Jules Verne's classic adventure is perfectly matched with Ray Harryhausen's timeless movie magic in Mysterious Island. Based on Verne's sequel to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, this rousing Civil War-era fantasy begins when a band of Union war prisoners (and one Confederate straggler) escape in a hot-air balloon, which crash-lands on the titular island of mystery.
Overworked and overscheduled, contractor Doug Kinney never has enough time for his wife and family. So when a helpful geneticist offers to "Xerox" Doug, it seems like the perfect solution - until the clones begin to take over his home, his job, and his bed. Keaton takes on four hilariously distinct roles as the comic possibilities quickly multiply in this genuinely funny, touching romantic comedy.
The Net, the first of Hollywood's big cyberthrillers of the mid-1990s, was also the most successful, thanks in large part to the natural appeal of star Sandra Bullock. Still riding high from Speed and While You Were Sleeping, Bullock plays a computer expert victimized by sinister cyberforces who steal her identity for reasons unknown. It's a clever combination of high-tech paranoia and Hitchcockian references (including Jeremy Northam as a romantic stranger named Devlin, after Cary Grant in Notorious).
Neil Simon wrote this 1976 spoof in which virtually every famous fictional detective of the 1930s and 1940s congregate at the home of a mysterious fellow (Truman Capote) to try and solve the mystery of who's trying to kill them all. Simon's jokes are mostly obvious, and the film's real appeal is the clever concept matched with fine--sometimes legendary--actors. Peter Falk plays a very Bogart-like Sam Spade equivalent, James Coco is a Hercule Poirot wannabe, Peter Sellers does a Charlie Chan bit, David Niven and Maggie Smith are reflections of Nick and Nora.... You get the picture.
Hammer Studios' greatest nemeses, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, once again square off in this reworking of Universal's The Mummy (with elements of The Mummy's Tomb and The Mummy's Ghost thrown in for good measure). Cushing stars as archeologist John Banning, whose dig for a lost tomb results in untold treasures but leaves his father a mumbling madman and marks the rest of the company for death.
The Griswolds have planned all year for a great summer vacation. From their suburban Chicago home, across America, to the wonders of the Walley World fun park in California, every step of the way has been carefully plotted. So what if they lose all their money when their new car gets wrecked. And it's not too bad when Cousin Eddie deposits sour Aunt Edna in their back seat for a lift to Phoenix. But what really keeps Clark's eyes on the road is a flirtation with a mysterious blonde in a red Ferrari.
Europe won't suvive Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo and their Griswold offspring when a whirlwing trip across the continent wreaks hilarious havoc. After winning a tour package in a game show, the bickering Griswald family carve a trail of destruction through England (where they knock over Stonehenge), France, Germany, and Italy. Somehow Ellen (Bevery D'Angelo), the mom, gets kidnapped by gangsters, leading to a car chase that reunites the family, despite their differences.
Lt. Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) loves a mystery. Why are we here? Is there life after sex? Yes, Drebin tackles the big issues - and the biggest of all is how to stop devious Quentin Hapsburg's (Robert Goulet) plan to destroy the environment! Returning with Nielsen in this hilarious Naked Gun sequel are Priscilla Presley as Jane, the woman who can melt a cheese sandwich from 20 paces, and George Kennedy as intrepid Capt. Ed Hocken. The gang's all here. And so are the laughs. Like Drebin, you're gonna love it.
Those screw-loose Airplane! creators have done it again! Leslie Nielsen stars as Police Squad's own granite-jawed, rock-brained cop Frank Drebin, who bumbles across a mind-control scheme to assassinate Queen Elizabeth. Priscilla Presley, O.J. Simpson, a stuffed beaver, two baseball teams and an odd assortment of others join the wacko goings-on and blow the laugh-o-meter to smithereens.
Oscar night. Who will win? Who will lose? And will someone please kick that numbskull offstage? Wait! That's no ordinary numbskull. That's Lt. Frank Drebin, crashing the ceremonies to stop a terrorist plot that could mean curtains for him - or will a simple window shade be enough? Yes, back with a hilarious three-peat and a state-of-the art advance in sequel numbering are the filmmakers you love, the returning stars you adore, plus others getting Naked for the first time: Fred Ward, Anna Nicole Smith and more folks you'd happily give your seat to on a crowded bus.
