Those Thrilling Days Of Yesteryear

If anyone is asking why Jesse Walker's top ten lists are coming one on top of another (assuming anyone is aware that we're up and running again), it's not that he's going that fast so much as I started behind.  So we've had three lists in three days.  I think it'll soon be down to one every two or three days, so enjoy it while you can.

Anyway, we're back to 1993.  Clinton was the new president and we were in-between communism and terrorism (not that we knew it).

Here's Jesse's top ten list for the year (The Perpetual Three-Dot Column (jessewalker.blogspot.com)):

1. Short Cuts

2. Groundhog Day

3. A Perfect World

4. The Nightmare Before Christmas

5. Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould

6. Latcho Drom

7. Fearless

8. Manhattan Murder Mystery

9. Dottie Gets Spanked

10. True Romance

A lot of Hollywood here, though not conventional Hollywood.  Or conventional Oscar bait. As Jesse notes, this was the year of Schindler's List., which doesn't make his top twenty.  I think it would make my top ten.

I should also note that I haven't seen most of these films since 1993, so I'm going on my original impressions.

As for Short Cuts, it may be Altman's last great film (though he made some decent ones after, and one of his biggest hits in Gosford Park).

Groundhog Day was a hit that has since come to be recognized as a classic (and the concept has been repeated so often the plot feels prophetic). I'm not quite sure if it's a classic, but it's at least pretty good. And certainly a good use of the Bill Murray characters.

I'm not sure if I get the adoration for A Perfect World, which is long and poorly shaped.  And I think Jesse's comments on it show, once again, how he likes Clint Eastwood too much. And why the hate for Costner?

The Nightmare Before Christmas is okay, but top ten?

I only saw the Glenn Gould film once, but it sticks in the mind.  It's quite something. And without it, we wouldn't know about steamed hams (22 Short Films About Springfield - Wikipedia).

Haven't seen Latcho Drom, though I'd like to.

The only thing I remember about Fearless is I've forgotten it.

It's hard to believe Woody Allen was going to do Manhattan Murder Mystery before he went with Annie Hall instead.  But then, 70s Woody probably could have made this work.  Though perhaps, not having seen it in 30 years, it holds up better than I recall.

Dottie Gets Spanked is a TV short from Todd Haynes I've never seen, though I'd like to.

True Romance is the first film that truly gave us the voice of Tarantino--aside from getting rid of some of the chronological games that Quentin loves, Tony Scott mostly shot the script as is. And I remember it as being very entertaining.

Here are Jesse's honorable mentions:

11. The Bed You Sleep In

12. Red Rock West

13. Mad Dog And Glory

14. The Scent Of Green Papaya

15. The Wrong Trousers

16. The Wonderful, Horrible Life Of Leni Riefenstahl

17. Body Snatchers

18. The Junky's Christmas

19. The Hour Of The Pig

20. Blue

12 is a well done modern noir. 13 is the Bill Murrary film from 1993 no one talks about.  It's different, but I can't say too much more than that. 14 isn't bad (and the director has a new film out now about French cooking that may be on Jesse's list in ten years). I don't approve it on the list due to its length, but 15 is a fun, Oscar-winning Wallace & Gromit short.  16 is a fine documentary, maybe should be top ten.  17 is an Abel Ferrara oddity. 20 is the first of the Three Colors trilogy, which are all pretty good. (Not to be confused with Derek Jarman's Blue the same year.)

Haven't seen 11, 18 (IMDb puts it in 1994) and 19 (though I remember discussing 19 with a law professor who was fighting for animal representation in court).

Other films that would make my top ten (or twenty):

A Bronx Tale

The Fugitive

King Of The Hill

Naked

The Remains Of The Day

Ruby In Paradise

Other films I enjoyed:

The Bride With White Hair, City Hunter, City On Fire, Crime Story, Dazed And Confused, Farewell My Concubine, Grumpy Old Men, Matinee, No More Mr. Nice Guy, Six Degrees Of Separation, Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey, What’s Love Got To Do With It


Other films of interest:

Addams Family Values, The Age Of Innocence, Aileen Wuornos: The Selling Of A Serial Killer, Alive, American Heart, Amongst Friends, Amos & Andrew, Another Stakeout, Arizona Dream, The Ballad Of Little Jo, Benny & Joon, The Beverly Hillbillies, Bodies Rest & Motion, Boxing Helena, Bruce Lee: The Curse Of The Dragon, Cannibal! The Musical, Carlito’s Way, CB4, The Cemetery Club, Cliffhanger, Coneheads, Cool Runnings, Cronos, The Crush, The Dark Half, Dave, Demolition Man, Dennis The Menace, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Even Cowgirls Get The Blues, Faraway So Close!, Fatal Instinct, The Firm, Flesh And Bone, For Love Or Money, Free Willy, Geronimo: An American Legend, Gettysburg, The Good Son, Gross Misconduct, Guilty As Sin, Hard Target, Heart And Souls, Heart Of Darkness, Hear No Evil, Heaven & Earth, Hexed, Hocus Pocus, Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, Hot Shots! Part Deux, House Of Cards, The House Of The Spirits, Household Saints, In The Line Of Fire, Indecent Proposal, Indian Summer, Jack The Bear, The Joy Luck Club, Judgment Night, Jurassic Park, Kallifornia, Last Action Hero, Leprechaun, Life With Mikey, Little Buddha, Loaded Weapon 1, Lost In Yonkers, Love Bites, M. Butterfly, Made In America, Malice, Map Of The Human Heart, Menace II Society, The Meteor Man, Mi Vida Loca, Moving, Mr. Jones, Mr. Wonderful, Mrs. Doubtfire, Much Ado About Nothing, My Life, Nowhere To Run, Once A Cop, The Pelican Brief, Philadelphia, The Piano, The Pickle, Poetic Justice, Posse, The Program, Rising Sun, Robin Hood: Men In Tights, Romeo Is Bleeding, Rookie Of The Year, Rudy, The Sandlot, Searching For Bobby Fischer, The Secret Garden, Shadowlands, Sleepless In Seattle, So I Married An Axe Murderer, Sommersby, Son In Law, Son Of The Pink Panther, Sonatine, Sparrow, Splitting Heirs, Striking Distance, Super Mario Bros., Surf Ninjas, Swing Kids, The Thing Called Love, This Boy’s Life, The Three Musketeers, Tombstone, Undercover Blues, The Vanishing, The War Room, Wayne’s World 2, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Wide Sargasso Sea, Wilder Napalm