1996 Watchlist
by javomed88 | created - 08 Dec 2016 | updated - 13 Jun 2022 | Public1996 films I have seen: *Year's Best: Trainspotting *Standouts: The English Patient, Fargo, Shine, Jerry Maguire & Scream *Best Blockbusters: Independence Day, Mission: Impossible & Twister *Best Children's: Fly Away Home, Matilda & Space Jam *Disappointments: 101 Dalmatians & Striptease *Year's Overall: 6.5/10.0
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1. Trainspotting (1996)
R | 93 min | Drama
Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out despite the allure of drugs and the influence of friends.
Director: Danny Boyle | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd
Votes: 724,937 | Gross: $16.50M
2. Scream (1996)
R | 111 min | Horror, Mystery
A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a masked killer who targets her and her friends by using scary movies as part of a deadly game.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Skeet Ulrich
Votes: 387,937 | Gross: $103.05M
3. The English Patient (1996)
R | 162 min | Drama, Romance, War
At the close of World War II, a young nurse tends to a badly burned plane crash victim. His past is shown in flashbacks, revealing an involvement in a fateful love affair.
Director: Anthony Minghella | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Kristin Scott Thomas
Votes: 200,448 | Gross: $78.65M
4. Shine (1996)
PG-13 | 105 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Pianist David Helfgott, driven by his father and teachers, has a breakdown. Years later he returns to the piano, to popular if not critical acclaim.
Director: Scott Hicks | Stars: Geoffrey Rush, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Justin Braine, Sonia Todd
Votes: 56,662 | Gross: $35.81M
5. Fargo (1996)
R | 98 min | Crime, Thriller
Minnesota car salesman Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: William H. Macy, Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare
Votes: 725,774 | Gross: $24.61M
6. Sleepers (1996)
R | 147 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After a prank goes disastrously wrong, a group of boys are sent to a detention center where they are brutalized. Thirteen years later, an unexpected random encounter with a former guard gives them a chance for revenge.
Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Robert De Niro, Kevin Bacon, Brad Pitt, Jason Patric
Votes: 237,401 | Gross: $49.10M
7. Fly Away Home (1996)
PG | 107 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
A father and daughter decide to attempt to lead a flock of orphaned Canada Geese south by air.
Director: Carroll Ballard | Stars: Jeff Daniels, Anna Paquin, Dana Delany, Terry Kinney
Votes: 27,097 | Gross: $24.51M
8. The Birdcage (1996)
R | 117 min | Comedy
A gay cabaret owner and his drag queen companion agree to put up a false straight front so that their son can introduce them to his fiancée's right-wing moralistic parents.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest
Votes: 100,435 | Gross: $124.06M
9. Romeo + Juliet (1996)
PG-13 | 120 min | Drama, Romance
Shakespeare's famous play is updated to the hip modern suburb of Verona still retaining its original dialogue.
Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, John Leguizamo, Harold Perrineau
Votes: 244,562 | Gross: $46.35M
10. Mission: Impossible (1996)
PG-13 | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
An American agent, under false suspicion of disloyalty, must discover and expose the real spy without the help of his organization.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Béart, Henry Czerny
Votes: 469,813 | Gross: $180.98M
11. Independence Day (1996)
PG-13 | 145 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind's best weapon is the will to survive.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell
Votes: 605,017 | Gross: $306.17M
12. Jerry Maguire (1996)
R | 139 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When a sports agent has a moral epiphany and is fired for expressing it, he decides to put his new philosophy to the test as an independent agent with the only athlete who stays with him and his former colleague.
Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., Renée Zellweger, Kelly Preston
Votes: 286,754 | Gross: $153.95M
13. Primal Fear (1996)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An altar boy is accused of murdering a priest, and the truth is buried several layers deep.
Director: Gregory Hoblit | Stars: Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Edward Norton, John Mahoney
Votes: 246,609 | Gross: $56.12M
14. A Time to Kill (1996)
R | 149 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In Canton, Mississippi, a fearless young lawyer and his assistant defend a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his ten-year-old daughter, inciting violent retribution and revenge from the Ku Klux Klan.
Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey
Votes: 181,427 | Gross: $108.77M
15. The Craft (1996)
R | 101 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A newcomer to a Catholic prep high school falls in with a trio of outcast teenage girls who practice witchcraft, and they all soon conjure up various spells and curses against those who anger them.
Director: Andrew Fleming | Stars: Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, Rachel True
Votes: 107,549 | Gross: $24.88M
16. From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
R | 108 min | Action, Crime, Horror
Two criminals and their hostages unknowingly seek temporary refuge in a truck stop populated by vampires, with chaotic results.
Director: Robert Rodriguez | Stars: Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Juliette Lewis, Quentin Tarantino
Votes: 340,201 | Gross: $25.75M
17. Bound (1996)
R | 109 min | Crime, Thriller
Tough ex-con Corky and her lover Violet concoct a scheme to steal millions of stashed mob money and pin the blame on Violet's crooked boyfriend Caesar.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano, John P. Ryan
Votes: 60,669 | Gross: $3.80M
18. Irma Vep (1996)
Not Rated | 99 min | Comedy, Drama
A Hong Kong actress, Maggie Cheung playing a fictional version of herself, is cast in France to star in a remake of Les vampires (1915), but petty intrigues and clashing egos plague the production.
Director: Olivier Assayas | Stars: Maggie Cheung, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Nathalie Richard, Antoine Basler
Votes: 9,701 | Gross: $0.19M
19. Twister (I) (1996)
PG-13 | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
Bill and Jo Harding, advanced storm chasers on the brink of divorce, must join together to create an advanced weather alert system by putting themselves in the cross-hairs of extremely violent tornadoes.
Director: Jan de Bont | Stars: Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Cary Elwes, Jami Gertz
Votes: 213,282 | Gross: $241.72M
20. The Eighth Day (1996)
118 min | Comedy, Drama
An unusual and wonderful friendship develops between a busy but unhappy salesman and a resident of a mental asylum.
Director: Jaco Van Dormael | Stars: Daniel Auteuil, Pascal Duquenne, Miou-Miou, Henri Garcin
Votes: 10,075 | Gross: $0.33M
21. Surviving Picasso (1996)
R | 125 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
The passionate Merchant Ivory drama tells the story of Françoise Gilot (Natascha McElhone), the only lover of Pablo Picasso (Sir Anthony Hopkins) who was strong enough to withstand his ferocious cruelty, and move on with her life.
Director: James Ivory | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Natascha McElhone, Julianne Moore, Joss Ackland
Votes: 7,886 | Gross: $2.00M
22. Mars Attacks! (1996)
PG-13 | 106 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
Earth is invaded by Martians with unbeatable weapons and a cruel sense of humor.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Annette Bening
Votes: 243,251 | Gross: $37.77M
23. The First Wives Club (1996)
PG | 103 min | Comedy
Reunited by the death of a college friend, three divorced women seek revenge on the husbands who left them for younger women.
Director: Hugh Wilson | Stars: Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, Diane Keaton, Maggie Smith
Votes: 54,149 | Gross: $105.49M
24. The Cable Guy (1996)
PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Thriller
A designer makes a grievious mistake when he rejects the friendship of a borderline cable guy.
Director: Ben Stiller | Stars: Jim Carrey, Matthew Broderick, Leslie Mann, Jack Black
Votes: 177,908 | Gross: $60.24M
25. The Nutty Professor (1996)
PG-13 | 95 min | Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi
Grossly overweight yet good-hearted professor Sherman Klump takes a special chemical that turns him into the slim but obnoxious Buddy Love.
Director: Tom Shadyac | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Jada Pinkett Smith, James Coburn, Larry Miller
Votes: 123,601 | Gross: $128.81M
26. Ransom (1996)
R | 121 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Multi-millionaire Tom Mullen's son is kidnapped, but after initially agreeing to pay the ransom Mullen then decides to use the ransom money as a bounty.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Mel Gibson, Gary Sinise, Rene Russo, Brawley Nolte
Votes: 135,367 | Gross: $136.49M
27. The Juror (1996)
R | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A juror in a Mafia trial is forced to convince the other jurors to vote not guilty by an obsessive mob enforcer.
Director: Brian Gibson | Stars: Demi Moore, Alec Baldwin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Gandolfini
Votes: 19,949 | Gross: $22.75M
28. Marvin's Room (1996)
PG-13 | 98 min | Drama
After seventeen years, a fiercely independent woman and her rebellious son return home and together they turn the family she left behind upside down.
Director: Jerry Zaks | Stars: Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro
Votes: 29,989 | Gross: $12.78M
29. Fear (1996)
R | 97 min | Drama, Thriller
When Nicole met David; handsome, charming, affectionate, he was everything. It seemed perfect, but soon she sees that David has a darker side. And his adoration turns to obsession, their dream into a nightmare, and her love into fear.
Director: James Foley | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Reese Witherspoon, William Petersen, Amy Brenneman
Votes: 54,691 | Gross: $20.75M
30. Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
R | 101 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A New York girl sets her father up with a beautiful woman in a troubled marriage while her stepsister gets engaged.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Goldie Hawn, Julia Roberts, Edward Norton
Votes: 39,386 | Gross: $9.71M
31. One Fine Day (1996)
PG | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The lives of two strangers and their young children unexpectedly intersect on one hectic, stressful day in New York City.
Director: Michael Hoffman | Stars: Michelle Pfeiffer, George Clooney, Mae Whitman, Alex D. Linz
Votes: 48,492 | Gross: $46.15M
32. Bed of Roses (1996)
PG | 87 min | Drama, Romance
Romantic drama about a young career girl who is swept off her feet by a shy florist who fell in love with her after one glimpse through a shadowy window.
Director: Michael Goldenberg | Stars: Christian Slater, Mary Stuart Masterson, Pamela Adlon, Josh Brolin
Votes: 8,759 | Gross: $19.03M
33. Alaska (1996)
PG | 109 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
While searching for their missing father in the mountains of Alaska, two siblings come across a baby polar bear on the run from a pair of poachers.
Director: Fraser C. Heston | Stars: Thora Birch, Vincent Kartheiser, Dirk Benedict, Charlton Heston
Votes: 5,812 | Gross: $11.57M
34. Matilda (1996)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
A girl gifted with a keen intellect and psychic powers uses both to get even with her callous family and free her kindly schoolteacher from the tyrannical grip of a sadistic headmistress.
Director: Danny DeVito | Stars: Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Mara Wilson, Embeth Davidtz
Votes: 174,355 | Gross: $33.08M
35. Space Jam (1996)
PG | 88 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
In a desperate attempt to win a basketball match and earn their freedom, the Looney Tunes seek the aid of retired basketball champion, Michael Jordan.
Director: Joe Pytka | Stars: Michael Jordan, Wayne Knight, Theresa Randle, Manner Washington
Votes: 213,197 | Gross: $90.46M
36. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
G | 91 min | Animation, Drama, Family
A deformed bell-ringer must assert his independence from a vicious government minister in order to help his friend, a gypsy dancer.
Directors: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise | Stars: Demi Moore, Jason Alexander, Mary Kay Bergman, Corey Burton
Votes: 171,485 | Gross: $100.14M
37. Jingle All the Way (1996)
PG | 89 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A father vows to get his son a Turbo Man action figure for Christmas. However, every store is sold out, and he must travel all over town and compete with everybody else in order to find one.
Director: Brian Levant | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson
Votes: 116,089 | Gross: $60.57M
38. Flipper (1996)
PG | 95 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
A teenage boy sent to spend the summer with his eccentric uncle on the Florida coast befriends a remarkable dolphin and takes on local bad guys who are polluting the water.
Director: Alan Shapiro | Stars: Paul Hogan, Elijah Wood, Jonathan Banks, Robert Deacon
Votes: 11,655 | Gross: $20.05M
39. Dunston Checks In (1996)
PG | 88 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A young boy befriends a larcenous orangutan in a luxury hotel.
Director: Ken Kwapis | Stars: Jason Alexander, Faye Dunaway, Eric Lloyd, Rupert Everett
Votes: 13,396 | Gross: $9.87M
40. Jack (1996)
PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Because of an unusual disorder that has aged him four times faster than a typical human being, a boy looks like a 40-year-old man as he starts fifth grade at public school after being homeschooled.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Robin Williams, Diane Lane, Brian Kerwin, Jennifer Lopez
Votes: 63,775 | Gross: $58.62M
41. 101 Dalmatians (1996)
G | 103 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
An evil high-fashion designer plots to steal dalmatian puppies in order to make an extravagant fur coat but creates an extravagant mess instead.
Director: Stephen Herek | Stars: Glenn Close, Jeff Daniels, Joely Richardson, Joan Plowright
Votes: 117,476 | Gross: $136.19M
42. Striptease (1996)
R | 115 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A stripper and single mother gets dragged into a dangerous situation after a congressman takes a fancy to her.
Director: Andrew Bergman | Stars: Demi Moore, Burt Reynolds, Armand Assante, Ving Rhames
Votes: 48,020 | Gross: $33.11M
43. The Dentist (1996)
R | 92 min | Horror, Thriller
An extremely successful dentist goes off the deep end after he catches his wife cheating on him.
Director: Brian Yuzna | Stars: Corbin Bernsen, Linda Hoffman, Michael Stadvec, Ken Foree
Votes: 10,493
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