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The prestige films are coming soon! Over the next 'eight weeks, the major studios in Hollywood will be releasing their major prestige films, the movies the studios have their Oscar hopes pinned on. Whether we approve or not, the Oscar is sull the highest award in cinema, and the award that counts. So for the next eight weeks, we will be bombarded with movies shooung for Oscar glory. We, the audience, benefit from this as we stand to see some Of the finest movies released this year. Aside from The Silence of the Lambs, Thelma and Louise, and Frankie and Johnny, there has not been a whole lot to be impressed with this year While the studios generally save their best films for the end of the year, 1991 has been an exception, with Silence of the Lambs a strong contender for best picture and Thelma and Louise making noise fo bes pic- ture an best actress! The films being released over the next cight.weeks are an eclectic bunch comedy, drama and a fantasy that should stun audiences into breathless wonder. Here's a preview Cape Fear..is director Marun Scorsese's latest effort, featuring Robert DeNiro, Nick Nolte, and Jessica Lange Scorsese is perhaps the finest director working in cinema today; his unique col- laborations with Robert DeNiro (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, Goodfellas), are legend to moviegoers, usually recognized as film at its best Combining the talents of Scorsese, and actors DeNiro, Lange and Nolte sim. ply adds to the excitement of this film. DeNiro portrays a convict out 10 get the man who put him away, yet this revenge is vicious and uncompromising, as he chooses to exact it on Nolte's family. Expect this one to be among the year's best films. The Prince of Tides...may be the audience movie of the year, certainly the inside word on the film is strong, with early advance screenings labelling Nick Nolte's performance Oscar calibre, and Barbra Streisand's direction brilliant. Adapted from the best s¢ller by Pat Conroy, the film explores the lives of a southern family, dealing with their tragic present, and delving into the haunting past. Nolte is the coach who falls for the psychiatrist treating his suicidal sister. Sureisand may be the second woman to grab a best director nomination, and per- haps the first 10 win. Also featured in the film are Kate Nelligan and Blythe Danner. Shining Through...is an old-fashioned wartime romance featuring Michael Douglas and Melanie Griffith caught up in the dangers of the second world war spy network. Audiences love these types of films, especially if they're a tearjerker and a thriller, combined. Douglas needs # hit, he has faltered since his Oscar win- ning turn in Wall St, and Griffith must get away from the Don Johnson's wife tag. Director David Seltzer wrote the script for the film, and advancer pre- views have been very strong. If there is a sleeper hit, it may be this film. JFK...could be the film that critics decide to attack or praise, it always seems to happen to Oliver Stone that way, He has twice won Oscars for directing, yet his previous film, The john foote at the flicks Doors, was a disaster. This time he has made a film that speculates on what exactly happened to John Kennedy in Dallas. Kevin Costner portrays the man who led the investigation into the myste- rious events surrounding the shooting of the beloved president, with Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald, and a cast including Jack Lemmon, John Candy, and a host of others. Hopefully, the film will be treated fairly, although there has been concern over the film's release date Bugsy...is yet another gangster film, that has atracted big names, including director Barry Levinson (Rain Man), and actors Warren Beatty and Annette Bening. The film focuses on the life and times of gangster Bugsy Siegel, por- trayed by Beatty in a performance that deficd very - thing he a s ver one evinson perhaps the only director who could pull this off he has a way 10 make an intelligent film work for the masses The Addams Family...was a popular TV show in the '60s, that had an odd appeal The movie version will probably Rave that same appeal, featuring Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia and Christopher Lloyd. Audience previews have praised the film's loony sense of humour, as well as the hilarious performances of the actors. And finally...the biggest film event of the year, Steven Spielberg's version of the Peter Pa legend, Hook. The film picks up with'Robin Williams as Pan, a grown man with no memory of Never Never Land, until His children are kid- napped by the evil Captain Hook. Dustin Hoffman is said 10 be brilliant as Hook, with a cast that boasts Julia Roberts as Tinker Bell, Bob Hoskins as Mr. Smee, and Lisa Bonet as Tiger Lily. Anytime Spielberg makes a film there is an air of excitement, yet this one has smelled like a hit from the start. The visual effects are said 10 be ing, and the word on Robin Williams' performance has been astounding. Count on this one blowing the box office records away. Of course, there are many more. Bette Midler and James Caan in For The Boys, Star Trek VI, Macauly Caulkin and Dan Ackroyd in My Girl, Walt Disney's new animation feature Beauty and the Beast,, the thriller about cops and drug addic- tion Rush, and a remake of the Spencer Tracy. classic, Father of the Bride, this time with Steve Martin as the reluctank dad. Martin will also be seen in the ensem- ble film by Lawrence Kasdan, Grand Canyon, which features Mary McDonnel in her first role since Dances With Wolves, Touchstone will unleash the long awaited film version of the stage hit Noises Off1, a comedy about life in the theatre, and Sean Connery will help save the rain forests as Medicine Man. Countless others will be released, but the films listed here make up the bulk of the so-called prestige films. Five will be up for that coveted Oscar, many hearts will break, and a film or two will flop. For we the audience, it is an early Christmas at the movies, a chance to see that camera roll, and the package opened. 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