European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 22, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                I i is week s Eie Meslink l l Al s kid rated pg-13. This self billed Quot animation with an Altitude a based on stand up routines by the late Robin Harris Fallows a Day Harris spends in Pun land with a pretty Divorcee her Small son and three inner City kids who have been dumped yet again by their largely Absentee mom. Tufty i Vamper try a rated pg-13. There Are vampires on the Loose in Southern California and according to a grizzled stranger Donald Sutherland the Only one who can Stop them is Buffy Kristy Swansonn air headed cheerleader who would rather mall crawl than stake out the undead Rutger Hauer is Leader of the Vampire pack Paul Reubens is Hauers right hand bloodsucker teen idol Luke Perry is Buffy Sally. Curl Stephar Columbua the Dlack Vry rated pg-13. Never mind the new world order this movie celebrates the sooth anniversary of the new world. From the people behind the Superman movies comes this Eric starring Marlon Brando As the head of the inquisition Rachel Ward As Queen Isabella Tom Solleck As King Ferdinand and newcomer George Corra face As the Man himself. Conant inf adult ill rated r. Two suburban couples looking Tor a Little excitement in their lives get in deeper than anyone expected when a game of wife swapping ends up in murder. The mundane routine is suddenly replaced by terror and intrigue As the aftershocks of violent crime shake their lives. Kevin Kline Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. 0mi de it or rated pg-13. This wicked sick joke movie blends the Black wit of Billy Wilder with special effects. Meryl Streep and Goldie hawn play a vain actress and a vengeful author locked in a deadly rivalry. Caught Between them is nerdy plastic surgeon Bruce Willis. On the fringe is a mysterious Beauty Isabella Rossellini who dispenses a certain magic elixir. Pr4df f.r.o.7 rated o. This animated film features a secret agent Frog voice by Ben Kingsley who must save the United kingdom. Uttam a i a a Nunra in sons Moor land rated g. Based on the turn of the can Tury Winsor Mccay comic strip this is the animated tale of a Little boy befriended by the King of Slumberland and made hit heir Only to jeopardize everything when he unlocks a room that holds a Demon who kidnaps the King. Featuring the voices of Mickey Rooney Rene Auberjonois and Gabriel Damon. Directed by Masami Mata and William Hurtz. Elf if and the City rated r. A remake of Inlet Dassing a 1930 cult hit this movie follows Small time Connie or Harry Fabian Robert de Biroas he ties a noose around his neck. An ambulance chasing lawyer who decides to go into the boxing business As a promoter Harry manages to run afoul of anyone with More Power and bite than he has including Alan King As a lethal big timer and Cliff Gorman As a Tough Guy barkeeper whose unhappy wife Jessica Lange is fooling around with Harry. Out on a limb rated pm. Matthew Broderick plays a financial Whiz summoned to a Remote logging town named Buzzsaw by his Little sister. She has overheard an Exchange Between her no Good Stepfather Jeffrey Jones and his even worse evil twin Jones and one of them s going to end up dead. However in route to Buzzsaw Broderick is waylaid by a screwball redhead Lucidi Kling who steals his car his clothes and his Wallet which contains a phone number crucial to closing a 3140 million Deal or aloud to kit rated pg-13. A comic romantic fable featuring the soul kiss of the Century. Peter Alec Baldwin and Rita Meg Ryan Are Young Urban and totally smitten. But at their wedding a mysterious Oki Man Sydney Walker plants a kiss on Rita and somehow their Louis switch. What follows is a fractured fairy tale and a tribute to True love. Halting Cain rated r John Lithgow is a child shrink with a cute daughter an even cuter wife Lolita Davidovich and some nol so Cut multiple personalities. The Story begins when he decides to Kidnap his daughter and tame his sex wife a loser Kir the crime. Stay tuned rated pg-13. In this satire a suburban Couch potato John Ritter and his fed up wife Pant Daw her arc sucked into a sinister Cable network run by a faustian Spike Jeffrey Jones for the amusement of a certain satanic majesty. The couples frenetic Channel hopping adventures provide the excuse for some to parodies is Hern  and Wayne s to  them. 3 ninja Koldt rated in a. While their father is occupied with t ill business his Young sons Cope Wuh his absence by teaming he ways of the ninja from grandpa. Their new skills ate put to the test when an arms dealer tries to Kidnap them to keep dad from shutting him Down. Also feature film  to the maj i stars v a Tor Wong Michael Treanor. Alto with cafes circuit rated of the great mouse de Acclise Pimp rated rot the dulling Fdge Honey i blew i do the kid mom and dad Sase the would sister and. Stop or my mom will shoot straight talk Taateo pm Fli Batman returns class act i Cool world deceived far and away filed Gican. Tomatoes Laily Riugi Man trouble a stranger among us. Rated re Attis Iron Eagle Iii. Alien Boomerang  the hand thai rocks the Cradle Highlander j the quickening Jennifer eight lethal weapon 3, Mon Money passenger 37, rapid fire sleepwalkers. Under Siree Universal Soldier unlawful entry1. White men can to jump. Anti terrorist John Cutter Wesley Snipes tries a daring plan to catch a pack of hijackers in passenger 57. Werni srm Chuck Vinch stall write Ron mov 1 s passenger 57 rated r a a a aaa must see aaa Worth your time a e passable entertainment a coming Toon to a video outlet near you and you can wait one night last week while doing some late night Channel surfing with my Remote firmly in hand i happened upon a trailer for this adventure film. Once it was Over i zapped Onward and almost immediately stumbled across a showing of die hard on a Cable Channel i Low appropriate. This new Wesley Snipes film is a Lineal descendant of that Bruce Willis magnum opus whose family tree can be traced Down through its own sequel and on to his last boy scout and from there to fellow Lunk Steven Seagall a recent under siege. The twisted Hollywood Genca ology that usually plays itself out in these situations has now disgorged passenger 57, which could also be titled die hard goes airborne. Or die hard 2, since Willis dealt with air terror in that one. Passenger 57s Story is about As Subtle As a Brick through the window. Snipes is John Cutter a sort of ninja Security consultant who has been in pretty fair demand among the airlines for his knowledge and skills at thwart ing terrorists. In a transparent and ineffective attempt to humanize the character Lazy writers David Loughey and Dan Gordon make Cutter a tightly wound martial arts expert who drives a Cherry red Corvette and has a permanently surly Demeanour. We learn that this is because of the death of his wife during a convenience store Holdup that he was powerless to prevent. Director Kevin Hooks idea of subtlety is to shoot this sequence in Black and White and slow motion. Cutter is urged to get Back in the Saddle by old buddy sly Delvecchio Tom Sizemor who Hooks him up with a new airline Job. While flying to los Angeles for a corporate meeting Cutter is joined on the plane by top ranked International terrorist Charles Rane the oily Bruce Payne who is in Fri custody and in route to trial in California you done to have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what happens next. The Battle Between Cutter on one Side and Rane and a Small band of henchmen and one Hench woman on the other frequently Borders on the ridiculous As when the Chase moves from the parked plane to a nearby county carnival of All places so that a running gun Battle can be staged on a merry go round filled with toddlers. Much of the dialogue is from a bad comic Book and it is to the actors credit that they deliver the lines with straight faces. You can almost imagine writers Loughery and Gordon sitting at a table trying to think up punchlines to compare to Willis a yippee by a  their collaborative results Are wildly uneven. While talking to the head terrorist on an intercom Cutter asks Rane if he has Ever played Roulette. A on of cassion Quot Rane sneers. A let me give you a word of advice always bet on Black a Snipes growls As ominous chords swell on the soundtrack and the camera zooms in for a closeup of his chiselled features. If there a one thing that keeps the film from sinking completely it is that Hooks has taken to heart the Maxim proved time and again by Arnold Schwarzenegger keep a healthy sense of humor intact in making these kinds of films because they Are the very definition of Tongue in Cheek. Hooks accomplishes this in Ocassio Nalty passable style. In one scene an elderly woman settles into the seat next to Cutter and begins ranting about How much she likes his show a my show a he asks hesitantly. A yeah you know whoop whoop whoop Quot the woman says doing the fist pumping exercise that has become a cultural War chant for the to studio audiences of Arsenio Hall. But More often Hooks and the writers Are asleep at the wheel. They shamelessly plagiarize die hard in the most insipid ways As when they pit Cutter against a local Yokel Small town sheriff Ernie Lively. They desperately try to develop camera Crie Between Cutter and the sheriff us the film goes on the Way Willis did with local cop Reginald Vel Johnson but it rings false Here. Bottom line this is serviceable but soulless adventure fare Snipes is far too accomplished an actor for the material but he gives it his professional Best and he raises the level of everyone around him with his edgy work. But Overall passenger 57 is a mediocre film that will soon be appearing at a video rental rack near you. It gets two stars. Page 12 a sunday november 22, 1992