Arizona Dream (1993) **

Occassionally brilliant, but often dull film by Emir Kusturica.

Benny & Joon (1993) **

Johnny Depp and Mary Stuart Masterson star in this film about mental illness.

A Bronx Tale (1993) **

A cross between "GoodFellas" (1990) and "Jungle Fever" (1991), but without the gritty cynicism of the first and the realistic pessimism of the second.

Cliffhanger (1993) **

Spectacular scenery and impressive stunts are the only assets of this rather humorless, predictable and ultimately disappointing action-adventure film set among the cliffs, precipices and mountain slopes of Colorado's Rocky Mountains.

Fearless (1993) **

Serious drama about plane crash survivors, starring Jeff Bridges and Rosie Perez.

Mrs Doubtfire (1993) **

Robin Williams is terrific, but the comic material is frequently interrupted by gushy sentimentality.

Reality Bites (1993) **

Winona Ryder stars in this involving drama about the so-called Generation X.

Shadowlands (1993) **

Average drama starring Debra Winger and Anthony Hopkins. Well acted, but not very interesting.

Indecent Proposal (1993) *

Billionaire Robert Redford offers Demi Moore one million dollars for one night with her. Pretentious and boring.

Super Mario Brothers (1993) *

Bob Hoskins and Samantha Mathis star in this lame big-screen adaptation of the popular Nintendo game.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993) *

"Seven Samurai Meet Four Ninja Turtles" in the third (and weakest) part of the popular series.

This Boy's Life (1993) *

Very manipulative film about an abusive stepfather (Robert de Niro). Interesting subject, wrong treatement.

The Three Musketeers (1993) *

An adaptation of Dumas' classic. Very predictable.

Three Of Hearts (1993) *

A film about a lesbian girl (Kelly Lynch) hiring a male escort (William Baldwin) to win back her lover (Sherilyn Fenn).

Even Cowgirls Get The Blues (1993) *

One of the worst movies ever made, and probably the worst film ever made by a major film director.

The Pelican Brief (1993) *

Mediocre adaptation of John Grisham's bestselling novel. Julia Roberts is badly miscast, but there is an exciting chase scene in an underground parking lot.

Public Access (1993) *

Bryan Singer's first film is only an appetizing hint of the glories to come. It won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival (sharing it with a superior picture, "Ruby In Paradise").

Serial Mom (1993) *

Black comedy starring Kathleen Turner as a perfect suburban mother and ... a serial killer.

Hard Target (1993) *

Jean-Claude Van Damme stars in this action flick from Hong Kong's director John Woo. Unfortunately, unlike Woo's celebrated earlier efforts, (like 1989's "The Killer" and 1992's "Hard-Boiled"), this film lacks both substance and style.

I Am A Sex Addict (1993) *

Stupid documentary about sex addicts.

Top 10 Films of 1992

1. ''The Chekist'' (Aleksandr Rogozhkin, Russia)

2. ''The Player'' (Robert Altman, USA)

3. "Reservoir Dogs" (Quentin Tarantino, USA)

4. "Howards End" (James Ivory, UK)

5. "Braindead" (Peter Jackson, New Zealand)

6. ''Like Water For Chocolate'' (Alfonso Arau, Mexico)

7. "Hard-Boiled" (John Woo, Hong Kong)

8. "Glengarry Glen Ross" (James Foley, USA)

9. "Full Contact" (Ringo Lam, Hong Kong)

10. "Aladdin" (Ron Clements, John Musker, Disney, USA)

Other great films:

92 Legendary La Rose Noire (Hong Kong)

Batman Returns
Bob Roberts

Bram Stoker's Dracula

C'est arrivé près de vous (Belgium)

Chaplin

Cool World

The Crying Game (UK)

Dragon Inn (Hong Kong)
Enchanted April (UK)
Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest
A Few Good Men

Gas Food Lodging

Gun N' Rose (Hong Kong)

Hanappe Bazooka (Japan)

Home Alone 2: Lost In New York

Husbands And Wives

Jamon Jamon (Spain)
Juice

Léolo (Canada)
Leon The Pig Farmer (UK)
Lethal Weapon 3
Malcolm X

Mambo Kings

Map Of The Human Heart

Naked Killer (Hong Kong)

Newsies
Once Upon A Time Cinema (Iran)
Once Upon A Time In China II (Hong Kong)

Peter's Friends (UK)

Porcco rosso (Japan)
Powerful Four (Hong Kong)

Psy (Poland)
The Public Eye
Rebels Of The Neon God (Taiwan)
Requiem pour un beau sans-coeur (Canada)

Requiem pro panenku (Czechoslovakia)

Rock-A-Doodle
Scent Of A Woman

Schtonk (Germany)

Shining Through

Sneakers
The Story Of Qui Ju (China)
Strictly Ballroom (Australia)
Swordsman II (Hong Kong)
Twin Dragons (Hong Kong)

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

Unforgiven

La Vie de Boheme (Finland)
Wayne's World
Wizard's Curse (Hong Kong)


Top 10 Guilty Pleasures of 1992:

1. "Basic Instinct" (Paul Verhoeven, USA)

2. "Conte d'hiver" (Eric Rohmer, France)

3. "Bad Lieutenant" (Abel Ferrara, USA)

4. "L'Amant" (Jean-Jacques Annaud, France)

5. "Under Siege" (Andrew Davis, Warner)

6. "Riens du tout" (Cédric Klapisch, France)

7. "Cosi fan tutte" (Tinto Brass, Italy)

8. "Two Women" (Alex de Renzy, USA)

9. "Pretty Woman" (Yeung Chi-Kin, Hong Kong)

10. "Grand Prix Australia" (Alex de Renzy, USA)

Short Top 3:

1. "Stereotypes" (Jean-Marc Vallee, Canada)

2. "Menage" (Pierre Salvadori, France)

3. "Pets Or Meat: The Return To Flint" (Michael Moore, USA)

Other great shorts:

The Bitches

Creation (Canada)

Top 3 Music Videos:

1. "Man On The Moon" (Peter Care, R.E.M.)

2. "Nuthin' But A G Thang" (Dr Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg)

3. "Free Your Mind" (Mark Romanek, En Vogue)

Top Commercial:

"Parisian People" (Jean-Luc Godard, France)

Other great commercials:

Cindy Crawford

TV Top 3:

1. "Seinfeld: The Contest" (Tom Cherones, NBC)

2. "Seinfeld: Subway" (Tom Cherones, NBC)

3. "Seinfeld: The Pick" (Tom Cherones, NBC)

Other great TV shows:

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Bekarty (Poland)

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Lepiej z glupim zgubic (Poland)

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Skumbrie w tomacie (Poland)

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: ...zza krzaka (Poland)

Cartoon Top 3:

1. "Screen Play" (Barry Purves, UK)

2. "Mona Lisa Descending A Staircase" (Joan C. Gratz, USA)

3. "A Feather Tale" (Michele Cournoyer, NFB, Canada)

Other great cartoons:

Adam (UK)

How To Make A Decision

The Sandman (UK)

Trail Mix-Up

Words Words Words (Czechoslovakia)

Weak films of 1992:

Alien 3
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
Autumn Moon (Hong Kong)
Being At Home With Claude (Canada)
Black Cat 2 (Hong Kong)
The Bodyguard
Le Cahier volé (France)
City Hunter (Hong Kong)
Un Coeur en hiver (France)
Daens (Belgium)

Damage
The Dark Side Of The Heart (Argentina)
Death Becomes Her
Diably diably (Poland)
Dr Lamb (Hong Kong)
The Hand That Rocks The Cradle
Honeymoon In Vegas
L.627 (France)
The Last Of The Mohicans
Little Man Tate
Love Field

Mac
Midori (Japan)
My Cousin Vinny
Night On Earth
Nord (France)
Passion Fish
Patriot Games
Police Story III: Supercop (Hong Kong)
Pushing Hands
Raising Cain
Rikki O (Hong Kong)
Rush
Scent Of Gardenia (Brazil)
Scorchers
Stalingrad (Germany)
The Stolen Children (Italy)
Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (Japan)
Three Days (Lithuania)
Toys
Wszystko co najwazniejsze (Poland)

Weak shorts:

Assassins (France)
L'Enfance de l'art (France)
Those Were The Days (Finland)

Weak cartoons:

Pearl's Diner (Canada)
So Far So (Canada)

Weak TV shows:

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Lwi pazur mistrza (Poland)

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Pieski Sylwester (Poland)

Top Musical of 1992

"Strictly Ballroom" (Baz Luhrmann, Australia)

The Player (1992) *****

Following the failure of "Popeye" in 1980, Robert Altman found himself directing some highly theatrical, low budget and largely ignored little films for the rest of the 1980's. But in 1992, he made a spectacular and triumphant comeback with "The Player", a devilishly clever, complex and superbly entertaining satire on Hollywood. The film stars Tim Robbins as a studio executive trying to beat a murder charge, while brushing his girlfriend (Cynthia Stevenson) aside and barely surviving an assassination attempt involving a dangerous snake. Virtually every major movie star makes a cameo appearance in this magnificent, extremely cynical comedy that ridicules the formulas and conventions of contemporary Hollywood movies, while using those same elements (humour, murder, nudity, love, mystery, suspense, last-minute rescues, happy endings) in new and surprising ways. It also makes references to past films, major celebrities and key current events (including the Rodney King affair - a prophetic reference considering that the film was made before the tragic L.A. riots). Possibly Altman's greatest film and certainly his most entertaining one.

The Chekist (1992) *****

Reservoir Dogs (1992) *****

Violent, superbly well written gangster picture. Quentin Tarantino's film debut.

Howards End (1992) *****

An exquisite, masterfully crafted adaptation of E.M.Forster's novel about hypocrisy and snobbery of the upper class Victorian society. Amusing and deliciously ironic at first, the film becomes increasingly serious, even tragic, as it explores the delicate situations and arrangements that lead some otherwise generous people to compromise their values. A superb comedy of manners, as well as a profound human drama, it's a triumph of intelligent storytelling. James Ivory's masterpiece.

Rebels Of The Neon God (1992) ****

The Crying Game (1992) ****

Léolo (1992) ****

Like Water For Chocolate (1992) ****

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) ****

Tense and exciting adaptation of David Mamet's play about real-estate salesmen.

Hard-Boiled (1992) ****

A Hong Kong hospital, full of sick patients, becomes a battleground between cops and triad goons. This John Woo's actioner probably has the highest body count of any motion picture in history - innocent bystanders drop like flies during spectacularly staged orgies of gunfire. With Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Anthony Wong.

Full Contact (1992) ****

Stylish crime movie directed by Ringo Lam.

Braindead (1992) ****

The goriest film ever made, a masterpiece of "splat-stick" cinema.