Mike D'Angelo's top ten for 1994
Adam Neil Villani
Mike D'Angelo <mqd...@ACFcluster.nyu.edu> wrote:
>1.) These are my ten favorites...not what I consider the ten "best." There
> is, for me, a distinct difference.
Good point.
>3.) 1994 was, in my opinion, a horrible year for movies. Three of the films
> on this list were not strong enough to have made such a list in previous
> years. I have noted these "second-tier" choices.
Really? I felt that 1994 was a particularly bad year for Hollywood studio
movies, but personally I have seen more excellent films this year than in
any previous year. Now, this is the first year in which I've made a conscious
attempt to try to see as many notable films as possible, but I personally
saw no dearth of excellent films and could actually fill a top-20 list
with worthy films.
>
>THE LIST PROPER:
>
>Ed Wood, directed by Tim Burton
This is one that I would list in the 11-20 range. It was certainly a very
engaging film, with genuinely lovable characters and imaginative cinematography
and music, but as to why it didn't quite make my top ten, I don't know;
it just didn't have that je ne suis qoi (sp? I'm illiterate in French) to
make it as "great" as the films I did include in my top ten.
>Fiorile, directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
>
>Did nobody see this film? It's been completely ignored by the critics in
Well, I didn't see it. :-) Are you sure it wasn't a 1993 year-end release?
>Four Weddings and a Funeral, directed by Mike Newell
>
>Another second-tier choice, which might have made it to the first tier had
>someone other than Andie MacDowell been cast in the role of Carrie. I've
Well, I found this to be a rather mediocre movie, that could have made it
to my "pretty good" list had someone other than Andie MacDowell been cast
in the role of Carrie. She just brought down the whole movie. The chemistry
between the leads was nonexistent, so the romance was utterly failed.
Hugh Grant and the supporting cast were great, but the humor was only
mildly so and the central romance was completely unengaging. One of my
biggest disappointments of the year.
>Fresh, directed by Boaz Yakim
>
>A film that was well-received but seems to be little-remembered now.
I very nearly saw this film, and am sorry I missed it. If you see Robert
Menache on the street, shoot him for making me miss this film. ;-)
>Heavenly Creatures, directed by Peter Jackson
>
>I don't know that I have anything to say about this other than that it was
>amazing from start to finish. Very nearly flawless.
Yep. I saw it twice, and enjoyed it even more the second time. The relationship
was developed very expressively. My own personal Best Director award is
going to Peter Jackson for this amazing piece of work.
>I Like It Like That, directed by Darnell Martin
>
>I was dismayed to see this one tank at the box office, though I knew that
Sorry, I missed this one, too.
>The Last Seduction, directed by John Dahl
>
I've missed this one. I've heard two camps on this one, the ones that say
it's a great movie, and those who wonder why incessant bitchiness makes
people say it's a great movie. Those in camp 2 made me wary of those in
camp 1, and so, while it's still on my "to see" list, is below a number of
other films.
>Pulp Fiction, directed by Quentin Tarantino
>
>What a shock. I was tempted to leave this off of my list, so tired am I of
>all of the fawning over this excellent-but-still-overrated movie, which in
>my opinion pales in comparison with RESERVOIR DOGS. But who am I kidding?
I know what you mean. The drooling Pulp-heads really make me sick, but
who am I kidding? I loved this movie, saw it twice, and love quoting
the dialogue from it. Tarantino took standard film cliches and utterly
turn them on their heads in this film. Simply because I enjoyed it so
much and loved its originality, this goes to #1 on my list of favorite
films of the year, grabbing the coveted Best Picture slot.
>Red, directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski
>
I found this to be a brilliant exploration of human relationships. The top
ten is such a great group to begin with, it's difficult (and perhaps
meaningless) to order them. This film didn't blow me away, but it left
me thinking and wanting to see it again (along with Blue, which I missed.)
>
>Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, directed by Francois Girard
>
>I'm tired of hearing about how innovative PULP FICTION's structure is. The
>people going on about it should take a gander at this film, which eschews
>narrative altogether and by doing so gives the most fascinating portrait
>of a non-fictional character that I've ever seen. I could have done without
>the animation short, but otherwise I was absorbed from beginning to end.
>And Colm Feore has been unjustly overlooked in the discussions of the year's
>finest acting; his portrayal of Gould is nothing less than brilliant (he
>should receive an Oscar nomination for the few minutes of Gould interviewing
>himself alone).
I wholeheartedly concur. Colm Feore has my nomination for Best Actor, and
I'm also nominating this for Picture, Director, Screenplay, and Editing.
This was probably the most innovative film of the year, presenting us with
a whole new way of doing film biographies. I walked into this film knowing
nothing about Glenn Gould, and walked out feeling as if I knew him personally.
One review I read of the film criticized it because he came out of the film
thinking Gould had "the soul of a math geek." So what? At Caltech, I know
many math geeks, and it's fascinating to see someone finally explore
such an analytical, self-absorbed personality. Math geeks need biographies,
too. Can genius only manifest itself in personalities like Mozart's?
I think not.
>Where are HOOP DREAMS, NOBODY'S FOOL, QUIZ SHOW, BARCELONA, SPANKING THE
>MONKEY, TO LIVE, LITTLE WOMEN? I liked all of these films, but didn't like
>any of them enough to make my list. I also liked SUTURE, THE HUDSUCKER
>PROXY (which might have made my list had I not read the script before seeing
>the film), and, believe it or don't, MAVERICK.
Everything positive critics said about Hoop Dreams, I agree with, but
it somehow didn't quite click with me. For a movie that didn't click
with me, though, it was pretty damn good. Maybe I was disappointed that
I didn't find it to be the greatest film of the year, and was set up
for a letdown. It still makes my top ten, though.
Quiz Show comes in around number 12. "Spanking the Monkey" was brilliant,
I thought. Like "Glenn Gould," it did an excellent job of capturing what
goes on in an intelligent person's mind. Despite the outlandish-sounding
premise (as in Heh heh hey Beavis, this is about a guy that sleeps with
his mom. Gross.) David O. Russell made the film believable.
To Live was pretty damn good, too.
"The Blue Kite" would have also probably made my list if I could remember
anything about it. I'm the guy whose brain seems to have been erased of
all memory of "The Blue Kite," despite having loved watching the film.
>FORREST GUMP I found mediocre and trite. I also disliked some other
>celebrated films: MRS. PARKER AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE, WHAT HAPPENED WAS...,
>DEATH AND THE MAIDEN, THE SCENT OF GREEN PAPAYA, CARO DIARIO, INTERVIEW
>WITH THE VAMPIRE, DISCLOSURE, COLONEL CHABERT, and, most of all, CLERKS.
Forrest Gump was trite, but for being trite it was certainly enjoyable
and well-crafted. I imagine it would probably be around number 20 on my list.
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle was disappointing and pointless, despite
having some very good qualities.
The Scent of Green Papaya came pretty damn close to capturing my Best Picture
and Best Director awards. This definitely gets my best Cinematography
and Best Sound awards, and comes in as a tie with Hudsucker for Best
Artt Direction. This was simply the most beautiful film I've seen
in a long time, and captured the elegance and simplicity of everyday
life perfectly. The ending was certainly unconventional, too.
Clerks I thought was hilarious, but as for being an excellent film, I would
have to say no.
The Hudsucker Proxy made my list. I'm completely disappointed with the
American public for not flocking to this film. It was completely hilarious,
engaging as all hell, and just all-around brilliant. It lost a little
steam in the third act, but that's the only problem I have with it.
I saw this movie with my 13-year old sister and her friend and they loved it.
This film could have had broad appeal, but for inexplicable reasons the
reviewers thought it was "cold" and Warner Bros. hardly pushed it.
>I saw a lot of other films which I neither liked nor disliked, and won't
>mention here.
Ditto, except you failed to mentioned my #2 film of the year--- Eat Drink
Man Woman. This one was a real crowd-pleaser, and was a fascinating,
unpredictable look at the interactions of family members. The family
members' different stories were strung together so flawlessly that I'm
giving this my award for Best Editing, and Kuei-Mei Yang's compelling
performance as the eldest sister gets my award for Best Supporting Actress
(and would get the award for actress if you could convince me hers was a
leading role). The food in this film, as well as in Green Papaya, was
sumptuously photographed.
>Comments, questions, and even ugly flames are welcome.
You jerk! I hate your guts! Flames enough for you?
--
Adam Villani
ad...@cco.caltech.edu
"It's a Long Beach thang. 21st Street."
Jordan Chodorow
I enjoyed reading Mike's and Adam's lists/comments, but IMHO the year-end
top-ten list is the place to put the ten films you find "best," not your
ten favorite films. It gets so much harder to determine the former, and
so much easier to determine the latter, as the years pass, that you really
want to capture right at the end of the year your evaluation at that time
of what the highest-quality films of the year were.
- jordan
Steven Chung
Adam Neil Villani <ad...@cco.caltech.edu> wrote:
[about _32 Short Films About Glenn Gould_]
# I wholeheartedly concur. Colm Feore has my nomination for Best Actor, and
# I'm also nominating this for Picture, Director, Screenplay, and Editing.
Mine too, for the first three, but is it proper to talk about the
screenplay? About half the movie is documentary or verbatim quotes
from Gould himself.
Steven
"That's just a male fantasy: meet a French girl on a train, fuck her,
and never see her again." _Before Sunrise_
Adam Neil Villani
Steven Chung <s...@marlin.ssnet.com> wrote:
>In article <3gfjn2$d...@gap.cco.caltech.edu>,
>Adam Neil Villani <ad...@cco.caltech.edu> wrote:
>[about _32 Short Films About Glenn Gould_]
># I wholeheartedly concur. Colm Feore has my nomination for Best Actor, and
># I'm also nominating this for Picture, Director, Screenplay, and Editing.
>
>Mine too, for the first three, but is it proper to talk about the
>screenplay? About half the movie is documentary or verbatim quotes
>from Gould himself.
>
That's a good point; I wondered what to do about "Glenn Gould's" mix of
documentary, quotes, dramatizations, and vignettes. But there certainly
was a screenplay; somebody had to put all those things together into
a coherent whole. The very curious structure of the film is the result
of how the film was written.
I'm not sure whether something this unusual would count as an original
or adapted screenplay, though.