Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Twentieth Century Fox And Others

Jesse Walker continues his trip back through the decades, now announcing his top ten films for 1995.  Sorry to sound like a cliché, but it's hard to believe it's been twenty years since then.

Here's his list, followed by my comments.

1. Safe
2. Smoke
3. Twelve Monkeys
4. Mabarosi
5. Toy Story
6. The City Of Lost Children
7. Shanghai Triad
8. Funny Bones
9. Get Shorty
10. Welcome to the Dollhouse
 
Interesting list.  Safe has never done it for me, and I haven't seen Mabarosi, but the rest would be high on my list.  Toy Story, Get Shorty and Welcome To The Dollhouse would be top ten and the rest might make top twenty.
 
Here are Jesse's honorable mentions:
 
11. La Cérémonie 
12. Tierra 
13. Electronic Superhighway
14. The Drivetime
15. Clueless
16. Whisper of the Heart
17. A Close Shave
18. Underground
19. The Wife
20. Casino
 
I like Clueless, A Close Shave and Casino (which has aged well), but I have to admit I haven't seen the rest.
 
Here are some films that would have made my top ten list:
 
The Brady Bunch Movie
 
Cold Comfort Farm
 
Dead Man
 
Jumanji
 
Living In Oblivion
 
Pocahontas
 
To Die For
 
Here are some other films from 1995 that I liked:
 
An Awfully Big Adventure, Babe, Clueless, Crumb, The Fantasticks, (parts of) Four Rooms, From The Journals Of Jean Seberg, Kicking And Screaming, Kids, (some of) Mr. Holland's Opus, Richard III, Rumble In The Bronx,  Showgirls, (parts of) Skin Deep, Unstrung Heroes, While You Were Sleeping,
 
Other films of note:
 
Ace Venture: When Nature Calls, Across the Sea of Time, The Addiction, The American President, Angel Baby, Angela , Angels & Insects, Angus, Antonia's Line, Apollo 13, Assassins, Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold, An Awfully Big Adventure, The Baby-Sitters Club, Bad Boys, Bad Company, The Basketball Diaries, Batman Forever, Before Sunrise, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, Beyond Rangoon, Billy Madison, The Blade, Boys On The Side, Braveheart,  The Break, The Bridges Of Madison County, The Brothers McMullen, Bushwhacked, Buttterfly Kiss, Bye Bye Love, Canadian Bacon, Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh, Carrington, A Chinese Odyssey, Circle of Friends, Clockers, Commissioner, Congo (a friend of mine dies early in this film), 
Copycat, The Cremaster Cycle, Criminal, Crimson Tide, The Crossing Guard, Cry, the Beloved Country, The Cure, Curtains, Cutthroat Island, Darkman II: The Return of Durant, Days of Rage, Dead Man Walking, Dead Presidents, Deep River, Destiny Turns On The Radio, Devil in a Blue Dress, Die Hard With A Vengeance, Dolores Claiborne, Don Juan DeMarco, Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Empire Records, The Englishman Who Went up a Hill but Came down a Mountain, Fair Game, Fallen Angels, Father of the Bride Part II, First Knight, Fluke, For Better or Worse, Forget Paris, Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, French Kiss, Friday, Full Throttle, Georgia, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain, GoldenEye, A Goofy Movie, Gordy, The Grass Harp,  Grumpier Old Men, Gumby: The Movie, Hackers, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers,Headless Body in Topless Bar, Heavy, Heavyweights, Higher Learning, Houseguest, How to Make an American Quilt,
In the Mouth of Madness, The Indian in the Cupboard, It's Pat, Jefferson in Paris, Jeffrey, The Jerky Boys: The Movie, Johnny Mnemonic, Judge Dredd, Just Cause, Kickboxer 5, A Kid In King Arthur's Court, Kidnapped, Kiss of Death, Last Summer In The Hamptons, Leaving Las Vegas, Leprechaun 3, Little Criminals, Little Odessa, A Little Princess, Losing Isaiah, Mad Love, Major Payne, Mallrats, Man Of The Year, Miami Rhapsody, Mighty Aphrodite, Mighty Morphin Rangers: The Movie, Money Train, Moonlight and Valentino, Mortal Kombat, Murder In The First, My Antonia, My Father Is a Hero, The Net, Never Talk to Strangers, Nick of Time, Nine Months, Nixon, Now And Then, Nine Months, Nixon, Now And Then, Operation Dumbo Drop, Othello, Outbreak, Party Girl, The Piano Lesson, Picture Perfect, Piranha, Pyromaniac's Love Story, The Quick And The Dead, Requiem, Restoration, Rob Roy, Roommates, The Scarlett Letter, Screamers, Sense And Sensibility, Seven, Slam Dunk, Ernest, Something To Talk About, Species, Steal Big Steal Little, Strange Days, Stuart Saves His Family, Tales From The Hood, Tall Tale, Tank Girl, Target, Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, Tom and Huck, Tommy Boy, Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, The Underneath, The Usual Suspects, Vampire In Brooklyn, Village Of The Damned, Virtuosity, Waiting to Exhale, A Walk in the Clouds, Waterworld, White Man's Burden, Wild Bill, The Young Poisoner's Handbook

10 Comments:

Blogger Jesse said...

(parts of) Four Rooms

I assume you mean the Tarantino and Rodriguez parts, since the other segments & the bridging material are irredeemably awful. But really, even the two watchable stories are just OK at best. I found that movie just immensely disappointing.

5:54 AM, December 23, 2015  
Blogger New England Guy said...

Ah. The year before a baby entered our lives so I've seen a lot of these (as opposed to the 5 from 2005).

I really enjoyed Cold Comfort Farm and To Die For (just for the "Weather Center" line- maybe that's a New England thing). 12 Monkeys was only so-so for me but generally OK. Get Shorty was fun but a better book than a movie

Safe discomfited me- I remember folks wearing surgical masks to Bread & Circus (local precursor to Whole Foods) and they freaked me out (and had bad BO for what its worth) so I really hated the main character in Safe.

I liked Toy Story the first 25 or 50 times I saw it with my young nephews and nieces and then my son (now all either in or graduated from college) but after that, now even the sequels give me flashbacks. (If Pocahontas means the Disney version, then that too to a lesser extent)

A much more recognizable list for me- reminds me of VHS

7:44 AM, December 23, 2015  
Anonymous Denver Guy said...

My top nine from that year (can't get to ten) would be (in no particular order):

Toy Story
Jumanji
Crimson Tide
Babe
Twelve Monkeys
Goldeneye
Apollo 13
The Indian in the Cupboard
Crimson Tide

Off hand, it looks to me that '95 was not a banner year for the film industry. We saw the continuing decline of the Batman franchise; a relatively weak product from Disney; and (as I understand it) one of the biggest flops of all time, Waterworld, ending the A-list career of Kevin Costner.

7:57 AM, December 23, 2015  
Blogger LAGuy said...

Jesse--Yes, especially the Tarantino part (though he seems to disown it, calling his latest his eighth film, not his eighth and a quarter).

New England Guy--don't care if Get Shorty the book was better, didn't read it. In fact, I just saw it a few weeks ago and it was still good. Toy Story might be my #1 of the year, but if I'd seen it 50 times maybe I'd change my mind.

Denver Guy--I thought it was a good year for Disney. And Waterworld isn't as bad as everyone says. But I really hate The Indian In The Cupboard. Didn't think I'd ever have to point that out until you put it on your list.

8:41 AM, December 23, 2015  
Blogger Jesse said...

though he seems to disown it, calling his latest his eighth film, not his eighth and a quarter

I assume he just doesn't consider it a full movie, the same way he doesn't count his sequence in Sin City. (But then, he does seem to be counting Death Proof, since I gather he sees Kill Bill as one movie not two.)

But I really hate The Indian In The Cupboard. Didn't think I'd ever have to point that out until you put it on your list.

That's how I feel about you Jumani fans...

8:45 AM, December 23, 2015  
Blogger LAGuy said...

Actually (without doing any research, even though it would probably take two minutes), I think Tarantino considers Kill Bill two movies, so I guess he doesn't count Death Proof.

I was going to go out of my way to praise Jumanji, which might be my #1 of the year (that or Toy Story), but I held off--guess I might as well now. They pulled off the concept, but I thought the idea itself was brilliant. It's usually thought of as a kid's movie, but it's got real edge. Most films have the lead characters trying to avoid trouble, even if they don't ultimately succeed, but Jumanji forces the characters to play a game where each turn will bring some unknown horror that will seek them out specifically, but they have no choice but to keep going.

8:58 AM, December 23, 2015  
Blogger New England Guy said...

Well in fairness, I always thinks books are better than movies (well at least if I've read the book first and didn't hate it) since movies at best are an abbreviation of a much longer and deeper work (usually and even Get Shorty). It really points to the major differences in the form. Movies are more intense and more immediately gratifying- that works fine if you come to it fresh with no preconceptions

9:29 AM, December 23, 2015  
Anonymous Denver Guy said...

Jumanji's special effects were also quite effective for the era. They didn't look completely real, but they looked like somethng that might be spawned out of a nightmare. Each creature was more menacing than the real life creature would be.

In the DVD they have as an extra an opening sequence that shows Vikings burrying the game on the New England coastline and praying that no one ever find it. It was good to cut this, because the trick to the film is it starts off realistic, and then dives off the edge (you wouldn't want to start with a big supernatural threat).

As for "Indian in the Cupboard," admitedly, I haven't seen it in a long time, and never felt compelled to own a copy. I just remember liking it. Remind me what was wrong with it?

8:22 AM, December 24, 2015  
Blogger LAGuy said...

There were a lot of things I didn't like about the movie, but in particular it was heavy-handed with its message. Pocahontas also had a message but was much more entertaining about it.

10:47 AM, December 24, 2015  
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