Well, it's that time of the year again, when every film buff sifts through their theater-going experiences for the past year to come up with the ever-popular top ten list. 1995 was a strange and decidedly subpar year for films (in quality if not at the box-office). While the monetary take was up some 1.8% from 1994, audience enthusiasm went in the other direction. There were fewer $100+ million blockbusters in 1995, and definitely not as many "event" pictures as in previous years. When it came to "must see" films, 1993 had Jurassic Park and Schindler's List, and 1994 had Forrest Gump and The Lion King. 1995 couldn't boast a single title in that same category. Not since 1991 has there been such a thin spate of theatrical releases (that was the year Beauty and the Beast got an Oscar nomination and Silence of the Lambs won the Best Picture Award).
From my personal archives, here are some numbers (for anyone who's interested): of the 232 non-festival films I reviewed this year, I would heartily endorse (***1/2 or better on my scale) 52 of them, give a solid "thumbs up" (***) to another 56, and bestow qualified recommendations (**1/2) on 46. Everything else varied from forgettable to downright awful.
As is always the case, several films officially released in 1994 didn't reach most American theaters until early in 1995. Perhaps as a precursor to a general trend, this year's crop of leftovers was considerably weaker than those in the near past (not one title made my top 10, and only two made the top 20). Led by Ken Loach's powerfully-acted Ladybird, Ladybird, Edward Zwick's epic romantic melodrama Legends of the Fall, the brilliant and biting The Madness of King George, and Paul Newman's Nobody's Fool, these films received some Oscar recognition, but little serious consideration for the "Best Picture" category. Movies like Immortal Beloved and Tom and Viv were (thankfully) largely ignored by the film-going public.
1993 was Spielberg's year, with his combination delivery of Jurassic Park and Schindler's List. Last year split audiences between Disney's The Lion King, Robert Zemeckis' Forrest Gump, and Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. As already mentioned, however, 1995 has no such standouts. The biggest moneymakers -- Batman Forever (#1), Apollo 13 (#2), Toy Story (#3) and Pocahontas (#4) -- lacked the box-office punch of last year's top contenders. Perhaps the most impressive big-budget releases were Apollo 13 and Braveheart, both of which received their share of popular and critical acclaim. Mel Gibson's semi-factual account of William Wallace's life and legend was arguably the best romantic historical epic of the year (other contenders included Rob Roy and Queen Margot), and Ron Howard's telling of the failed Apollo mission gave audiences some of 1995's most tense moments. Nevertheless, neither of these pictures, nor anything else, defined 1995, a year without that one movie "you simply can't miss."
As might be expected, Disney led the way with family features, opening two animated blockbusters and numerous live-action entries. While films in the latter category brought in meager box office returns (as expected), Toy Story and Pocahontas both pulled in triple-digit millions (although not in Lion King territory), and finished #3 and #4 in the end-of-year ticket tally. As always, Disney stayed rigorously "politically correct", a trend that at times borders on nauseating. I've had to give up seeing their live action offerings; the strict adherence to formulas is too much for me. Kids might be able to stomach The Big Green or Tom and Huck; I can't.
As usual, non-Disney family offerings didn't do as well. The Indian in the Cupboard and The Little Princess, both enchanting pictures as suitable for adults as children, met with frosty public response, in spite of critical raves. The Secret of Roan Inish, John Sayles' adaptation of a Scottish folk story, reached a core group of art house regulars, but had little broad appeal, even though it was more than suitable for the under-12 crowd. Other titles that weren't as good: The Amazing Panda Adventure, Balto (a rare non-Disney animated release), Arabian Knight (an animated film distributed by Disney-owned Miramax), Magic in the Water, Three Wishes, and Gold Diggers. The only "small" (i.e., relatively low-budget) family picture to buck the "ignore non-Disney family films" trend was Babe, which was given 4 stars by many critics and received glowing word-of-mouth. The film about a pig who thinks he's a sheepdog garnered over $100 million worldwide, delighting viewers of all ages.
Then there was Casper, which had nothing to do with Disney, yet still raked in piles of money. Why? It certainly didn't have anything to do with merit -- Casper was a bad film. But it was big budget, high-profile, and had Spielberg's name on the poster -- all things guaranteed to attract audiences. Additionally, it was heavily marketed -- something that didn't happen with the likes of Babe and The Little Princess. It all goes to show that unless you're Disney and/or offer figurines and Happy Meals at a national fast food chain, your family feature has an uphill struggle. Too often, quality, or the lack thereof, has little to do with it.
Quite a number of novels, some classics and some not, were adapted for the screen this year. The most notorious was Demi Moore's butchering of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, a project that should have been abandoned in its early stages. At the other extreme were Claude Lelouch's brilliant re-working of Les Miserables, a truly transcendent motion picture experience, and Darrell James Roodt's new, indescribably powerful Cry, the Beloved Country. Other '95 screen treatments of time-honored books: Persuasion, Country Life (Uncle Vanya), Othello, Richard III, Clueless (Emma) , and Sense and Sensibility. It's worth noting that three (Persuasion, Clueless, Sense and Sensibility) are from Jane Austen, and there's at least one more of her novels coming next year.
If you count spoofs of classics, Dracula: Dead and Loving It and Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde should be added to the above list. Both films, however, are so poorly-conceived and lacking in humor, that it would almost be better not to recognize them at all.
Non-classics made up an even bigger portion of the titles. The Bridges of Madison County and Get Shorty both received exceptional adaptations. In fact, there are those who contend that both films are the equal of (or better than) their written inspirations. Other solid films included The Secret of Roan Inish, Babe, The Basketball Diaries, The Indian in the Cupboard, Casino, Dolores Claiborne (another impressive non-horror work from Stephen King), Clockers, Cobb, and Frankie Starlight. Less successful were: Congo (which did unexpectedly well at the box office), Jumanji, The Baby-Sitters' Club, First Knight (Richard Gere trying to do Lancelot), Circle of Friends, Hideaway, and, worst of all, The Mangler.
Although "sequelitis" appears to have lessened somewhat, 1995 still featured 11 followups to previously released movies. The best of the bunch, and it was merely "good", was Batman Forever, arguably the top entry of the three Caped Crusader tales. The only other reasonably entertaining sequel was Goldeneye, Pierce Brosnan's debut as James Bond (for my money, he's the best since Connery). Die Hard with a Vengeance was watchable, but nothing special, and certainly not up to the standards set by its two predecessors. Grumpier Old Men, Desperado (Robert Rodriguez's sequel to El Mariachi), Free Willy 2, Candyman 2, Father of the Bride 2, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, Under Siege 2, and Halloween 6 were all as bad as they were unnecessary.
1995 featured a solid crop of foreign language films. As usual, French entries led the way, accounting for roughly one-third of the non-English releases. The best of these, by far, was Lelouch's Les Miserables. Grosse Fatigue represented the one of the year's more innovative comedies, bested in ingenuity only by Jeunet and Caro's deliciously twisted, visually striking The City of Lost Children. Colonel Chabert and Queen Margot were lavish productions with big-budget stars (Gerard Depardieu and Isabelle Adjani, respectively). Wild Reeds, Andre Techine's look at growing up during the '50s, was one of the best coming-of-age stories (three other films in the same series -- Travolta and Me, Portrait of a Young Girl at the End of the 1960s in Brussels, and U.S. Go Home -- were shown at select film festivals). There were also several less-widely released titles, including I Can't Sleep, The Old Lady Who Walked in the Sea, Augustin, and My Life and Times with Antonin Artaud (a real snoozer).
Two Italian dramas graced American screens this year: Lamerica (in limited release) and Il Postino, one of the most magical movies in any language. China was represented by the obscure Ermo, the slightly better-known Temptation of a Monk, and Zhang Yimou's latest, Shanghai Triad. Germany had The Promise, a touching romance about lovers separated by the Berlin Wall, and Martha and I. Iran exported two films: the wonderfully-textured Through the Olive Trees and the deadly dull The Jar. The following countries had one entry each: India (the controversial Bandit Queen, which tells the story of outlaw Phoolan Devi), Macedonia (Before the Rain), Belgium (the over-rated Farinelli), Japan (Minbo, or the Gentle Art of Extortion), Cuba (Strawberry and Chocolate), Russia (the dull Academy Award winning Burnt by the Sun), and Tunisia (Halfaouine).
What would a year be without controversies? Setting aside the anger generated by Demi Moore's faithless remake of The Scarlet Letter, there were six major events.
When Antonia Bird's Priest was released by Miramax Films in March, Catholic groups across the United States protested its "negative and demeaning" portrayal of Roman Catholic priests. The movie, which was a gritty and daring examination of the crisis of conscience faced by a rural British priest who struggles with his homosexuality, became the most recent of a number of films deemed by religious leaders to have anti-Christian messages. (Remember Agnes of God and The Last Temptation of Christ?)
Two months later, Hugh Grant was caught in a compromising position with a West Coast prostitute days before the release of his first big budget American comedy, Nine Months. The situation was blown way out of proportion, but illustrated once again that those in the celebrity spotlight have very little privacy.
Later in the summer, when the MPAA turned down Miramax's appeal of an NC-17 rating for Kids, the Disney-owned subsidiary "farmed out" the picture to Excalibur Films and released it unrated. Again, this is a case where the controversy was exaggerated by the media. Kids was a solid drama that featured little in the way of shocking or breakthrough material. It is ironic, though, that children can live through events similar to those depicted in the movie, but can't see this dramatization.
Then came Showgirls, one of the year's worst motion pictures. The first major commercial NC-17 release since Henry and June, Showgirls was an unmitigated disaster, but not because its sexual "explicitness" kept viewers away. The movie was rightfully savaged by critics, and the public's disinterest can be attributed more to a distaste for the film itself than as a condemnation of the NC-17 rating.
Next, only days before the release of Disney's Powder, it came to light that the director, Victor Da Silva, had spent time in jail for child molestation. Whether or not there was any relevance between Da Silva's past and Powder, the controversy didn't last much longer than the movie did. Poor box office performance allowed Disney to sweep Powder and Da Silva out of the public spotlight.
Finally, there was Money Train, one of Thanksgiving's most forgettable motion pictures. Several days after the film's release, a New York City subway token vendor was set on fire in his booth in an incident that was disturbingly similar to one that took place in the movie. Coincidence, or "life imitating 'art'"? The writers of Money Train contended that they based that aspect of their script on real-life events which had previously occurred in NY subways. Regardless of what really provoked the crime (and several subsequent copycat robberies), Money Train became the focal point of hypocritical politicians seeking quick votes by condemning violence in movies. The furor abated quickly, but office-seekers like NRA-supporter Bob Dole were given a moment in the spotlight to shake their heads at the immorality of Hollywood.
Despite the absence of one major anchoring picture during the summer, the box office was healthy. Crimson Tide, a May blockbuster, opened the season. Waterworld, Kevin Costner's massively-overbudgeted action flick, closed it. In between, there were more than fifty releases. The best big-budget entries were Braveheart, Apollo 13, The Bridges of Madison County, Pocahontas, Batman Forever, and Crimson Tide. The rest, some of which bordered on unwatchable, included Nine Months, Die Hard with a Vengeance, French Kiss, Forget Paris, Congo, Something to Talk About, Casper, First Knight, Judge Dredd, and Johnny Mnemonic.
After a rather disappointing summer (quality-wise, if not in ticket sales), September arrived, and there was nary a good film to be found. Theater attendance reflected the lack of worthwhile offerings, and the motion picture industry suffered through its worst single-month drought in a long time. Even the independent field proved to be barren, mustering nothing better than A Month By the Lake and The Run of the Country -- solid, but not great, features. Hollywood's offerings were less impressive. For every Seven, Devil in a Blue Dress, and Clockers, there were several The Prophecys, The Tie that Binds, and To Wong Foos.
As always, 1995 contained a number of "hidden gems" that many movie-goers, for whatever reason, missed. Some of these received fairly wide distribution; others barely showed anywhere. All are worth a look, either in theaters or on video.
Living in Oblivion was one of the year's funniest comedies, with a fresh viewpoint into the tribulations of making an independent film. The Bridges of Madison County was Clint Eastwood's highly successful attempt to film a mature, non-maudlin love story. If not for Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise (with Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke spending a night in Vienna) and Mike Figgis' Leaving Las Vegas (the Nicolas Cage/Elizabeth Shue pairing that brings tears to the eyes), Bridges might have been 1995's most romantic story. Double Happiness, from Canadian director Mina Shum, blended generational and cultural conflicts into an enchanting comic mix. The Brothers McMullen was a charming, unpretentious romance, as was The Promise, although the latter stayed on the more serious side. Carrington, an historically-based examination of the deeper-than-physical love affair between gay author Lytton Strachey and heterosexual artist Dora Carrington, featured excellent performances by Jonathan Pryce and Emma Thompson. Mr. Holland's Opus, the Capra-esque tale of the wonderful life of a musical teacher (played by Richard Dreyfuss), while perhaps too demanding for children, was nevertheless rated PG and suitable, at least on a superficial level, for family members of all ages.
Those looking for thrillers found The Usual Suspects, an unusually well-plotted and tightly-paced story of deceit and betrayal in the world of crime. The Last Good Time paired Armin Mueller-Stahl and Olivia D'Abo in a May/December relationship that taught both a few lessons about life. Smoke and its sequel Blue in the Face made a delightful pair about the goings-on in Brooklyn. My Family examined the evolution of a Latino family from the 1920s through the 1980s. Georgia, featuring a standout performance by Jennifer Jason Leigh, dissected the relationship of a passionate, talentless singer and her emotionally reserved, successful sister. Little Odessa gave us a gut-wrenching plot about living and dying as a hit man in Queens. And Once Were Warriors, from New Zealand, put a new, ugly face on family abuse.
The City of Lost Children, by Delicatessen creators Jeunet and Caro, took us to a futuristic world where civilization had been reduced to a twisted parody of its former self, and where gangs of children fled from mad scientists who sought to steal their dreams. With a tone that varied from gloomy to apocalyptic, Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys transported stunned audiences to a 21st century Philadelphia where a nameless virus had wiped out 99% of humanity. Outbreak, a science fiction thriller with a few too many action sequences, showed efforts to save mankind from a fate similar to the one depicted in Twelve Monkeys. Waterworld postulated the ultimate result of global warming, giving us a reasonably enjoyable, ultra-expensive adventure flick that was really just a variation on the Biblical story of Noah's Ark. Tank Girl concocted a vastly different future from the one in Kevin Costner's film -- here, the disaster was a comet strike that resulted in a lack of water. Warring angels and a cameo by Satan highlighted The Prophesy, this year's moronic attempt to make an Omen for the '90s. Finally, for those who preferred the "old fashioned" threat of a nuclear holocaust, Crimson Tide offered that danger with the added complication of a nuclear submarine mutiny.
Hollywood can't seem to give up on tried-and-true ideas. In addition to borrowing heavily from novels, retreads from other media abounded. At least five movies were "inspired" by comic books. The Crypt Keeper came to the big screen in the first Tales of the Crypt film, Demon Knight, a movie that proved he should have stayed on HBO. Christina Ricci and a couple of nice visual effects were the only worthwhile aspects of Casper. Lori Petty managed to imbue Tank Girl with some spirit and energy, although not enough to inflate poor ticket sales. Sylvester Stallone grunted and mumbled his way through his latest explosions-and-muscle-flexing flick, Judge Dredd. Then, of course, there was Batman Forever.
Beside comic book adaptations, there were the inevitable remakes. 1995 featured its fair share of these, most of which were (perhaps surprisingly) quite watchable. Cry, the Beloved Country, although based on a novel, had also been previously filmed, as had Les Miserables, Othello, and Richard III. The three strict film-to-film updates were the lightly entertaining Sabrina, the less enjoyable Father of the Bride Part II (a remake of Spencer Tracy's Father's Little Dividend), and John Carpenter's somewhat disappointing Village of the Damned.
Film noir, like Devil in a Blue Dress, Shallow Grave, Amateur, and The Underneath, received a chilly reception in 1995, but motion pictures featuring serial killers were bigger than ever. The most prominent were Seven and Copycat, both well-crafted, taut thrillers worth setting alongside Silence of the Lambs and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer in the Cinematic Serial Killers Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, the remaining entries into the group were more brainless than impressive. These included Claire Denis' talky I Can't Sleep, the mind-numbing Never Talk to Strangers and equally repugnant The Tie that Binds, and a pair of too-awful-for-words features: Halloween 6 and The Mangler.
With gay and lesbian-themed movies moving more into the mainstream, 1995 offered some interesting choices. The most widely-distributed "gay release" of the year was the whimsical and diverting Jeffrey, scripted by Addams Family scribe Paul Rudnick and headlined by such well-known names as Patrick Stewart and Sigourney Weaver. Priest, the controversial film from Antonia Bird, dealt with a gay Catholic priest who broke his vows of celibacy. The Sum of Us, a comedy from Australia, took a refreshingly non-judgmental look at the gay lifestyle from the point-of-view of a father who only wanted his son to find happiness. A Man of No Importance gave us Albert Finney playing Oscar Wilde in a modern setting. Total Eclipse, from Polish director Agnieszka Holland (Europa Europa) recounted the tempestuous liaison between poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine. Boys Life presented a collection of shorts that varied from poor to mediocre. To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, despite having one of the year's longest titles (along with The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain), was surprisingly flat, even with Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes in drag. Then there was the awful Lie Down with Dogs, but the less said about that, the better.
On the lesbian side, there was the independent comedy, The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love, some girl-girl sexual experimentation in the Canadian Gen X flick, Love and Human Remains, the unfunny Bar Girls, the soapy melodrama Devotion, and the occasionally-involving When Night is Falling. Strawberry and Chocolate, Boys on the Side, and Carrington dealt with homosexual/heterosexual friendships.
Cyberspace has finally found the screen, although it's reasonable to debate the relative quality of the films that ventured on line in 1995. The best was Strange Days, the surreal thriller that paired Ralph Fiennes and Angela Basset in a futuristic murder investigation on New Year's Eve, 1999. The Net had Sandra Bullock, but that was its only legitimate asset. Hackers and Virtuosity were adequate, but neither is likely to be remembered a year from now. The most forgettable of all, however, was Keanu Reeves' Johnny Mnemonic, a truly awful attempt to create a high-tech chase movie using the star of Speed.
Don't doubt it: the seventies are back. If there's any question, take a look at this list of movies: Apollo 13, Casino, Dead Presidents, Now and Then, The Walking Dead, and Nixon (what would a list of '70s movies be without something by Oliver Stone?). There was also The Brady Bunch Movie, which brought the '70s TV series into the '90s. Mr. Holland's Opus straddled four decades (the '60s through the '90s), but used a fair number of news clips and pop tunes from the '70s (a la Forrest Gump). Crumb documented the life of the infamous underground cartoonist, whose decade of greatest notoriety was the '70s. (Recall the slogan "Keep on Truckin'"?) ABBA was much in evidence in Muriel's Wedding. Bee Gee's songs (like "Staying Alive") made appearances in Gold Diggers, Virtuosity, and Grumpier Old Men. And, of course, John Travolta continued his comeback with two new features: Get Shorty and White Man's Burden.
As every year has its top 10, so every year must also have a bottom 10. My choices for this dubious distinction for 1995 are (listed in order of least worst to worst worst):
Demon Knight: Tales From the Crypt comes to the big screen with screamingly disastrous results. Don't let the Crypt Keeper away from his 30-minute HBO spot again.
Jade: Joe Eszterhas' first of two entries in the bottom 10. This film's only redeeming quality is that it's not quite as bad as Showgirls. It's sad to see an actor of Chazz Palminteri's caliber struggle through something this awful.
The Jar: 1995's art film failure. An Iranian film that doubles as a sleep inducer. A bunch of kids run around trying to repair a water jar.
Under Siege 2: One of the dullest Die Hard clones to come along in a while. Wooden Steven Seagal spends half an hour running through empty train cars. Eric Bogosian's attempts to sneer come across as laughably absurd.
Showgirls: Sleazy and pointless, this movie probably appeals only to 15-year old hormone-crazed boys, who can't see it anyway because of the NC-17 rating. Another bottom 10 gift from Basic Instinct scribe Eszterhas.
Money Train: Boring and totally preposterous. Woody and Wesley: who cares! I didn't like the pairing in White Men Can't Jump -- why would I want a reunion?
Fair Game: Cindy Crawford proves that she can give ex-husband Richard Gere a run for his money in the bad acting department. Not that William Baldwin is any better.
Mr. Payback: The first interactive movie certifies that they'd better not try a second (actually, they already did, but I ignored it).
Halloween 6: Please, please let this be the last one. What a tragic epitaph for a once-respected actor like Donald Pleasance. And the production people have the gall to dedicate this tripe to him.
The Mangler: Put this one in the "so bad it's good" category. Watch out for the homicidal refrigerator! Curiously enough, Anant Singh not only produced this, the worst movie of the year, but also Cry, the Beloved Country, 1995's best. What are the odds of something like that?
Now, the top 10. Truly the cream of the crop (listed in order of best to less best):
1. Cry the Beloved Country: A superior adaptation of Alan Paton's novel, Cry features powerful acting, inspired cinematography, and a memorable musical score by John Barry. This is one of the most stirring and powerful motion pictures of the decade.
2. Les Miserables: This new interpretation of the classic gives the themes of Victor Hugo's novel a different dimension. A totally engrossing motion picture from start to finish, even for those who haven't read the book.
3. The Journey of August King: A movie that dares to tell a mature love story without sex. Those who feel cheated by the lack of physical intimacy have missed the point. The deeply moving script is perfectly acted by Jason Patric and Thandie Newton.
4. Braveheart: Mel Gibson's bold, romantic, epic melodrama. Exhilarating battle sequences, strong characterization, and terrific cinematography mark this among the year's most soaring motion pictures.
5. Apollo 13: Even though the events are a matter of recent historical record, Ron Howard and his cast take the unlucky 13th Apollo mission and transform it into an edge-of-the-seat thriller.
6. Before Sunrise: The most romantic movie of the year, Before Sunrise has only two characters (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy). The film follows them through one unforgettable night in Vienna. The dialogue glitters, the chemistry is perfect, and the mood is magical.
7. Exotica: Atom Egoyan's beguiling mystery unfolds to reveal deeper and darker layers beneath the surface sleaze of the strip club where most of the action takes place. Haunting and powerful, Exotica leaves behind an impression not easily effaced.
8. Crumb: One of the best documentaries of all time, Crumb is an unusually constructed biography of a bizarre subject: underground cartoonist R. Crumb, one of the most complex and fascinating subjects for any kind of film. Like him or hate him, you can't help but be fascinated by this portrait.
9. The Postman (Il Postino) : An Italian charmer, this is the story of a postman who learns about the language of the heart from a poet. A touching story about love, passion, and language, this film warms the heart and brings a tear to the eye.
10. Living in Oblivion: The funniest film of the year, Living in Oblivion takes a look behind-the-scenes at the making of a low-budget independent feature. Several scenes are sidesplittingly funny, and the entire film is a masterpiece of clever construction.