Talk of Angels. An young Irish woman (Polly Walker) arrives as governess at a well-to-do Spanish household at the start of the Spanish Civil War. Vincent Perez, Frances McDormand and Franco Nero co-star. Nick Hamm wrote and directed.
August 15
Bandwagon. Four guys in a rock-and-roll band called Circus Monkey.
Def Jam's How to Be a Player. As an assignment for anthropology class, Jenny (Natalie Desselle) tries to reform her womanizing brother (Bill Bellamy). Lionel C. Martin directed this broad comedy.
Different for Girls. So this guy runs into his old best buddy, but the best buddy has now turned into a hot babe. Rupert Everett and Steven Mackintosh star.
Excess Baggage. In the first release in her big-bucks deal at Columbia, Alicia Silverstone plays a spoiled teen who stages her own kidnapping to get her father's attention. Marco Brambilla (Demolition Man) directed; Benicio del Toro, Christopher Walken, Sally Kirkland and Harry Connick Jr. co-star.
The Full Monty. Six unemployed male steelworkers turn themselves into a striptease act. Peter Cattaneo directed. G.I. Jane. The first woman admitted to the Navy SEAL training program must contend with a brutal instructor (Viggo Mortensen). Demi Moore in a wet suit. Directed by Ridley Scott.
She's De Lovely. Nick Cassavetes dusts off an unmade script written by his late father, John, for this drama about a convict (Sean Penn) who is released from prison only to discover that his wife (Robin Wright) is shacked up with another man (John Travolta). Harry Dean Stanton co-stars.
A Smile Like Yours. A young couple desperately wants to have children in this romantic comedy with Greg Kinnear, Lauren Holly, Joan Cusack, Jay Thomas and Christopher MacDonald. Keith Samples directed and co-wrote.
Steel. After the triumph of Kazaam, free-throw champ Shaquille O'Neal tries again, this time as D.C. Comics superhero Steel, an armor-clad fighter for truth, justice and the American Way. Kenneth Johnson wrote and directed; Annabeth Gish and Judd Nelson co-star.
Tetsuo: Body Hammer. Shinya Tsukamoto directed this sequel to his low-budget 1989 Tetsuo: The Iron Man. The original--a grueling item about a "metals fetishist" (played by the director) incorporating more and more inanimate objects into his flesh--made Crash look like a sophisticated romance.
August 22
The Delta. A suburban teen and a Vietnamese immigrant journey down the Mississippi.
Operation Condor. Jackie Chan wrote, directed and starred in this 1991 Indiana Jones knockoff--originally titled Armor of God 2--filled with adventure, physical daring and broad slapstick.
Sunday. A British actress and an unemployed executive have a kinky romance in Queens. Jonathan Nossiter's drama won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.
August 29
Boogie Nights. Porno makers in the disco '70s try to elevate their genre into the realm of art--and perhaps art imitates life a tad too much as filmmakers try to keep their own movie from getting slapped with the kiss-of-death NC-17. Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, Don Cheadle, William H. Macy and Heather Graham star in this comedy-drama from writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson (Hard Eight).
Hoodlum. Laurence Fishburne plays the title role in Bill Duke's biopic of legendary Harlem gangster Bumpy Johnson. Tim Roth, Vanessa Williams, Andy Garcia, Cicely Tyson and Clarence Williams III costar.
Kull the Conqueror. Kevin Sorbo, who plays Hercules on TV, takes on the role of another superhero, created by Robert E. Howard (Conan).
