December 12, 1995

Top 10 Films of 1995

1. ''Underground'' (Emir Kusturica, Yugoslavia)

2. "The Usual Suspects" (Bryan Singer, USA)

3. "Seven" (David Fincher, USA)

4. ''Braveheart'' (Mel Gibson, USA)

5. ''Antonia's Line'' (Marleen Gorris, Holland)

6. "The White Balloon" (Jafar Panahi, Iran)

7. "The Thief And The Cobbler" (Richard Williams, USA)

8. "12 Monkeys" (Terry Gilliam, USA)

9. "To Die For" (Gus Van Sant, USA)

10. "A Comedia de Deus" (Portugal)


Other great films:

All Things Fair (Sweden)
Amateur
La Cité des enfants perdus (France)
Clueless
Cold Comfort Farm (UK)
Forgotten Silver (New Zealand)
Roula (Germany)
Rude (Canada)
Rumble In The Bronx (Hong Kong)
Salaam Cinema (Iran)
Sense And Sensibility
Twist (Hong Kong)
Under The Domim Tree (Israel)
Wrony (Poland)
Zero Woman (Japan)

Short Top 3:

1. "El Secdleto de la Tlompeta" (Javier Fesser, Spain)

2. "The Spy Who Caught A Cold" (Philippa Lowthorpe, UK)

3. "Le Bus" (Jean-Luc Gaget, France)


Other great shorts:

Avondale Dogs (New Zealand)
Diabelska edukacja (Poland)
Sweeties (Italy)

Top 3 Music Videos:

1. "Army Of Me" (Michel Gondry, Bjork)

2. "Scream" (Mark Romanek, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson)

3. "It's Oh So Quiet" (Spike Jonze, Bjork)


Top Commercial:

"The Frogs" (Gore Verbinski, Budweiser)


TV Top 3:

1. "ER: Motherhood" (Quentin Tarantino, NBC)

2. "X-Files: Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" (David Nutter, Fox)

3. "ER: Love's Labor Lost" (Mimi Leder, NBC)


Other great TV shows:


Cartoon Top 3:

1. "A Close Shave" (Nick Park, Aardman, UK)

2. "The End" (Chris Landreth, Canada)

3. "Runaway Brain" (Chris Bailey, Disney)


Other great cartoons:

The End Of The World In Four Seasons (Canada)
The First Political Speech (Canada)
Gagarin (Russia)
How Dinosaurs Learned To Fly (Canada)
Kebabaluba (Turkey)
O (India)
Repeat (Czech Republic)
Scheherazade (France)
Stand By Me
Taa Tam (Canada)

Weak films of 1995:

301-302 (South Korea)
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
Adultère, mode d'emploi (France)
American Daughter (Russia)
L'Amour conjugal (France)
An Awfully Big Adventure (UK)
Bad Boys
Belle al Bar (Italy)
Blush (China)
Le Bonheur est dans le pré (France)
Boys On The Side
The Brady Bunch Movie
The Bridges Of The Madison County
Brother Of Sleep (Germany)
Buried In Light
Canadian Bacon
Carrington (UK)
Casper
La Ceremonie (France)
A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box (Hong Kong)
Circle Of Friends (Ireland)
Clockers
Colpo di luna (Italy)
Confidences à un inconnu
Congo
Copycat
Coute que coute (France)
The Crossing Guard
Cudowne miejsce (Poland)
Cutthroat Island
Cyclo (Vietnam)
Dangerous Minds
Day Of The Beast (Spain)
Daze Raper (Hong Kong)
Dead Man Walking
Deep River (Japan)
Deux fois cinquante ans de cinema francais (France)
Devil In A Blue Dress
Die Hard With A Vengeance
Don Juan DeMarco
Don't Die Without Telling Me Where You're Going (Argentina)
Eclipse (Canada)
Eldorado (Canada)
En avoir (ou pas) (France)
L'Enfant d'eau (Canada)
Ernesto "Che" Guevara - Le Journal de Bolivie
Un Eroe Borghese (Italy)
Feast Of July (UK)
The Flower Of My Secret (Spain)
Frank And Ollie
Gazon maudit (France)
The Glass Shield
Gonin (Japan)
Heat
Higher Learning
High Risk (Hong Kong)
How To Make An American Quilt
Un Indien dans la ville (France)
Jade
Johnny Mnemonic
Jumanji
A Kid In King Arthur's Court
Kiss Of Death
The Last Connection
Love And Hate: European Stories
Lover Of The Last Empress (Hong Kong)
Maborosi (Japan)
Madame Butterfly
Mad Love
Magic In The Water
Manneken Pis (Belgium)
Maybe...Maybe Not (Germany)
The Michelle Apartments
Midaq Alley (Mexico)
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
A Mongolian Tale (China)
A Month By The Lake (UK)
Mr Holland's Opus
Musulmanin (Russia)
Nadja
Nelly et M.Arnaud (France)
The Net
New Jersey Drive
N'oublie pas que tu vas mourir (France)
Now And Then
Outbreak
Over My Dead Body (Germany)
Pasolini An Italian Crime (Italy)
Passover Fever (Israel)
Patron (Argentina)
Pensionat Oskar (Sweden)
Picture Bride
The Play For The Passenger (Russia)
The Postman (China)
Poussieres de vie
Powder
Prowokator (Poland)
Reina y Rey (Cuba)
Restoration
Richard III (UK)
The Ride (Czech Republic)
Rob Roy
Le Rocher d'Acapulco (France)
Sabrina
Safe
The Secret Of Roan Inish (Ireland)
Soul Survivor (Canada)
Species
Strange Days
Suite 16
Tak Tak (Poland)
Talk Of The Town (Germany)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation
Things To Do In Denver When You Are Dead
Tokyo Fist (Japan)
Tom And Huck
To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar
Tragedie Burlesque (Yugoslavia)
Les Trois frères (France)
Two On A Couch (Denmark)
Ulrike Marie Meinhof (Germany)
Ulysses' Gaze (Greece)
The Underneath
Under Siege 2: Dark Territory
Under The Lizards
La Vie en fleurs
A Walk In The Clouds
Warrior Lanling (China)
Weather Woman (Japan)
While You Were Sleeping

Weak shorts:

35 Aside (Ireland)
The Art Of Conversation (Canada)
BBQ (Canada)
The Beat Manifesto (Australia)
Code Blue (Australia)
Deus ex-machina (Brazil)
Exercises exponentiels sur l'amour eternel (Canada)
Faux (Canada)
The Feeler (Canada)
Flos campi (Canada)
Fridge (UK)
Guarisove Los Olvidados (Argentina)
He Shoots He Scores (Ireland)
La Huitième nuit (France)
Kissed By A Penguin (Canada)
Last Chance Kabaret (Canada)
The Living Sea
Maidenhead (Australia)
Morbido (Canada)
Musac (Canada)
Nachtbus (Austria)
Omelette à la flamande (Belgium)
Parking
La Partie (France)
Le Petit bal (France)
La Petite mort
Quelqu'un (France)
La Revanche de M. Seguin (France)
Ripple (France)
La Roumanie ma mère et moi (Canada)
Secrets (Canada)
The Stop (Canada)
Trouble
Two Little Girls And A War (Iceland)
Une Visite (France)
Wszystko moze sie przytrafic (Poland)
Xicu El Topero (Spain)

Weak cartoons:

1995-1995 (Holland)
Achilles (UK)
Air Fright (Austria)
Alice (France)
Another Froggy Evening
Arkelope (Canada)
Between Red And Blue (Canada)
Bonjour (Switzerland)
Card Trick
The Chicken From Outer Space
Clocks (Germany)
Crucy-fiction (Belgium)
Eastern Promise (UK)
Epaves (Canada)
Fado Lusitano (Portugal)
Fluffy
Gogs-Ogof (UK)
Madame O'Hara (Belgium)
Mons The Cat (Norway)
Mouseology (Canada)
Noces de lait (Belgium)
Sandburg's Arithmetic (Canada)
The Shark's Fin
Small Treasures (Australia)
Soleil brulée (Belgium)
Vivace (Canada)
Why? (Canada)
A Worm Called Jacques (Germany)
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Top Musical of 1995

"Muthu" (K.S. Ravikumar, India)


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November 11, 1995

Underground (1995) *****

At the 1995 Cannes Film Festival, the unbearably pretentious Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopulos made quite an ass of himself when he angrily condemned the jury's decision to award the top fest prize, la Palme d'Or, to Emir Kusturica's ''Underground'', rather than to his own boring, self-important and excruciatingly formalistic piece of cinematic crap, ''Ulysses's Gaze'' (which still undeservedly won the second prize at the fest). Later, ''Underground'' was savagely attacked by influential French intellectuals like Alain Finkielkraut. The attacks were often personal in nature because Emir Kusturica was a Bosnian Muslim who publicly embraced the Serbian side in the ethnic conflict that was then tearing the former Yugoslavia apart (Kusturica later renounced his Muslim roots, and was baptized as an Orthodox Christian). However, the film itself is far less pro-Serb and far more anti-Communist. Kusturica's masterpiece is not only a flamboyant black comedy and a powerful allegory about the tragic history of Yugoslavia, but also a savage indictment of the Communist paranoia, lies, manipulations and dark secrets. The story is simple: during World War II, two Serbian gangsters and arms dealers (Marko and Blacky) join the Communist party and hide from the Gestapo in a huge underground cellar. When the war ends, Marko leaves the cellar and becomes a prominent Communist leader under Tito, while Blacky and his comrades remain underground, still convinced that the war has never ended. Marko continues to lie to them for the next 20 years, keeping them in total ignorance of reality. While Marko is a loyal Communist, Blacky could better be described as a Serbian nationalist. They are only united in their hatred of the Germans. But when Blacky finally emerges from the cellar, he becomes a Milosevic-like war criminal, ethnically cleansing his country of all non-Serbs. The bloody history of Yugoslavia is brilliantly presented in the film in an allegorical, but crystal-clear way. The Communists were gangsters. They managed to suppress their true, fascist nature for a while (keeping it in an underground cellar, so to speak), but it eventually emerged from below and engulfed Yugoslavia in an orgy of ethnic cleansing and genocide. The unjust denunciation of the film as pro-Serb was based solely on its historically accurate depiction (via historical footage) of Croats in Zagreb and Slovenes in Maribor welcoming German troops as liberators. The rest of the film mostly deals with Serb Communists manipulating Serb nationalists, lying to them and exploiting them. It is clear that Kusturica has some sympathy for a Serb nationalist like Blacky (while he has none for a Serb Communist like Marko), but he never denies that Serb nationalists committed horrible atrocities and ethnic cleansing. He just properly assigns the blame for those atrocities. And he correctly blames Communism. Stylistically, Kusturica's film is a flamboyant orgy of dancing, singing, slapstick humour, savage satire and constant celebration. Gypsy music dominates the film, providing an almost drunken sense of jubilation at odds with the devastating events of the film. It's a surrealistic tour de force, at once insightful, frenetic, erotic, farcical and delirious.
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The Usual Suspects (1995) *****

Intricately plotted gangster film about a mysterious crime lord named Keyser Soze.
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Seven (1995) *****

Horrifying film about a serial killer. Stylishly directed by David Fincher. Aka "Se7en".
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October 10, 1995

Cool Devices (1995) ****

Japanese hentai at its best. It consists of 11 "operations". "Operation" 3 is divided into 3 episodes: "Lover Doll", "Winter Swimsuit" and "Enema". Episode "Slave Warrior Maya" is divided into 2 "operations" (8 and 9).

"Curious Fruit" 

An innocent girl named Ai is lured by her curiosity into the underground world of bondage, rough sex, sado-masochism and exhibitionism. The experience transforms the girl, who embraces the lifestyle.

"Sacred Girl"

A reclusive young man and his sister live in a mansion, where the young man frequently hosts sex parties, which he watches in his room via a network of surveillance cameras.

"Lover Doll"

A female rabbit is held in a cell as sexual slave. Soon, a Catgirl enters her room and has sex with the rabbit through the cell. Later, a man comes in and punishes the Catgirl for wandering off. 

"Winter Swimsuit"

A couple has sex in a public bath house in the middle of winter. A reluctant girl is fondled, has her bathing suit cut off to expose her erogenous zones, and is coerced into performing various sex acts. 

"Enema"

A girl is coaxed into having sex in a bathroom. The ensuing sex acts culminate in anal sex which cures her constipation. 

"Kirei"

On a tropical island, two girls called Rui and Kirei are on vacation. As time progresses, they notice that there is something unusual with the natives and the beautiful butterflies that inhabit the island. As they begin to notice these oddities, they begin to have sex with each other and the natives.

"Slave Girl Marino"

Marino, a virgin, is captured by the dominatrix Saki and her master, who spend the episode training Marino to be their sex slave, a process which involves Marino being forced to perform various sex acts and submit to the demands of her masters. 

"S+M Queen Saki"

This episode is a continuation of "Slave Girl Marino", with the same characters. It takes place during a sex party. 

"Yellow Star"

Ayana's mother remarries a famous detective, who had been investigating the distribution of an illegal drug, called "yellow star", which is a mild hallucinogen, paralyzing agent, and aphrodisiac. The detective is buying a steady supply of the illegal drug so he can sexually abuse his stepdaughter. Ayana kills her stepfather and returns to a normal life with her boyfriend, Kohei. In the final scene, Ayana waits in a park for her boyfriend, but is abducted by the distributors of "yellow star" who force her into another round of sex with them. The character designer for this episode was Yasuomi Umetsu. It can be seen as a precursor to "Kite".  

"Slave Warrior Maya"

A story of Maya Misutani, an average Japanese teenager who is transported to another world, where she meets two lizard-like creatures who convince her to take all of her clothes off. She is then sold into slavery to Lord Estilgar, and used in experiments to turn her into a sex slave. She escapes and evades recapture by using a hidden power within herself to slaughter her opponents. This display of power gets the attention of two warring human and alien factions. Maya is recaptured, subjected to more sexual experiments, and is transformed into a hermaphrodite. Maya is then transferred to a dominatrix who is given instructions to break her will and turn her into a sex slave. In captivity, Maya meets another slave, Leyna, who is not used for sex. They escape, but are quickly caught. 

"Binding"

Masaki is on a train, dreaming about a woman he has never met. When he wakes up, he finds that his belongings have been stolen and that he is stranded. Masaki follows the woman who stole his things, which leads him to her mansion, where she lives with a group of other women. Masaki stays the night and soon realizes that the oldest woman is the mistress of the house and the younger women are her slaves. This leads to his voyeuristic observation of various sexual acts, before actually engaging in sex with several of the residents. Eventually there's an earthquake which destroys the house, though Masaki and one of the girls manage to escape. 

"Fallen Angel Rina"

Pop idol Rina is renowned for her amazing stage shows and musical talent, which gets her noticed by a new production company, Angel Productions. At one of her concerts, she learns that her father has suffered a medical emergency, and has been hospitalized. The manager of Angel Productions approaches her about switching to their company, and after learning her father owes the company a substantial amount of money, she agrees to sign on with them. It turns out that AngelPro also works in the flesh peddling business, and under the guise of giving her a "new image", her new managers subject Rina to public humiliations. She is taken to a sex shop pretending to be a porn actress and masturbates in a porn cinema. Later, she's auctioned off at a BDSM auction as a sex slave for 580 million yen. Six months later she returns to her career as a singer. During her performance, Rina strips naked and begins masturbating with her microphone. The final shot shows the all male audience rushing the stage and crowding around her as she smiles vacantly, with a tear streaming down her cheek.

Episodes:

"Curious Fruit" ***
"Sacred Girl" ***
"Lover Doll" ***
"Winter Swimsuit" ***
"Enema" ***
"Kirei" ***
"Slave Girl Marino" ***
"S+M Queen Saki" ***
"Yellow Star" ****
"Slave Warrior Maya" ***
"Binding" ***
"Fallen Angel Rina" ***
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Wrony (1995) ****

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Palookaville (1995) ****

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Waterworld (1995) ****

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Le Hussard sur le toit (1995) ****

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Get Shorty (1995) ****

Brilliant black comedy about a Miami gangster who wants to become a Hollywood producer.
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A Comedia de Deus (1995) ****

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Antonia's Line (1995) ****

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Braveheart (1995) ****

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12 Monkeys (1995) ****

Excellent sci-fi thriller starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe and Brad Pitt. It presents a genuinely frightening vision of the future.
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To Die For (1995) ****

Nicole Kidman is terrific in this black comedy about an ambitious woman who gets away with murder. Or does she? The last image gives "freeze frame" a whole new meaning.
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The White Balloon (1995) ****

A stubborn little girl wants to buy a goldfish, but she encounters countless obstacles on her way to the market. A simple, quiet masterpiece. One of the best films about children.
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The Thief And The Cobbler (1995) ****

Stylistically, this is one of the greatest animated films ever made. Edward Summer called it "a modern reinterpretation of Persian design: succulently colorful, whimsically minimal in character design, phantasmagorically rich in background detail". Unfortunately, the film (whose production started in 1968) was taken away from director Richard Williams, re-edited by Fred Calvert and released by Miramax in August 1995 as "Arabian Knight". It was a monumental flop, due to a wrongheaded marketing campaign which advertised it as a Disney-like fairy tale musical for children (similar to "Aladdin"), while in fact it's a sophisticated, avant-garde cult movie for adults. The re-editing seriously weakens the plotline, but Richard William's magnificent animation and background art remain intact. Songs:

"She Is More" **
"Am I Feeling Love" *
"Bom Bom Bom Beem Bom" **
"It's So Amazing" *
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Sense And Sensibility (1995) ****

A superlative adaptation of Jane Austen's first novel. Witty, moving and very well made.
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Fallen Angels (1995) ****

This is the most gorgeous looking of all Wong Kar-Wai's films - and that's saying something. It's a veritable orgy of wide-angle photography and manic montage. It features an assortement of colorful characters, including a wandering hitman (Leon Lai), a mute ex-con (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and a bevy of bad-hair-day damsels in distress in sexy oufits.
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Clueless (1995) ****

Superb film starring Alicia Silverstone as the most popular student in a Beverly Hills high school. She's gorgeous, blonde, fashion-conscious and always ready to help a friend in need. Loosely adapted from Jane Austen's novel "Emma", this movie is like a delicious candy slowly melting in one's mouth.
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The Blade (1995) ****

This violent and gory swordpic about revenge is one of Tsui Hark's best films. Relentlessly kinetic, the film rejects standard heroic formulas in favour of existential despair and nihilism. Made as a response to Wong Kar-Wai's "Ashes Of Time", it's a orgy of hysterical camera movement, vivid homoeroticism and bloody mayhem. The artiest gorefest or the goriest artflick, your pick.
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Babe (1995) ****

Wonderful film about a little pig.
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Forgotten Silver (1995) ****

A mock documentary about that forgotten pioneer of cinema, Colin McKenzie. Colin Who ? Hilarious from start to finish. An extraordinarly imaginative film. 52'
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Rumble In The Bronx (1995) ****

Terrific stunts in this entertaining Jackie Chan's actioner. It's supposedly set in Bronx, but there are some magnificent mountain scenery in the background.
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Casino (1995) ****

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La Fille seule (1995) ****

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September 9, 1995

Good Men Good Women (1995) ***

Taiwanese film about an actress who plays a role of a resistance fighter persecuted by the Kuomintang government.
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Wild Side (1995) ***

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Tales From The Crypt: Demon Knight (1995) ***

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Living In Oblivion (1995) ***

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