The Usual Choices
Braveheart (Mel Gibson)
Casino (Martin Scorcese)
Leaving Las Vegas (Mike Figgis)
Seven (David Fincher)
The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer)
But how about...
Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (Gary Fleder)
I do not do not DO NOT understand how this truly fantastic movie bypassed every critic, every award list, every blogger with taste. Basically a simple plot (an ex-gangster is roped in to commit one more crime...and, of course, it goes pear-shaped, with dire consequences), this movie has piled so much into its tale: advice from the afterlife; gorgeous romance and violent insanity; brutal murder and executions; Christopher Walken as a psycho-quadriplegic and Christopher Lloyd as a guy with body-bits falling off who is nicknamed Pieces and Steve Buscemi as a hitman called Mr Shhh; hep-talk aplenty; fatalism worthy of Thomas Hardy; self-sacrifice for your friends and the power of redemption; ghastly revenge; dark, hilarious humour; a perfect final scene; and sadness, such sadness. As good a gangster film as anything by Scorcese or any film noir you can name, and certainly the COOLEST of them all. Trust me on this...it is possibly THE lost cinematic gem of all time. Boat drinks.
...and what about...
Sense and Sensibility (Ang Lee)
There was an absolute glut of British costume dramas on TV during the 90's (courtesy of the BBC), and I was sick to death of them. Bloody Dickens! Bollocks to the Brontes! Austen...what arse! Enough already!
However...I love this movie, and I don't know why this one and not others (many others). The usual suspects (Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman etc), with the usual display of frustratingly-polite manners and customs, side characters who are quaint 'n' quirky, affairs of the heart which are unnecessarily convoluted, and the happiest of endings. Gorgeous cinematography wraps the whole package up attractively in a green pastoral bow.
Now, excuse me while I take a refreshing stroll around the room.
...not to mention...
Safe (Todd Haynes)
A story for our times (and our children's): a woman becomes allergic to the world, so her options are to be healthy & alone or sick & sociable. Julianne Moore is wonderful as the Barbie Doll housewife (love her little controlled voice!) who only really knows how to compulsively consume and be vapidly polite. The ominous ambient music on the soundtrack gives the film an edge of creepiness, like there is something monstrous lurking about. Also impressive (and subtly subversive) is the quiet attack on institutions and attitudes which promote love and peace and being-one-with-the-world as morally-heroic alternatives to the big bad world. A thought-stoking piece.
...and one personal unmentionable...
Strange Days (Kathryn Bigelow)
One of the ugliest and most unpleasant films I have ever seen. Ruined by extravagant ambition and over-reaching, the story drags its feet while shoving us around its big topics of police brutality, urban putrefaction, snuff movies, virtual reality, race-hate and, of course, true love. An S&M exercise of disturbing proportion (wanna experience violent rape...as the perpetrator?), this futuristic slopwork tries to be cool by using the standard techno-noir trademarks: heavy metal; grim streets with reflective surfaces; crowds of the mindless and the faceless and the brainless; relentlessly loud; lotsa guns causing lotsa death. It's even got laughs: after being stabbed in the back, shot, strangled and pummeled repeatedly, the hero's priority is to find his beloved in Times Square so he can give her a New Year's kiss. Thoroughly objectionable crud.
My Top 10 Films of 1995
 |
| "So we all agree then. Considering the severity of the situation, it's time to change into our brown trousers." |
#02 A Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (Fleder)
#03 A Babe (Noonan)
#04 A The American President (Reiner)
#05 A Heat (Mann)
#06 A Safe (Haynes)
#07 A- Casino (Scorcese)
#08 A- Sense and Sensibility (Lee)
#09 A- The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (Monger)
#10 A- Copycat (Amiel)
Overflow: More A-/B+ Films
#11 A- Crimson Tide (Scott)
#12 A- Cry, the Beloved Country (Roodt)
#13 A- The Usual Suspects (Singer)
#14 A- Smoke (Wang)
#15 A- Welcome to the Dollhouse (Solondz)
#16 B+ To Die For (Van Sant)
#17 B+ Apollo 13 (Howard)
#18 B+ GoldenEye (Campbell)
#19 B+ Dead Man Walking (Robbins)
#20 B+ Angel Baby (Rymer)
#21 B+ Devil in a Blue Dress (Franklin)
#22 B+ Braveheart (Gibson)
Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> B Dolores Claiborne [Kathy Bates & Jennifer Jason Leigh as mother & daughter? Pardon?]
> B Nixon [too long; too cut-up; too jerky]
> B Clueless [I think it's trying to say something more, but I can't hear it]
> B The Young Poisoner's Handbook [wants to be a dark tragic-comedy, but it's only dark]
> B Richard III [yes, yes...Shakespeare trended up into a 20th Century fascist setting...big deal]
> B 12 Monkeys [as with all of Terry Gilliam's films, very clever and visually impressive but the narrative drags]
> B Get Shorty [crime-thriller-comedy, but all I can spot is the crime]
> B The Bridges of Madison County [Dirty Harry looks like he's casing the joint]
> B Mighty Aphrodite [minor Woody...is that a sex joke?]
> B- Jumanji [my kids liked this and The Wizard of Oz...then they grew up...and they still like The Wizard of Oz]
> B- Batman Forever [the only person who seems to want to be there is Jim Carrey and I can't stand Jim Carrey]
> B- Dead Man [oh great...just what we need...a weird Arty Western...]
> B- Murder in the First [wants to be based on a true story, but isn't, so all it's left with is harrowing]
> C Home for the Holidays [beautiful losers do not always make endearing characters, no matter what they go through and who plays them]
> C Moonlight and Valentino [about as emotionally real as finding a seven dollar note]
> D Mr Holland's Opus [Health Warning for diabetics and anyone who believes that every moment in life is precious]
> D Kids [aka The Assassination of Childhood]
> E Leaving Las Vegas [for God's sake Nick, just get on with it and put us all out of your misery]
> E Strange Days [A Personal Unmentionable]
"Ah!..Sweet Mystery of Life...": 1995 Films I Apparently Still Need to See
Angels and Insects (Haas); Before Sunrise (Linklater); Beyond Rangoon (Boorman); The Brothers McMullen (Burns); Butterfly Kiss (Winterbottom); Circle of Friends (O’Connor); Clockers (Lee); The Crossing Guard (Penn); The Cure (Horton); Fall Time (Warner); The Grass Harp (Matthau); Haunted (Gilbert); How to Make an American Quilt (Moorhouse); Kicking and Screaming (Baumbach); Killer: a Journal of Murder (Metcalfe); Land and Freedom (Loach); A Little Princess (Cuaron); Living in Oblivion (DeCillo); Margaret’s Museum (Ransen); Miami Rhapsody (Frankel); Mute Witness (Waller); My Family (Nava); The Neon Bible (Davies); Restoration (Hoffman); Roommates (Yates); Screamers (Duguay); The Underneath (Soderbergh)
Best Performances of 1995
Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas
Richard Dreyfuss in Mr Holland's Opus
Sean Penn in Dead Man Walking
Susan Sarandon in Dead Man Walking
Elisabeth Shue in Leaving Las Vegas
Mira Sorvino in Mighty Aphrodite
Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects
But how about...
Annette Bening in The American President
There was a time in the 30's when comedic rom-com (I dislike the term, but "screwball") actresses were treasured and recognised as being equal to the John Barrymores and the Spencer Tracys in ability. Jean Arthur, Margaret Sullavan, Carole Lombard, Ginger Rogers and the like were members of the GREAT! fraternity. After WWII, troubled & obsessed men were all the rage and women were often just ornaments attached to them. Comedy and romance were put on hold, and everybody got serious.
Annette in TAP is an echo bounced from those pre-war romantic comedies. She is totally charming and endearing, funny without needing to be silly, and just drop-dead gorgeous (you can see why the world's most powerful man wants her). Making it all look easy and natural, Annette displays the great talents of a non-acting actor. She is the character. It is one of the best "casual" performances in a post-1940's rom-com ever put on screen.
...and what about...
Holly Hunter in Copycat
"Quirky" sums this performance up. It's almost as if Holly is auditioning for one of those weirdo-cop TV shows that were all the rage (y'know...Columbo; Kojak; Cannon; Matlock...). All the little bits of business that she does (sweetie-pie little voices; the emphasis on her shortness) are designed to endear her to us, and they all work: I have never loved a police officer more. The bleakness of the plot (murderer imitates & stages crime scenes from famous serial killings) is thankfully undercut by this highly-unlikely homicide investigator. Refreshingly unusual and just as cute as a button.
...not to mention...
Val Kilmer in Heat
All the attention and publicity was focussed on Pacino & De Niro facing off. I thought they were fine (if a little uninspired), but Val took the acting honours for the movie (along with Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd). Playing a career criminal who has clearly chosen the right vocation, Val is professional, controlled, efficient but obviously doomed to only ever find money, never happiness or fulfillment. Underplaying beautifully but with something bubbling just beneath, Val walks away in his parting scene the only thief who deserves sympathy and a chance at redemption. I wonder how much of that conflict was originally written in the character?
...and one personal unmentionable...
Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas
One day, someone will sit down alongside me and carefully explain how Nicolas Cage ever came to be regarded as a good actor. True, I've enjoyed him in movies such as Raising Arizona, Matchstick Men and Adaptation, but he has ruined so many others for me because he comes across as a total boofhead [def: Australian slang term for person with idiotic tendencies; see also the phrase "too many kangaroos in the top paddock"]. In LLV, he plays a self-loathing loser who is determined to kill himself with alcohol and, unfortunately for us, his misery loves company. Never before have I wanted so badly to see a gun used in a Hollywood film. And then, of course, the Academy gave him an Oscar for this long, slow, mucky wallow. Only in America.
My 10 Favourite Performances of 1995
 |
| "Would you like my Melting Moment?" |
#02 Annette Bening in The American President
#03 Holly Hunter in Copycat
#04 Kevin Spacey in Seven
#05 Julianne Moore in Safe
#06 Nicole Kidman in To Die For
#07 Andy Garcia in Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead
#08 John Lynch & Jacqueline McKenzie in Angel Baby
#09 Emma Thompson in Sense and Sensibility
#10 Richard Harris in Cry, the Beloved Country
Overflow: More List-Worthy Performances
#11 Heather Matarazzo in Welcome to the Dollhouse
#12 Denzel Washington in Devil in a Blue Dress
#13 Alicia Silverstone in Clueless
#14 James Earl Jones in Cry, the Beloved Country
#15 Val Kilmer in Heat
#16 Gwyneth Paltrow in Moonlight and Valentino
#17 Sharon Stone in Casino
Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> Mira Sorvino in Mighty Aphrodite [initially resurrects the persona of Jean Harlow, then soon tucks it back from whence it came]
> Richard Dreyfuss in Mr Holland's Opus [proof that Richard has taken way too much lithium]
> Elisabeth Shue in Leaving Las Vegas [the poor girl deserves better]
> Al Pacino & Robert De Niro in Heat [quieten down Al; speak up Bob]
> James Cromwell in Babe [never work with talking pigs, flustered ducks or three-part harmony mice]
> Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys [I like him doing these comedic weirdo roles, but not that much]
> Ian McKellen in Richard III [he needs a hump...is that a sex joke?]
> Mel Gibson in Braveheart [I kept thinking I was watching Victor Mature or Edmund Purdom]
And so...onto the annual awards (with a nod of appreciation to Danny Peary)...
The Alternate Oscars for 1995 are:
FILM of the YEAR
GOLD: Seven (David Fincher)
SILVER: Things To Do in Denver When You're Dead (Gary Fleder)
BRONZE: Babe (Chris Noonan)
LEAD ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Morgan Freeman (Seven)
SILVER: Andy Garcia (Things To Do in Denver When You're Dead)
BRONZE: Denzel Washington (Devil in a Blue Dress)
LEAD ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Annette Bening (The American President)
SILVER: Holly Hunter (Copycat)
BRONZE: Julianne Moore (Safe)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Kevin Spacey (Seven)
SILVER: Richard Harris (Cry, the Beloved Country)
BRONZE: Val Kilmer (Heat)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Gwenyth Paltrow (Moonlight and Valentino)
SILVER: Sharon Stone (Casino)
BRONZE: Ashley Judd (Heat)
ENSEMBLE or PARTNERSHIP: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: John Lynch & Jacqueline McKenzie (Angel Baby)
SILVER: Susan Sarandon & Sean Penn (Dead Man Walking)
BRONZE: Gabriel Byrne & Kevin Spacey & Stephen Baldwin & Benicio del Toro & Kevin Pollak & Chazz Palminteri & Pete Postlethwaite (The Usual Suspects)
JUVENILE: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Heather Matarazzo (Welcome to the Dollhouse)
SILVER: Ellen Muth (Dolores Claiborne)
BRONZE: Natalie Portman (Heat)
The Alternate Razzies for 1995 are:
CRAP FILM of the YEAR
Strange Days (Kathryn Bigelow)
CRAP MALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas)
CRAP FEMALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Kathy Bates & Jennifer Jason Leigh (Dolores Claiborne)
