MC Yearly Consensus - 1996

[Boner M]

Irma Vep is decent, but probably my least favorite Assayas. Need to see it again, but I found it a fun and stylish cinephile-friendly goof at best. Cheung is luminescent as ever, though.

[Raiders]

Irma Vep is decent, but probably my least favorite Assayas. Need to see it again, but I found it a fun and stylish cinephile-friendly goof at best. Cheung is luminescent as ever, though.

I've only seen three of his. I would put it about even with Cold Water but a definite step ahead of demonlover. The latter is good, but too flawed. It does have a rockin' soundtrack from Sonic Youth.

[Spinal]

Let's finish this one up by tomorrow (Saturday).

[Pop Trash]

As much as Freeway rules. There's no way I can vote for that in the top five. Even for '96

I remember liking it back in HS. I remember seeing the video box and thinking it was some direct to video crap but my GF at the time saw it and was like "no you should see it, it's actually really good." And I remember agreeing with her. She also got me into Sling Blade and Breaking the Waves, so good for her. But the definitive Reece Witherspoon performance will always be Tracy Flick for me.

[Spinal]

Any more?

[Spinal]

This has been counted. Results tonight.

[Spinal]

Oh, and thanks so much for the 3-way tie for 10th place. I'm going to kick all of your asses individually.

[Spinal]

#10 (tie)



Sling Blade

Director: Billy Bob Thornton

Country: USA

A mentally handicapped man is released from a psychiatric hospital where he has been hospitalized since the age of 12 for the murder of his mother and her lover. He returns to his childhood town and befriends a young boy. He is soon invited by the boy's mother to move into the family garage.

Won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay (Thornton). Thornton was also nominated for Best Actor. Billy Wilder advised Billy Bob Thornton to write a screenplay where he could exploit his less than perfect features. Co-stars J.T. Walsh and John Ritter both died of a heart attack at the age of 54.

"All the actors in Sling Blade do magnificent work, but it's Thornton who stays with you for days ... How he was able to direct the film and stay so thoroughly in character is a mystery, but he manages both beautifully and creates a story that's startling, soulful and absolutely unforgettable. " -- Edward Guthmann

[Spinal]

#10 (tie)



Crash

Director: David Cronenberg

Country: Canada

Since a road accident left him with serious scarring, a former TV scientist has become obsessed by the raw sexuality of car-crash victims. The scientist, along with a crash victim he has recently befriended, set about performing a series of sexual acts in a variety of motor vehicles.

Won the Special Jury Award at Cannes. Won an Adult Video News Award for Best Alternative Adult Feature Film. In the UK, the Daily Mail led calls for the film to be banned with a front page headline reading 'Ban This Car Crash Sex Film'.

"It'd be grotesque if Cronenberg weren't viewing it all dispassionately, with that passive, obsessive, strangely Canadian voyeurism. It doesn't feel icky because it asks the question, 'Let's see how it all works,' and that these weird beings are forging some sort of new community out of their collective desires." -- Jeremiah Kipp

[Spinal]

#10 (tie)



Freeway

Director: Matthew Bright

Country: USA

A 15 year girl runs away from home to live with her grandmother after her mom is arrested for prostitution and her stepdad for molesting her. Along the way her car breaks down, and a respectable, decent looking guy picks her up. Turns out he's the freeway rapist the news keeps talking about and now he's set his eyes on her.

When Vanessa (Reese Witherspoon) vomits, she is actually spitting out yogurt. The photo of Vanessa's father that she shows to Bob is of mass murderer Richard Speck. Originally rated NC-17, reduced to R after the removal of some explicit dialogue.

"Freeway is a hard-edged satire of those sensational true-crime reports that excite the prurient with detailed recreations of unspeakable events. We have a great appetite in this country for books, TV shows and movies about serial killers, perverted hermits, mad bombers and pathological torturers--just as long as their deeds are cloaked in moralistic judgments ... Freeway illuminates our secret appetites. Like all good satire, it starts where the others end. And its actors wisely never ever act as if they're in on the joke" -- Roger Ebert

[Kurosawa Fan]

Well, it appears I wasn't responsible for any of the films in 10th place. I was hoping I wouldn't catch a beating.

[Spinal]

#9



Bottle Rocket

Director: Wes Anderson

Country: USA

Upon his release from a mental hospital following a nervous breakdown, the directionless Anthony joins his friend Dignan, who seems even less sane. Dignan has hatched a hair-brained scheme for an as yet unspecified crime spree that somehow involves his former boss.

Wes Anderson won the MTV Movie Award for Best New Filmmaker. The film scored the worst test screening points in the history of Columbia Pictures at the time. There is a black and white picture of Jacques-Yves Cousteau hanging on the wall during the party.

"Anderson's confident handling of the material shows a keen grasp of low-key comedy ... Characterizations benefit from an obvious affection and generosity, and each of the trio has his own highly individual quirks. The ensemble spirit of what's clearly a core cast of old friends makes their deftly played camaraderie more appealing." -- David Rooney

[Spinal]

#8



Waiting for Guffman

Director: Christopher Guest

Country: USA

Blaine, Missouri is preparing a celebration of its 150th anniversary. Corky St.Clair, an off-off-off-off-off-Broadway director is putting together an amateur theater show about the town's history and, rumor has it, a Broadway theater critic will attend the opening night.

Nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards: Best Feature, Best Screenplay and Best Male Lead (Guest). Guest spent a year and a half editing almost 60 hours of footage with editor Andy Blumenthal to come up with the final cut for the film. In an early cut of the film, the musical alone ran forty minutes.

"Waiting for Guffman works not only because it is quirky and original but also because every single character in the film is flat-out hilarious. The film has a heart of gold causing us to identify with and have compassion for people who would normally be looked upon as freaks and outsiders." -- Derek

[Spinal]

#7



Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills

Director: Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky

Country: USA

Three teenagers are accused of the horrific crime of killing three children, supposedly as a result of involvement in Satanism. Things turn out to be more complex than initial appearances, with the filmmakers presenting the real-life courtroom drama as it unfolds.

Won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Informational Programming. In late 2007, John Mark Byers, the stepfather of victim Christopher Byers, announced that he now believes that the West Memphis Three are innocent.

"It stays with the viewer like a bad dream ... If you know the shorter documentaries of Errol Morris about the surreal weirdness of small-town America, then you have some idea of what Berlinger and Sinofsky capture - though the events in West Memphis are too ghastly and painful to permit the sort of bemused response Morris evokes." -- Walter Addiego

[Derek]

"Waiting for Guffman works not only because it is quirky and original but also because every single character in the film is flat-out hilarious. The film has a heart of gold causing us to identify with and have compassion for people who would normally be looked upon as freaks and outsiders. " -- Derek

Oy, blast from the past. I wish I could delete the first 50 or 60 reviews I ever wrote.

[Spinal]

#6



La Promesse

Director: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

Country: Belgium/France

Igor and his father, Roger, are making a decent living renting apartments to illegal immigrants. But when the building inspector pays a surprise visit and Amidou falls off a scaffold in his hurry to hide, things start to unravel.

Named Best Foreign Film by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Society of Film Critics. The first major success for the Dardenne Brothers who have since won the Palme d'Or twice.

"The integrity of the film ... extends to its sad final moments, in which nothing is left neat and tidy. The moral choices we make, the movie suggests, don't result in orderly conclusions. They go on reverberating, setting off complicated chain reactions over which we have no control." -- Stephen Holden

[Spinal]

Oy, blast from the past. I wish I could delete the first 50 or 60 reviews I ever wrote.

:twisted:

[Spinal]

#5



Lone Star

Director: John Sayles

Country: USA

A local sheriff is called to investigate a 40-year-old skeleton found in the desert. As he delves deeper into the town's dark secrets, he begins to learn more about his father.

Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female (Elizabeth Peña). Won six Lone Star Film Awards (naturally). The movie playing at the drive-in that young Sam and young Pilar attend is Black Mama, White Mama.

"The great, stirring epic Lone Star stands as a peak in the career of John Sayles, who already has such admirably serious films to his credit ... Gratifyingly complex and beautifully told, this tale explores a huge array of cultural, racial, economic and familial tensions. In the process, it also sustains strong characters, deep emotions and clear dramatic force. " -- Janet Maslin

[Spinal]

#4



Secrets and Lies

Director: Mike Leigh

Country: France/UK

Cynthia lives in London with her sullen street-sweeper daughter. Her brother has been successful with his photographer's business and now lives nearby in a more upmarket house. But after a year, Cynthia still hasn't been invited there. Meanwhile, in another part of town, Hortense, adopted at birth but now grown, starts to try and trace her mother.

Nominated for five Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress (Brenda Blethyn) and Best Supporting Actress (Marianne Jean-Baptiste). Won three Awards at Cannes: Palme d'Or, Best Actress (Blethyn) and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Brenda Blethyn never met before the scene in which they meet in the film.

"Why, then, have I liked Secrets and Lies so much that I've been able to see it three times with pleasure, and found it as gripping the third time as the first? Certainly the actors have a great deal to do with this, not to mention Leigh's virtuosity in knowing precisely how to place them and when to let them rattle on without cuts or nudging close-ups." -- Jonathan Rosenbaum

[Spinal]

#3



Breaking the Waves

Director: Lars von Trier

Country: Denmark

Bess and Jan are deeply in love but, when Jan returns to his work on an oil-rig, Bess prays to God that he return for good. Jan does return, his neck broken in an accident. Because of his condition, Jan and Bess are now unable to enjoy a sexual relationship and Jan urges Bess to take another lover and tell him the details.

Earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress (Emily Watson). Won the Grand Prize of the Jury at Cannes. The person being buried is called Anthony Dod Mantle. This is a reference to Trier's favorite cinematographer.

"Not many movies like this get made, because not many filmmakers are so bold, angry and defiant. Like many truly spiritual films, it will offend the Pharisees. Here we have a story that forces us to take sides, to ask what really is right and wrong in a universe that seems harsh and indifferent." -- Roger Ebert

[Spinal]

#2



Trainspotting

Director: Danny Boyle

Country: UK

A group of disaffected Scottish youths turn to heroin to escape the banalities of modern-day existence. Then, they begin to suffer the consequences and discover that there are no easy solutions to the inherent loneliness and pain of life.

Earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. For its American release, the first 20 minutes had to be re-dubbed to make the Scottish accents more intelligible. Danny Boyle credits the Spike Jonze-directed music video for "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys as a major influence on the opening sequence of the film.

"Trainspotting is a disgusting, disturbing movie. Not only does it have the obligatory close-ups of needles piercing skin, but it also features extensive vomiting, bloody barroom brawls, withdrawal symptoms like you've never seen in a movie before, several ODs, flying diarrhea, a dying baby and a scene of a man going face-first into a public toilet to retrieve morphine suppositories. Trainspotting is also extraordinary, entertaining cinema." -- Barry Walters

[Spinal]

#1



Fargo

Director: Joel Coen

Country: USA

Jerry Lundegaard is in a financial jam and, out of desperation, comes up with a plan to hire someone to kidnap his wife and demand ransom from her wealthy father. Things begin to slip from bad to worse as Jerry helplessly watches on.

Won Academy Awards for Best Actress (Frances McDormand) and Best Original Screenplay. Also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Supporting Actor (William H. Macy). Won Best Director at Cannes. Won six Independent Spirit Awards including Best Feature. Norm's competition for the duck stamps - the Hautmans - are three brothers who frequently win federal and state wildlife stamp competitions.

"[Fargo] rotates its story through satire, comedy, suspense and violence, until it emerges as one of the best films I've ever seen. To watch it is to experience steadily mounting delight, as you realize the filmmakers have taken enormous risks, gotten away with them and made a movie that is completely original, and as familiar as an old shoe ..." -- Roger Ebert

[Spinal]

1. Fargo (106)
2. Trainspotting (49.5)
3. Breaking the Waves (45.5)
4. Secrets and Lies (26.5)
5. Lone Star (23)
6. La Promesse (22)
7. Paradise Lost (21)
8. Waiting for Guffman (20.5)
9. Bottle Rocket (16)
10t. Freeway (13.5)
10t. Crash (13.5)
10t. Sling Blade (13.5)

Not quite:
Kids Return (13)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (12)

[Winston*]

I don't participate in these threads but I'd like to voice my appreciation for the trivias and critic snippets.

[Sycophant]

Excellent work as always, Spinal. I was going to compliment us on a well-done list, then I realized that Kids Return barely missed the cut when there was a three-way tie. Match Cut is fail.