Starring: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Patricia Velasquez, Kevin J. O’Connor
4K restoration
Flesh eating scarabs, an endless sandstorm, an army of the dead — not to mention The Mummy. One part Indiana Jones, one part Universal horror, Stephen Sommer’s The Mummy combines the best of 90’s CG spectacle with classic swashbuckling swagger and the occasional gross-out horror gag. The plot’s like something out of a 20’s radio serial, an American adventurer meets up with a team of archeologists who accidentally wake up Imhotep, an ancient Egyptian priest damned to eternal life. With an army of the dead at his back, Imhotep’s ever growing power threatens to engulf the entire planet in darkness. Save us, Brendan Fraser!
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury, Henry Silva, James Gregory
In 1962, the iconic thriller The Manchurian Candidate foretold the story of media in shaping public opinion in an insider threat (homegrown terrorism anyone?) about a Korean War hero secretly programmed as a sleeper mole to assassinate a Presidential candidate. The pseudo-documentary initially flopped at the box office, was banned in Soviet bloc countries, and withdrawn from circulation after the assassination of JFK. It was also remade in 2004 with Denzel Washington and a demonic Hillary Clinton (whoops! Meryl Streep) to add, umm, color. The original, starring Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury, still stands up with a Hitchcock-like climax.
Starring: Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette, Jessica Tandy, Veronica Cartwright, Ethel Griffies
Killer animal movies can be pretty easy: tons of people are already afraid of sharks, loads of people can’t stand spiders, Indiana Jones hates snakes… but birds? Hitchcock manages to take some of natures most innocuous creatures and turn them into objects of relentless horror, setting an angry murder of them loose on a quiet California town. Hitch thrusts his stranded characters into the thick of mother nature’s wrath without pausing to explain the reason behind this bird-led insurrection. Besides, we all know why. (It’s because people are terrible).
Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight, Eric Stoltz, Jonathan Hyde, Owen Wilson
Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube and Owen Wilson play a group of National Geographic filmmakers out to discover a long-lost Indian tribe on the Amazon River, but their journey downriver quickly becomes a boat ride to Hell when they save a stranded snake hunter (Jon Voight, looking like a piece of poached alligator meat), who hijacks their boat and forces them to help him hunt down a legendary anaconda. Bogged down by bad weather and a busted boat, the team must find a way to wrest control of their ship away from the crazed hunter and avoid becoming snake food.
Starring: Dee Wallace, M. Emmet Walsh, Billy Green Bush, Scott Grimes, Billy Zane, Terrence Mann
When a band of hardened extraterrestrial criminals escapes from a maximum-security prison asteroid and steal an escape craft, the flesh-eating ETs unwittingly head to a small, unsuspecting planet–Earth–pursued by a pair of awesomely powerful, if unbelievably inept, bounty hunters. Now, it’s the humans against the very hungry, man-eating aliens in a battle for the future of mankind!
Starring: Molly Ringwald, Jon Cryer, Andrew McCarthy, Annie Potts, Harry Dean Stanton, James Spader
Our favorite love triangle: misfit Duckie loves Andie but she’s got it bad for rich boy Blane. Will the social divides so prominent in high school ruin everyone’s chances for love? It’s hard to mention all the things that make this film so fantastic: everything about Duckie but particularly when he sings Otis Redding, Annie Potts’ fetish-loving record store owner, Andrew McCarthy’s beady eyes, all things Molly Ringwald, Harry Dean Stanton as the lovable father, and the creepy lurkings of James Spader. Plus, that glorious soundtrack! Pretty in Pink is the 1980s at its very best.
Starring: Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy, Paul Rudd
Cher is a well-meaning but utterly clueless rich young lady in this instant 1990s comedy classic that is, surprisingly, based on a 19th century novel. Like match-making Emma, our heroine Cher tries to help everyone else around her (father, teachers, even the new girl) in the spoils of Beverly Hills all-the-while neglecting the things that she needs to do for herself. The drama of high school plays out as friends lose virginity, drivers license tests are failed, and she falls for a gay man. Plus, there’s a young Paul Rudd you wouldn’t want to miss. As if.
Starring: Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Adrian Grenier, Stanley Tucci, Emily Blunt
Andy (Anne Hathaway) is a recent college graduate with big dreams. Upon landing a job at prestigious Runway magazine, she finds herself the assistant to diabolical editor Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). Andy questions her ability to survive her grim tour as Miranda’s whipping girl without getting scorched.
Starring: Larisa Oleynik, Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Andrew Keegan, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, David Krumholtz
A modernization of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, this late 1990s romantic comedy set in an American high school has now become a bonafide teen classic. 10 Things I Hate About You stars the late Heath Ledger as the new mysterious kid at school (Patrick Verona) who just might win the heart over the misanthropic but beautiful Julie Stiles (Kat). Of course, this love match is set into motion by ulterior movies: by decree of their father, Kat’s younger sister has her eyes on a young man but can’t date until Kat has a boyfriend. And thus it begins…
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox
What should you do when Martians tell citizens of Earth that they “come in peace”? Don’t believe them! Tim Burton’s hilariously original Mars Attacks! features an all-star cast who either help fight against the nearly unbeatable aliens or succumb to their irresistible (and sometimes sexy) powers. All the world is at risk from these cruelly comedic Martians and the United States must stand at the forefront in this battle as well as help rebuild a nation when the attack is over! And this includes everyone from young teenagers, a scientist, the president and Tom Jones. Isn’t America grand?!
