kingrat
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Posts posted by kingrat
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Larry, I disliked your top choice for 2005 so much that I vowed never to watch another comic book movie. There's no question, however, that most people liked it a lot.
2005-2010 looks like the Sahara Desert, and I probably missed most of the oases.
1. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
2. HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE - The last of the Potter films that I can honestly call a favorite.
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Hm, no one has mentioned my favorite film of 2004. Does the question "Gonna eat those tots?" ring a bell?
Favorites for 2004:
1. NAPOLEON DYNAMITE - I'll bet you guys would like this movie better if, like Kip, you'd actually bought a time machine on ebay.
2. SIDEWAYS - Just love this movie, though I'm not believing that Virginia Madsen would settle for Paul Giamatti. Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church are so good.
3. HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN - Arguably, Alfonso Cuaron's direction is the best of any of the Potter movies, though it's also arguable that Chris Columbus' more direct style fit the stories better.
Not on a par with the top three, but still enjoyable:
GARDEN STATE - Offbeat and wacky fun, if not at the supreme level of ND.
THE BOURNE SUPREMACY - Another exciting and well-made thriller in the series.
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-This is where I respectfully leave this thread. My knowledge of movies ends here, and I see no reason to repeat Top Ten box-office lists or critical lists.
We will miss you. I share your sentiments.
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SansFin, I couldn't agree more with your take on the Harry Potter books. Rowling also took a break after Goblet of Fire to write a monster book and another additional short book as well, I think.
Thanks to your lists, I can add three more films to the list of 2003 favorites.
Favorites for 2003:
1. LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING - Jackson completes what I would never have believed any director could pull off. I don't blame Oscar for deciding to reward him for, essentially, the entire trilogy.
2. MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD - At the time it seemed like a great start to a promising set of action movies. Too bad Russell Crowe messed up his career.
3. MYSTIC RIVER - Oscar rewarded Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, and Marcia Gay Harden, but I believe I'm even more impressed by the less showy work of Kevin Bacon, Laura Linney, and Lawrence Fishburne. Making the character of Whitey Jackson black was an improvement on the novel. Fishburne has some great looks as the outsider who's trying to make sense of the crazy white people from South Boston. A Boston reviewer said that Laura Linney was the one who nailed the local accent.
4. HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG - An absolute downer of a movie, so sad and beautifully made.
5. UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN - Gorgeous Italian scenery made the story even better.
6. ELF - This should have been awful, but I thought it was awfully funny.
7. BIG FISH - A tall tale well told.
8. SECONDHAND LIONS - Another tall tale well told.
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So 2001 is a year about which we have more consensus than usual. On to 2002.
Favorites for 2002:
1. HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS - Perhaps the very best novel of the series, and an outstanding movie. Chris Columbus subsequently gave up living in the Hogwarts world to go back to real life.
2. THE HOURS - So one of the artiest films of the year has two big twists better than any other thriller of the period [spoilerS]: one character isn't really dead, another character turns out to be someone we have met in a different context. Lots of favorite actors in this one, and little Jack Ravello is heartbreaking as the son Julianne Moore abandons.
3. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS - I think this is a bit less interesting than the other two, but still mighty darn good.
4. FAR FROM HEAVEN - I have mixed feelings. This is beautifully made, with a lot of first-rate actors, but . . . is it alive? I know Todd Haynes is deliberately seeking the slightly denatured character of Douglas Sirk's 1950s films, but does he achieve his goal a little too well? A must-see, though, I think.
5. THE BOURNE IDENTITY - Very well directed. A couple of interesting points: 1) Matt Damon has more romantic chemistry with Franka Potente than any of his other female co-stars. Damon usually doesn't have much if any--maybe a little with Minnie Driver. Absolute zero with Angelina Jolie in THE GOOD SHEPHERD. To a surprising extent, Damon's basic screen persona is that of a gay loner who sometimes has sex with women. He plays exactly that in THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY. In OCEAN'S ELEVEN he essentially plays the straight guys' gay friend. THE MARTIAN was a great property for him because he gets to be alone on Mars. I can't think of another good-looking leading man of his longevity who has so little romantic chemistry with the opposite sex on screen. (Offscreen, he has a wife and four kids; I'm talking strictly about what he projects on screen.)
2) In Robert Ludlum's version and in the TV version back in the 70s with Richard Chamberlain, Bourne is a CIA operative who is trying to track down the terrorist assassin known as Carlos (the Jackal in THE DAY OF THE JACKAL). The 2002 version makes Bourne a "black ops" assassin, which is the exact opposite of Ludlum's story. The two subsequent BOURNE movies, also very good thrillers, have villains who are in the CIA. This gives a notably leftist tinge to the Damon/Bourne franchise, just as AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN and TOP GUN were solidly Reaganite.
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Favorites for 2001:
1. HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE - An almost flawless translation from book to film. The whole series was astonishingly well done. If I like the first four movies best, that's probably because J.K. Rowling faltered somewhat after the first four books. The first two films, directed by Chris Columbus, are the most direct and innocent.
2. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGS - For me, the director of the decade is Peter Jackson, simply because he managed to film Tolkien's trilogy in a manner that satisfied most of Tolkien's many fans. He had so many problems to solve and managed to solve most of them. This is perhaps the best of the three films, taken as individual units.
3. A BEAUTIFUL MIND - I wonder if I would like this film as much, knowing now that the hero's work provided the theory behind credit default swaps. There has been a backlash against this film and against Ron Howard, though I'm not sure why. Too bad Jennifer Connelly seemed to disappear after a couple of years, and Russell Crowe, at the time one of the three or four best actors around, managed to mess up his career.
4. AMELIE - Needs trimming, but a charmer. A film that depends so much on quirky charm needs to be more tightly delivered, but Audrey Tautou brings back memories of that other Audrey (less so in her subsequent English-language films).
5. CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN
6. ENIGMA - Not so good as the subsequent THE IMITATION GAME, but an enjoyable story. We met a codebreaker who had worked at Bletchley Park; she was livid at the way the novel (and film) portray the Polish character, given how much the Poles had contributed to breaking the Enigma.
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Lawrence, 212 films seen???? Dude!!!! I am impressed. It's obvious I saw very few films in 2000, though I've seen four on speedracer's list and a mighty zero of Bogie's top ten.
Favorites (sort of) for 2000:
Three have already been mentioned (alphabetical order):
BEST IN SHOW
CHOCOLAT - One of the few contemporary romances that can stand alongside the great romantic movies of the 1940s.
MEMENTO
But no one has mentioned:
THIRTEEN DAYS - A fine account of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Bruce Greenwood is excellent as JFK, Steven Culp a fine RFK, Kevin Costner not so much, but without him the film wouldn't have been made.
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kingrat, did you ever see The Decalogue (1989)? If so, what did you think of it?
No, and this is now hard to find.
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To my surprise, given the struggles to come up with titles for some years, 24 films popped up as possibilities for favorites of the decade.
Favorites for the decade (chronological order):
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
Miller's Crossing (1990)
Un coeur en hiver (1992)
The Crying Game (1992)
Three Colors: Blue (1993)
The Remains of the Day (1993)
Exotica (1994)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
The Dreamlife of Angels (1998)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Directors:
Krzysztof Kieslowski
James Ivory
Anthony Minghella
Atom Egoyan
Neil Jordan
Coen Brothers
Dardenne Brothers
Michael Apted
Woody Allen
Mike Newell
Actors:
Daniel Auteuil
Anthony Hopkins
Ralph Fiennes
Bruce Greenwood
Sean Connery
Kevin Spacey
James Cromwell
Tom Hanks
Matt Damon
Gary Sinise
Actresses:
Juliette Binoche
Elodie Bouchez
Emmanuelle Beart
Emma Thompson
Glenn Close
Anne Archer
Joan Plowright
Kristin Scott Thomas
Meryl Streep
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Sometimes AMERICAN BEAUTY relishes in its weirdness. The scene about the guy recording the plastic bag blowing around in the wind was unlike anything in a Hollywood movie before or since. And to this day, I still don't look at trash blowing across a sidewalk in the same way. LOL
Of course it should also be said that the long-running TV hit Desperate Housewives. that came a short time afterward, exists in great debt to AMERICAN BEAUTY.
The plastic bag scene was one of the good ones, and yes, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES owes a great deal to AMERICAN BEAUTY.
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Only one film so far from 1999 has really earned favorite status:
THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY - It's remarkable to have two films as good as PURPLE NOON and THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY made from the same novel. Interestingly, the two films have different endings, neither the one in the book.
Others:
I liked ANALYZE THIS, but it set in motion the downward half of Robert De Niro's career, where he has played increasingly campier versions of the characters he played seriously in the first half of his career, so it might not seem so funny now.
TEA WITH MUSSOLINI - I especially liked the scenes in the lovely hill town of San Gimignano.
AMERICAN BEAUTY - I had mixed feelings about this very well-made film. Borrows from SUNSET BLVD. for the voiceover. Annette Bening gets another award like the one I gave Billy Zane: I hated the cartoonish way the director wanted her to play her character, but she faithfully and capably executed this unfortunate approach. I liked the offbeat nature of the film, especially as the trend was toward formula, but hated the assumption that of course a career military guy was a repressed homosexual and of course he collected Nazi paraphernalia.
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That's probably because it is a loose remake of THE FIGHTING SULLIVANS.
Thanks. That certainly explains a lot.
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This is a difficult year for me, and I suspect that it will not get any easier, with no more than two or three films per year. There is only one film that I am truly crazy about:
1. THE DREAMLIFE OF ANGELS - Elodie Bouchez, the young girl in WILD REEDS, plays a young drifter. She and her friend Marianne occupy an apartment whose owner is in a coma in the hospital. Isa (Bouchez) finds this girl's diary, and begins to feel a connection to the girl she doesn't know. I'm not sure the ending works, but this film made a big impression.
Some others:
2. THE RED VIOLIN - Follows the course of a famous violin over the centuries.
3. THE OBJECT OF MY AFFECTION - Jennifer Anniston is in love with her gay friend (Paul Rudd). He becomes involved with a snobby intellectual (Tim Daly), but then becomes interested in the much younger lover of Nigel Hawthorne. If you like the theme and the actors, worth checking out. What can you do when the object of your affection loves someone else?
4. SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE
5. PRIMARY COLORS - You might check this one out just to be surprised by how well John Travolta and Emma Thompson play Southerners. Clearly they are meant to stand in for a political couple you might have heard of.
I remember also liking ENEMY OF THE STATE; GET REAL (British coming out film; the ending of the film, where one young man is obviously ready to fit into the whole gay subculture, but his lover isn't, would be the beginning of a more interesting film); RONIN; SNAKE EYES; THE TRUMAN SHOW; and 42 UP.
A note about SAVING PRIVATE RYAN: I knew I couldn't watch the very bloody opening half hour, which was what made this film notable, but saw the rest, which was surprisingly close to a 40s/50s war film like BATTLEGROUND.
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Favorites for 1997:
1. L.A. CONFIDENTIAL - Fun fact: Curtis Hanson said that one of the key decisions made before filming started was for the detectives not to wear hats. To be historically correct, they would have--the detectives in LA were known as "the Hat Squad"--but Hanson felt that contemporary viewers would be turned off by this.
2. THE SWEET HEREAFTER - Some brilliant touches, such as when the bus approaches the scene of the accident, the camera suddenly swoops up and we cut to another scene. Later in the film we see more, again with the camera swooping up and a cut away. The complete scene is only revealed later.
3. THE FIFTH ELEMENT - There may be a plot or characters or something, but the visuals are jaw-dropping and I don't think I noticed anything else.
4. MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL - People who had read the book did not like the movie. I hadn't yet read it and liked the movie a lot. One of Kevin Spacey's best performances.
5. AUSTIN POWERS, INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY - Very funny.
6. SMILLA'S SENSE OF SNOW - Agreeable thriller with an unusual Arctic setting.
7. THE WINGS OF THE DOVE - How dare they introduce a sex scene into a Henry James novel? Not the best James adaptation, but still pretty good.
The special kingrat Sympathy Award goes to a gallant effort by Billy Zane in TITANIC. Also known as "When Good Actors Give Bad Performances Because That's Exactly What the Director Wanted."
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1997 Favorites
The Woodlanders
Thomas Hardy's (and my) favorite of his novels made into an excellent film.
Swithin, I had no idea THE WOODLANDERS had been made into a film. I love this novel.
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Yes, THE ENGLISH PATIENT has encountered a lot of backlash, but not from this group.
Top 3 for 1996:
1. THE ENGLISH PATIENT - Visual splendor. Superb direction by Anthony Minghella, who died much too soon. Juliette Binoche is Oscar-worthy and Bogey-worthy, and Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas are also outstanding.
2. LA PROMESSE - The exact opposite of THE ENGLISH PATIENT. No visual splendor, no romance, concentration on real-life situations. Crisp, tight editing (the exact opposite of, say, Cassavetes) may be the key to the strength of this film, which concerns the death of an immigrant worker. A fifteen-year-old boy is upset by the actions of his father and tries to remedy the situation. One memorable scene is like a slap in the face to all the SUMMER OF '42 movies.
3. LES VOLEURS (THIEVES) - If anyone ever makes a bar bet with you about the name of the movie where Catherine Deneuve plays a lesbian philosophy professor, this is the one! Daniel Auteuil is brilliant as a cop who grew up in a family of thieves. Some of the plot developments are like punches in the gut. Not everyone will like this movie, but it is powerful if you can accept its way.
Others, in alphabetical order:
BIG NIGHT - a nice antidote to the dark French-language films mentioned above
MICHAEL COLLINS - tanked at the box office, but I thought it was interesting
PRIMAL FEAR - Edward Norton is really good as a defendant in a murder trial. Richard Gere and Laura Linney aren't too shabby, either.
SECRETS AND LIES
THE SPITFIRE GRILL - Ellen Burstyn has the Katharine Hepburn role, Alison Elliott has the Jodie Foster role, and Marcia Gay Harden has the Marcia Gay Harden role.
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kingrat, it's funny that you say that about BRAVEHEART regularly showing up on worst best picture lists, because I've never read that anywhere, and I read that kind of junk. I know there was backlash at the time of it's release regarding the historical inaccuracies, and some who said the gay prince bit was homophobic. Gibson does have a poor record of cheap gay jokes in his films, but I took the king's treatment of his son as another example of the king's unlikability, not a moral commentary. The only real backlash I've seen toward the film has been since Gibson's various public meltdowns, and the subsequent diminishment of all of his previous works, or what I call the Polanski Effect.
I believe Mick LaSalle is one of the detractors of BRAVEHEART, and there's a series of updated books about the Oscars (sorry I don't recall the name), and the author likes BRAVEHEART even less than I do. Gibson certainly gets the Polanski Effect, too, and to a lesser extent, so does Russell Crowe.
The gay prince episode is played for laughs, and that shows us Gibson's character.
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Oh no, don't tell me we're going to have to disagree again. On a benevolent day, I would give BRAVEHEART two stars out of four. With the possible exception of GOING MY WAY, it is the worst Oscar-winning movie I have ever seen, and I have seen most of them except for some of the recent ones. It has had a weird critical history: mixed reviews when it first came out, then winning a Golden Globe (I think) and suddenly becoming the Oscar favorite and winner, and now it is regularly turning up when various critics mention the worst films ever to have won Oscars.
What don't I like? Where to begin? Historical accuracy isn't something one expects in a Hollywood epic, but BRAVEHEART is really egregious; the awful homophobia, which I suppose one would expect from Mel Gibson; Gibson's ridiculous hairdo. Oh well.
Either I just didn't see many movies (true, I think) or 1995 wasn't a very good year.
1. APOLLO 13 - Probably the best film ever about how men work in groups. Gary Sinise would take home my award for Best Supporting Actor.
2. BABE
3. THE USUAL SUSPECTS
4. SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
5. TO WONG FOO, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, JULIE NEWMAR
THE CELLULOID CLOSET was interesting, I thought (it's been a long time since I saw the documentary on TV; maybe not now). Vito Russo's book was wildly disorganized, and the passages about then current Gay Lib intramural struggles in Manhattan will seem weird to younger readers. However, Russo did collect a lot of examples of Hollywood's (mis)treatment of gay and lesbian characters.
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I'm afraid I cannot stand the films of fellow Canadian, Atom Egoyan. Sorry!!
Understandable. Egoyan can seem, and be, arty and pretentious. A lot of people can't stand WELCOME TO L.A. or a couple of other Alan Rudolph films which share a similar aesthetic. I do consider the way Egoyan portrays his gay characters exemplary.
The only one I recall really liking was THE SWEET HEREAFTER, but I have to agree with an assessment of it I read once that said it wallows in misery.
Edit: I just looked him up, and other than the two mentioned, the only other one of his I've seen was CHLOE, which was blah.
I'll write a little bit on THE SWEET HEREAFTER, which will be one of top picks for 1997.
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Favorites for 1994:
1. EXOTICA - People who like CHOOSE ME should check out this Atom Egoyan film. Bruce Greenwood is not merely handsome, as we saw on KNOTS LANDING, he's a versatile actor, as EXOTICA, THE SWEET HEREAFTER, and THIRTEEN DAYS show.
2. MURIEL'S WEDDING - For me, succeeds in the kind of tonal change that TERMS OF ENDEARMENT doesn't quite pull off. "My life is as good as Dancing Queen." Toni Collette is an amazing actress.
3. QUIZ SHOW - Ralph Fiennes pulls off the remarkable job of appearing charismatic and weak at the same time. John Turturro and Paul Scofield are also first-rate. As for Rob Morrow, this is a classic example of the accent playing the actor rather than the actor playing the accent. Morrow drags the film down a bit. Strong script, good direction by Robert Redford.
4. FORREST GUMP - Now a controversial film, with a backlash against its Oscar win and against Tom Hanks (see this website for examples). I think it's a fine film, with good performances all around (love Gary Sinise) and a beautiful lyrical performance by Tom Hanks. Not many actors can use a monotonal delivery and provide the necessary variety.
5. FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL
6. GUARDING TESS - Another favorite of my spouse. Cage and MacLaine make a great couple.
7. EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN - Lots of food porn in this one. Gorgeously photographed meals.
8. WILD REEDS - Andre Techine's coming-out film is well-done. The boys are named Serge and Francois, an obvious nod to Chabrol's LE BEAU SERGE.
9. BACKBEAT - Not a great film, but an interesting look at the Beatles in their early days. Sheryl Lee (why on earth didn't she get more roles?) understands that a German girl doesn't move like her American or English counterpart would.
10. THREE COLORS: WHITE and THREE COLORS: RED - I don't like these as much as BLUE, but RED may be the most popular of the three overall (too slow developing for me).
Honorable mention: CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER; THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT; THE CLIENT
Best Actress: Toni Collette, MURIEL'S WEDDING
Best Supporting Actress: Sheryl Lee, BACKBEAT
Best Actor: Ralph Fiennes, QUIZ SHOW or Tom Hanks, FORREST GUMP, with honorable mention to Bogey's choice, Terence Stamp (PRISCILLA)
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According to imdb, THREE COLORS: BLUE is the one released in 1993, and WHITE and RED followed in 1994. Note: the reason SCHINDLER'S LIST isn't on my list is that I haven't seen it.
Favorites for 1993:
1. THREE COLORS: BLUE - To see how Kieslowski films the accident in the opening moments is to encounter an original and brilliant director. It isn't often mentioned that the use of the French motto in the three films is ironic. Liberty (BLUE) is about a woman who has lost her husband and her child. Equality (WHITE) is about a man's revenge on the wife who has dominated him. Fraternity (RED) is about a man whose only connection with others is electronic eavesdropping on their conversations. BLUE is my favorite of the three. Juliette Binoche is brilliant as the young widow.
2. THE REMAINS OF THE DAY - One of the most interesting studies in literary adaptation. The novel is a first-person account by the butler, another "unreliable narrator" who doesn't understand the import of what he's telling us. The tone is high comedy with tragic overtones. The film, a more objective telling, is tragedy with overtones of high comedy. This is gain, not loss. The scene where Emma Thompson finds Anthony Hopkins reading a romantic novel is heartbreaking, agonizing, as Hopkins conveys an overpowering sense of shame. One of the finest pieces of acting in any film.
3. SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION - A haunting story, funny and then not. I'm glad Will Smith had the guts to play this role, the villain and yet in a way, as a friend of mine noted, the hero, for the changes he brings in Stockard Channing's life. Donald Sutherland, Ian McKellen, and Anthony Michael Hall are good in support.
4. THE AGE OF INNOCENCE - For me, one of Scorsese's two best films, with HUGO, even though Daniel Day Lewis (British, though that sort of works), Michelle Pfeiffer (perhaps not quite in period, though that may suit Countess Olenska), and Winona Ryder are all slightly miscast, to my mind. Miriam Margolyes is wonderful in the showiest role. Scorsese gets extra points for moving so far out of his comfort zone.
5. DAVE - I have to mention this because my spousal unit loves it so much.
6. THE FIRM - This thriller is very watchable on repeated viewing. The most interesting performance, for me, is by Jeanne Tripplehorn. One of the best films with legal settings.
7. THE PIANO - I'm a "yea" vote on a film which provokes ardent "yea" and "nay" responses. However, I have heard it referred to as a romantic film and as a love story, which doesn't describe the film I saw in the least. In a romantic film, Sam Neill would be naked, not Harvey Keitel. As a film about sex and power, however, it does have considerable power, and the general weirdness is a plus.
I'm still looking for a best supporting actor. Oscar's career award to Tommy Lee Jones was fine, though I did not consider his performance exceptional, unlike these:
Best Actor: Anthony Hopkins, THE REMAINS OF THE DAY
Best Actress: Juliette Binoche, THREE COLORS: BLUE, with honorable mention to Holly Hunter, THE PIANO, a winner most years.
Best Supporting Actress: Miriam Margolyes, THE AGE OF INNOCENCE
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I neglected to include a favorite film in my 1991 list -- Proof, an Australian movie about a blind photographer (Hugo Weaving). A very young Russell Crowe is also in the cast. Wonderful film.
Swithin, I like this one, too, and should have included it.
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I strongly agree with Bogey's choices for supporting performances. Jaye Davidson and Judy Davis all the way. Best Actor: Daniel Auteuil, UN COEUR EN HIVER.
1992 had six films that I liked very much indeed.
Favorites for 1992:
1. UN COEUR EN HIVER - Absolutely one of my favorite films. I do love dramas of emotional deprivation. I've seen three other films by Claude Sautet, all good but none close to this masterpiece. Daniel Auteuil plays a violin maker and restorer. His partner falls for musician Emmanuelle Beart, also excellent, and Auteuil determines to steal her from him. Fabulous use of Ravel's Piano Trio, one of my favorite pieces of music. Amazing job of making actors look like they are playing musical instruments.
2. THE CRYING GAME - I had not figured out the twist, and am glad I was fooled. The second time through, I began to appreciate what a great screenplay this is. Most years, would be #1.
3. ENCHANTED APRIL - Gorgeous Italian scenery, fine English actresses. Solid story and film.
4. HOWARDS END - Very satisfying film, one of the best Merchant/Ivory productions. Actually improves on Forster's novel.
5. HUSBANDS AND WIVES - Show this as a double feature with HANNAH AND HER SISTERS. Mia Farrow's playing roughly the same character, but the angle of vision has drastically changed. In HANNAH Allen was in love with her; this film was done just before the marriage blew up, and Farrow is seen as cold, passive-aggressive, and manipulative. Judy Davis is great as one of her friends.
6. LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE - Magical realism as a fine mainstream entertainment.
Also noteworthy:
SISTER ACT - I agree with filmlover that this is funnier if seen with a large audience.
PATRIOT GAMES - Harrison Ford's excellent performance has been overlooked. He shows a wide range of emotions here, each one believable. A good thriller.
MY COUSIN VINNY - Another funny mainstream comedy.
PETER'S FRIENDS - Not quite so good as some of the other group-of-friends films, but it's interesting to see a British version.
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I own a copy of THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE. Maybe it's time to watch it. Kieslowski will be appearing on a future list; he seems wildly talented. RAISE THE RED LANTERN is now hard to find, and I'm an idiot for not watching it when it first came out.
Favorites for 1991:
1. THE FISHER KING - Saw this recently on TCM and loved it. This would be a wonderful TCM Festival tribute to Robin Williams. Jeff Bridges is terrific. Actually, I love everything about this movie.
2. TOUS LES MATINS DU MONDE - Not quite so good as a similar film which will appear at the top of next year's list, but very fine. Concerns the music of Marin Marais, a Renaissance French composer whose works are known mainly to specialists. If you like films about artists, their work, and their life, it's worth a try. Warning: could be seen as a downer.
3. BARTON FINK - I had a friend who used to go around quoting, "The life of the mind!"
4. SOAPDISH - Well, well, well, I thought I'd be the only one to have this on the list. I love soap operas, and I love this wicked parody of them. Fun fact: the soap in SOAPDISH has a character called "Blade." Not long after, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, which perhaps came closest to the soap being mocked, introduced a character named Blade.
5. FRIED GREEN TOMATOES - This was a favorite movie of every lesbian I knew. The legal system in the movie had nothing to do with reality, but the performances were certainly good.
6. LITTLE MAN TATE - Jodie Foster did a fine job of directing, though with less attention to her performance, which is not quite up to her usual high standard. My heart went out to the child. The ending is sort of weak.
7. QUEENS LOGIC - This one got lost in the shuffle. Maybe viewers didn't realize that "Queens" referred to a geographical location in New York. Maybe the vogue for group-of-friends movies (in this case, five male friends from Queens) had passed its peak. Kevin Bacon essentially has the Tom Berenger role in THE BIG CHILL. If you like the genre, try it. Woman (to John Malkovich, incredulous): "The five of you shared an apartment?" Malkovich (deadpan, what's the big deal): "There were two bedrooms."
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Top Ten Films of...
in Your Favorites
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Larry, I thought the directing was so incompetent in the Fishburne OTHELLO that I'd love to see Fishburne have another go at it.