This 1992 black comedy by Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the Back to the Future trilogy) features some of the most eye-popping special effects of the '90s in its story of a narcissistic star (Meryl Streep) who steals the husband (Bruce Willis) of another woman (Goldie Hawn) and continues her rivalry with her even after death. A magic potion keeps both women going despite the punishment of murderous bullets and fatal plunges, and the joke is that even as they rot they remain vain about appearances. Though he's fashioned a one-note movie, Zemeckis gets a lot of mileage out of such impressive sights as Hawn walking around with a hole in her chest the size of a basketball, and Streep—her head and arms twisted 180 degrees—moving like a broken crab. It's weird, it's sick, it's hilarious, and the stars push the whole project to a classy entertainment. Isabella Rossellini is great as a scantily clad witch who sells the immortality brew. The DVD release has a full-screen presentation, optional French and Spanish soundtracks, optional Spanish subtitles, and Dolby sound. —Tom Keogh

By getting nominated for Academy Awards in both the Foreign Language Film and Best Song categories, Les Choristes (The Chorus) made a rare (for a European film) double impression at the 2004 Oscars. This sentimental tale follows the arrival of a new teacher at a remote boys school in 1949 France (the war is a largely unspoken but ghostly presence). With disciplinary problems rampant, and the policies of the old-fashioned headmaster not helping, Monsieur Mathieu decides to introduce choral singing as a way to bridge the gap with his students. You don't need a crystal ball to figure out where this will go, although the movie uses its atmospheric location and lush vocal arrangements well. Bald, dumpy Gerard Jugnot provides a refreshingly offbeat hero (though securely in the traditions of the My Most Memorable Teacher movie); he's sort of a younger Philippe Noiret. Director Christophe Barratier works in the winsome-cute mode that makes a certain kind of French movie into an overly sweet bon bon, although at least this bon bon sings. —Robert Horton

Undoubtedly the first movie in history to have played in theaters with three different endings (depending on which theater you attended), Clue is a silly whodunit based on the familiar board game featuring Colonel Mustard, Mrs. Peacock, and all the other usual suspects. A broadly comic cast play the sundry suspects gathered in a mansion to solve a murder, knowing that one of their numbers is the culprit. Michael McKean, Eileen Brennan, and Tim Curry are the best of the bunch, and the film is as lightweight an experience as a round of the game itself. Directed by Jonathan Lynn (My Cousin Vinny). The video release contains all three endings. —Tom Keogh

French humor, which isn't exactly subtle, is delivered via an especially broad premise in The Closet. A nebbish (Daniel Auteuil) who works at a condom manufacturer learns he's about to be fired; with the help of his neighbor, he pretends to be gay so his boss can't fire him without seeming prejudiced. Then a bigoted coworker (Gerard Depardieu) tries to worm his way into the nebbish's good graces because he's afraid of being fired. In the wrong hands, The Closet could be ham-fisted slapstick. What makes this movie truly delightful is the superb understatement with which every gag is handled; even the sight of Auteuil wearing a giant condom tip on his head has an impeccable deadpan grace. All the performances are excellent; Depardieu's smarm is particularly delicious. Each scene takes a new twist of social discomfort and befuddlement in this winning comedy. —Bret Fetzer

Mark Medoff's tough play about deafness is sweetened and softened in this 1986 film adaptation directed by Randa Haines (Wrestling Ernest Hemingway). William Hurt plays a teacher newly hired at a school for deaf children, and Marlee Matlin is the deaf and withdrawn janitor who captures his attention. Romantic and heartfelt, the film makes its audience care very much about its two leading characters, and wince when Hurt's well-meaning instructor allows Matlin's handicap to become a problem. Haines develops some interesting visual ideas to underscore the isolation of Matlin's world, particularly a lovely refrain that finds Matlin swimming alone at night. The drama is cut somewhat by the bouncy energy and good humor of Hurt's students. Piper Laurie is very good in a supporting role as Matlin's mother. —Tom Keogh

Winner of six Academy Awards(R) (2003) including Best Picture, and starring Academy Award nominee (Best Actress, CHICAGO) and Golden Globe winner (Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, CHICAGO) Renée Zellweger (BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY), Academy Award winner (Best Supporting Actress, CHICAGO) Catherine Zeta-Jones (TRAFFIC), Academy Award nominee (Best Supporting Actress, CHICAGO) Queen Latifah (BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE), Golden Globe winner (Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, CHICAGO) Richard Gere (UNFAITHFUL), and Academy Award nominee (Best Supporting Actor, CHICAGO) John C. Reilly (GANGS OF NEW YORK) — CHICAGO is a dazzling spectacle cheered by audiences and critics alike! At a time when crimes of passion result in celebrity headlines, nightclub sensation Velma Kelly (Zeta-Jones) and spotlight-seeking Roxie Hart (Zellweger) both find themselves sharing space on Chicago's famed Murderess Row! They also share Billy Flynn (Gere), the town's slickest lawyer with a talent for turning notorious defendants into local legends. But in Chicago, there's only room for one legend! Also starring Lucy Liu (CHARLIE'S ANGELS).

Honored with two Academy Awards(R) — Best Supporting Actor, Michael Caine, and Best Adapted Screenplay, John Irving — THE CIDER HOUSE RULES tells a compelling and heartwarming story about how far a young man must travel to find the place where he truly belongs! Homer Wells (Tobey Macguire — PLEASANTVILLE, THE ICE STORM, WONDER BOYS) has lived nearly his entire life within the walls of St. Cloud's Orphanage in rural Maine. Though groomed by its proprietor, Dr. Larch (Caine), to be his successor, Homer nonetheless feels the need to strike out on his own and experience the world outside. Then, while working at an apple orchard, Homer falls for the beautiful Candy (Charlize Theron — REINDEER GAMES, THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE) and learns some powerfully indelible lessons about life, love, and home! Based on John Irving's best-selling American classic and featuring a sensational all-star cast including Delroy Lindo and newcomer Erykah Badu, this entertaining motion picture earned raves from critics and moviegoers everywhere!

Writer-director Kevin Smith (Clerks) makes a huge leap in sophistication with this strong story about a comic-book artist (Ben Affleck) who falls in love with a lesbian (Joey Lauren Adams) and actually gets his wish that she love him, too. Their relationship is attacked, however, by his business partner (Jason Lee), who pulls a very unsubtle Iago act to cast doubt over the whole affair. The film has the same sense of insiderness as Clerks—this time, Smith takes us within the arcane, funny world of comic-book cultism—but the themes of jealousy, deceit, and the high price of growing up enough to truly care for someone make this a very satisfying movie. —Tom Keogh

Yes, that's a former Beatle in caveman costume for this more-dumb-than-funny 1981 comedy about a prehistoric misfit (Ringo Starr) who recruits other misfits to start a new tribe. The jokes about flatulence and sex are banal, but the cast of then-unfamiliar faces is fun to watch from the perspective of history. The best thing going are some dinosaur special effects, though Ringo might argue meeting his future wife (Barbara Bach) was a good deal. —Tom Keogh

John Huston was only one of five directors on this expensive, all-star 1967 spoof of Ian Fleming's 007 lore. David Niven is the aging Sir James Bond, called out of retirement to take on the organized threat of SMERSH and pass on the secret-agent mantle to his idiot son (Woody Allen). An amazing cast (Orson Welles, Peter Sellers, Deborah Kerr, etc.) is wonderful to look at, but the film is not as funny as it should be, and the romping starts to look mannered after awhile. The musical score by Burt Bacharach, however, is a keeper. —Tom Keogh

On dira ce qu'on veut – la pièce était meilleure, la réalisation ne brille pas par son invention, bien qu'adaptée par Francis Veber et Jean Poiret l'intrigue demeure caricaturalement boulevardière, Ugo Tognazzi, coproduction franco-italienne oblige, détonne. N'empêche : La Cage aux folles reste un grand moment de bouffonnerie cinématographique, qui repose entièrement sur les épaules de Michel Serrault. En Zaza Napoli, diva capricieuse et reine de la nuit, et en Albin, homme au foyer, le jour, il donne toute l'étendue de son phénoménal registre : à la fois hystérique et pathétique, il provoque le rire le plus franc et l'émotion la plus inattendue. Un numéro à lui tout seul – il faut le voir apprendre à tartiner ses biscottes comme John Wayne ou replacer sa perruque en plein dîner mondain ! Longtemps numéro 1 au box-office américain des films étrangers, le film fit l'objet d'une adaptation triomphale en comédie musicale à Broadway, et valut à Michel Serrault, en 1979, le premier de ses trois césars du meilleur acteur. —Sylvain Lefort

Bull Durham is about minor league baseball. It's also about romance, sex, poetry, metaphysics, and talent—though not necessarily in that order. Susan Sarandon plays a loopy lady who just loves America's national pastime—and the men who play it. At the opening of every season, she attaches herself to a promising rookie and guides him through the season. Unfortunately, the player she bestows her favors upon does not really deserve it. She knows it, and veteran Kevin Costner knows it. Her choice, a dim bulb played for laughs by Tim Robbins, is the only one who doesn't know it. The film, directed by its writer, Ron Shelton, a former minor league player, is rich in subtle detail. There are Edith Piaf records playing in the background, fast-talking managers, and minor characters as developed as the leads. Sarandon's retro-'50s outfits make you think she's just another bimbo, not an English teacher very much in control of her life. And Costner's clear-eyed, slightly vitriolic performance is devastatingly sexy and keenly witty. The love scenes, though tasteful, are almost as humorous as they are hot. Sarandon's character likes to tie her players up and expand their horizons by reading Walt Whitman to them, "'cause a guy will listen to anything if he thinks it's foreplay." How can you not love a movie with such a wicked sense of humor? —Rochelle O'Gorman

Fran Rubel Kuzui's 1992 tongue-in-cheek vampire comedy is sugarcoated horror, an unusual mix of the cute and scary, with a splash of postmodern pop nonsense to give culture critics something to think about. Kristy Swanson plays a Valley Girl who learns she belongs to a line of ancient vampire killers. After training under the watchful eye of a mentor (Donald Sutherland), she becomes a spandex-wearing, kung-fu kicking, stake-stabbing babe and the mortal enemy of a narcissistic master vampire (Rutger Hauer). The accent is all on cheery attitude, though the action can be as authentically unnerving as any other halfway decent monster movie. Paul Reubens, formerly Pee-wee Herman, has a small role as Hauer's fanged familiar. —Tom Keogh