September 9, 1995
Smoke (1995) ***
William Hurt, Harvey Keitel, Stockard Channing and Forest Whitaker star in this low-key, very profound drama set in New York City.
The Sixty Million Dollar Man (1995) ***
Stephen Chow stars in this absolutely crazy comedy from Hong Kong that parodies everything from "Pulp Fiction" to "Terminator 2".
Cold Comfort Farm (1995) ***
La Cité des enfants perdus (1995) ***
Bizarre drama about an old man stealing little children's dreams. Breathtaking visuals, mind-boggling script, superb sets, brilliant direction, bizarre performances, erratic pacing, weak continuity - an uneven and very flawed masterpiece.
The Brothers McMullen (1995) ***
Very witty and intelligent film about three commitment-shy brothers. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
Batman Forever (1995) ***
Riddler (Jim Carrey) and Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) join forces to defeat Batman (Val Kilmer), but the caped crusader can count on help from Robin (Chris O'Donnell) and sexy Dr Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman). Jim Carrey easily steals the film from everyone else.
Assassins (1995) ***
Sylvester Stallone, Julianne Moore and Antonio Banderas star in this action movie about professional hit men trying to knock each other off. Sly's cool, understated performance contrasts sharply with Banderas' manic overacting.
Apollo 13 (1995) ***
Excellent drama based on the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission in 1970. Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton play the three US astronauts stranded in space.
The American President (1995) ***
Delicious comedy about a widowed President of United States (Michael Douglas) falling in love with an environmental lobbyist (Annette Bening).
Amateur (1995) ***
Cold and calculating black comedy about a nymphomaniac nun (Isabelle Huppert) and a porno actress (Elina Lowensohn), who are chased by vicious mafia killers. Weird, often brilliant film.
Peace Hotel (1995) ***
Nine Months (1995) ***
Hugh Grant is an expectant father in this modest, but amusing comedy. The film also stars Julianne Moore, Robin Williams, Tom Arnold, Jeff Goldblum and Joan Cusack.
Les Misérables du XX siècle (1995) ***
A loose adaptation of Victor Hugo's greatest novel. Its action takes place during World War II.
Mighty Aphrodite (1995) ***
Enjoyable film starring Woody Allen as a sports writer befriending the biological mother of his adopted son.
Land And Freedom (1995) ***
Il Postino (1995) ***
Les Rendez-vous de Paris (1995) ***
French comedy about innocent and not-so-innocent flirting among attractive young Parisians. Great dialogues.
Priest (1995) ***
Controversial drama about a gay priest. The film presents a confrontation of two visions of Christianity: the hard, dogmatic and unforgiving religion of the Old Testament and the compassionate, loving and forgiving faith of the Gospel.
Pocahontas (1995) ***
A Native American princess falls in love with a dashing English settler in 1607's Virginia. Pocahontas is the sexiest Disney heroine ever (Tinkerbell included). Songs:
"The Virginia Company" *
"Steady As The Beating Drum" *
"Just Around The Riverbend" **
"Listen With Your Heart" *
"Mine, Mine, Mine" **
"Colors Of The Wind" ***
"Savages" **
"The Virginia Company" *
"Steady As The Beating Drum" *
"Just Around The Riverbend" **
"Listen With Your Heart" *
"Mine, Mine, Mine" **
"Colors Of The Wind" ***
"Savages" **
Persuasion (1995) ***
A faithful adaptation of Jane Austen's last novel. A quiet, very understated comedy of manners.
August 8, 1995
Deux fois cinquante ans de cinema francais (1995) *
Michel Piccoli discusses the centennial of cinema with Jean-Luc Godard.
Le Rocher d'Acapulco (1995) **
Interesting French film about a young girl encouraged into prostitution.
Nelly et M.Arnaud (1995) **
Interesting French film about a young woman (Emmanuelle Beart) and her friendship with an older man (Michel Serrault).
Un Indien dans la ville (1995) **
A French "Crocodile Dundee", starring Thierry Lhermitte as a Parisian stock-broker, whose son (raised among Amazonian Indians), comes for a visit. It was later remade as a Hollywood film, "Jungle 2 Jungle", starring Tim Allen.
Gazon maudit (1995) **
Vulgar, but enjoyable sex farce starring Victoria Abril as a young housewife torn between her lesbian lover (Josiane Balasco, who also directed) and her cheating husband.
Poussieres de vie (1995) *
Depressing film set in a Vietnamese labor camp for Amerasian children, left behind by their American fathers after the fall of Saigon in 1975.
Le Bonheur est dans le pré (1995) **
Amusing comedy about a middle-aged man (Michel Serrault) trying to find a new life.
July 7, 1995
Talk Of The Town (1995) **
German comedy starring Katja Riemann as a radio talk show host who has an affair with her best friend's husband.
Maborosi (1995) *
Story of a widow who remarries and lives happily ever after. A Japanese film inspired by Ozu.
Lover Of The Last Empress (1995) *
Directed by Andrew Lau. With Chingmy Yau, Tony Leung Kar-Fai. Historical drama about the last Empress Dowager of China.
The Ride (1995) **
Good Czech film about two young men meeting a young woman during a ride in the country.
Pensionat Oskar (1995) *
A Swedish drama about homosexuality, partly inspired by Pasolini's "Teorema" (1968).
Pasolini An Italian Crime (1995) **
This film explores the mysterious circumstances surrounding the tragic death of the great Italian filmmaker, Pier Paolo Pasolini.
Over My Dead Body (1995) *
A philandering husband is killed by a professional hit-man hired by his evil wife. A German black comedy starring Katja Riemann.
Cinema de lagrimas (1995) ***
A tribute to the Latin American cinema in general and Mexican melodramas in particular. It features sequences from 17 classic films. Highlights include: a vengeful father killing his daughter's lover while they exchange their wedding vows, another father killing his daughter with a knife while she dances in her lover's arms ("Historia de un gran amor", 1942), a mother forced by a gangster to abandon her newborn baby in a trash can ("Victimas del pecado", 1951), a grief-stricken lover entering the tomb of his beloved ("Abismos de passion", 1954), a husband buying a nude sculpture of his wife ("La Diosa arrodillada", 1947), a mean woman kicking a bankrupt man out of her house ("Dona diabla", 1950), a wild party girl scandalizing her guests by singing and dancing, a son commiting suicide after learning about his beloved mother's sinful life ("Armino negro", 1953). Directed by Nelson Pereira dos Santos.
Maybe...Maybe Not (1995) **
Katja Riemann stars in this German farce about drag queens, unfaithful boyfriends and pregnant women. Aka "Pretty Baby".
Manneken Pis (1995) **
Bizarre film about a twisted courtship between two very weird young people. Surrealism, Belgian style.
Love And Hate: European Stories (1995) *
This film consists of five parts, set in Norway, Poland, Denmark, Yugoslavia and Sweden. The first one is about a funeral. The second introduces an aspiring dancer and the third one - a bored housewife. The fourth episode is a gruesome story about graverobbers. The final segment is also the funniest - it concerns two neighbors who suddenly loose their privacy.
"Sara" *
"Steps" *
"The Letter" *
"Pigs And Pearls" *
"Open Doors" **
"Sara" *
"Steps" *
"The Letter" *
"Pigs And Pearls" *
"Open Doors" **
The Flower Of My Secret (1995) *
Pedro Almodovar is known for his flamboyant and kitchy melodramas. But this one isn't flamboyant or kitchy - just boring.
Don't Die Without Telling Me Where You're Going (1995) *
Campy Argentinian movie about love and reincarnation.
Gonin (1995) **
Violent gangster movie about five disgruntled men organizing a daring robbery. Unfortunately, their victims happen to be Yakuza kingpins and the bandits will pay dearly for their impudence.
Un Eroe Borghese (1995) *
Absorbing drama about an Italian government official fighting against the Mafia.
Daze Raper (1995) **
Directed by Yip Wai-Sun. With Farini Cheung. Sleazy Hong Kong film about a former prison guard who robs women by putting sleeping medecine into their drinks. The Mandarine version of the film runs 88 minutes and contains some brief nudity.
Day Of The Beast (1995) **
Directed by Alex De La Iglesia, it's a Spanish horror comedy about a priest trying to prevent the birth of the Antichrist.
Cyclo (1995) **
The winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival is a shocking and quite brutal film about crime in modern Vietnam.
Cudowne miejsce (1995) **
Jeden ze slabszych filmow Jana Jakuba Kolskiego. Wiele orginalnych pomyslow, ale za malo humoru.
The Postman (1995) *
A shameless rip-off of Kieslowski's "Krotki film o milosci" ("A Short Film About Love"), set in China.
A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box (1995) **
It's not particularly funny, but this parody of the "wu xia pian" (sword & sorcery) movies has its moments.
Passover Fever (1995) *
Directed by Shemi Zarhin. With Gila Almagor, Ichio Avital and Alon Abutbul. An Israeli soap opera about a dysfunctional family meeting for the Seder banquet on Passover eve. There are suspicions of marital infidelity, mysterious eating disorders, predictions of snowstorms in April and other pressing matters. The film got an award for best screenplay at the 1995 Montreal WFF, but it should have won a Daytime Emmy instead.
Buried In Light (1995) *
An experimental Italian film about Eastern Europe, made by a Jewish-American director born in Afghanistan.
La Vie en fleurs (1995) **
A documentary about a hippie family (one woman, three men, five kids). It consists of home movie footages and contemporary interviews.
Ulysses' Gaze (1995) **
Slow moving film about a Greek-American filmmaker (Harvey Keitel) travelling across the Balkans in search of an old movie. Some brilliantly directed scenes crying out for an editor to turn them into a motion picture.
American Daughter (1995) *
Quite a rarity - a Russian film set in United States. It's a story of a father looking for his daughter.
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