"Batman Forever", "GoldenEye", "Showgirls", "Waterworld", "Casino", "Tank Girl", "Nine Months", "Get Shorty" and "Toy Story". These were among some of 1995's biggest hits, flops and disappoint-ments!
It kind of serves as a reflection of movie year 1995 - a year of high expectations and unsatisfying results. The prior year had given us "Pulp Fiction", "Shawshank Redemption", "Forrest Gump" and "Ed Wood". There was a hope that level of quality would spill over into the new year.
In his year end recap, highlighting the best movies of the year, former Chicago Tribune "movie columnist" Gene Siskel called it "a mediocre year until late December". While his colleague at the Tribune, movie critic Michael Wilmington, wrote in his year end recap, "the year in movies, many critics seemed to agree, was a disappointment - especially in comparison with the last two."
Some things never change!
Still we must search and hunt for noteworthy moments in a film year. And if we search long enough we do eventually find something to celebrate. This year however seems to be the exception!
One bright spot in 1995 involved children's entertainment with the release of Pixar's "Toy Story" which burst onto the cinematic landscape mesmerizing us with its CGI animation. There was also "Babe", a charming and (believe it or not) worldly story about a pig that believes it is a sheepdog. In a testament to their significance we can see their impact on today's children films.
It was also a good year for John Travolta ("Get Shorty"), Sandra Bullock ("While You Were Sleeping") and Nicole Kidman ("To Die For" & "Batman Forever") with Travolta continuing his career comeback after "Pulp Fiction" even winning a Golden Globe for his performance. With "Speed" (1994) Sandra Bullock caught audiences' eyes and was given a chance to capitalize in the surprise box-off success "While You Were Sleeping" while "The Net" didn't quite live up to the hype. And Kidman really broke out from under the shadow of her then husband Tom Cruise. The year began a hot streak for her culminating with "Moulin Rouge!" (2001).
On a personal note, at the age of 12, I had "discovered" Mel Brooks and Woody Allen and got the opportunity to see a movie directed by each of them in theaters - Allen's "Mighty Aphrodite" and Brooks' "Dracula: Dead & Loving It", which would turn out to be his final movie as a writer & director.
There were also sad goodbyes in the year with many Hollywood legends leaving us including Ginger Rogers, Dean Martin, Lana Turner, Ida Lupino, the brilliant French filmmaker Louis Malle, character actress Mary Wickes, bandleader Phil Harris, Burt Ives, Donald Pleasance, Eva Gabor and Elizabeth Montgomery to name a few.
Here are my choices for the best films of the year!
1. APOLLO 13 (Dir. Ron Howard; U.S.) - This is for all the people who say I'm too much of a cynic. I'm usually accused of putting depressing movies on my list. Ron Howard's film is an uplifting, American movie. It may be his best, if not one of his best (I've yet to see "Frost/Nixon"). The movie was nominated for 9 Oscars and won two; "Best Editing" and "Best Sound". It was nominated for "Best Picture" and "Best Adapted Screenplay". The cast includes Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris and Kevin Bacon.
2. THE USUAL SUSPECTS (Dir. Bryan Singer; U.S.) - A modern day film noir classic, "The Usual Suspects" was a breakout film for director Singer and cast members Kevin Spacey and Benicio Del Toro. The winner of two Academy Awards - one for Spacey's performance, the movie is best remembered for its plot twist which divided audiences and critics alike. Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert didn't like the movie while Tribune critic Michael Wilmington called it "a near-classic blend of mystery, personality, humor and terror, laced with one stunning shock after another." For me, the best thing Singer has directed.
3. CASINO (Dir. Martin Scorsese; U.S.) - A Las Vegas love story centered around gambling, the mob, lies and manipulation. This Scorsese masterpiece has gained an odd reputation and like "The Usual Suspects" has divided audiences and critics. Many people damn it (Gene Siskel for instance did not like). While others praised it (Michael Wilmington declared it the best film of the year). Too many people were looking for another "GoodFellas" since both films were written by Nicholas Pileggi. But under that weight "Casino" couldn't succeed. In some way "Casino" has a more epic feel and scope to it. De Niro, Pesci and Sharon Stone, who was nominated for an Oscar, all do an amazing job.
4. EXOTICA (Dir. Atom Egoyan; Canada) - Released a year after "Pulp Fiction" here is a movie that continued in that film's trend of manipulating time structure, inter crossing story lines. But Egoyan's film is darker and more personal. I'm not sure how well known this movie is but it deserves more praise. Egoyan has been on a bit of a losing streak lately. But he is a gifted filmmaker, this proves what he is capable of doing.
5. LES MISERABLES (Dir. Claude Lelouch; France) - Not exactly a strict adaptation of the Hugo novel, but this is a sprawling epic. The film takes place in "modern times" during the Nazi occupation of France but still retains elements of Hugo's original story. Some purist may object to what Lelouch, the famed director of "A Man & A Woman", is doing here but I find it inventive. Lelouch doesn't merely take the novel and film it but adds something of his own to it. It makes it personal. It was a risky move but he succeeds.
6. LEAVING LAS VEGAS (Dir. Mike Figgis; U.S.) -So far Figgis' only good movie. He seemed, at the time, to be the next big thing. What happened? He now lives off his reputation for this movie. I mean the guy directed "Cold Creek Manor". If you haven't seen it, don't worry. In fact consider yourself lucky. But you cannot take away this film from him. It is the story of two lonely people finding each other. Nicholas Cage, who won an Oscar, plays an alcoholic and Elizabeth Shue, who was wrongfully overlooked, as a hooker. Their story is touching and human. Roger Ebert named this the best film of the year!
7. HEAT (Dir. Michael Mann; U.S.) - Known as the first movie to have Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in a scene together (the two have recently worked on "Righteous Kill", a movie I felt has been unfairly damned) the movie, like "The Usual Suspects" is a great modern day noir/heist film.
8. DEAD MAN WALKING (Dir. Tim Robbins; U.S.) - A powerful look at the death penalty directed by Liberal filmmaker Robbins. Sean Penn, one of the greatest actors of his generation, gives one of his most heartbreaking performances as a man on death row. Susan Sarandon plays the woman trying to redeem him. She won an Oscar and while her performance is good, it is a shame Shue was locked out.
9. BURNT BY THE SUN (Dir. Nikita Mikhalkov; Russia) - The Oscar winner for "Best Foreign Language" film is a movie which has a Chekhov feel to it. A soldier and his family, along with some friends, spend some time in the country while a rival lover appears. Nikita's daughter, Nadezhda is a scene-stealer. She walks away with your heart.
10. MIGHTY APHRODITE (Dir. Woody Allen; U.S.) - Not Allen's best film but a pretty damn good film anyway with some great Allen one-liners. Mira Sorvino plays a hooker with a heart of gold and suffers the strange fate several actresses have suffered after winning an Oscar, her career went down. Still Sorvino shines here as Allen's script was also nominated.
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