scorsese). "Mount Fuji in Red" and "The Weeping Demon" are both fantastical cautionary tales about the hazards of nuclear power. Finally the gentle "Village of the Watermills" brings the film to a quiet, pastoral end. |
| GHOST |
| LATENITE 011891 |
|
| After renovating their expensive loft in the TriBeCa section of Manhattan, Molly and Sam, a young successful yuppie couple, are walking home one evening when Sam is tragically gunned down by a street mugger. Molly goes into a deep depression, but, unknown to her, Sam has come back as a ghost in order to protect her from danger--although he isn't yet aware who or what means her harm, and he has a lot of learning to do in order to make himself known to her. He teams up with an unwilling psychic, and together they try to convince a very skeptical Molly that Sam was actually murdered and has returned spectrally to complete some unfinished business. Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore are excellent as the couple, and Whoopi Goldberg won an Oscar for her portrayal of the wild and wacky psychic. GHOST is considered by many to be one of the most romantic films of the 1990s. |
| VINCENT AND THEO |
| 012591 |
|
| A blistering, unsentimental portrait of the great Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, Robert Altman’s VINCENT AND THEO focuses on the deeply neurotic relationship between the unstable, impoverished Vincent (Tim Roth) and his art dealer brother, Theo (Paul Rhys). Specifically, it investigates the role Theo played in providing the normality and connection to the outer world that Vincent lacked--while Vincent, in turn, acted as the living embodiment of Theo's unfulfilled artistic aspirations. In the end, Theo's inability to secure his brother's financial independence and help him achieve a sense of self-worth by selling his paintings caused him a misery almost as profound as Vincent's. Altman's theatrical version of what was originally a four-hour European miniseries is a bold return to form for the director after a stint directing film adaptations of plays. As the introverted Vincent, Roth delivers an intensely passionate performance, and Rhys is just as moving as the more reserved Theo. Altman chooses to concentrate on the artist himself, likely providing a deeper insight into the individual than scenes of him painting ever could. VINCENT AND THEO remains an unflinching and powerful interpretation of the life of one of the world’s most famous artists. |
| TOP GUN |
| LATENITE 012591 |
|
| Maverick (Tom Cruise) is a reckless F-14 pilot who flies by instinct and breaks all of the rules. While attending the Navy's elite air combat training academy, affectionately known as "Top Gun," Maverick romances the civilian astrophysics instructor (Kelly McGillis) and competes with crackerjack pilot Ice (Val Kilmer) for top honors. He is the quintessential rebel, upsetting senior officers with his antics and risk-taking while simultaneously amazing them with his skill. In the end, Maverick overcomes a tragic loss and his need to stand out in the crowd and proves that he can shine as part of a team. Anthony Edwards stars as Maverick’s best friend and co-pilot, Goose, and Meg Ryan first garnered attention as Goose’s wife, Carole. Superb state-of-the-art aerial photography makes TOP GUN, directed by Tony Scott, one of the most exciting and entertaining films of its genre. This top grossing movie of 1986 is allegedly based on a Navy fighter pilot program at the Miramar Naval Base in San Diego, California, and was filmed on location at the base. |
| DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB |
| LATENITE 012591 |
|
| Convinced that the Russians have infiltrated America's "vital essence," the crazed Ripper gives the go code to the 843rd bomb wing to attack Russia, setting in motion a series of darkly hilarious vignettes involving gung-ho soldiers, wacky generals, spying Russians, drunken premiers, battles with soda machines, fights in the War Room, and the Russians' top-secret Doomsday Machine. Shot in black and white, the film has three main centers of action: one of the B-52 bombers, on which a group of loyal men know they are about to start World War III; Burpelson Air Force Base, where Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (Peter Sellers) is trying to convince everyone that Ripper has gone mad and the bombing must be stopped; and the War Room, where President Merkin Muffley (Sellers again) is trying to make peace with the Russians. The finale featuring Sellers as Dr. Strangelove is a comic gem. Hayden, George C. Scott, Slim Pickens, Keenan Wynn, and Sellers (in three roles) are especially terrific in what may be the funniest, most poignant black comedy ever made, a vicious satire on the farcical aspects of the military and the cold war. |
| LET'S GET LOST |
| 020191 |
|
| This film follows Baker and his music over the years and includes musicians from the early west coast movement, and his family and friends commenting on what it was like to hang out with the great jazz trumpeter. Directed by renowned fashion photographer Bruce Weber, LET'S GET LOST is beautifully lit and framed, the contrasts of the black and white photography adding an intensity to the documentary. |
| PROBLEM CHILD |
| LATENITE 020191 |
|
| Ben and Flo Healy (John Ritter and Amy Yasbeck) adopt seven-year-old terror Junior (Michael Oliver) in this DENNIS THE MENACE-type comedy. Junior turns an ordinary camping trip, an innocent birthday party and even a little league baseball game into comic nightmares. Ben is just positive that all his new son needs is some loving attention. With Gilbert Gottfried and a pre-SEINFELD Michael Richards (Kramer). |
| PUMP UP THE VOLUME |
| LATENITE 020191 |
|
| "Pump Up The Volume" could be subtitled "Rebel with a Cause" in that a shy, intelligent teenager, tries to use his anger for the higher good. It is perhaps one of the best films made about contemporary suburban teenagers and their feelings of alienation and boredom. Mark works as a disc jockey in his own pirate radio station, set up in his basement. He plays very cool music and rants about consumer culture, the danger of complacency, uncaring adults, and high school. He also takes calls from other lonely teens, but fails to prevent one depressed caller from commiting suicide. However, Mark hangs in there and broadcasts a call-to-arms that galvanizes the town's youth to demonstrate their unity. |
| TUNE IN TOMORROW |
| 020891 |
|
| A veteran soap opera writer assigned to save a failing radio show finds inspiration when he arrives and meets a young writer who has fallen madly in love with his older, twice-divorced aunt. Drawing on his manipulation of the couple he forms the plot of a scandalous drama and everybody is hooked--except the unlucky couple-to-be, or Albanians. |
| WHITE PALACE |
| 020891 |
|
| A waitress in a White Palace fast-food restaurant meets a young, recently widowed, Jewish advertising executive at a bar. They "tentatively" and "uncertainly" start an affair which turns torrid very rapidly and eventually leads to her leaving town and him quitting his job, abandoning his old life and following her. |
| WILD AT HEART |
| LATENITE 020891 |
|
| In adapting Barry Gifford’s colorful novel, David Lynch delivers another jolt of adrenaline to unsuspecting viewers everywhere. WILD AT HEART follows the troubled romance of Sailor (Nicolas Cage) and Lula (Laura Dern), two lovers who struggle to remain together even when fate seems intent on keeping them apart. In this case, fate is Lula’s mother, Marietta Fortune (Diane Ladd), a desperate woman who hates Sailor and will do anything to keep him away from her daughter. After Sailor is released from prison for murdering a man--albeit in self-defense--he and Lula embark on a sex-filled, rocking road trip, aware that they are being hunted by one of Marietta’s cronies. When they pull off the road in order to hide out in a small trailer park, Sailor befriends Bobby Peru (Willem Dafoe), an incredibly intense war veteran with a rotten set of teeth. Bobby convinces Sailor to help him rob a bank, much to Lula’s objections (for she has discovered that she is pregnant). Sailor must decide if he wants to go straight and be there for his child or remain under Bobby’s influence and risk returning to jail. Lynch’s raucous film contains his trademark visual style, over-the-top dialogue, and pulsating soundtrack, creating another truly distinct picture. |
| REINCARNATION OF GOLDEN LOTUS |
| 021591 |
|
| A woman is cursed with beauty in China and becomes prey for men. Raped by the prefect of her ballet school and sent to work camp, she escapes to decadent Hong Kong by marrying a wealthy banker. She finds herself drawn to sadomasochistic affairs and in flashbacks discovers she is the reincarnation of a famous courtesan of ancient China. Highly erotic. |
| THE GRIFTERS |
| 021591 |
|
| THE GRIFTERS is an intense character study of people caught in a world with no one to trust.This cool and brutal adaptation by director Stephen Frears of Jim Thompson's stylish noir novel centers on the complex lives of three con artists. The action centers around the shady Roy Dillon (John Cusack), a low-level L.A. con man and petty thief, and Roy's sexy, amoral girlfriend Myra (Annette Bening), a con artist who is down on her luck and willing to do whatever it takes to get back on top of her game. Rounding out the trio is Roy's mother, Lilly (Angelica Huston), a veteran con artist who shares little with Roy other than a bizzare Oedipal attraction. The seedy underbelly of L.A. life is played out in evocative tableaux, as Myra and Lilly compete for Roy's attention until they ultimately drive him away. |
| ALLEGRO NON TROPPO |
| 022291 |
|
| Animated masterpiece which is set to the music of six classical works which include Ravel's "Bolero," and Stravinsky's "Firebird." Comic live action is interspersed between animated segments. |
| MR. AND MRS. BRIDGE |
| 030191 |
|
| Directed by James Ivory, MR. & MRS. BRIDGE stars Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward as Walter and India Bridge, a traditional couple living in Kansas City in the 1940s. The Bridges have three children: the strong-willed Ruth (Kyra Sedgwick); Douglas (Robert Sean Leonard), a carbon copy of his conservative father; and Caroline (Margaret Welsh), a college student and romantic. After years spent in a sheltered marriage, India is forced to reevaluate her long-standing values when her best friend, Grace (Blythe Danner), becomes disillusioned with their straitlaced social group. Simon Callow plays Dr. Alex Sauer, Walter’s nemesis and a proponent of psychoanalysis. The movie is based on the novels of Evan Connell, skillfully rendering the author's perspective on deeply held American social mores and values. |
| TO SLEEP WITH ANGER |
| 030191 |
|
| Charles Burnett's beautiful, poetic masterpiece is novelistic in its narrative density and richness of characterization. Harry Mention (Danny Glover), an enigmatic drifter from the South, comes to visit an old acquaintance named Gideon (Paul Butler), who now lives in South-Central Los Angeles. Harry's charming, down-home manner hides a malicious penchant for stirring up trouble, and he exerts a strange and powerful effect on Gideon and his thoroughly assimilated black, middle-class family, including wife Suzie (Mary Alice) and sons Junior (Carl Lumbly) and Babe (Richard Brooks). The household was already rife with conflict when the devilish guest arrived, and Harry's grab bag of folktales, lucky charms, and foul magic only deepens the family rift. Sickness and insanity gradually descend upon Gideon's home, and it soon becomes evident that something will have to give. Burnett, who gained prominence with his groundbreaking 1977 film KILLER OF SHEEP, proves with this powerful drama that his earlier effort was no fluke. He paces his film extremely slowly, to the point where subtle throwaway gestures contribute to the film’s thickening tension. Glover, known more for his sympathetic performances, is a perfect Harry, an individual so contradictory that he becomes even more of a hidden devil. |
| ARACHNOPHOBIA |
| LATENITE 030191 |
|
| The film's opening moments picture an insect expert digging up and then tracking the travels of a poisonous male spider who has burrowed in the coffin of one of its victims from the Venezuelan jungle to California. Although the scientist knows they are deadly, he wants to pursue his research regardless of the danger. Then the film cuts to a doctor and his wife leaving the hustle and bustle of San Fransisco and moving out to the country. When they arrive, he becomes the town doctor, but he soon earns the nickname "Dr. Death" because none of his patients survive. At first, he can't understand what's killing so many people; then he realizes the disease might be caused by a rare breed of spider. Not even the exterminator believes him -- until it is almost too late. |
| THE HENRY MILLER ODYSSEY |
| 030891 |
|
| Documentary on controversial writer, Henry Miller, whose books "Tropic of Cancer" and "Tropic of Capricorn" were considered obscene in the 1950s and 1960s. However, Miller was ultimately recognized as a great writer. |
| JACOB'S LADDER |
| LATENITE 030891 |
|
New York postal worker Jacob Singer is trying to keep his frayed life from unraveling. His days are increasingly being invaded by flashbacks to his first marriage, his now-dead son, and his tour of duty in Vietnam. Though his new wife tries to help Jacob keep his grip on sanity, the line between reality and delusion is steadily growing more and more uncertain. |
| EDWARD SCISSORHANDS |
| LATENITE 030891 |
|
| In Tim Burton's EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, a suburban fairy tale with incredibly imaginative sets, an Avon lady, Peg Boggs (Dianne Wiest), discovers the half-finished experiment--a man/monster named Edward (Johnny Depp)--of a mad scientist (played magically by Vincent Price) living in the neighborhood's old abandoned castle. The scientist died before replacing the shy man's large shears with real hands. When Peg attempts to bring Edward into her suburban world, to live among her skeptical family (husband Alan Arkin and daughter Winona Ryder) and gossipy neighbors, his hands--dangerous yet capable of creating things of great beauty--make for some awkward, funny, and poignant situations: Edward as a topiary gardener, Edward as a cutting-edge hair stylist. EDWARD SCISSORHANDS is a story about tolerance, difference, and creativity as much as it is a story of a young man's coming of age (the young man in question is, of course, a monster). In the ironically surreal world of Edward's suburban community, he must try to find his place in it, and in the world at large. |
| ANAIS NIN OBSERVED |
| 031291 |
|
| Award-winning biographer Robert Snyder captures the fire and charm of Anais Nin, one of the twentieth century's most controversial writers, in this frank documentary. Nin discusses her work and her influences, including Henry Miller, D.H. Lawrence, Frank Lloyd Wright, and others. |
| CYRANO DE BERGERAC |
| 031591 |
|
| A famed 17th century writer courageously makes enemies of France's polite society by exposing their hypocrisies in political pamphlets. But his bravery in politics does not extend to romance. Cyrano de Bergerac, pining away for love of his cousin Roxanne, refuses to reveal his affections for fear that she will find his grotesque form unappealing. Instead, Cyrano teaches the beautiful but stupid Christian how to woo Roxanne. Though she initially finds Christian attractive, it is his beautiful poetry and gorgeously written letters -- all penned by Cyrano -- that win her heart. Christian dies in battle before he ever has the chance to tell Roxanne the truth, and Cyrano keeps the secret until his own death. |
| THE FIELD |
| 031591 |
|
| Based on a play by John B. Keane, THE FIELD tells the story of Bull McCabe (Richard Harris), a tradition-bound Irishman who fights to retain the land that his family has been farming for generations. McCabe, who rents the land from a young widow (Frances Tomelty), hopes to take full possession of it when the widow puts it up for auction. None of the villagers try to oppose the fearsome McCabe, but a smooth-talking young Irish American utilities developer (Tom Berenger) attempts to outbid him, shocking the entire village and igniting a tense battle between the two men. As the battle builds toward deadly consequences it threatens to jar loose the McCabe family's dark, painful secret--one that's kept Bull's wife (Brenda Fricker) from talking to him for 18 years. |
| QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER |
| LATENITE 031591 |
|
| Quigley, a stoic American sharpshooter from the old West, travels to the untamed wilderness of the Australian outback after answering an advertisement calling for a man who's handy with a rifle. Once in Australia, the Yank discovers that he's been hired by a despicable landowner named Marston who (with the government's support) wants him to eradicate the area's aboriginal population. Furious, Quigley throws the wealthy despot out a nearby window -- and thus begins a heated vendetta by the spurned Marston to exact deadly revenge against the principled outsider. |
| GOODFELLAS |
| LATENITE 032291 |
|
| Based on Nicholas Pileggi's book WISEGUY, Martin Scorsese’s GOODFELLAS is a wry, violent, and exhilarating film about the life of Henry Hill, an aspiring criminal who ends up in the FBI’s witness protection program after testifying against his former partners. As a poor Irish-Italian growing up in 1950s New York City, Hill (Ray Liotta) rises through the ranks of his Brooklyn neighborhood's organized crime branch, and with money from the mob he begins living the good life, complete with a beautiful bride, Karen (Lorraine Brocco), a fancy home, and the best seats at the most exclusive restaurants. A botched robbery lands Henry in prison for a brief period of time, and when he gets released, his reckless infidelities and drug abuse damage his associations with his adopted family. |
| LIONHEART |
| LATENITE 032291 |
|
| Lyon Gaultier deserts the French Foreign Legion in North Africa when he learns that his brother in Los Angeles has been seriously injured. Fleeing from the Legion's Security Forces, Lyon turns to the illegal, bare-knuckle underground fighting circuit to raise the money he needs to help his brother's family. |
| LIFE AND NOTHING BUT |
| 032991 |
|
| Drama about the relationship that develops between two people as they put their lives back together in post-World War I France. Major Dellaplane is a stoic soldier given the unenviable task of locating over 300,000 MIA's. Irene is a snobby socialite trying to find her missing husband, who joined the army to escape their marriage. Their opposing personalities clash at first, but eventually they fall in love with each other. |
| MISERY |
| LATENITE 032991 |
|
| Romance author Paul Sheldon (James Caan) longs for parting with Misery. Sheldon’s plucky heroine of seven novels has delivered Sheldon fame and fortune and recognition beyond the average writer’s dreams, but she is also interminably linked to him. Determined to escape an eternal role as dimestore novelist, he kills her off in the eighth novel and heads to his New England cabin to work on his own Great American Novel. Upon completion, Sheldon excitedly sets out for his New York City publisher in the midst of a raging blizzard and within minutes veers into a desolate snowbank. From the brink of death, he is rescued from the snow by Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), who just so happens to be Misery’s self-professed biggest fan. At first, she nurses him back to health in her remote cabin, telling him the roads and phones are knocked out by the storm, fawning over his literary accomplishments. However, things change when she purchases his eighth Misery book and reaches the point of Misery's death. Annie’s psychotic underbelly swiftly surfaces as the unfortunate author is held clandestinely captive in her home. Meanwhile, a wily small-town sheriff (Richard Farnsworth) circles in.... |
| HIDDEN AGENDA |
| 040591 |
|
| An implicit condemnation of the repressive tactics of the British government in Northern Ireland, HIDDEN AGENDA stars Brian Cox (THE BOXER), Brad Dourif (MISSISSIPPI BURNING), and Frances McDormand (FARGO). When an American attorney working for a humanitarian group who is investigating the torture of IRA prisoners is killed in Belfast, Inspector Kerrigan (Cox) is sent to investigate the crime. He's joined by Sullivan's fiancée, Ingrid Jessner (McDormand), a lawyer working for the International League of Civil Liberties. They learn that he had been given a tape by a former British army officer named Harris (Maurice Roeves) that contained highly incriminating material concerning the activities of the British government. With some difficulty they track down the elusive officer, leading them to the IRA. This well-made, low-key political thriller was highly controversial upon its release because it cited real names and events in presenting its case for the existence of a conspiracy at the highest levels of the British government. |
| LANDSCAPE IN THE MIST |
| 041291 |
|
| Two Greek children embark on a mystical journey in search of the father they never knew. |
| THE NASTY GIRL |
| 041991 |
|
| The true story of a young woman in a small German town who entered a school essay contest during the 1970s, writing on what her town did during World War II. What she finds to her surprise and dismay is that the Catholic clergy and businessmen who she was raised to respect and admire, and who she fervently believed defied the Nazis, did just the opposite. And, after deciding to write a book on the subject, the more she digs, the more she is thwarted and actually threatened physically by rock throwing and bombs. |
| MY TWENTIETH CENTURY |
| 041991 |
|
| Twins Lili and Dora are born in Budapest on the exact same night in 1880 that Thomas Edison exhibited his lightbulb in Menlo Park, thus introducing the age of modernity. Separated at an early age, the girls grow up to lead different lives, one a revolutionary, the other a seductress. |
| GRAFFITI BRIDGE |
| LATENITE 041991 |
|
| Unofficial sequel to "Purple Rain" about a pair of nightclub owners who split over the musical direction of their club. One believes they should program only the most commercially viable music, while the other pursues his artistic vision with no concern for monetary gain. Their antagonism becomes even more intense when they both fall for the same woman. |
| ALICE |
| LATENITE 041991 |
|
| Alice Tate (Mia Farrow) is a rich Manhattan wife who spends her days shopping, getting pedicures, going to the salon, working out with her personal trainer, and seeing her chiropractor. But when she can't get rid of her back pain, she goes to an Asian herbalist (the wonderful Keye Luke, in his final performance) who gives her special herbs to cure what's really ailing her. Reluctantly, she takes these magical potions, which open up a whole new world for her, releasing her inner self, making her invisible, and allowing her to see dead ex-boyfriends. She begins to regret having given up her career in the theater and considers becoming a writer. Meanwhile, she is getting involved in a serious flirtation with Joe Ruffalo (Joe Mantegna), a divorced saxophone player who is drawn to her, while her very rich, very practical husband, Doug (William Hurt), continues to treat her as not-too-bright window dressing, belittling her and discouraging her attempts to become more independent. But the thought of having an affair terrifies her--and intrigues her. Beautifully photographed by Carlo di Palma, with a wonderful set design by Santo Loquasto, Woody Allen's ALICE is a smart, comic exploration of a woman rediscovering herself, trying to find out what happened to all of her dreams. |
| 3RD ANIMATION CELEBRATION |
| 042691 |
|
| no synopsis available |
| GREEN CARD |
| LATENITE 042691 |
|
| When two strangers agree to a marriage of convenience, they think it's going to be hassle-free. But before they know it, the two opposites are faced with more difficulties than most married couples could ever imagine. And worst yet, they may just be falling in love. Academy Award Nominations: Best (Original) Screenplay. |
| POPCORN |
| LATENITE 042691 |
|
| Maggie (Jill Schoelen) has been suffering recently from terrifying and realistic dreams. When film students hold a "horror-thon" to raise money for their department, they discover a film from the 1960s called THE POSSESSOR which mirrors the events in Maggie's nightmares. The director of THE POSSESSOR was a maniac and a mass-murderer who killed his wife before an audience and then burned them all alive. Now the students themselves are the victims of a real psychotic killer whose crimes are inspired by the gruesome horror movie. |
| THE DOORS |
| LATENITE 050391 |
|
| Val Kilmer stars as Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's electrifying profile of the Doors, which takes the group from its inception to its demise with the death of the "Lizard King" in a Paris hotel room in 1971. In the early days of the group's formation, Morrison is at his most benign; he's just a guy hanging out at the beach writing poetry. But soon the Doors' fame begins to spread--with Morrison as the focus of attention. Capable of an eerily correct vocal imitation of Morrison, Kilmer makes manifest the talent and charisma, as well as the confusion and despair, of the complex man who was the focal point of the group. As Morrisson's drug consumption and erratic behavior increase exponentially, the rest of the band--Ray Manzarek (Kyle McLachalan), John Densmore (Kevin Dillon), and Robby Krieger (Frank Whaley)--begins to grow tired of his late arrivals, the increasing number of cancellations, and the drunken recording sessions requiring infinite retakes. But no one can help Morrison as he spirals downward into an inferno of drugs, alcohol, public obscenity, and depression, bringing the music to an untimely close. |
| ROSENCRATNZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD |
| 051091 |
|
| Centering on two minor characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet, two off-kilter rogues are summoned to the court of the King of Denmark, where they meet a traveling entertainer and attempt to solve a mystery. Based on Tom Stoppard's play, this film won Best Picture at the 1991 Venice Film Festival. |
| MR. AND MRS. BRIDGE |
| 051091 |
|
| Directed by James Ivory, MR. & MRS. BRIDGE stars Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward as Walter and India Bridge, a traditional couple living in Kansas City in the 1940s. The Bridges have three children: the strong-willed Ruth (Kyra Sedgwick); Douglas (Robert Sean Leonard), a carbon copy of his conservative father; and Caroline (Margaret Welsh), a college student and romantic. After years spent in a sheltered marriage, India is forced to reevaluate her long-standing values when her best friend, Grace (Blythe Danner), becomes disillusioned with their straitlaced social group. Simon Callow plays Dr. Alex Sauer, Walter’s nemesis and a proponent of psychoanalysis. The movie is based on the novels of Evan Connell, skillfully rendering the author's perspective on deeply held American social mores and values. |
| FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3 IN 3-D |
| LATENITE 051091 |
|
| Jason Voorhees (Richard Brooker) returns again to Camp Crystal Lake, where he drowned nearly three decades before while some negligent camp counselors made out on the beach. Understandably upset by this turn of events, Jason continues to haunt his old stomping grounds, dealing death to those thrill-seeking teens who venture into the woods. This time around, Jason faces tougher victims in the form of a motorcycle gang and dons what is to become his trademark hockey mask. The original theatrical release featured 3-D effects. |
| LENINGRAD COWBOYS GO AMERICA |
| 051791 |
|
| Comedy about the Leningrad Cowboys, a terrible accordion band from Finland, who nevertheless come to America to become rock stars. After their arrival in the U.S., the outrageous musicians go on a small-scale tour filled with misadventures and peculiarities (such as carrying the coffined corpse of a group member with them everywhere they go). |
| LA FEMME NIKITA |
| 052491 |
|
| A strung-out sociopath, sentenced to death for shooting a cop, is instead turned into an assassin by the French government in this exciting, yet thoughtful slant on the "Pygmalion" story. Trained in martial arts and coached by her mentor, she is slowly transformed into a cultured, sophisticated feminine killer. But when she re-enters the real world and falls in love, she finds it impossible to reconcile her new feelings with her profession. |
| SUPERSTAR: LIFE AND TIMES OF ANDY WARHOL |
| 052491 |
|
| Quite possibly the most recognized and influential American artist of the 20th century, Andy Warhol remains something of an enigma. Always reticent with the media, Warhol nonetheless clamored for the spotlight and always made sure he was surrounded by the rich and famous. Here, Chuck Workman tries to get inside the life of Mr. Warhol by bringing together interviews with the artist himself, innumerable celebrities, Warhol's family, and some Campbell's Soup executives. However, true to Warhol's image and his art, Workman ends up with an incredibly diverse portrait of both Warhol's art and his celebrity, providing a rare glimpse at what Warhol's Factory was like in the sixties and seventies. |
| SKI SCHOOL |
| LATENITE 052491 |
|
| Rival ski instructors at a prestigious school compete to keep their jobs. The infamous "Section Eight," as famous for its dedication to partying as for its skiing ability is up against a congregation of stiffs whose only thought is of beating their arch rivals in the annual spring pageant. |
| 1900 |
| 053091 |
|
Bernardo Bertolucci used the clout and resources he had gained from LAST TANGO IN PARIS to realize the ambitious historical epic 1900. Alfredo (Robert De Niro) and Olmo (Gerard Depardieu) are born on the same day, but Alfredo is the grandson of a wealthy landowner (Burt Lancaster), while Olmo is a bastard born to the peasants who work the rich man's land. The boys grow up as friends who cannot understand the chasm of privilege that separates them--until the time comes for Alfredo to inherit the farm and Olmo the plow. It looks as though Alfredo, under the influence of his worldly wife, Ada (Dominique Sanda), will at least be more enlightened than his predecessors. But Atilla (Donald Sutherland), the local fascist, yokes him (along with the rest of the landowners) to his Black Shirt brutality. Meanwhile, Olmo commits himself, and the peasants he has come to lead, to the hopes of socialism. Although lives are ruined and war ensues, Alfredo and Olmo refuse to let the bewildering course of history destroy their friendship. Bertolucci covers the forty-five-year arc with deft characterization and arresting visuals, including an ear-cutting scene that puts Van Gogh and Quentin Tarantino to shame. The international cast, including Italian, French, and American actors, is superb. |
| L.A. STORY |
| LATENITE 060791 |
|
A wacky TV weatherman loses his job after taking off yet another weekend -- after all, he figures, L.A. weather never changes, does it? And his personal life is a mess too, because his relationship with his long-time girlfriend has gone kaput. Everything looks pretty dismal, when he unexpectedly meets a British journalist on assignment in L.A. and falls instantly in love. He fears he has no chance with her, though, and in desperation he starts a relationship with a ditzy young shopgirl who introduces him to the wonders of rollerskating and colonics. All the while he pines away for the journalist. Then, while driving down the L.A. freeways, he suddenly realizes that one of the highway signs is trying to communicate with him. He stops to read the messages, takes a risk, and trusts in them to save his life. |
| THE MARRYING MAN |
| LATENITE 060791 |
|
| A lothario visits Las Vegas with his friends to celebrate his engagement. While there he falls in love with a sultry singer -- who just happens to be Bugsy Siegel's girlfriend! Siegel catches the two together, and as punishment, forces the couple to get married. The duo quickly divorce, but they can't stop thinking about each other... |
| THE OBJECT OF BEAUTY |
| 061491 |
|
| Jake and his girlfriend Tina reside at a ritzy London hotel... which they can't afford. They have in their possession a small statue sculpted by Henry Moore, a gift from Tina's estranged husband. The financially troubled Jake is entertaining thoughts of selling the artwork -- worth $50,000 -- to solve some of his money problems. But a wrench is thrown in the works when a maid enamored with the figure steals it, although she is unaware of its high value. This puts a wedge in Jake and Tina's relationship, as each believes the other has stolen the statue... |
| AY CARMELA! |
| 061491 |
|
| Left leaning, though somewhat apolitical, cabaret artists Carmela (Carmen Maura) and Paulino (Andres Pajares) agree to entertain the Republican troops at the Argon front during the Spanish Civil War. With them is Gustavete (Gabino Diego), an adolescent boy they rescued from a bombing attack earlier in the war. After stealing gasoline to escape the fighting, they are captured on their way to Valencia by the Fascists. When Gustavete, who now forms part of their act, mistakenly tells the Nationalists that they were coming from a town controlled by the Communists, they are imprisoned. Certain to be shot, they are given a chance to live when a former theater director, now a Lieutenant with the Italian troops fighting along with the Germans in support of Franco, asks them to put on a show glorifying Mussolini and Hitler. |
| SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY |
| LATENITE 061491 |
|
| Laura's life with her handsome and successful husband seems perfect to those looking at it from the outside. But behind closed doors, Laura resides in a personal hell. Her husband is a psychotic, controlling perfectionist, and his escalating emotional and physical abuse eventually leads the desperate Laura to plot her escape. One stormy night she leaps from the bow of her husband's sailboat and swims for shore. Her husband initially believes that she drowned; meanwhile, Laura "resurfaces" in a college town in Iowa. Attempting to rebuild her shattered life, Laura changes her name, takes a new job in the campus library, and makes friends with a sensitive and sweet drama teacher. But this happiness proves to be ephemeral when her crazed husband gets wise to the deception and turns up in the Midwest determined to bring his wife back home -- whatever it takes. |
| DEFENDING YOUR LIFE |
| 061491 |
|
| Daniel Miller's got it all--great friends, a terrific job, and a brand-new BMW--that is, until he crashes the car into a bus as soon as he drives it off the lot. Daniel finds himself in Judgment City in the afterlife, where the newly dead have five days to defend the way they lived their lives in order to be allowed to move onward instead of going back to earth to live another one. As Daniel reviews his less-than-courageous life, he also enjoys the perks of Judgment City--the Past Lives Pavilion, all the food you can eat without any risk of weight gain--and Julia, the woman he's waited all his life to find. But if he can't prove his life wasn't governed by fear, Daniel has to go back--and Julia seems a shoo-in to move onward. This highly original, touching comedy stars Albert Brooks as Daniel Miller and Meryl Streep as Julia, with hilarious supporting performances by Rip Torn as Daniel's defender, Lee Grant as his prosecutor, and Buck Henry as a taciturn substitute lawyer. |
| IRON AND SILK |
| 062191 |
|
| Fascinated with martial arts and the Chinese culture, Mark takes a job teaching English at a small college in mainland China. Instead of finding the serene, spiritual place he imagined, he finds a bustling city full of political turmoil and a distrust for foreigners. Based on a true story. |
| NEW JACK CITY |
| LATENITE 062191 |
|
| A violent, kinetic gangster film with a strong anti-drug message, NEW JACK CITY is set in the mid-1980s during the height of the crack epidemic. Two street-wise undercover cops (Judd Nelson, Mario Van Peebles) go after Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes), a ruthless drug lord with extravagant taste in home furnishings. Desperate to bring down his multi-million dollar cocaine empire, they send Pookie (Chris Rock), a former street hustler and rehabilitated crack addict, into Nino's drug factory as an undercover spy. When the plan misfires, the cops must face Nino and his henchman in a bloody showdown. |
| KING RALPH |
| LATENITE 062191 |
|
| When a freak accident wipes out the entire royal family, an exhaustive search of the bloodline reveals a distant heir: Ralph Jones. A good-natured, down-to-earth Las Vegas lounge singer, Ralph is quickly given a crash course in royal manners. But his unconventional behavior provides fuel for a fiendish plot by a neighboring Lord to oust the new king. |
| IMPROMPTU |
| 062891 |
|
| An exploration of the relationship between writer George Sand and composer Frederic Chopin. Sand who dresses up as a man, becomes enraptured by Chopin (Hugh Grant). Life becomes rather amusing when Sand shows up as an unexpected guest at the royal mansion of the Baron and Baroness d'Antan. Here she encounters not only Chopin and friends Liszt and Delacroix, but lover Felicien Mallefille and the man of her dreams, Alfred de Musset. |
| THE VANISHING |
| 062891 |
|
| Three years after the mysterious abduction of his girlfriend while the two were on vacation, a man tracks down her kidnapper. The abductor, a seemingly normal professor who contacts the young man through the mail, is actually a cold-hearted clinician of terror. When her kidnapper promises to reveal the location of his lost loved one, their confrontation explodes. |
| HUDSON HAWK |
| LATENITE 062891 |
|
| Hudson Hawk (Bruce Willis) has done his time. The infamous cat burglar is released from prison and plans to pursue an honest life. Some of his cronies, however, feel differently and coerce him back into a life of crime. With his best friend, Tommy Five-Tune (Danny Aiello), in tow, Hawk finds himself immersed in a series of complex burglaries, culminating with the theft of a priceless Leonardo da Vinci treasure from the Vatican. Every time Hawk thinks he has the situation under control, a new villain is thrown into the mix. A plethora of quirky characters keeps Hawk hopping, including a misguided secret-agent nun (Andie MacDowell), a greedy, megatrendy couple determined to dominate the world (Sandra Bernhard and Richard E. Grant), a ruthless butler (Donald Burton), and a sinister CIA agent (James Coburn) who heads a team of agents nicknamed after candy bars. Director Michael Lehmann (HEATHERS, AIRHEADS) uses slapstick comedy, special effects, and sight gags to keep the action moving at a raucous pace. |
| SILENCE OF THE LAMBS |
| LATENITE 070591 |
|
| Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins will likely be forever associated with their roles in this bone-chilling masterpiece, based on the novel by Thomas Harris and directed by Jonathan Demme. FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Foster) is sent by her supervisor (Scott Glenn) to interview ferociously intelligent serial killer Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lechter (Hopkins) at his cell in a Maryland mental hospital. The FBI hopes Lechter can provide insight into the mind of killer-at-large, Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine), whose current abductee happens to be the daughter of a senator. Intrigued by Clairice, Lechter demands information about her personal life and in exchange for clues, and the two begin to form a strangely intimate connection, with a girl's life hanging in the balance. Starling is gradually revealed as a woman struggling out of her own darkness, bound to aid the dysfunctional males around her on their own paths of transformation, liberation, and destruction. This is a film of brilliant and disturbing beauty that transcends its B-movie origins (though it does honor them with a cameo appearance by Roger Corman). Its enduring influence has led to a slew of similarly dark-toned serial killer films, and a sequel, HANNIBAL (2001). |
| MORTAL THOUGHTS |
| LATENITE 070591 |
|
| Demi Moore stars in this suspenseful, atmospheric thriller as Cynthia, a middle class New Jersey woman who gets involved in murder. Harvey Keitel plays a detective who grills Cynthia for a videotaped confession and the bulk of the movie progresses in a series of flashbacks that accompany Cynthia's testimony. Bruce Willis plays James Urbanski, the violent, drug-addict husband of Cynthia’s friend Joyce (Glenne Headly) who is murdered one fateful evening at a nearby Feast of San Gennarro festival. Lots of Jersey Italian-style yelling and screaming goes on in the aftermath, with goodfella Frank Vincent in the cast, along with Karen Shallo, Crystal Field, and John Pankow as Cynthia's sullen real estate agent husband. There’s also betrayals, threats, and a twist ending. Director Alan Rudolph captures the local New Jersey flavor beautifully and imbues the proceedings with depth via rich photography and use of slow motion and quick cuts. Willis is particulalry good, in a disturbing sort of way, in this, his first collaboration with future ex-wife Moore. |
| EATING |
| 071291 |
|
| A group of women at a birthday party sit around and reveal their feelings about food, life, and each other. Shot in an appealing verite style. |
| MISTER JOHNSON |
| 071291 |
|
| Adapted from Joyce Cary's tragicomic novel about his experiences in the British civil service, the film stars Maynard Eziashi as the eponymous Mister Johnson. He works as a clerk for British administrator Harry Rudbeck (Pierce Brosnan), in a small town in West Africa in 1923. Far better educated than any other African in town, he worships all things British and wishes for nothing more than to be considered a British gentleman. Rudbeck harbors the dream of building a "great northern road" which would connect his small outpost with the capital, and when funding evaporates, it seems that work must be halted. Always eager to please, Johnson suggests to his boss that they cook the books to finish the road, and Rudbeck readily approves. Of course, when the scheme is uncovered, it's Johnson, not Rudbeck, who is dismissed. Although shaken, Johnson is soon hired as a clerk in a general store owned by alcoholic Sargy Gollup (Edward Woodward), but is fired for embezzlement. He's hired back as a supervisor on the road project, which Rudbeck's revived, and Johnson's penchant for creative financing is born anew. Eziashi handles a difficult role with intelligence and grace in this subtle, carefully balanced whimsical comedy. |
| F/X 2 |
| LATENITE 071291 |
|
| F/X man Rollie Tyler is now a toymaker. Mike, the ex-husband of his girlfriend, Kim is a cop. He asks Rollie to help him catch a killer. And the operation was going well when some unknown man kills both the killer and Mike. Mike's boss, Silak says it was the killer who killed Mike but Rollie knows it wasn't. Obviously Silak is involved with Mike's death, so he calls on Leo McCarthy, the cop from the last movie, who is now a P.I. for help. And they discover it's not just Silak whom they have to worry about. |
| POISON |
| 071991 |
|
| In director Todd Haynes's feature film debut, POISON, three stories, each told in their own unique cinematic style, illustrate the lives of a people living outside the fringes of "normal" society. There is "Hero," the pseudo-documentary about a seven-year-old boy who kills his own father; "Horror," a sci-fi spoof about a brilliant research scientist who becomes the victim of his own biochemical discovery when he finds the source of the human sex drive; and "Homo," a noirish drama exploring the obsessive, and sexual, relationship between two male prisoners. As each compelling story is told, their themes become inextricably linked, and the tension intensifies, culminating in an explosive climax of unsettled emotions. POISON is perhaps Todd Haynes most experimental, and most controversial, film. |
| MADONNA: TRUTH OR DARE |
| LATENITE 071991 |
|
| A combination concert film and behind-the-scenes look at America's reigning goddess of pop music. Using the cinema verité techniques pioneered by rockumentarian D.A. Pennebaker, director Alek Keshishian documents the human drama -- and comedy -- occurring backstage during Madonna's 1990 "Blond Ambition" Tour. Watch Madonna cajole, scold and cavort with her dancers; bicker with boyfriend Warren Beatty; visit with family members and childhood friends; stand up to the authorities who want to censor segments of her concert; and insult Kevin Costner. Listen to her talk unabashedly about sex and other matters of the heart. This elegantly grainy black and white, 16mm "offstage" (Madonna's always "on," of course) footage is contrasted with stunning concert segments shot in glowing 35mm color and featuring state-of-the-art sound. |
| DROWNING BY NUMBERS |
| 072691 |
|
| Three generations of women with the same name have rid themselves of their unwanted husbands in the same manner - they drown them. The local coroner agrees to declare the deaths accidental in return for sexual favors. But when things don't go exactly as planned, he devises a final game that could result in the undoing of them all. A darkly humorous, twisted rendering from grim auteur Greenaway, boasting his trademark lush production design (marked by the sequential appearance of the numbers 1-100), surreal touches (like the fanciful voiceover narration delivered by a death-obsessed boy), and unflinching depictions of sex, nudity, and violence. |
| LAWRENCE OF ARABIA |
| 080291 |
|
| David Lean's masterpiece, perhaps the greatest of screen epics, stars Peter O'Toole in one of the most electrifying debuts in film history. The film is less an ordinary adventure than an experience that leaves an overwhelming sense memory of the struggle between two powerful forces: the Arabian deserts, immense, intractable, ever-shifting, punishing; and T.E. Lawrence, humble as a monk, flamboyant as a rock star, protean, polymathic, heroic, enigmatic, mad. While working on the staff of British Intelligence in Cairo in 1916, Lawrence's fluency in Arabic earns him a post on a mission sent to establish contact with Prince Feisal (Alec Guinness), leader of the Arab revolt and ally of the British against the German-sponsored Turks in WWI. Impressed by Lawrence's knowledge of their culture, the prince allows the young officer to join his staff, and Lawrence quickly earns the Arabs' respect after he executes acts of extraordinary heroism. As the Englishman's genius for guerrilla warfare becomes evident, he assumes the role of de facto leader of the Arab revolt, uniting the heretofore warring tribes into a devastatingly effective weapon. But the chaos of war also unleashes the repressed officer's powerful need for self-abasement and mortification of the flesh. A visionary work that unfolds one indelible image after another, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA fuses the conflict of man against man, man against nature, and man against himself into a sublime poem of force. The film features a literate script by Robert Bolt and an outstanding cast, which also includes Claude Rains, Jack Hawkins, Arthur Kennedy, Anthony Quinn, Jose Ferrer, and Omar Sharif in his unforgettable desert-crossing debut. |
| WHAT ABOUT BOB |
| LATENITE 080291 |
|
| The day he leaves on a month’s vacation, best-selling author and renowned psychiatrist Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss) acquires a new patient, the multiphobic Bob Wiley (Bill Murray). Consumed by his fears of germs, enclosed spaces, and other people, Bob tracks Dr. Marvin to his New Hampshire retreat and arrives on his doorstep for treatment. Dr. Marvin’s professional but strained advice to "take a vacation from your phobias" is translated by Bob to mean "take a vacation in New Hampshire," and he starts to become a fixture in their home, to Marvin’s growing incredulity and rage--especially when his wife and children, charmed by Bob’s childlike enthusiasm, start to think Bob is more fun than Marvin. There seems to be only one way to get rid of Bob, and that’s to do it permanently. |
| DROP DEAD FRED |
| LATENITE 080291 |
|
| A comic fantasy about an ineffectual young woman who leaves her unfaithful husband and returns home only to be oppressed by her overbearing mother. Everything changes when Elizabeth is revisted by her imaginary childhood friend, "Drop Dead Fred." The mischievous Fred enters Elizabeth's life like a whirlwind of unbridled id, shaking her out of her passivity with his outrageous antics. Egged on by Fred, Elizabeth embarks on a campaign to win back her errant husband. |
| TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY |
| 080991 |
|
| In Anthony Minghella's directorial debut, Nina (Juliet Stevenson) is trying to put her life back together following the untimely death of her boyfriend, Jamie (Alan Rickman). She still hears his voice in her head, telling her to lock the back door, or instructing her in the proper way to brush her teeth. Nina gets the shock of her life when Jamie returns to her--still dead, but there in the flesh nevertheless. Just as the two settle back into their comfortable relationship, Nina meets Mark (Michael Maloney), a kind, quirky fellow who is obviously drawn to her. Nina is then caught between two worlds and two men--one dead and from and her past, the other alive and in the present. A supporting cast of mildly eccentric characters adds flavor to this romantic comedy about finding love where and when you least expect it. Stevenson is enchanting as Nina, instilling her with humor and grief simultaneously. Rickman's performance as Jamie, a dead cellist who brings other dead friends to hang out at Nina's flat, is wonderfully subtle and droll. |
| 1000 PIECES OF GOLD |
| 080991 |
|
| A poignant true story about a young Chinese woman torn from her homeland and forced into a mining town bordello in frontier America. Here, she eventually finds love. |
| ` |
| JUNGLE FEVER |
| LATENITE 080991 |
|
| Spike Lee's drama is a complex, multilayered, and volatile look at interracial romance in present-day New York City. Flipper Purify (Wesley Snipes), an up-and-coming African American architect, seems to have it all: a successful career, a nice apartment on a renovated street in Harlem, a beautiful, intelligent wife whom he adores, and a bright, loving daughter. The last thing he expects is to find himself in an affair with a blue-collar Italian American from Bensonhurst. But soon after Angie Tucci (Annabella Sciorra) comes to work in his office, the two end up staying late together and having intimate talks over takeout Chinese food. Inevitably a romance begins, leaving Flipper and Angie caught up in the fury and suspicion of the racial prejudice of their families and friends. As their lives unravel, so does their affair, and they wonder if their relationship ever had a chance from the beginning. As usual with Lee, he isn’t content to tackle simply one issue in his films--in JUNGLE FEVER, he addresses, for perhaps the first time, the drug epidemic in the African American community. In this subplot, Samuel L. Jackson plays Gator, Flipper’s crackhead brother, with an intensity that is almost too painful to watch. |
| SOAPDISH |
| LATENITE 080991 |
|
| Jealousy and intrigue, on and off the set of a popular daytime soap opera. Celeste Talbert (Sally Field) is the neurotic diva of "The Sun Also Sets," but her popularity with the show's fans does not extend to her relationships with her envious co-stars. Sultry Montana Moorehead (Cathy Moriarty) has set her eyes on the soap's top spot, and she even offers to sleep with the show's nervous young producer if he'll have Celeste written off the program. In a moment of inspiration, the horny executive decides to bring Talbert's hated ex-lover, Jeffrey Anderson (Kevin Kline), back onto the series, with the hope of driving the fragile star to an early retirement. The fact that Anderson's character was decapitated in an earlier episode is seen as a difficult, but not insurmountable, obstacle. |
| CITIZEN KANE |
| 081691 |
|
| CITIZEN KANE is Orson Welles's greatest achievement--and a landmark of cinema history. The story charts the rise and fall of a newspaper publisher whose wealth and power ultimately isolates him in his castle-like refuge. The film's protagonist, Charles Foster Kane, was based on a composite of Howard Hughes and William Randolph Hearst--so much so that Hearst tried to have the film suppressed. Every aspect of the production marked an advance in film language: the deep focus and deeply shadowed cinematography (from Gregg Toland); the discontinuous narrative, relying heavily on flashbacks and newsreel footage (propelled by a script largely written by Herman L. Mankiewicz); the innovative use of sound and score (sound by Bailey Fesler and James G. Stewart, music composed and conducted by Bernard Herrmann); and the ensemble acting forged in the fires of Welles's Mercury Theatre (featuring the film debuts of, among others, Joseph Cotten, Everett Sloane, and Agnes Moorehead). Every moment of the film, every shot, has been choreographed to perfection. The film is essential viewing, quite possibly the greatest film ever made and, along with THE BIRTH OF A NATION, certainly the most influential. |
| PASTIME |
| 082391 |
|
| Roy Dean is a 41-year-old pitcher for a minor league team. Long ago, he had his chance at the majors, but lost it. But baseball's all he's got and all he cares about until the team signs young Tyrone, a rookie with an arm that throws smoke. The two become pals and Roy Dean wants to give Tyrone, obviously bound for the majors, a few pointers. Unfortunately for Roy Dean, the lessons will have to be taught and learned very quickly. |
| TATIE DANIELLE |
| 082391 |
|
| When an aunt moves in with her great nephew, he and his wife hope that she will be the grandmother the children never had. However, it doesn't take long for this cantankerous old lady to make everyone's lives miserable. |
| BACKDRAFT |
| LATENITE 082391 |
|
| Two feuding brothers carry on a heroic family tradition in the Chicago Fire Department. Before the smoke clears, love affairs are rekindled and lives are shattered as the brothers fight to resolve their differences and solve a puzzling series of arson attacks, each ignited by explosive phenomena known as backdrafts. |
| EVERYBODY'S FINE |
| 083091 |
|
| A bittersweet tale of family love and family secrets, EVERYBODY'S FINE stars Marcello Mastroianni as Matteo Scuro, a retired Sicilian bureaucrat who has seen his friends and his own children leave his island for success on the Italian mainland. Determined to have a family reunion, he decides to travel to the mainland to surprise his five children. His journey takes him to the vast cities of modern Italy, where he is forced to face a chaotic and anxious modern way of life. He begins his journey in Naples, looking for his son Alvaro (Salvatore Cascio), but can not find him. Then he visits Rome, where he sees his son Canio (Marino Cenna), but quickly leaves the chaotic city for Florence, and the home of his daughter Tosca (Valeria Cavalli). In Milan, Matteo visits Guglielmo (Robert Nobile) and his troubled teenage son (Fabio Lellini). Finally, his mission takes takes him to Torino where he visits Norma (Norma Martelli). Matteo is consistently struck by his own children's need to hide their pain and troubles from him, but ultimately, at their family reunion in Rome, Matteo discovers that his children are hiding a wrenching family secret. This beautifully filmed slice of modern Italian life is a poignant portrait of a father's unrealized dreams for his children. Mastroianni is delightful as the keenly observant yet traditional father of five children, named after his most beloved operas. A truly Italian homage to life, family, and operatic moments of tragedy and self-realization, EVERYBODY'S FINE is directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. |
| THE BRITISH ANIMATION INVASION |
| 083091 |
|
| no synopsis available. |
| BODY PARTS |
| LATENITE 083091 |
|
| Crime psychologist Bill Crushank loses his arm in a car crash. A beautiful but mad doctor replaces the limb with one from a deranged, executed serial killer. Soon, Bill starts having bad dreams and mood swings, and the arm itself often acts strangely. Concerned, Bill tracks down others who have received body parts from the murderer, to see if they have experienced any side effects. They have not. Bill's dilemma: is his mind causing these changes in his personality, or does the limb have an evil will of its own -- capable of murder? |
| SPARTACUS |
| 091391 |
|
| SPARTACUS, based on Howard Fast's popular novel, is Stanley Kubrick's glorious masterpiece about a slave uprising in Rome in 70 B.C. Kirk Douglas, who also served as executive producer, stars as the title character, a man born of a slave woman and a slave master who has known nothing but chains his entire life. After being forced to put on a gladiator show--that almost leads to his death--for wealthy Romans (including a marvelously conniving Laurence Olivier as the power-hungry Crassus), Spartacus leads a slave revolt across Italy that soon has thousands marching on Rome. Meanwhile, he has fallen in love with the beautiful Varinia (an effervescent Jean Simmons), pledging his life to her. |
| THE MIRACLE |
| 091391 |
|
| "The Miracle" is the quirky story of Jimmy, a teenager living in a coastal town in Ireland. His prime hobby is hanging around the seashore with his friend Rose and inventing stories about people on the beach. Then he meets Renee, a beautiful American woman who is performing in a theatre production in Dublin. Infatuated, Jimmy follows Renee around trying to seduce her. She resists but still agrees to spend time with the boy. Rose becomes jealous of Jimmy's relationship with Renee, so she takes up with another man, a performer in a visiting circus. After a terrible row with his father, who has forbidden him to see Renee, Jimmy learns Renee's real identity. |
| DELIRIOUS |
| LATENITE 091391 |
|
| A lovesick soap opera writer suffers a concussion and dreams he is living in his own sudser. On the over side of the small screen, he changes the plot by retyping the script. The writer discovers the kind-hearted actress-wannabe is his true love over the steamy soap star. |
| MYSTERY DATE |
| LATENITE 091391 |
|
| After spending an entire summer obsessing over the beautiful girl housesitting next door, shy Tom allows his slick, more confident brother Craig to set him up on a date with her. The operation involves a "Craig" makeover, the theft of Craig's classic car, borrowed identification, and, unfortunately, three dead bodies, a psychotic florist, and lethal threats from a Chinatown mob boss. An above-average teen "caper" romance, with a few unusually grim plot points. |
| PARIS IS BURNING |
| 092091 |
|
| Documentary about the Harlem drag balls thrown by predominantly inner city black and Latino gay men in the mid-1980s. The film features footage of the actual "drag" pageants, as well as interviews with ball participants, who describe their backgrounds and dreams, and the intricacies of their rich and detailed dialect. A fascinating look at the complexities of this elaborate subculture. |
| STRAIGHT OUT OF BROOKLYN |
| 092091 |
|
| Trapped in a world of desperation, drugs and constant danger, Dennis is desperate to escape. Though encouraged by his parents to go to college, Dennis has run out of patience. Joined by his equally frustrated friends, they plan a heist. But robbing the neighborhood's most ruthless drug dealer makes Dennis and his buddies targets for revenge. Winner of a Special Jury Recognition award at the Sundance Film Festival. |
| THE DOORS |
| LATENITE 092091 |
|
| Val Kilmer stars as Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's electrifying profile of the Doors, which takes the group from its inception to its demise with the death of the "Lizard King" in a Paris hotel room in 1971. In the early days of the group's formation, Morrison is at his most benign; he's just a guy hanging out at the beach writing poetry. But soon the Doors' fame begins to spread--with Morrison as the focus of attention. Capable of an eerily correct vocal imitation of Morrison, Kilmer makes manifest the talent and charisma, as well as the confusion and despair, of the complex man who was the focal point of the group. As Morrisson's drug consumption and erratic behavior increase exponentially, the rest of the band--Ray Manzarek (Kyle McLachalan), John Densmore (Kevin Dillon), and Robby Krieger (Frank Whaley)--begins to grow tired of his late arrivals, the increasing number of cancellations, and the drunken recording sessions requiring infinite retakes. But no one can help Morrison as he spirals downward into an inferno of drugs, alcohol, public obscenity, and depression, bringing the music to an untimely close. |
| BRIGHT ANGEL |
| 092791 |
|
| Lucy arrives in Great Falls, Montana just as George's dad kicks his mother out of the house for sleeping around. So it's high time for George to blow this joint -- and Lucy has just the destination: Casper, Wyoming, where she intends to grease the palms of a crook named Bob who's about to testify against her brother. For a small fee Bob just might forget what he knows. But Bob's partner, Art, has his own plan for the cash, and now Bob's carcass is occupying a comfy spot in Art's trunk. For Lucy and George this spells trouble -- and now they're speeding down the highway towards disaster. |
| BARTON FINK |
| 100491 |
|
| BARTON FINK is steeped in homage, to everything from Stanley Kubrick's THE SHINING to Roman Polanski's THE TENANT, in which inanimate objects (hotels, apartments) represent the decaying mind of the protagonist. Like Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) at the haunted Overlook Hotel, Barton is at the Hotel Earle to write but is having problems. The wallpaper keeps falling down, oozing out a sticky substance (brain matter?) as weird noises and whispers appear to come from nowhere and everywhere. Director of photography Roger Deakins takes long shots of the narrow hallway, filled with shoes to be shined, that echo Kubrick's long shots of the Overlook hallways. With the many references to the mind and the head, the screenplay imagines Barton's hotel room as the inner workings of his decaying mind, as Roman Polanski did with the apartment in THE TENANT. And the hotel itself might just be hell; when Barton first enters the seemingly vacant, rotting hotel and rings the bell, Chet (Coen regular Steve Buscemi) comes up from a trap door in the floor as if he has emerged from the bowels of the underworld. The wrestling picture that is screened for Barton to give him ideas is called DEVIL ON THE CANVAS. Next-door neighbor Charlie Meadows (John Goodman) sweats more and more as the film continues, getting hotter and hotter, and is always throwing around the words "damn," "hell," and "Jesus." Finally, the painting on the wall over the typewriter that Barton stares into longingly shows a woman on a beautiful beach, where the soothing waves seem to be audible; it is as if that picture represents the heavenly world outside while Barton is trapped in the hell inside. The Coen brothers wrote BARTON FINK in about three weeks while unable to complete the screenplay for MILLER'S CROSSING; it seems that their severe case of writer's block put them through their own personal hell, ending in a fiery finale of creativity run amok. |
| DARK OBSESSION |
| 100491 |
| While driving home drunk, after a boisterous party, Hugo, a member of the British gentry accidentally kills a young woman. The four others in the car with him are sworn to secrecy. But Hugo's guilt over the death plunges him into patterns of bizarre behavior, alternating between rage and obsessive jealousy regarding his beautiful wife, which culminate in tragedy. |
| BLOOD IN THE FACE |
| 101191 |
|
| A left-leaning documentary look at the far right movement in the U.S., featuring footage and profiles on the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nations movement, the American Nazi Party, and Louisiana politician David Duke. Both funny and disturbing. |
| THELMA AND LOUISE |
| 101191 |
|
| Fed up with her boyfriend (Michael Madsen), live-wire Arkansas waitress Louise Sawyer (Susan Sarandon) persuades her friend Thelma Dickinson (Geena Davis), a naive housewife burdened with a negligent, sexist husband (Christopher McDonald), to hit the road with her for a weekend of freedom. One of their first stops is a bar where the women relax, dance, and flirt with some of the locals. But the situation turns ugly when one man (Timothy Carhart) follows Thelma to the parking lot and attempts to rape her, causing Louise to shoot and accidentally kill him. Convinced that the police will never believe their version of the incident, the women take off, now fugitives from the law. Emboldened by recent events, Thelma picks up studly young cowboy J.D. (Brad Pitt) in Oklahoma and enjoys a one-night stand that leads to even more trouble. Director Ridley Scott's infamous feminist road movie ranks among the best films of the 1990s. Along with BLADE RUNNER and ALIEN, the film is one of Scott's finest works, largely because of Callie Khourie's vivid, brilliantly idiosyncratic script, wonderful performances from the two leads, and Adrian's Biddle's crisp photography of the American Southwest. |
| BILL AND TED'S BOGUS JOURNEY |
| LATENITE 101191 |
|
| This time out, our two vacuous but loveable teenagers are thrown off a cliff and sent to Hell, where they are tortured with a succession of stylishly realized nightmares. The duo need to escape the fires of Hades in enough time to make it to the "battle of the bands" their rock group has entered. In order to free themselves they engage the "Grim Reaper" in a gut-wrenching series of contests testing the limits of human discipline and intelligence. Victorious, they return to Earth to battle the pair of evil robotic doubles who originally killed them, and have since taken their places -- wreaking havoc with the dudes' personal lives. |
| MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO |
| 101891 |
|
| Semi-documentary footage of Seattle street hustling mixes with highly theatrical Shakespearean speech in this very loose adaptation of "Henry IV." In Seattle, Mike, a male prostitute and narcoleptic, meets Scott, who is rebelling against his wealthy family by working the streets. The two decide to embark on a search for Mike's long-lost mother, and their journey leads them first to Mike's home in Idaho and then to Italy. |
| A FLAME IN MY HEART |
| LATENITE 101891 |
|
| no synopsis available |
| DELUSION |
| 102591 |
|
| While crossing the desert near death valley, George, an ambitious executive from Los Angeles, witnesses a car accident. He stops to help and offers to drive the couple to the next town. He turns out to be a sadistic hit man, and his girlfriend, a Vegas chorus girl. |
| SEX, DRUGS, AND ROCK AND ROLL |
| 110191 |
|
| Based on performance artist Eric Bogosian's one-man stage show, SEX, DRUGS, ROCK & ROLL provides an oppurtunity for both Bogosian and director John McNaughton to do what they do best: shed a jittery light on the darker reaches of the human psyche. On a bare stage, with the benefit of only a few props, Bogosian uses his extraordinary skills as a mimic to create 10 painful, hilarious characters, including a remorseless killer, a pompous British pop star, a simpering beggar, an unscrupulous lawyer, a street punk, and a New Jersey millionaire in love with the grotesque trappings of suburban life. |
| TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY |
| LATENITE 110191 |
|
| A decade after Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) destroyed the original Terminator, a second unstoppable killing machine (Arnold Schwarzenegger) arrives from the post-apocalyptic year 2029. But this time his mission is to stop an even deadlier Terminator, the T-1000 (Robert Patrick), made entirely of shape-shifting liquid metal and determined to kill young John Connor (Edward Furlong), the future leader of the human resistance. Sarah, John, and the Terminator counter by going after the scientist responsible for developing Skynet, the computer system fated to destroy humanity, leading to an explosive and spectacular clash with the fate of humanity in the balance. Whereas James Cameron's original THE TERMINATOR was a low-budget marvel of efficiency and speed, TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY is an action-packed blockbuster with some of the most amazing stunts ever filmed and ground-breaking, Academy Award-winning special effects. Star Schwarzenegger was paid in the form of a $15 million dollar jet to revisit his most famous role as the Terminator, this time made kinder and gentler against the silent, relentless T-1000. One of the most popular films of the 1990s, James Cameron's action masterpiece is both a thoughtful look at violence in human nature and an exciting, nonstop thrill ride. |
| JIMI HENDRIX AT THE ISLE OF WIGHT |
| LATENITE 110191 |
|
|
This video captures legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix at his finest and most riveting -- just 18 days before his death. One August 31, 1970, Hendrix gave a concert at East Afton Farm at the Isle of Wight. It was the last of a series of shows, and Hendrix rocked the house for hours, playing "All Along the Watchtower," "In From the Storm" and "Voodoo Chile" - along with many other of his hit songs. |
| THE COMMITMENTS |
| 110891 |
|
| Alan Parker's THE COMMITMENTS, based on Roddy Doyle's buoyant debut novel, follows the enjoyable travails of a band cobbled together by young Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins), whose vision is to bring soul music to Dublin. After putting an ad in the local paper, Jimmy assembles an unlikely group of musicians who, though nervous, raw, and rough, make music that speaks to something very near the heart of their audience of curious kids and sharp-tongued, sarcastic relatives. As the band nears its big break, egos clash and expectations of fame and fortune start to tear them apart, forcing Jimmy to fight desperately to keep them together. |
| 23RD INTL TOURNEE OF ANIMATION |
| 111591 |
|
| no synopsis available. |
| CITY SLICKERS |
| LATENITE 112291 |
|
| Three male friends, facing their 40th birthdays and experiencing midlife crises, decide they need time away from their "soft" city lives. Fans of old Western films, particularly John Wayne's RED RIVER, they decide to vacation at a dude ranch, where they will be responsible for a two-week-long cattle drive through the Colorado hills. Along the way the urban cowboys encounter bad weather; macho, gun-wielding ranchers; and pregnant cattle, but they finish the drive with their lives back on track. |
| MY FATHER'S GLORY |
| 112891 |
|
| Joseph and Augustine take their family to spend an unforgettable summer vacation in the south of France. Based on autobiographical recollections of French author Marcel Pagnol. Sequel: "My Mother's Castle." |
| STRANGERS IN GOOD COMPANY |
| 112891 |
|
| A story about a seven remarkable older women who find themselves stranded in a remote location. Forced to share an abandoned cabin and work together for survival, they turn their escapade into a truly magical adventure. |
| NAKED GUN 2 1/2: THE SMELL OF FEAR |
| 112891 |
|
| Los Angeles Lt. Frank Drebin goes to Washington, D.C. to be honored for shooting his 1,000th drug dealer. Never was the nation, or the world, in such serious jeopardy. |
| DEAD AGAIN |
| LATENITE 120691 |
|
| In Kenneth Branagh's stylish suspense film, Branagh stars as Mike Church, a Los Angeles detective who is drawn into the life of Grace (Emma Thompson), a woman with amnesia who is plagued by disturbing nightmares. Attempts to help her regain her memory bring them to Franklyn Madson (Derek Jacobi), a mysterious hypnotist who runs an antique shop. Under hypnosis, Grace claims that in a previous life she was Margaret Strauss, a concert pianist who was murdered by her jealous husband, Roman. Further sessions lead her to believe that Mike is actually Roman reincarnated and that the two are destined to re-create the murder. Mike must then attempt to solve two mysteries--the real identity of Grace and the true story behind a 40-year-old crime. Branagh's taut thriller also features Robin Williams, Andy Garcia, and Campbell Scott. |
| DOC HOLLYWOOD |
| LATENITE 120691 |
|
| Zooming to the fast money and easy life as a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, a young doctor is detoured when he accidently chases his Porsche into a fence. The judge, not taking the destruction of his property lightly, forces the doctor to community service as the town doctor. In spite of himself, the small town and its eccentric inhabitants start to grow on the doctor. |
| FRANKIE AND JOHNNY |
| LATENITE 121391 |
|
| In this adaptation of Terrence McNally's play, Johnny (Al Pacino), an ex-con turned short order cook, woos Frankie (Michelle Pfeiffer), a reluctant plain jane waitress. Set in a dingy Manhattan diner, the story revolves around Johnny's eager, won't-stop-at-anything attempt to draw the embittered, recalcitrant Frankie out of her shell. As the two loners inch closer to love, we learn about their past: how Johnny landed in prison and what soured Frankie on men and relationships. |
| MY MOTHER'S CASTLE |
| 122091 |
|
| The sequel to "My Father's Glory," the story picks up where the first story leaves off. A greater understanding between family members is the outcome of the author Marcel Pagnol's autobiographical recollection. |
| TWENTY-ONE |
| 122091 |
|
| A beautiful devil-may-care woman of the 90's moves to Manhattan to start a new life and find happiness and true love. When she can't seem to find it all in one man, she goes through a series of lovers. Kensit's uninhibited performance generated a stir among the lecherati. |
| AN ANGEL AT MY TABLE |
| 122091 |
|
| This sprawling, detailed film by Jane Campion (THE PIANO) tells the true story of Janet Frame, a painfully sensitive girl who managed to escape a dreary rural upbringing and eight years in a mental hospital to become New Zealand's premier poet. The film unfolds as a trilogy, with each section based on a different Frame autobiography. "To the Is-Land" chronicles her childhood and awkward teenage years. "An Angel at My Table" focuses on her time as a teacher and her horrifying mental institution experience. "The Envoy from Mirror City" finds Frame an emerging, critically lauded writer traveling on a grant in Europe and finding love for the first time. |
| THE FISHER KING |
| LATENITE 122091 |
|
| Jack Lucas (Jeff Bridges), a self-obsessed shock jock who thinks he has it all, is about to hit rock bottom. The cult personality spends his time on the radio insulting and berating his listeners, but when one caller takes Jack's advice literally and shoots up a New York City hotspot, Jack is sent swirling down into a depression that has him suicidal three years later. However, he is rescued out of the night by a different kind of knight in shining armor--a homeless man named Parry, played fabulously by Robin Williams, who thinks he's on a quest for the Holy Grail, which he believes to be in a Fifth Avenue town house. Parry serves as the living embodiment of Jack's guilt--Parry's beloved wife was killed in the nightclub massacre. Jack soon becomes conviced that by helping Parry he will also wind up helping himself, so he tries to help Parry win his lady love (Amanda Plummer), at the expense of risking his own relationship with Anne (Mercedes Ruehl, in an Academy Award-winning role), who has stood by his side during his downward spiral. |