Beauty And The Beast (1991) *****

Not since the early 40's did the Disney studio released such magnificent and superbly animated cartoon feature. The film has memorable characters: animals, animated objects (tea pots, candelabras, clocks) and humans. The narrative structure is close to perfection, the story moves quickly, there are plenty of superb songs and the influence of Busby Berkeley is quite obvious in the staging of the big musical number, "Be Our Guest". The vocal talents of Angela Lansbury, Jerry Orbach, Robby Benson and Paige O'Hara greatly contribute to its success. "Beauty And The Beast" is among the greatest animated features of all time, proof positive of Disney's continuing domination in the field. Songs:

"Belle" ***
"Gaston" ***
"Be Our Guest" ***
"Something There" **
"Beauty And The Beast" ***
"The Mob Song" **

JFK (1991) *****

A terrifying thriller presenting an extremely complex and highly speculative account of the Dallas assassination in 1963. Director Oliver Stone accuses the CIA, the FBI and Lyndon B.Johnson of killing John F.Kennedy and then masterminding an incredible cover-up of monstrous proportions. While this theory is quite unbelievable, the film convincingly proves that there was indeed a conspiracy, that Lee Harvey Oswald wasn't the sole assassin and that the CIA, the FBI and the Warren Comission did a disgracefully incompetent job of investigating the matter. Oliver Stone completely discredits the official "single-assassin" theory by pointing out the incredibly high mortality rate among various witnesses, the connections between people implicated in the drama and, above all, to the impossible trajectory of the notorious "magic bullet" (brilliantly exposed in the film's climactic courtroom scene). The film also presents a possible (though highly unlikely) explanation of the motives for the assassination - JFK's alleged attempt to get out of Vietnam. A more likely explanation - revenge for abandoning anti-Castro guerrillas at the Bay of Pigs - isn't mentioned. On the cinematic level, the film is absolutely stunning, brilliantly mixing black & white, color and documentary footages. The direction is flamboyant and charged with nerve-wrecking tension. Dynamic and electrifying.

The Silence Of The Lambs (1991) *****

Volere Volare (1991) ****

La Belle Noiseuse (1991) ****

Merci la vie (1991) ****

Love At The Time Of Hysteria (1991) ****

The Commitments (1991) ****

Alan Parker's masterpiece is an unpretentious musical about a soul band from Dublin. Songs include:

"Destination Anywhere" **
"Nowhere To Run" **
"Mustang Sally" **
"Too Many Fish In The Sea" **
"Mr.Pitiful" *
"Bye Bye Baby" **
"Show Me" **
"Take Me To The River" *
"The Dark End Of The Street" *
"Chain Of Fools" **
"Mustang Sally" (reprise) ***
"I Never Loved A Man" **
"Try A Little Tenderness" ***
"In The Midnight Hour" **

Europa (1991) ****

Modernist drama set in post-war Germany.

Raise The Red Lantern (1991) ****

Directed by Zhang Yimou. With Gong Li. Superb melodrama about power struggles among various wives of a very rich man.

Once Upon A Time In China (1991) ****

Set in the late 19th century, it's a thrilling adventure film, directed by Tsui Hark, the first part of a long saga. It has excellent kung-fu fights (courtesy of Jet Li). The main villains in this film are foreign mercenaries and Chinese traitors collaborating with them.

Toto le héros (1991) ****

'My Own Private Idaho (1991) ****

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) ****

Until The End Of The World (1991) ***

Truth Or Dare (1991) ***

Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves (1991) ***

Jungle Fever (1991) ***

The Fisher King (1991) ***

City Of Hope (1991) ***

Boyz N The Hood (1991) ***

Shadows And Fog (1991) ***

One of Woody Allen's most unusual films. A low-key pastiche of German expressionism. Other influences include Ingmar Bergman and Franz Kafka.

The Passion Of Martin (1991) ***

L.A. Story (1991) ***

Delicatessen (1991) ***

A bizarre French drama. Surrealism galore.

A Chinese Ghost Story 3 (1991) ***

The exciting fantasy saga continues. A ghost woman tries to seduce a young monk travelling with his elderly master.

The Doors (1991) ***

The Addams Family (1991) ***

Classic horror comedy.

The Applegates (1991) ***

Giant preying mantis living in a south American jungle decide to move into suburban USA to get their revenge.

Barton Fink (1991) ***

Bizarre film noir about a New York playwright who is hired to write a movie in Hollywood.

Bugsy (1991) ***

Life of gangster Bugsy Siegel, the founder of Las Vegas.

Cape Fear (1991) ***

A Southern Gothic thriller about a released rapist who stalks the family of the lawyer who originally defended him.

Dead Again (1991) ***

Kenneth Branagh directs and stars in this excellent film noir about a woman suffering from amnesia (Emma Thompson).

Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) ***

Great film set in the South.

The Elementary School (1991) ***

Unruly school kids have a new teacher (the old one ended in an insane asylum !!).

Magnificent Scoundrels (1991) ***

One of Stephen Chow's best films, a very funny comedy about con-men and con-women trying to blackmail each other. Co-starring Amy Yip.

Hearts Of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991) ***

Great documentary about the filming of Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now".

Montréal vu par... (1991) ***

Six short films about Montreal, produced for the 350th anniversary of the city and directed by leading Canadian filmmakers from Quebec and Ontario. Patricia Rozema directed the first segment, starring Sheila McCarty as a shy and naive dancer from Toronto getting a taste of Montreal's nightlife. The second part (directed by Jacques Leduc) is a confusing, but quite original brechtian tale. Hockey is the main subject of the third episode, directed by Michel Brault. Atom Egoyan's segment is a bizarre tale about a tourist. The best episode was directed by Lea Pool - it presents a harrowing account of a tragic accident. Denys Arcand directed the last, very satiric segment. It's available here on YouTube.

"Desperanto" (Patricia Rozema)  ***
"La Toile du temps" (Jacques Leduc)  **
"La Derniere partie" (Michel Brault)  *
"En passant" (Atom Egoyan)  **
"Rispondetemi" (Lea Pool)  ****
"Vue d'ailleurs" (Denys Arcand)  ***

Once A Thief (1991) ***

A caper movie by John Woo. Plenty of action and shootings in the second half. Lots of humor.

Hot Shots! (1991) ***

A funny comedy in the "Naked Gun" style.

Riff-Raff (1991) ***

Excellent British film about construction workers.

Slacker (1991) ***

24 hours in the lives of Austin slackers - weirdos and losers hanging around town, doing nothing.

Slickers Vs Killers (1991) ***

Very entertaining chop socky film from Hong Kong. Director Samo Hung plays a cell phone salesman pursued by vicious killers. There is plenty of good comedy between kung-fu fight scenes.

Surviving Desire (1991) ***

A literature professor (Martin Donavan) has an affair with one of his students. One of Hal Hartley's finest films, a black comedy full of absurdist humor. ***

Trust (1991) ***

Hal Hartley's masterpiece is a deadpan comedy about a pregnant teenage girl and a troubled TV repairman.

Impromptu (1991) ***

Charming comedy starring Hugh Grant as Frederique Chopin.

The Inner Circle (1991) ***

Great film about Stalin's reign of terror.

Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell Of Fear (1991) ***

A fine sequel to the 1988 hit.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) ***

An above-average entry in the series.

Thelma & Louise (1991) ***

Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis star in this classic feminist road movie.

L'Assassin jouait du trombone (1991) ***

Entertaining satiric comedy that pokes fun at the clichés of the film noir genre.

A Time For Love (1991) ***

A story of adultery and murder in Istanbul. An Iranian film directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf.

Hudson Hawk (1991) ***

Bruce Willis stars in this parody of action films.

Allemagne année 90 (1991) **

La Vieille qui marchait dans la mer (1991) ***

Contre l'oubli (1991) **

A compilation of 30 short films pleading on behalf of a political prisoner.

Tous les matins du monde (1991) *

Black Cat (1991) ***

Robotrix (1991) ***

To Be Number One (1991) ***

Podwojne zycie Weroniki (1991) ***

Erotic Ghost Story 2 (1991) ***

Europa Europa (1991) ***

Armour Of God II: Operation Condor (1991) ***

One of Jackie Chan's most entertaining film, released in the United States in 1997 as "Operation Condor". It's a tongue-in-cheek parody of the Indiana Jones' pictures. Chan plays a secret agent who must recover a hidden treasure, buried by the Nazis in the Sahara desert. He is assisted by two ditzy dames, who are often more of a hindrance than help. But sexism aside, this is a very funny film.

The Abashiri Family (1991) ***

Mediterraneo (1991) ***

La Tarea (1991) ***

High Heels (1991) ***

Sex And Zen (1991) ***

Blue Jean Monster (1991) *

A police officer is electrocuted and becomes a supernatural creature with extraordinary powers.

Crazy Safari (1991) **

Directed by Billy Chan. A mind-boggling comedy-adventure pic set in Africa, where a hopping vampire wrecks havoc among peaceful Bushmen led by N!xau (from "The Gods Must Be Crazy"). At one point, a Chinese priest transfers the spirit of Bruce Lee into N!xau and through some imaginative trick photography the kung-fu legend takes on the bad guys.

Eternal Combat (1991) **

An odd mixture of several genres: contemporary horror, "wu xia pian", comedy and even erotic thriller. Plenty of surprises in this uneven film.

The Last Blood (1991) **

In Singapore, the Daka Lama is shot by the terrorists. An action movie from Hong Kong, directed by Wong Jing.

The Ox (1991) *

A poor Swedish peasant is sentenced to life in prison for killing an ox.

Saviour Of The Soul (1991) **

A parody of Hong Kong's "wu xia pian" films. Written by Wong Kar-Wai.

Urga (1991) **

Contemporary drama set on Mongolian steppes. Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

Life On A String (1991) *

Chinese film about blind musicians.

Salmonberries (1991) *

Boring film about an East German woman living in Alaska. An undeserved winner of Grand Prix des Amériques at the Montreal Film Festival.

Prospero's Books (1991) ***

Death In The Seine (1991) ***

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Naked Lunch (1991) ***

Flirting (1991) ***

Hear My Song (1991) ***

Edward II (1991) *

Derek Jarman's adaptation of Christopher Marlowe's historical play. Modern costumes.

Une Balle dans la tête (1991) *

People are speaking in an unknown language and fighting in a forest.

La Demoiselle sauvage (1991) **

A young woman is running away from the police.

Pensées et visions d'une tête coupée (1991) *****

World of Glory (1991) *****

Cream (1991) ***