Winnipeg Free Press
September 12, 1996
Winter is traditionally a time for smaller, quirky films to get a chance. Look for Cannes Palm d’Or-winner Secrets and Lies, from English director Mike Leigh, or Crash, Canadian David Cronenberg‘s nasty examination of the erotic charge of car accidents.
Still, some flicks are clearly hoping for popcorny appeal and big box-office ooomph. In The First Wives Club (Sept. 20) Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn and Bette Midler go after philandering exhusbands and new trophy wives.
Expect cries of “You go, girl,” to ring throughout the land. Nicest-man-in-Holly wood Tom Hanks directs That Thing You Do! (Oct. 4), about a rock ‘n’ roll band – the kind with pressed shirts and short hair. It’ll have a good beat, and Hanks is clearly hoping audiences will dance to it.
The Chamber (Oct. 11) combines bestseller John Grisham and death row, two hot cinematic trends, while Ransom (Nov. 8) is set to yank every parent’s emotional chain with the abduction of Rene Russo and Mel Gibson‘s young son. Ron Howard directs.
And to round off the autumn and herald the beginning of the Christmas season, we have Schwarzenegger once more trying to trip daintily through light comedy, in Jingle All the Way.
Ho, ho, ho, Arnold, get back to those summer blockbusters where you belong
