My Movie Year: The 90's

As part of YAM Magazine’s first “Time Machine Blogathon” which this time takes us back to the 90’s. So what better excuse to look at my favourite movies of the decade, if only to help highlight some of the great and frequently overlooked films which came out during this era, which would also see with 1999one of the most exciting years of film making in years, as I looked at previously.

1990

Essential Film: La Femme Nikita

Luc Besson’s  tale of teenage junkie Nikita (Anne Parillaud) who after killing a cop during a bungled pharmacy robbery, finds herself convicted of murder and sentenced to a life in prison, only to soon find herself recruited by a shadowy government agent known as the Centre to be trained as an assassin under the watchful eye of her handler Bob (Tcheky Karyo). 

Besson here brings to what would be the usual action / adventure yarn with fist fights and explosions and instead gives us something quite special as while there is certainly an element of action here, what he also gives us is an actual insight into the psychology of this character as she is slowly broken down and rebuilt into the perfect assassin by the Company, with scenes of her being taught to apply lipstick by Amande (Jeanne Moreau) being just as gripping as any of the action scenes which include a pulse pounding restaurant escape.

Although it was remade for an American audience as “Assassin” with Bridget Fonda, this is the definitive version

Further Viewing: King of New York, Darkman

1991

Essential Film: Delicatessen

 

One of the first films by the highly original French directing duo of Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet this surreal Post-apocalyptic black comedy about the residents of an apartment block, owned by the butcher Clapet (Jean-Caude Dreyfus) above whose shop the residents live and who has taken to killing the handymen he employs to keep the residents supplied in meat, which is bad news really for Ex clown Louison (Dominique Pinon) who has just been employed as the new handyman, unaware of what happened to his predecessors.

A strange film to say the least, but not so out there that it leaves the audience wondering what the hell is going on, as it constantly maintains a playful tone as it switches between genres, to give the sort of original film that only Caro and Jeunet are capable of doing, as this is once again very much in their fairytales for grown ups style.

Further Viewing: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, Rikki-Oh: The Story of Ricky

1992

Essential Film: Hard Boiled

One of if not the best of John Woo’s movies and if you ever needed an example of why he is seen as the king of action movies, this would be a great start, as we are barely minutes into the film before he throws us head first into the first of the films many jaw dropping action sequences, as Insp Tequila (Chow Yun-Fat) unleashes his own dual pistol welding brand of justice.

Featuring a cast of Hong Kong greats which includes Tony Leung and Anthony Wong, John Woo here sets a benchmark for Heroic Gunplay movies, while featuring a hospital shootout, which clocks in at over thirty minutes without reputation. This is one infectious mix of gunplay, explosions and jazz!

Further Viewing: Braindead, Man Bites Dog, Porco Rosso

1993

Essential Film: Cronos

The debut film by Guillermo del Toro, here sees him reworking the vampire mythos, with this tale of an mechanical scarab-shaped device which grants the wearer the gift of eternal life aswell as a thirst for blood. This in many ways marking the start of things to come, while establishing del Toro as a the visionary director he is recognised as today, while for one reason of another this film has outside of genre fans been left largely unseen.

Here he shows a clear love for the genre, while as with the films which followed it also showed that he was not afriad to break the rules and breathe new life into a much over worked horror sub-genre with this truly unique film which is as visually stunning as it as it times horrifying.

Further Viewing: Army of Darkness, Falling Down, Iron Monkey, Ninja Scroll, True Romance

1994

Essential Film: The Crow

It would be a sad case of history repeating itself that Brandon Lee’s breakout film would sadly be his last, as he died during filming and much like his father Bruce Lee, who also never got to enjoy the success of his own breakout film “Enter The Dragon”. The first of two films to be directed by Alex Proyas on this list, with this certainly the better known of the two no doubt thanks to the cult following it has built up since it’s release, aswell as the controversy of Lee’s death during the last eight days of filming.

This classic tale of revenge  based on the graphic novel by James O’Barr, about rock musician Eric Draven (Lee) rising from the grave to avenge his own murder aswell as that of his fiancée via the mystical powers of the crow, which now makes him immune from physical harm. The film is drenched in gothic styling while also containing many nods in its style to both “Blade Runner” and Tim Burtons “Batman”. Needless to say this film looks stunning and would make for a design test run for the lesser seen “Dark City. Lee meanwhile embodies the character of Draven, while equally showing himself to be just as capable as both a dramatic actor as he is as an actor star, while this film just leaves us to wonder what could have been,

Further Viewing: Fist of Legend, Hoop Dreams, The Hudsucker Proxy, Wing Chun

1995

Essential Film: Empire Records

Back when this film was released it considered to be pretty cool job to work in a record shop, though I’m not sure that this still stands with nearly every record store having long since closed down and kids today more keen to work for I dunno Amazon or something, but still this film still has a lot of charm, especially for those of us who belonged to the MTV generation, which essentially this film is the embodiment of.

Following the employees of a Empire Records over the course of one truly exceptional day, when one of the employees Lucas (Rory Cochrane) discovers that the store is to be turned into a franchise store called music town, leading the employees to band together to save the store.
Staring many future stars including Renee Zellweger, Liv Tyler and Anthony LaPaglia as the long suffering store owner and father figure Joe, this coming of age comedy never seems to get the attention it really deserves, especially when it combines teenage angst with shameless AC/DC worship and even a pot brownie trip which sees Mark (Ethan Embry) rocking out with GWAR before being eaten by their giant worm thing, which honestly for that one scene alone makes it a must see.

Also Noteworthy: The Basketball Diaries, The City of Lost Children, The DoomGeneration , La Haine, Ghost In The Shell, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, Living In Oblivion. Mortal Kombat, Welcome To The Dollhouse

1996

Essential Film: Joe’s Apartment

When picking this year’s selection, I went back and forth so much between this one and “From Dusk Till Dawn”, both of which could be considered essential, but eventually it would be this film which won out on the grounds of “Dusk Till Dawn” already being pretty well known and secondly because this is a film about a man who lives with talking cockroaches and who wouldn’t want to see that movie?

An expansion on the original 1992 short film, while also inspired by “Twilight of the Cockroaches” and the 1987 short “Those Damn Roaches” this tale of penniless Joe (Jerry O’Connell), who having moved to New York soon finds himself sharing his apartment with around 20 to 30 thousand roommates, in the form of a bunch of all singing and dancing cockroaches, who having recognised Joe as being one of their own, soon set out to lend him a helping hand.

Using a mixture of stop motion animation and the slightly cheaper effect of just making parts of the apartment rattle, this is a random film to say the least and while it might not work in places, when the roaches are in screen, it usually guarantees fun times, with the standout moment being their attempts to help Joe on a date, which unsurprisingly ends in chaos. A strange curiosity from the MTV generation and a reminder of the kind of projects that MTV used to be involved with before they changed their focus to the likes of “The Hills” and “Jersey Shore”.

Further Viewing: From Dusk Till Dawn, Trees Lounge, Swingers

1997

Essential Film: Princess Mononoke

One of my all time favourite Studio Ghibli movies, this epic tale of industry versus nature as Ashitaka finds himself caught in the battle lines drawn by Lady Eboshi of Iron Town, who is destroying the forest merely for her people's own good and the guardians of the forest.

Visually stunning with highly intelligent scripting, this is another perfect example of the genius of Hayao Miyazaki, while also being commisioned by Disney who clearly did not know what they were getting with this film, which not only has burst of violence, bloodshed and gore but also is far from thier usual fluffy plotting and styling, as Miyazaki combines fantasy and mythology in his gripping and fast paced tale.

Further Viewing: Breakdown, Boogie Nights, Cube, Chasing Amy, Funny Games, The Game, Junk Mail, Life Is Beautiful, Mimic, Nowhere, Orgazmo, Rainy Dog, Starship Troopers

1998

Essential Film: Dark City

The second Alex Proyas on this list and sadly the most overlooked, as this Kafka esq tale opens with John (Refus Sewell) waking up naked in a hotel bathtub, his memories erased and a mutilated prostitute on the bed. Soon John finds himself framed for a string of brutal and bizarre murders and on the run from not only the police, but also the strange trench coat clad men known only as “The Strangers” as he tries to piece together his missing memories.

Sharing the same gothic styling as his previous film "The Crow" this film only built upon those designs as here Proyas gives us a city of perminant midnight,with definite shades of Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil” and Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis”while skillfully combining elements of sci-fi and noir to create a potent mix, while drip feeding the audience infomation as to the truth about Dark City.

Further Viewing: American History X, BASEketball, The Big Lebowski, Ringu, Run Lola Run, Rushmore

1999

Essential Film: Cruel Intentions

An MTV style reworking of the classic novel “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, which has over the years has been adapted no less than thirteen times, with certainly the most well known being the 1988 version released as “Dangerous Liaisons” while this version would be by far the most original as the story is relocated to modern day New York, as step siblings Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe) play games of seduction, with their latest target being the virginal Annette (Reese Witherspoon) with the challenge being set by Kathryn that Sebastian cannot bed her before the start of the school year, while Kathryn sets about also corrupting the naïve Cecile (Selma Blair) as part of a plan of revenge against her ex boyfriend who left her for Cecile.

While it may have been released in the same year as “American Pie” this film proved to be a much smarter drama and with a sharper sense of humour, but none the less sex crazed which came as something of a surprise to Geller’s fans who were more used to her playing Buffy on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” so for her to be reeling off such lines as “In English? I'll fuck your brains out” all of course greeted with whoops of joy from most of the male audience, much like the much talked about experimental kissing scene between Geller and Blair, all from a film bizarrely marketed in some places as a chick flick, when it contains plenty to appeal to most audiences.

The cast at the time were largely B-list or unknowns, yet all embody their various characters, while for some the film marking a rare high point in their careers, still even years after it’s initial shocking dialogue has since been beaten in terms of filth, it still remains a solid drama and a nice twist on a classic novel.

Further Viewing: eXistenz, Dogma

My Movie Year: 1999

Back in 2006 the film magazine “Empire” launched an X factor style competition called “Thunderdome” were each week the nominee’s would have to complete a challenge set by the Judging panel (a panel comprised of various Empire staffer’s including my hero and critic inspiration Kim Newman) with the loser getting eliminated from the competition with the winner getting what could best be described as a glorified freelancer position with the magazine.

The opening challenge to find their contestants was deceptively simple, as all you were asked to do was “Write a 200 word review on the best film of 1999”. A challenge that I too took on and sadly did not make the final cut, though I did receive a very nice and hand signed rejection letter, which for the longest time was framed and hung up in my kitchen as a weird form of inspiration.

What this challenge did highlight for me though was just how good 1999 was for cinema, for as a century of film making drew to a close, it was not the studios who were making the most exciting movies, but indie directors like Spike Jonze, Paul Thomas Anderson and Sofia Coppola and writers like Alan Ball and Charlie Kaufman who were the ones making the most waves while also ushering in a whole new exciting era of film making, which not only challenged how films were made, aswell as how these stories could be told and inspiring a new breed of film maker in their wake, as they paved the way for the likes of Richard Kelly, Rian Johnson, Jason Reitman, Michel Gondry and Darren Aronofsky.

So allow me to present to you as part of the "My Movie Year" Blogathon being run by "Fandango Groovers Movie Blog" the five films which truly justify why 1999 was such a great year for cinema.

American Beauty

Every now and then you will have a talent who seemingly comes from nowhere, to create one of the most original films of that year and this was certainly the case when first time writer Allan Ball wrote the screenplay for this film, which would also be directed by first time director Sam Mendes, whom up to that point had been known purely as a theatre director, though looking at this film you wouldn’t believe it to be his first, while also containing one of the most recreated money shots of all time!

Following depressed suburban father Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), as he tires of his so called life and instead embarks on the mother of all midlife crisis, as he quits his job, starts smoking pot and working out, while lusting over his teenage daughter’s best friend Angela (Mena Suvari). Meanwhile his family are none the less screwed up with his success driven wife (Annette Bening), horrified by his sudden change of direction, while his socially reclusive daughter (Thora Birch) is embarking on the relationship with Ricky (Wes Bentley) the oddball student film maker and drug dealer living next door.

Darkly funny and highly original, Ball pushed the boundaries with his script which comes off completely fearless, while giving Spacey one of his more memorable roles as he attempts to break out from his daily grind and finally do what he wants to do and in many ways it would serve as blueprint for Ball’s writing style which he has since carried over into his TV projects “Six Feet Under” and “True Blood” and even years later this film seems as fresh as the year it was released, as the themes of alienation and conformity continue to ring painfully true.

Essentially driven by three plot lines of each of the family members, despite appearing that it’s Lester’s story the film aims for a complete picture of this dysfunctional family, as it constantly switches the focus between the three family members as they all in their own way follow Lester in breaking away from their own daily grinds. While the cast are all great, with Spacey clearly having a blast playing Lester, for me though Birch is easily at her most memorable, as she once again proves why she is the most underused actress currently working today. Still this is the sort of film you watch and instantly want to talk to someone about and a key movie of the year in question.

 Magnolia

An ambitious film by no stretch of the imagination as it sets out to tell the epic story of seven characters over the course of a day and seeing how their lives intertwine more often than not unwittingly with each other, as well as looking at the powerful effect of coincidence.

A fascinating follow up to his homage to the porn scene of the 70’s & 80’s, this often overlooked film (no doubt due to it’s daunting length) was another example of the how storytelling in films was challenged, as finally directors / writers were actually having faith in their audience to be able to follow such complex plotting, let alone the occasional curveball, seeing how it memorably rains frogs at one point.

Director Paul Thomas Anderson once again assembles another great cast here giving some great performances, with Tom Cruise’s motivation speaker Frank Mackey easily being of one of Cruises’s best, as he essentially brings to the screen what many would see the real life Cruise as being like, as Mackey lectures rooms of date hungry men on “taming” women as part of his “Seduce and Destroy” program.

Thanks to its colorful characters it is both a touching and funny film, while Aimee Mann provides a really kick ass soundtrack, including a great cover of One Dog Night’s “One Is the Loneliest Number”. So if you can spare a few hours, why not lose them in this one.

Fight Club

Upon it’s release this film exploded into pop culture, while no doubt also being responsible for introducing a whole new audience to the twisted and surreal world of Chuck Palahniuk, aswell as perhaps an increase in food terrorism at the hands of disgruntled serving staff.

Like “American Beauty” this is another tale of one man breaking out of his daily grind in possibly the most extreme fashion, as our narrator is an insomniac who can only sleep by attending support groups for illnesses and diseases he doesn’t even have, though it is a chance encounter with the mysterious and charming Tyler Durden, with whom he is soon forming underground fight clubs and unwittingly starting his own revolution.

Another example of the ground breaking films which were being released this year, after all how many films open with a high speed journey through the synapses of it’s narrator before pulling out to find them with a gun being held between their teeth by their supposed best friend? This film pushed not only the censorship boundaries with scenes of brutal bare knuckle brawls, but also in terms of taste as it features soap made from human fat and splicing porn into kiddie movies amongst it’s numerous tricks it holds with in, with director David Fincher perfectly casting Brad Pitt as Tyler Durdan the man we all wish we could be while Edward Norton is every bit as horrified and strangely curious as you’d want from the narrator, while at the same time using every trick from his background in music videos and commercials to tell the story, as it challenges everything we see around us and perfectly capturing the askew world view of Palahniuk’s source novel, while the film would spark numerous copycat antics from more impressionable audience members as amusingly documented by Palahniuk himself in his Non-fiction book “Non Fiction” and earning the film numerous grumblings from more sensitive members of the press especially from it’s trailer campaign were Tyler is shown to be inspiring his followers to go out and start fights with strangers, but it’s intoxicating mixture of mischief and mayhem, still makes it one of my all time favorites….now if only there was a planet Starbucks!

Cruel Intentions

This was the film which I named the best film of 1999 and it’s a choice I’d happily stand by if asked the question again, for this MTV style reworking of the classic novel “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, which has over the years has been adapted no less than thirteen times, with certainly the most well known being the 1988 version released as “Dangerous Liaisons” while this version would be by far the most original as the story is relocated to modern day New York, as step siblings Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe) play games of seduction, with their latest target being the virginal Annette (Reese Witherspoon) with the challenge being set by Kathryn that Sebastian cannot bed her before the start of the school year, while Kathryn sets about also corrupting the naïve Cecile (Selma Blair) as part of a plan of revenge against her ex boyfriend who left her for Cecile.

While it may have been released in the same year as “American Pie” this film proved to be a much smarter drama and with a sharper sense of humour, but none the less sex crazed which came as something of a surprise to Geller’s fans who were more used to her playing Buffy on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” so for her to be reeling off such lines as “In English? I'll fuck your brains out” all of course greeted with whoops of joy from most of the male audience, much like the much talked about experimental kissing scene between Geller and Blair, all from a film bizarrely marketed in some places as a chick flick, when it contains plenty to appeal to most audiences.

The cast at the time were largely B-list or unknowns, yet all embody their various characters, while for some the film marking a rare high point in their careers, still even years after it’s initial shocking dialogue has since been beaten in terms of filth, it still remains a solid drama and a nice twist on a classic novel.

Being John Malkovich

This film marked the start of the feature film invasion of the visionary directors, who’d spent their careers crafting extraordinary and visually arresting music videos and commercials and it’s a group that Spike Jonze belonged to, following hot on the heels of fellow visionary David Fincher, he finally found here a way of making the surreal screenplay by Charlie Kaufman work, as for years this debut screenplay had been passed from studio to studio, but Jonze managed to finally bring this black comedy to the screen in what would be arguably one of the most original films of the year.

The film itself is the story of an unemployed puppeteer Craig (John Cusack), who is married to the pet obsessed Lotte (Cameron Diaz) and who takes a job as a file clerk, were he discovers a mysterious door behind one of the filling cabinets, which leads those who enter into the mind of John Malkovich for fifteen minuites before it drops them into a ditch on the side of the New Jersey turnpike. Seeing an opportunity to make money, he teams up with his co-worker Maxine (Catherine Keener) to sell tickets to curiosity seekers, eager to try the experience for themselves.

While it could have easily been made as some form of art house curiosity, especially seeing how it’s selling the idea of a journey into the head of an actor who at the time of it’s releases wasn’t especially well known, yet Jonze keeps all the curiosity and wonder, while still keeping the plot accessible, as he shoots it in a style almost comparable to that of Terry Gilliam.

This is not to say that the film is still not random as hell, for it features a chimp having a flashback to his capture and the curious lowered ceilings of Floor 7½ were Craig works, let alone a game Malkovich taking a trip in his own head and finding a world inhabited by his clones. Still the while the plot might be surreal to say the least it still manages to provide plenty of twists and turns along the way, as in this world nothing is black and white and just because you assume someone is the hero, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are.

A beautifully weird film, it rewards those willing to challenge their cinematic tastes and ushering in it’s wake a whole new exciting era of cinema, as the doors for creativity and artistic freedom were literally blown open by this film, as it reminded us all just how exciting indie cinema really could be.

So there you have it, my five films which show in my opinion just why 1999 was such a great year for cinema, but if you need further proof it’s worth remembering that this was the same year that saw the release of

• Bringing Out The Dead
• The Blair Witch Project
• Dogma
• Go
• Girl, Interrupted
• eXistenZ
• Man on the Moon

But what was your movie year? Check out more Movie Years from the Blogathon here