1996

The Quest (1996)

Gene and Dick hit a milestone — episode 501 — and they’re celebrating by going back to the ’90s with Jean-Claude Van Damme’s passion project, The Quest. Commissioned by Steven M. as part of the Month of Steven, this 1996 martial arts adventure finds Van Damme not just starring but...

Jerry Maguire (1996)

This week, Shat The Movies dives into Jerry Maguire, Cameron Crowe’s 1996 romantic dramedy that gave us mission statements, sports agents, and more endlessly quoted lines than almost any movie of the decade. Tom Cruise stars as Jerry, a high-powered agent whose sudden moral awakening costs him everything except one...

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

The Enterprise and its crew follow a Borg ship through a time warp to prevent the Borg from taking over the Earth in a past era. Stuck in the past, Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) helps a pioneer of space travel (James Cromwell) in his efforts to create the first warp drive while Capt. Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Cmdr. Data (Brent Spiner) battle the Borg Queen (Alice Krige) as she tries to take over the Enterprise.

Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Baz Luhrmann helped adapt this classic Shakespearean romantic tragedy for the screen, updating the setting to a post-modern city named Verona Beach. In this version, the Capulets and the Montagues are two rival gangs. Juliet (Claire Danes) is attending a costume ball thrown by her parents. Her father Fulgencio Capulet (Paul Sorvino) has arranged her marriage to the boorish Paris (Paul Rudd) as part of a strategic investment plan. Romeo attends the masked ball and he and Juliet fall in love.

The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)

Schoolteacher and single mother Samantha Caine (Geena Davis) lives an average suburban life — until she begins having strange memories of unexplained violence and discovers that she has physical skills that she never imagined. Hiring private detective Mitch Hennessey (Samuel L. Jackson) to probe into her past, Samantha discovers that she’s a well-trained government assassin who went missing after suffering a bout of amnesia and that her former handlers want her back in their employ.

Matilda (1996)

This film adaptation of a Roald Dahl work tells the story of Matilda Wormwood (Mara Wilson), a gifted girl forced to put up with a crude, distant father (Danny DeVito) and mother (Rhea Perlman). Worse, Agatha Trunchbull (Pam Ferris), the evil principal at Matilda’s school, is a terrifyingly strict bully. However, when Matilda realizes she has the power of telekinesis, she begins to defend her friends from Trunchbull’s wrath and fight back against her unkind parents.

That Thing You Do! (1996)

Wily band manager Mr. White helps a small town band achieve big time success when they release a Beatles-style pop song in 1964. Pennsylvania band the “Oneders” become a sensation after their drummer breaks his arm, and is replaced by jazz enthusiast, Guy Patterson, who injects something a bit different into their music.

The Craft (1996)

After transferring to a Los Angeles high school, Sarah (Robin Tunney) finds that her telekinetic gift appeals to a group of three wannabe witches, who happen to be seeking a fourth member for their rituals. Bonnie (Neve Campbell), Rochelle (Rachel True) and Nancy (Fairuza Balk), like Sarah herself, all have troubled backgrounds, which combined with their nascent powers lead to dangerous consequences. When a minor spell causes a fellow student to lose her hair, the girls grow power-mad.