On this day in music history - La Cenerentola (1996):

La Cenerentola

an episode of the Great Performances TV series,

directed by Brian Large,

written by Jacopo Ferretti and Charles Perrault,

was released in the United States on April 3, 1996.

Music by Gioachino Rossini.

Cast:

Cecilia Bartoli, Enzo Dara, Raúl Giménez, Alessandro Corbelli, Michele Pertusi, Laura Knoop, Jill Grove, Bruno Campanella, Houston Grand Opera Chorus, Spiro Winsett.

On this day in movie history - Ghost in the Shell (1995):

Ghost in the Shell

directed by Mamoru Oshii,

based on the Manga comic book series by Masamune Shirow,

was released in the United States on March 29, 1996.
The DVD of the updated Ghost in the Shell 2.0 version was released in the United States on January 12, 2010.

Voice cast:

Atsuko Tanaka, Maaya Sakamoto, Akio Ōtsuka, Iemasa Kayumi, Yoshiko Sakakibara, Kōichi Yamadera, Tamio Ōki, Yutaka Nakano, Tesshō Genda, Mitsuru Miyamoto, Kazuhiro Yamaji, Shigeru Chiba.

On this day in movie history - Diabolique (1996):

Diabolique

directed by Jeremiah Chechik,

written by Don Roos,

based on the original screenplay by Henri-Georges Clouzot, Jérôme Géronimi, René Masson and Frédéric Grendel,

in turn based on the novel She Who Was No More by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac,

was released in the United States on March 22, 1996.
Music by Randy Edelman.

Cast:

Sharon Stone, Isabelle Adjani, Chazz Palminteri, Kathy Bates, Spalding Gray, Shirley Knight, Allen Garfield, Adam Hann-Byrd, Donal Logue, Diana Bellamy, Clea Lewis, J.J. Abrams, O'Neal Compton, Bingo O'Malley, Stephen Liska, James Kisicki, Kevin Vinay, Cory Pattak, Kate Young, Sophia Salguero, Hank Stohl, Zachary Mott, Jesse Sky Ross, Tony Amen, Daniel Conley, Aaron D. Frankel, Daniel Kremer, Phil Nardozzi, Steve Patterson.

On this day in movie history - Fargo (1996):

Fargo

directed by Joel Coen,

written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen,

was released in the United States on March 8, 1996.
Music by Carter Burwell.

Cast:

Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, Harve Presnell, Kristin Rudrüd, Tony Denman, Steve Reevis, Larry Brandenburg, John Carroll Lynch, Steve Park, Bruce Bohne, Larissa Kokernot, David S. Lomax, Melissa Peterman, Michelle Suzanne LeDoux, Bain Boehlke, Warren Keith, James Gaulke, José Feliciano, Michelle Hutchison, Cliff Rakerd, Gary Houston, Steve Edelman, Sally Wingert, Bruce Campbell.

Recommended reading - Making Movies, by Sidney Lumet (1996):

Making Movies

By Sidney Lumet.

Published by Vintage.

Published 1996.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0679756604

ISBN-13: 978-0679756606

Description:

Why does a director choose a particular script? What must they do in order to keep actors fresh and truthful through take after take of a single scene? How do you stage a shootout – involving more than one hundred extras and three colliding taxis – in the heart of New York’s diamond district? What does it take to keep the studio honchos happy? From the first rehearsal to the final screening, Making Movies is a master’s take, delivered with clarity, candor, and a wealth of anecdote.

For in this book, Sidney Lumet, one of our most consistently acclaimed directors, gives us both a professional memoir and a definitive guide to the art, craft, and business of the motion picture. Drawing on forty years of experience on movies that range from Long Day’s Journey into Night to Network and The Verdict – and with such stars as Katharine Hepburn, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, and Al Pacino – Lumet explains how painstaking labor and inspired split-second decisions can result in two hours of screen magic.

“Film would be a better place if every director were required to share with other romancers of film his process. It is a gift to us all that it is Sidney Lumet, one of American’s greatest filmmakers, who is sharing his point-of-view.” – Stephen Spielberg.

“Invaluable. . . . I am sometimes asked if there is one book a filmgoer could read to learn more about how movies are made and what to look for while watching them. This is the book.” – Roger Ebert, The New York Times Book Review.

“Remarkable . . . . as dignified as the movies [Lumet] has made and yet deeply felt and very moving. . . . Anyone who truly loves movies ought to read what he has to say about them. . . . Delightfully engrossing.” – Los Angeles Times.

“The film bible from a master. It tells in meticulous detail the step-by-step process of making a movie. You feel you’re on the set. A must.” – Quincy Jones.

“Full of energy, enthusiasm and wisdom. . . . It’s all engrossing because [Lumet] speaks so fervently and opinionatedly about matters on which he has earned the right to opinions.”  - The New Republic.

Recommended reading - H.R. Giger's Film Design by H.R. Giger (1996):

H.R. Giger's Film Design

By H.R. Giger.

Introduction by Ridley Scott.

Published by Morpheus International.

Published 1996.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 1883398061

ISBN-13: 978-1883398064

Description:

An artist of uncompromising vision who gives free range to his brilliant, often bizarre imagination, H.R. Giger has created some of the most successful marriages of design and film in history. In this collection, Giger takes readers on a tour of his fantastic designs, from genesis through gestation to birth, for such films as Alien, Alien 3, and Species. 200 photos & illustrations.

On this day in movie history - The Battle Over Citizen Kane (1996):

The Battle Over Citizen Kane

documentary directed by Thomas Lennon and Michael Epstein,

written by Thomas Lennon and Richard Ben Cramer,

was released in the United States on January 29, 1996.
Episode from season 8 of the PBS documentary series American Experience.
Narrated by Richard Ben Cramer.
Music by Brian Keane.

Cast:

William Alland, Thomas Anderson, Peter Bogdanovich, Jimmy Breslin, Richard Ben Cramer, Marion Davies, Leonard de Paur, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Richard France, William Randolph Hearst, William Herz, Sam Leve, Norman Lloyd, Nancy Loe, Frank Mankiewicz, David McCullough, David Nasaw, Louetta Santucci, John Tebbel, Ruth Warrick, Orson Welles, Vern Whaley, Gloria Widelock, Robert Wise, Jack Carter, Charles Chaplin, Gary Cooper, Cecil B. DeMille, Maurice Ellis, Joan Fontaine, Myrna Loy, Louis B. Mayer, Louella Parsons, Dick Powell, Ginger Rogers, Rosalind Russell, David O. Selznick, Norma Shearer.

On this day in music history - Nightscenes, by Michael Whalen (1996):

Nightscenes

Album by Michael Whalen,

released January 1, 1996.

Track list:

Evening Blurs Into The Neon; Close Your Eyes, The Right Approaches; Acquainted With The Night; Part One: Light-Sky-Stars; Part Two: Passages; Part Three: Faces; Part Four: Love; Into The Darkness Part One: The Heart Of Midninght; Into The Darkness Part Two: Journey Towards The Sunrise; It Happened On A Sunday.

On this day in movie history - Michael (1996):

Michael

directed by Nora Ephron,

written by Nora Ephron, Delia Ephron, Peter Dexter and Jim Quinlan,

based on a story by Jim Quinlan and Peter Dexter,

was released in the United States on December 25, 1996.
Music by Randy Newman.

Cast:

John Travolta, Andie MacDowell, William Hurt, Bob Hoskins, Robert Pastorelli, Jean Stapleton, Teri Garr, Wallace Langham, Joey Lauren Adams, Carla Gugino, Tom Hodges, Catherine Lloyd Burns, Richard Schiff, Calvin Trillin, Donald J. Lee Jr., JoAnn Fregalette Jansen, David Harrod, Jane Lanier, John Hussey, Margaret Travolta, David M. Bernstein, Betsy Sokolow Sherman, Tracey A. Doyle, Blue Deckert, Deborah Nunez, Dell Aldrich, Kay Colvin, James N. Harrell, Peyton E. Park, Dianne Dreyer, Tim Harrison, Daniel Mimura, Mark Nutter, Thomas F. Evans, Jimmy Borto, Stephen Bruton, Dominic Paolo Testa, Tom Woodruff Jr.