#21 — Quiz Show (Robert Redford, 1994) At the time of Quiz Show‘s initial release, director Robert Redford talked often and openly about his views regarding the topic of his film, the scandal at the dawn of television’s influence on the … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Twenty-One
#22 — Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1997) Paul Thomas Anderson builds Boogie Nights with the exuberant fervor of someone who may never again be given access to a movie camera. From the extended tracking shot that opens the film–a … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Twenty-Two
#23 — When We Were Kings (Leon Gast, 1996) In 1974, Leon Gast went to Zaire to make a concert film. Heavyweight champion George Foreman was scheduled to defend his belt in a bout billed excitedly as “The Rumble in … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Twenty-Three
#24 — Sling Blade (Billy Bob Thornton, 1996) Before he was a tabloid fixture as Angelina Jolie’s second husband, before he was the go-to actor for mildly befuddled raunchy comedy heroes, before he was just another movieland refugee pursuing a … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Twenty-Four
#25 — Ed Wood (Tim Burton, 1994) Movies are fun. It’s a simple truth that doesn’t get offered up enough. As much as I might expound upon the artistry of certain directors or eagerly try to plumb the nuances of deliberately obtuse French cinema, layering on a veneer of academic rumination to my reaction, the bottom line is that movies are a draw because of the more immediate responses they elicit: laughter, chills, jumps, gasps, the swelling of hearts and libidos. I had a friend who reduced every movie-going experience to the shrugged assessment, “It was fairly entertaining.” I used to … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Twenty-Five
#26 — That Thing You Do! (Tom Hanks, 1996) Innocence without naivete is a wonderful thing, and that’s exactly the tone Tom Hanks strikes with his directorial debut. After a string of major successes at the box office and back-to-back Best … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Twenty-Six
#27 — Primary Colors (Mike Nichols, 1998) Politics is a circus. It’s a bizarre mix of showmanship and exaggerated danger with every effort made to prop up the most artificial spectacles as if they’re the realest things in the world. It’s populated by people with outsized personalities projecting ingratiating joy, but there always seems to be a lurking hint of menace about them. It is controlled lunacy. About the only place the comparison breaks down is when P.T. Barnum’s famous evaluation of the susceptibility of the audience is invoked. A sucker born every minute? In politics, that seems a drastic … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Twenty-Seven
#28 — The People vs. Larry Flynt (Milos Forman, 1996) Much as I enjoy all the boisterous, bawdy business in Milos Forman’s The People vs. Larry Flynt, my favorite scene is arguably the most straightforward and sedate. After years of defending … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Twenty-Eight
#29 — Miller’s Crossing (Joel Coen (and Ethan Coen), 1990) Joel and Ethan Coen are marvelous visual artists. They conceive of extraordinary set pieces and understand better than most of their peers how a perfectly executed sight gag or sly … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Twenty-Nine
#30 — eXistenZ (David Cronenberg, 1999) In November of the last year of the nineties, Entertainment Weekly published a cover story that proclaimed 1999 to be “The Year That Changed Movies.” It posited that the box office success of The Matrix … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Thirty
Coffee for Two 