, 2h12 Directed byTim Robbins OriginUSA GenresDrama ThemesFilms about writers, Films about television, Political films ActorsHank Azaria, Joan Cusack, John Cusack, Cary Elwes, Rubén Blades, Angus Macfadyen Roles Tailor Rating67% The film begins with a long tracking shot focusing on a destitute young woman named Olive Stanton (Emily Watson). She is sleeping illegally in a theater, being awakened and kicked out. The shot continues as she slowly walks down the street following the sound of the song Nickel Under My Foot. When she arrives at the source of the music, the camera pans up the side of the building and moves inside where we are introduced to the playwright Marc Blitzstein (Hank Azaria), who is attempting to write the songs and put together the musical The Cradle Will Rock. Acting as Blitzstein’s conscience/mentors are a vision of his deceased wife and, later, an imaginary Bertolt Brecht. Brecht was a radical playwright who stressed the importance of breaking down the wall between the audience and actors.
, 1h22 OriginUSA GenresThriller, Comedy, Horror comedy, Horror ThemesComedy horror films ActorsCarol Kane, David Thornton, Molly Ringwald, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Mike Hodges, Barbara Sukowa Roles Brad Rating52% A magazine editor named Dorine, due to budget cuts, is forced to work from home. One night she is called to help fix the computer of a co-worker, Gary Michaels, who is electrocuted while trying to fix the wires. Dorine dials 911, but hangs up when the call is answered. She places the corpse on a cart, rolls it down to her car, loads it in her trunk, and takes it home, placing it in her basement. Then, seemingly without reason, she goes into a murder spree. She begins her spree by murdering another office worker, but later murders two young Girl Scouts who arrive at her door to sell cookies. The young girls join the other corpses in the basement, and Dorine is seen eating the cookies while working on her new laptop. Dorine sends messages from Gary to the remaining office workers, implying he is alive. There are three more murders before the movie ends, all artistically executed. The last murder is the office manager (played by a young Jeanne Tripplehorn), who awakens in the basement, surrounded by dismembered bodies, after being knocked out by Dorine on a lunch date. After dispatching the office manager's boyfriend, who had come searching for her (a young Michael Imperioli) with a kitchen knife, Dorine murders the office manager after taunting her for making her and other employees work from home. The last scene shows Dorine, after her mother's death, setting fire to her basement, then, sporting a blond wig and makeup and with the office manager's head in a bag on the seat beside her, driving away in her car, and circling a newspaper ad with her pencil for an office job.
, 1h54 Directed byRob Cohen OriginUSA GenresDrama, Thriller, Disaster, Action, Adventure ThemesLa fin du monde, Disaster films, American disaster films ActorsSylvester Stallone, Amy Brenneman, Viggo Mortensen, Dan Hedaya, Jay O. Sanders, Lee Oakes Roles Kit's Passenger #2 Rating59% In Upstate New York, a waste management firm loads barrels of toxic waste onto trucks, intending to illegally dispose of them. They are shown heading into a tunnel under the Hudson River between Lower Manhattan and Jersey City, New Jersey along with several other commuters, including struggling playwright Maddy Thompson (Amy Brenneman), some young offenders, a vacationing family, an elderly couple, and a mountain climber named Roy Nord (Viggo Mortensen). Meanwhile, a gang of diamond thieves in a stolen car try to escape the NYPD by racing into the tunnel. The gang force their way through the north tube traffic, spilling the diamonds all over the floor of the car. While a female thief tries to retrieve them, she pushes the gas pedal to the floor, causing the driver to lose control, smashing though a security booth and into one of the trucks, killing them instantly. The waste barrels explode, causing the other trucks to explode and setting off a chain reaction. The tunnel entrances cave in, and a devastating fireball sweeps through the tunnel, incinerating thousands of cars and people.
, 1h56 Directed byAllison Anders OriginUSA GenresDrama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Musical ThemesFilms about music and musicians, Musical films ActorsIlleana Douglas, Matt Dillon, Eric Stoltz, John Turturro, J Mascis, Patsy Kensit Roles TV Interviewer Rating66% Edna Buxton (Illeana Douglas) is a steel heiress from Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, who wants to be a singer and enters a talent contest. The story begins with a conversation between herself and her mother (Christina Pickles) with regard to what she will sing and what she will wear. At her mother’s insistence, she reluctantly makes a plan to sing "You'll Never Walk Alone.” Edna is even less thrilled about her mother’s choice of wardrobe, calling it uncomfortable. Her mother responds with a cutting remark, “Perhaps it’s not the dress. Perhaps it’s you who doesn’t fit, dear.