Rydell, Christopher

On Golden Pond (Special Edition)

For Norman and Ethel Thayer this summer On Golden Pond is filled with conflict and resolution. When their daughter Chelsea arrives the family is forced to renew the bonds of love and overcome the generational friction that has existed for years. Norman must find his way through his anger and fear of growing old while Chelsea struggles to rebuild their relationship. Ethel's consistent support of her "knight in shining armor" is inspirational in its simplicity. This is a movie to ponder and always keep in your heart.System Requirements:Starring: Dabney Coleman Henry Fonda Jane Fonda Katherine Hepburn William Lanteau and Doug McKeon. Directed By: Mark Rydell. Running Time: 105 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 2003 Artisan Entertainment.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG UPC: 012236147817 Manufacturer No: 14781

Writer Ernest Thompson, who came up with the original stage play of On Golden Pond and adapted it for film, is lucky to have two giants of the screen give dignity and breadth to his sometimes trite dialogue. Henry Fonda, in his last role, plays a prickly English professor at the disagreeable age of 80. Visiting his summer house by a Maine lake with his wife (Katharine Hepburn), the old man forges an unlikely bond with a lonely boy, comes to terms with his daughter (Jane Fonda), and suffers disorienting effects of mild dementia. Even playing a tired old man, Fonda is an absolute lion of a movie star, and Hepburn brings her special spirit to the part of his worried bride. The onscreen relationship between Henry and Jane Fonda naturally makes one think about their much-discussed difficulties offscreen, but that's a side benefit in a movie that is really just a celebration of simple human decency. Directed by Mark Rydell (Harry and Walter Go to New York). --Tom Keogh

Gotcha!

Before he started losing his hair (which gave his baby face the maturity it needed for him to be taken seriously as a doctor on E.R.), Anthony Edwards was the quintessential juvenile lead, college division. That is what he plays here: a college kid who is campus champ at an assassination game called Gotcha (that uses fake guns). Then he goes on a summer vacation behind the Iron Curtain (before it came tumbling down) and falls for a female operative (Linda Fiorentino), who not only uses him as an unsuspecting courier for spy stuff but makes him a fall guy, as well. When he finally extricates himself from the trouble, the trouble follows him back to campus. Silly and far-fetched, though Edwards has that wounded-puppy look down perfectly. --Marshall Fine

For the Boys

For the Boys is a lumpy attempt to create an old-fashioned backstage drama, replete with classic showbiz feuds, breakups and make-ups, and the often inexplicable adoration of fictional fans toward characters with dubious star appeal. Released under a cloud of accusations that the story was ripped off from the life of USO stalwart Martha Raye (who had been attempting to get an autobiographical film project set up), For the Boys didn't improve its public relations by being, well, not very good. Bette Midler stars as Dixie Leonard, a singer plucked from obscurity by song-and-dance man Eddie Sparks (James Caan) while on a USO tour during World War II. Their bawdy chemistry before audiences makes them a durable act through many years and wars to come. The problem is that they don't like each other very much, and here's where director Mark Rydell (On Golden Pond) drops the ball: the film never develops sufficient story grounds or the emotional complexity necessary for a high degree of conflict in what is essentially a two-character drama. It doesn't help that the script requires Dixie and Eddie to be on nonspeaking terms for most of the 50 years they know one another, or that the story culminates in a horribly contrived reunion on television, with both actors buried under enough flesh-aging prosthetics and make-up to make them look like Dick Tracy villains. --Tom Keogh

Bette Midler gives the brassiest, sassiest performance of her career as Dixie Leonard, a USO singer whose electrifying stage presence, and flair for outrageous comedy, captivates troops and civilians alike. Teamed up with America's beloved song and dance man, Eddie Sparks (James Caan), the whole world becomes Dixie's stage through three very different wars, and 50 years of music and memories, laughter and tears. All of it... FOR THE BOYS.

Side Out

The sizzling sands of Malibu set the scene as Monroe meets a beautiful marine biologist and its recruited to play California's hottest new sport professional volleyball. Soon he's competing against the big boys (played by actual pro circuit stars Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos). But it's only when Monroe teams with Zack Barnes (TV's Thirtysomething's Peter Horton) the original "King of the Beach" that he learns just how much fun success - and teamwork - can truly be.System Requirements:Running Time: 103 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG-13 UPC: 043396042469 Manufacturer No: 04246

On Golden Pond

Writer Ernest Thompson, who came up with the original stage play of On Golden Pond and adapted it for film, is lucky to have two giants of the screen give dignity and breadth to his sometimes trite dialogue. Henry Fonda, in his last role, plays a prickly English professor at the disagreeable age of 80. Visiting his summer house by a Maine lake with his wife (Katharine Hepburn), the old man forges an unlikely bond with a lonely boy, comes to terms with his daughter (Jane Fonda), and suffers disorienting effects of mild dementia. Even playing a tired old man, Fonda is an absolute lion of a movie star, and Hepburn brings her special spirit to the part of his worried bride. The onscreen relationship between Henry and Jane Fonda naturally makes one think about their much-discussed difficulties offscreen, but that's a side benefit in a movie that is really just a celebration of simple human decency. Directed by Mark Rydell (Harry and Walter Go to New York). --Tom Keogh

Trauma

An anorexic young woman escapes from a psychiatric clinic and meets a young man who wants to help. She is caught and returned to her parents, who are soon beheaded by a garrotting stranger making the rounds about town, apparently striking only when it rains. The orphaned young woman and her new lover launch their own investigation and are endangered when a link is discovered with the victims and a particular operation performed years before.

How I Got into College

This diverting (if very unrealistic) comedy focuses on the exploits of charmingly naive Marlon Browne (Corey Parker), a well-meaning but scholastically average high school student intent upon attending the same college as the girl of his dreams, his classmate Jessica Kailo (a young, perky Lara Flynn Boyle). To Marlon, Jessica seemingly has it all: looks, intelligence, and sophistication. His dilemma is that she is a far brighter student whose main choice, Ramsey College, seems hopelessly out of his reach, so the awkward but determined Marlon endeavors to get accepted there. But little does Marlon know that Jessica is also struggling with tremendous pressures of her own. Director Savage Steve Holland (Better Off Dead) exaggerates many sequences--including the college fair, college interview, and college acceptance scenes--to humorously portray the traumatic adolescent experience of applying to college. Taken as an '80s pop-culture time capsule, and disregarding its blatantly two-dimensional characterizations, How I Got Into College is fluffy fun; there is a genuine chemistry between Parker and Boyle. However, one has to wonder why the filmmakers are making the bizarre statement that it's ideal for Marlon to plan for this potential adolescent romance without any regard for his future. Among the film's notable cast appearances, Anthony Edwards (E.R.) plays Marlon's supportive and sympathetic liaison at Ramsey College, while Nora Dunn and Phil Hartman make goofy cameos as SAT/college-prep counselors who bilk students out of money by offering them transparent advice. --Bryan Reesman

Carefree class clown Marlon Browne (Corey Parker) is about to endure the most horrific experience of his young life - getting into college - in this hilarious screwball comedy. He'll undergo the shock of entrance exams¿the torture of meeting college recruiters¿and the painstaking process of chosing the right school. But before it's over, his world will be turned upside down by the girl he loves (Lara Flynn Boyle) and the two shady college prep tutors (Phil Hartman and Nora Dunn) who are milking him for all he's worth!

Blood & Sand

Flesh And Bone

The darkest of the filmic trilogy that unites husband and wife Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, Flesh and Bone is a grimly affecting tale of two lonely lives, one unexpectedly, dramatically affected by the other. Quaid is the tragic Arlis, condemned to running away from memories of his horrific childhood. His is a life on the road, replenishing vending machines including one with a live chicken and predictions of the future. Ryan's unhappily wed Kay fears a past that Arlis is inextricably tied to. Still, they're drawn to each other. Then Arlis's father, the amoral Roy (an appropriately frightening James Caan), shows up and interferes and intervenes. Joining Roy is the benignly malevolent Ginnie (a sharp Gwyneth Paltrow in her first significant role). The film is written and directed by underused Steve Kloves, who wrote the lovely Racing with the Moon, and who wrote and directed The Fabulous Baker Boys.

For Flesh, Ryan is at her throaty, dark best, and Quaid's pain is etched on his face. The couple works very well together in this film, their first as a married couple (Innerspace and D.O.A. were made pre-nup). It's not the romantic light comedy both Quaid and Ryan had later success with, but it's a very effective and compelling film, despite its devastating tale. --N.F. Mendoza

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