35 From 94: My Favorite Films From 1994
Truth be told, when it comes to vampire movies, my taste for the blood theme genre tends to be pretty finicky. Well actually, I am pretty picky when it comes to any kind of movie or other form of entertainment when it comes the field of the horror genre. In the world of scary cinema full of O blood type, I am an AB negative.
Therefore, when someone like Anne Rice comes along and tries to inject a new type into the circulatory system of the vampire, I tend to get high expectations for the end result. And unfortunately, after she became a worldwide hit as an author of corpuscle consuming creatures, I wasn’t as big of a fan as the rest of the globe. Mind you, I don’t think she was bad. I really liked her writing style. What I wasn’t completely sold on was her take on how the dynamics of an eternal bloodsucker worked. I liked how she bravely went where no other author dared to before her, but where that path led to I don’t think yielded to the kind of fruitful destination that it seemed marked for.
Mz. Rice wasn’t afraid to delve into and explore how the mindset would be affected as a result of being eternally damned to walk the Earth on a subsistence of human blood while lacking the emotions and humanity that were present when one was truly alive. Personally, I felt like the conclusions that she came to were were too romanticized, and to be blunt, felt like a stake right through the heart of the logic that she seemed trying to suspend when it came to describing the fictional realities of the nightwalker. Living in a time when there are Stephen King’s out there, writing scare-fare that is also pushing the terror tomed envelope, Anne’s stories don’t seem to have the kind of follow through that match the level of the ideas that she began with.
For me, this is something that is evident in this film adaptation of her most famous literary work. All the necessary ingredients are here in this particular interview, but the lack of logic at the "end of the night", leads to an unsatisfying fright film that, with its intriguing set up, super talented not to mention uber-hip cast, costume designs, and just overall, high-quality production value, emonstrates how this movie all the workings that it should have been a macabre-filled minded masterpiece.
The fact that it is hardly ever mentioned in discussions about greatest vampire flicks of all time goes to show that this was a coffin filled with too much potential to be left buried the way it was.
Two lovers on the lam whose hunger for each is outmatched only by their thirst for blood.
Oh wait....
I think I might be getting this mixed up with another movie......
So my experiences with snuffing out the life-force of countless of other individuals human beings is about as close to nil as possible.
Still, even with my severe lack of bodycounts, even I know that a shallow grave will always lead to one getting caught.
So remember all you young budding sociopaths out there, when it comes to hiding bodies effectively,
ya gotta dig deep, kids.
A small piece of cinema about quiet people in remote circumstances who yearn for more expansion, not so much in their physical surroundings, but in their hearts, minds and souls.
Two separate stories about two different police officers, each trying to deal with their situations of heartbreak.
Even though Chungking Express deals with matters of the heart, it's not really a romance movie. It's a film about dealing with the concept of love.
The usual formula of love isn't followed in the premise, and instead, it is left almost ambiguous on what the people involved are feeling towards each other. These are couples that are definitely looking for love, but in the midst of the dense crowds of Hong Kong, they are lonely rangers whose definition on how to couple are as jumbled and stagnant as the jungled buildings of the city in which they reside.
Express is a film that uses the visual imagery of background colors and the kinetic energy of a hand held camera to help charge this story of emotional yearning through the subtle yet tangled search for a "partner in crime".
k
But through my lack of training and discipline, I was never enough of a master to be able to fight in any kind of a kung fu battle whilst in this alleviated state of inebriation. Particularly in any manner that allowed me to use every piece of furniture, silverware and/or knick-knacks that was in my immediate disposal in a cool offensive style like Jackie Chan does in this movie.
But, I was always drunk enough to at least think I could.
The Last Seduction isn't just a movie about a manipulative bitch, it's a movie about being the ultimate manipulative bitch.
Linda plays the aforementioned manipulative bitch to such an extent, that I truly hated her in this role. And I mean that in a good way. I love her for for being able to take this role and using it to manipulate my masculine feelings to the point that makes me her hate at to such a high level that I did.
Rarely does any actor, male or female, make being a bad person look this good.
Actually, to be truthfully honest, the only reason this is on my list is cuz ...well...I really like ABBA's music.
And sayin' that does just not make my pimp-ass any less hairier.
So, you know....
shut up.
A forgotten Ron Howard production with a quality squad of performances by names such as Robert Duvall, Marissa Tomei, Michael Keaton and Glenn Close.
After building up a career as a comedic actor with movies like Bachelor Party, Splash and Big (not to mention his stint as a bosomy buddy on TV), Tom Hanks sets out to prove that he can take on serious roles too. And then proves it by winning two Academy Awards in a row.
Plus, it's a got a kissing in the rainfall scene.
Which, as any guy knows, makes Four Weddings And A Funeral the type of chick-flick that, on a first date, will always help to increase your chances of getting laid, no matter what side of the pond you're on.
So for me, it was kind of surprising when I heard that a movie about this character was going to be released.
Now, since superhero movies were just starting to finally prove to be able to generate attendance from the general public, I knew that there was no way they were going to be able to translate the dark humor and the violent tone of the comic for the silver screen, so I just assumed that out of necessity, Hollywood was just to completely re-invent the character, and Hollywood being Hollywood, would just completely eff it up.
However, they somehow were able to make this reinvention work for the medium of a live action movie. Not perfectly, mind you, but with the bizarre ingredients that were required for the basis of this weird, reality-altering anti-hero, it came off pretty well and pretty consistent. While the Mask doesn't hold the weight of any of its comic book colleagues of this genre, it held it's own enough to be successful at the box office and not spawn the ire of nerds like me who, especially at the time, just wanted to see these kinds of films earn a little more respect.
Every Sunday evening, the grown girls of a chef's family convene at the dinner table for a feast of food, beverage and conversation of the latest news in each of the sibling's lives. Which, for the aged cook, usually translates to how the modern ways are constantly challenging the traditions of the old ways. It's enough to give and old man indigestion. Or at least gas.
The third installment to what is often loosely referred to as the "Father Knows Best" trilogy, Eat Drink Man Woman was one of the seminal films to the international rising star of director Ang Lee.
After watching this film, I was so inspired, that I decided, on a whim, to go running all the way across the country. However, by the time I reached the end of my block, I was so devastatingly winded, and I was weezing so desperately for air, that I thought for sure, my left lung must've collapsed in on itself.
So, instead, I just reminded myself that "stupid is as stupid does", then I went back into my house and ate an entire "box of chawk-letts".
Which, of course, is what life is kinda like.
Because in the movie, the Crow's a Goth who actually has the ability to kick your ass. Which makes the Crow the epitome of an oxymoron. Which, of course, is something that I would never say to his face.
I mean, y'know.... if I was character in the movie or somethin'.
An excellent update that effectively captures the style that gave the original series of Maverick it's distinctive feel that separated it from other western series at the time.
Mel Gibson does a capable job of modernizing the lead character,
while Jodie Foster shows that for someone who has developed a reputation as a serious award winning actress, she can also fit comfortably into a light comedy roll as a sultry Southern Belle whose ability to nick is equals in her power to allure.
Can he save his own skin without killing Zoe.
"Who's Zoe?" you ask?
Zoe's a hooker who Zed slept with the night before and with whom he ends up developing feelings for...
and who, by sheer coincidence, works by day as a teller at the bank that's giving ol' Zed and his bank robbing buddies all the trouble.
Talk about a complicated relationship....!
True Lies is a true live action flick from back at a time when James Cameron's work always seemed to kick ass.
And back when Ahnold was a true action star, who worked out to get the kind of body that could kick ass.
And back when Jamie Lee Curtis was a true babe who also worked out so that her booty would kick ass.
And back when Tom Ahnold's acting never worked out with a body was just plain fat ass.
And that ain't no lie.
The d00d from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure in another most excellent adventure, but this time about a bus speeding so outta control, that not even constantly dinging the bell would be enough to make it stop.
Taking on the subject of equality as it's theme, White tells the tale of a man named Karol Karol, who after losing literally everything in his life, embarks on a series of acts with hopeful result of setting his life aright.
Despite some of it's darker plot elements and unlike it's movie brothers, White takes a lighter approach in it's unfolding of it's machinations (which may be due to it's color scheme). Considered as the "weakest" of the three Colours, it is nevertheless still regarded as one of the best films to come out of the year 1994.
Of course there's Johhny Depp (surprise surprise....),
Martin Landau in his Oscar winning role,
along with Bill Murray (in his most non-Murrayesque role to date),
George "The Animal" Steele (a former wrestler with a literal taste for turnbuckles),
and that one Sex In The City chick (the one who bears a striking resemblance to the equine-like pratronus that my wand conjures up whenever I'm surrounded by Dementors).
All coming together to produce a colorful black & white film that shows that making a movie about the worst movie ever can be some pretty good stuff.
Nerd boy Kevin Smith harnesses his experiences of working in a convenience store, writes a script, then gathers up his buddies to help put it all onto film. Thus does Mr. Smith move from behind the counter to behind the camera and enters into the realm of movie-making.
And the San Diego Comic-Con will never again be the same.
Living a life with just enough to get by, "Sully" Sullivan seems okay with just that despite the years piling on. When his estranged son comes to town with his own son in tow, "Sully" starts to feel the twinges of patriarchal charge towards the grandson he never knew had. Moving through the typical "atypical" happenings of his small town, Sully finds the pieces of his life starting stitch together in a way in which he must decide to either just keep crustily cruisin' by, or, to do that one thing that has always felt alien to him.... take some responsibility.
This is simply one of those movies that I really enjoy that never really gets much mention anywhere. Paul Newman, Jessica Tandy, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffin and Phillip Seymour Hoffman are a great cast of actors playing a great cast of characters in this, a pretty great film (at least, in my opinion it is). And each one is a piece of a puzzle that, despite their sharp edges, all still fit in perfectly.
The fine acting job by the lead kid, along with the manner which the "set up" unravels according to his meticulous plan was clever enough to keep me glued to my theater chair with anticipation as to how the whole "game" would turned out.
Plus, Fresh is a film that offers a revealing look at how the street level dynamics of the illegal drug system work and just how much of a major part of the inner city economy it can become.
Nowadays, whether it be with quiz shows that an average junior high schooler could pass or through so-called reality shows, most TV programs seem to reward people for being dumb.
John Turturro turns in, IMO, his best performance as a voice for the craggy intellectual type of the time, who is smart enough to realize and yet does not want to accept that the visual medium of television has crossed over to favoring style over substance.
Oh, and I'd like to buy a vowel.
This final story of Colours is widely considered by critics and connoiseurs alike as the best of the bunch (luckily so since this also ended up being the final work of the director who passed away just two years later).
IMO, Léon: The Professional is a film with a great lead character in a plot line whose subject matter could have easily gotten a bit "swarmy". Yet the pacing of the story was able to maintain a sort of razor's edge balancing act between a satisfactorily sappy chemistry and a gritty tension of anticipation of what will eventually result from this awkward relationship between assassin and unexpected "student".
For me, there is no other way that I can describe this movie other than to say that it's just plain stupid, simple and funny.
Which is probably why it is not only my favorite comedy of 1994, but also one of my favorite comedies of all time.
When asked what crime you are guilty of, in prison yards like that of Shawshank State Penitentiary, the proper response is always a mock "I didn't do it". But in banker turned wrongly accused convict Andy Dufresne's case, it really is true. And the only way he knows how to dig himself out of the hole that the late 1940's legal system has dumped him into is through the resources of a man who knows how to get things, two decades worth of patience and a resounding belief that hope is a good thing.
Not since Brian's Song has there been a flick that truly encapsulated the feeling of amorous friendship between two straight men of different color.
In other words, I guess that one could say that The Shawshank Redemption is a tale of interracial hetero man-love at it's finest.
No matter how many times I view it, no matter what time of the day it is, I never get tired of watching this film.
Because Pulp Fiction is like pie.
And any time is a good time for pie.
Other Fave Movies Lists By Year:
1970
www.listal.com/list/10-70-my-fave-films
1971
www.listal.com/list/15-71-my-favorite-movies
1972
www.listal.com/list/15-72-my-favorite-films
1973
www.listal.com/list/20-73-my-favorite-films
1974
www.listal.com/list/films-of-1974
1975
www.listal.com/list/20-75-my-favorite-films
1976
www.listal.com/list/20-76-my-favorite-films
1977
www.listal.com/list/20-77-my-favorite-films
1978
www.listal.com/list/20-1978-my-favorite-films
1979
www.listal.com/list/20-79-my-favorite-films
1980
www.listal.com/list/25-from-80-my-favorite
1981
www.listal.com/list/25-81-my-favorite-films
1982
www.listal.com/list/25-82-my-favorite-films
1983
www.listal.com/list/25-83-my-favorite-films
1984
www.listal.com/list/25-84-my-favorite-films
1985
www.listal.com/list/25-85-my-favorite-films
1986
www.listal.com/list/25-86-my-favorite-films
1987
www.listal.com/list/25-87-my-favorite-films
1988
www.listal.com/list/25-88-my-favorite-films
1989
www.listal.com/list/25-89-my-favorite-films
1990
www.listal.com/list/30-90-my-favorite-films
1991
www.listal.com/list/30-91-my-favorite-films
1992
www.listal.com/list/30-92-my-favorite-films
1993
www.listal.com/list/30-93-my-favorite-films
1995
www.listal.com/list/30-95-my-favorite-films
1996
www.listal.com/list/30-96-my-favorite-films
1997
www.listal.com/list/30-97-my-favorite-films
1998
www.listal.com/list/30-98-my-favorite-films
1999
www.listal.com/list/30-99-my-favorite-films
2000
www.listal.com/list/35-00-my-favorite-films
2001
www.listal.com/list/35-1-my-favorite-films
2002
www.listal.com/list/35-2-my-favorite-films
2003
www.listal.com/list/35-3-my-favorite-films
Added to
Related lists
20 item list by The Mighty Celestial
13 votes 2 comments
35 item list by The Mighty Celestial
6 votes 1 comment
View more top voted lists