1991--The Year in Review

Movies definitely take a dark turn this year, evidenced by the eventual winner of the Best Picture Oscar (and the other top four categories), Jonathan Demme's hit horror offering The Silence of the Lambs, an undeniably thrilling and somehow elegant addition to a genre that had rarely been noted before by the Academy. Of course, Anthony Hopkins hit a new high in his career as Hannibal Lecter, but his character was NOT a lead in the movie, so I have moved his performance over to the Supporting Actor category, which he handily wins. As for Best Actress, as much as I adore Jodie Foster's exacting Clarice Starling, I think Mimi Rogers easily overtakes her in The Rapture in an impossibly intense performance, displayed in a film that's often mindbending in its willingness to go where no other film will venture (that's why I also gave its writer/director Michael Tolkin the Best Original Screenplay award, even over the Coens). As there was one tie in the Best Actress race in 1968, I;m now allowing myself one tie in the Best Actress race for Rogers and Lili Taylor, who's so moving as the wallflower folkie in Dogfight; she commands that little indie so assuredly. But it's that brotherly duo that I think emerged with the best movie of the year: a dank, hilariously layered and beautifully horrifying dip into the life of the mind called Barton Fink, with John Turturro excelling as a pretentious New York playwright struggling to adapt to new surroundings while on a soul-eating sojourn to Hollywood (the film set a still unbroken record at Cannes, winning Best Actor and Best Director on top of the Palme D'or). As much as I love other bleak offerings this year--Raise the Red Lantern, Europa (released in the US as Zentropa), JFK (which I admire on a filmmaking front despite resolutely believing that Oswald acted alone), Defending Your Life, The Double Life of Veronique, Cape Fear, The Fisher King, Poison, Delicatessen, Thelma and Louise, Boyz N The Hood and Naked Lunch, among them--it's the Coens that emerge with the 1991 film that fascinates me most with its smart and troubling imagery. NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and are only occasionally reflective of the selections made by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (aka The Oscars). When available, the nominee that actually won the Oscar will be highlighted in bold. 

PICTURE: BARTON FINK (US, Joel Coen)
(2nd: Raise the Red Lantern (China, Zhang Yimou)
followed by: Defending Your Life (US, Albert Brooks)
The Rapture (US, Michael Tolkin)
The Double Life of Véronique (France/Poland, Krzysztof Kieslowski)
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (US, Fax Bahr, Eleanor Coppola and George Hickenlooper)
Europa aka Zentropa (Germany/Denmark, Lars Von Trier)
A Brighter Summer Day (Taiwan, Edward Yang)
The Silence of the Lambs (US, Jonathan Demme)
The Commitments (UK/Ireland, Alan Parker)
Cape Fear (US, Martin Scorsese)
Dogfight (US, Nancy Savoca)
The Best Intentions (Sweden, Bille August)
Beauty and the Beast (US, Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise)
Poison (US, Todd Haynes)
Thelma and Louise (US, Ridley Scott)
35 Up (UK, Michael Apted)
Delicatessen (France, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro)
Bugsy (US, Barry Levinson)
JFK (US, Oliver Stone)
City of Hope (US, John Sayles)
Boyz N the Hood (US, John Singleton)
The Fisher King (US, Terry Gilliam)
Naked Lunch (Canada, David Cronenberg)
Rambling Rose (US, Martha Coolidge)
Jungle Fever (US, Spike Lee)
The Man in the Moon (US, Robert Mulligan)
The Lovers on the Bridge (France, Leos Carax)
L.A. Story (US, Mick Jackson)
Rubin and Ed (US, Trent Harris)
Grand Canyon (US, Lawrence Kasdan)
Daughters of the Dust (US, Julie Dash)
La Belle Noiseuse (France, Jacques Rivette)
A Brief History of Time (US, Errol Morris)
A Little Stiff (US, Caveh Zahedi)
Until the End of the World (Germany/France/Australia/US, Wim Wenders)
Paris Trout (US, Stephen Gyllenhaal)
Like Water for Chocolate (Mexico, Alfonso Arau)
Frankie and Johnny (US, Garry Marshall)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (US, James Cameron)
Let Him Have It (UK, Peter Medak)
A Rage in Harlem (US, Bill Duke)
Little Man Tate (US, Jodie Foster)
Enchanted April (UK, Mike Newell)
Not Without My Daughter (US, Brian Gilbert)
High Heels (Spain, Pedro Almodovar)
Poink Break (US, Kathryn Bigelow)
Proof (Australia, Jocelyn Moorhouse)
Toto the Hero (Belgium/France, Jaco van Dormael)
Stepping Out (US, Lewis Gilbert)
The Rocketeer (US, Joe Johnston)
Life Stinks (US, Mel Brooks)
Black Robe (Canada, Bruce Beresford)
Slacker (US, Richard Linklater)
Homicide (US, David Mamet)
New Jack City (US, Mario Van Peebles)
What About Bob? (US, Frank Oz)
The Doors (US, Oliver Stone)
City Slickers (US, Ron Underwood)
The Prince of Tides (US, Barbra Streisand)
Fried Green Tomatoes (US, Jon Avnet)
The Addams Family (US, Barry Sonnenfeld)
My Own Private Idaho (US, Gus Van Sant)
Prospero’s Books (UK, Peter Greenaway)
Night on Earth (France/UK/Germany/US/Japan, Jim Jarmusch)
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (US, Kevin Reynolds)
Shakes the Clown (US, Bobcat Goldthwait)
Hook (US, Steven Spielberg)



ACTOR: John Turturro, BARTON FINK (2nd: Albert Brooks, Defending Your Life, followed by: Robert De Niro, Cape Fear; Warren Beatty, Bugsy; Howard Hesseman, Rubin and Ed; Nick Nolte, The Prince of Tides; Dennis Hopper, Paris Trout; River Phoenix, Dogfight)

ACTRESS: (TIE) Mimi Rogers, THE RAPTURE and Lili Taylor, DOGFIGHT, (2nd: Gong Li, Raise the Red Lantern, followed by: Irene Jacob, The Double Life of Veronique; Jodie Foster, The Silence of the Lambs; Laura Dern, Rambling Rose; Susan Sarandon, Thelma and Louise; Geena Davis, Thelma and Louise)




SUPPORTING ACTOR: Anthony Hopkins, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (won as Best Actor) (2nd: John Goodman, Barton Fink, followed by: Samuel L. Jackson, Jungle Fever; Rip Torn, Defending Your Life; Michael Lerner, Barton Fink; David Straithairn, City of Hope; Andrew Strong, The Commitments; Brad Pitt, Thelma and Louise)



SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Juliette Lewis, CAPE FEAR (2nd: Judy Davis, Naked Lunch, followed by: Meryl Streep, Defending Your Life; Amanda Plummer, The Fisher King; Diane Ladd, Rambling Rose; Mercedes Ruehl, The Fisher King; Sarah Jessica Parker, L.A. Story; Kate Nelligan, The Prince of Tides)

DIRECTOR: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, BARTON FINK (2nd: Zhang Yimou, Raise the Red Lantern, followed by: Lars Von Trier, Europa; Krzysztof Kieslowski, The Double Life of Veronique; Albert Brooks, Defending Your Life; Jonathan Demme, The Silence of the Lambs; Michael Tolkin, The Rapture; Oliver Stone, JFK)

NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM: RAISE THE RED LANTERN (China, Zhang Yimou) (2nd:  The Double Life of Véronique (France/Poland, Krzysztof Kieslowski), followed by: Europa (Germany/Denmark, Lars von Trier); A Brighter Summer Day (Taiwan, Edward Yang); The Best Intentions (Sweden, Bille August); Delicatessen (France, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro); The Lovers on the Bridge (France, Leos Carax); La Belle Noiseuse (France, Jacques Rivette); Like Water for Chocolate (Mexico, Alfonso Arau); High Heels (Spain, Pedro Almodovar); Toto the Hero (Belgium/France, Jaco van Dormael))

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A FILMMAKER’S APOCALYPSE (US, Eleanor Coppola, George Hickenlooper and Fax Bahr) (2nd: 35 Up (US, Michael Apted, followed by: A Brief History of Time (US, Errol Morris))

ANIMATED FEATURE: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (US, Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise)



ANIMATED SHORT: ENTRE DEUX SOUERS (Canada, Caroline Leaf) (2nd: The Comb (UK, Stephen and Timothy Quay), followed by: The Sandman (UK, Paul Berry))



LIVE ACTION SHORT: LOSING MY RELIGION (US, Tarsem Singh) (2nd: Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons and Our Environment (US, Debra Chasnoff) (won as Documentary Short), followed by: Bedhead (US, Robert Rodriguez); World of Glory (Sweden, Roy Andersson))



ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Michael Tolkin, THE RAPTURE (2nd: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Barton Fink, followed by: Albert Brooks, Defending Your Life; Krzysztof Kieslowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, The Double Life of Veronique, Callie Khouri, Thelma and Louise)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Ted Tally, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (2nd: Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais and Roddy Doyle, The Commitments, followed by: James Toback, Bugsy; Ni Zhen, Raise the Red Lantern; Oliver Stone and Zachary Sklar, JFK) 

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Lun Yang and Fei Zhao, RAISE THE RED LANTERN (2nd: Roger Deakins, Barton Fink, followed by: Robert Richardson, JFK; Darius Khondji; Delicatessen; Freddie Francis, Cape Fear)

ART DIRECTION: BARTON FINK, Raise the Red Lantern, Bugsy, The Rocketeer, Delicatessen

COSTUME DESIGN: BARTON FINK, Raise the Red Lantern, Bugsy, The Addams Family, The Rocketeer



FILM EDITING: JFK, The Commitments, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Silence of the Lambs, Thelma and Louise



SOUND: TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY, Beauty and the Beast, The Commitments, The Doors, Barton Fink

SOUND EFFECTS: TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY, Backdraft, The Rocketeer 

 

ORIGINAL SCORE: Carter Burwell, BARTON FINK (2nd: Howard Shore, The Silence of the Lambs, followed by Ennio Morricone, Bugsy; John Williams, JFK; Zbigniew Priesner, The Double Life of Veronique)



ADAPTATION SCORE/SCORING OF A MUSICAL: Alan Menken, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (won as Best Original Score) (2nd: Elmer Bernstein, Cape Fear, followed by: G. Mark Roswell, The Commitments)



ORIGINAL SONG: “Be Our Guest” from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman) (2nd: “Gaston” from Beauty and the Beast (Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman), followed by “Beauty and the Beast” from Beauty and the Beast (Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman); "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast (Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman); “Everything Do (I Do For You)” from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (Music by Michael Kamen, lyrics by Bryan Adams and Rob Lange))

SPECIAL EFFECTS: TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY, Backdraft, The Rocketeer 

MAKEUP: NAKED LUNCH, The Addams Family, Terminator 2: Judgment Day

My Movie Poster Collection: C

As always, click on the poster for a larger image: 

THE CANDIDATE (Michael Richie, 72). Folded, F
Terrific image, with political newcomer Robert Redford having his face obscured by bubble gum. Still one of the most intelligent movies about politics around (perhaps even more relevant today), with an Oscar-winning script by Jeremy Larner. I love this poster, too, for its lack of a tagline, though its notation at the bottom is memorable enough: "This advertisement has been paid for by Warner Brothers, who would love for The Candidate to be a winner." Brilliant.

CANDY STRIPE NURSES (Alan Holleb, 74). Folded, G
A "sexy" movie I remember seeing at the drive-in as a kid. May have been my first glimpse of some tit. The crazy explosion between the woman's legs (with the guy on the motorcycle flying) makes me smile!

CAPE FEAR (Martin Scorsese, 91). Rolled, P
The artwork, by John Alvin, may be a tad overdone (something about those eyes, which are obviously not De Niro's), but still, I think this remake is one of the few that actually betters the original, because the conflict between Cady and the family he's terrorizing is made more primal and moralistic.

CAPRICORN ONE (Peter Hyams, 77). Folded, VG
A great poster for those moon landing deniers. Not a movie that holds up, though. My second poster with a boxed-in image of unusually self-satisfied co-star O.J. Simpson, who's now quite literally boxed in, thankfully.

CAREFUL, HE MIGHT HEAR YOU (Carl Schultz, 83). Folded, VG
A low-key little Australian movie that I have a little affection for. Great title, by the way.

CARNY (Robert Kaylor, 80). Folded, G
One of the most unfairly overlooked movies of the 1980s. Gary Busey's performance out of clown makeup is highly amusing, and IN the clown makeup, is radically frightening. Great supporting cast in this one--Elisha Cook, Meg Foster, Craig Wasson, Kenneth MacMillan, Tim Thomerson, Woodrow Parfrey, Burt Remsen, Teddy Wilson and George Emerson as the unforgettable Fat Man. Plus, this is probably the only time you'll get to see Jodie Foster in a corset, and Robbie Robertson in a lead role. The director has disappeared but, boy, does he have a handle on this grimy world.

CARRIE (Brian De Palma, 76). Rolled/folded, G
A classic poster, because it knew what the film's classic images would be. I like, too, that it mirrors the split screen in the equal-measures sweet and horrifying central prom sequence.

CASUALTIES OF WAR (Brian De Palma, 89). Rolled, VG
Not a classic, either as a poster or as a film. Sean Penn's face here is ridiculous.

THE CELEBRATION (Thomas Vinterberg, 98). Rolled, VG
I usually don't like these faces-only posters, but somehow this one works (maybe because of its jagged quality). Or maybe it's because I love this movie beyond words.

CHANDLER (Paul Magwood, 71). Folded, VG
Warren Oates looks like a donkey here, and that's why I bought it.

THE CHANGELING (Peter Medak, 79). Folded, G
A terrific horror film, with a memorable tagline. I only wish the art was a little sharper, but it'll do.

CHILLY SCENES OF WINTER (Joan Micklin Silver, 81). Folded, VG
You can really feel United Artists, nearing Heaven's Gate bankruptcy, scrambling to get this poster out there. The inset photo of Charles and Laura together looks sloppily pasted on. In reality, the poster doesn't look as bad as it does here. But, as this is one of my top 20 movies of all time (and the first one I chose to review on this blog), I have to love, love, love it.

CISCO PIKE (Bill L. Norton, 72). Folded, VG
This is a prime example of great 70s graphic design. The colors, the layout, the type, the writing, and the movie itself (nearly) are all perfect.

CITIZEN'S BAND (A.K.A. HANDLE WITH CARE) (Jonathan Demme, 77). Folded, VG
All-type posters are extremely rare and extremely strange, and attractive, to me. This is one of the strangest out there, particularly since the movie has an incredible cast (Paul Le Mat, Candy Clark, Charles Napier, Ann Wedgeworth, Roberts Blossom, Bruce Magill, Marcia Rodd, and Harry Northup) and an equally terrific Altman-esque sweep. Another forgotten movie I wish more people would see. How ANYONE went to see it, with this poster, is a mystery.

THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN (Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 95). Rolled, VG
Absolutely gorgeous one-sheet for an absolutely stunning film. No complaints here.

CLAIRE'S KNEE (Eric Rohmer, 70). Folded, VG
A treasure. Not only is this my second favorite Rohmer (after The Green Ray/Summer), the one-sheet perfectly illustrates its subject's premise better than any other poster I can think of, at least at this moment.

THE CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR (Michael Chapman, 86). Folded, P
Perhaps the best poster ever for the worst movie ever. My copy has a tiny imperfection in it, but I love it just the same. When I look at it, no thoughts of the movie come into my head; it's just simply a fine work of art.

CLUELESS (Amy Heckerling, 95). Rolled, VG
I feel so wistful now, thinking of the relative innocence of this movie. Really, when it came out, I thought Alicia Silverstone was going to be a great movie star. Still, when I look at Heckerling's movie, I wonder why it never happened, cause Alicia is so vibrant in it. Seeing the plumper, cuter Brittany Murphy there makes me sad. I really liked her. RIP.

COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER (Michael Apted, 80). Rolled/folded, G
Perhaps the very best musical biopic ever produced, with Sissy Spacek transformed into Loretta Lynn right before our eyes. As much as I love Tommy Lee Jones in this film, I'm glad he's only slightly included here (even though it's almost as much his movie as it is hers).

THE COLLECTOR (William Wyler, 65). Folded, VG
Creepy poster, creepy film. I admire the simple tagline, and the inventive slicing of the main image.

THE COLOR PURPLE (Steven Spielberg, 85) Rolled, NM
Great poster art by John Alvin! Excellent condition. Wish I loved the movie more! 

COMA (Michael Crichton, 78). Folded, G
I bought this poster simply because I love that shot of Genvieve Bujold wandering amongst all those strung-up coma patients. I do have a deep affection for the film, too--it's Crichton's most suspenseful production. By the way, excellent logo!

CONRACK (Martin Ritt, 74). Folded, G
The young Jon Voight. I still can't understand his genetic connection to Angelina Jolie, beyond those lips. Superb movie, by the way, based on the teaching career of its Georgia-born author, Pat Conroy, as you can discover reading the type on the poster.

CONTACT (Robert Zemeckis, 97). Rolled, G
Not a poster I like--too plain--but I do cherish this brave film...at least, most of it (I dislike the visual treatment of the ending).

THE CONVERSATION (Francis Ford Coppola, 74). Folded, F
Excellent on all counts. I don't think I could ever give this poster up, even if it does have a small tear in it. 

COOKIE'S FORTUNE (Robert Altman, 99). Rolled, VG
Another late-career lamo one-sheet for Robert Altman. Still, it's Altman, and I have to have it. I do like that the late, lamented Patricia Neal is featured on here, though. That might be a first in her career.

COUNTDOWN (Robert Altman, 68). Folded, VG
Still one of the few Altman movies I haven't seen. The poster is extra two-tinted cool, though, and printed on non-glossy paper, which I always find to be a plus. And I love anything to do with astronauts...

CRASH (David Cronenberg, 96). Rolled, G
Again, red and black--always a winner. This very well may be the best Cronenberg poster out there (his one-sheets tend to be on the dull side). That bizarrely censored image of the nude Deborah Kara Unger is enough to take your mind off the less creative four-red-faces design at the top.

CRIES AND WHISPERS (Ingmar Bergman, 73). Folded, review sheet, VG
Unlike many poster collectors, I think review sheets are fun to have, because they can provide you with lots of reading as they're hanging on your wall. And who wouldn't want to read about a great movie like this?

CRY FREEDOM (Richard Attenbourough, 87). Folded, G
I don't care for this film, but somehow the poster's artwork keeps me hanging on.

CUJO (Lewis Teague, 83). Folded, G
Dull coloring for an intermittently effective horror semi-classic.

CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION (Woody Allen, 2001). Rolled, VG
Ugh. I have this only because I'm a Scorpio.

CUTTER AND BONE (A.K.A. CUTTER'S WAY) (Ivan Passer, 81). Folded, VG
This might be one of the rarest pieces in my collection, since it's for a movie that has a cult following under the title of Cutter's Way. This is a BETTER poster than the Cutter's Way version, which should tell you how much the then-beleaguered United Artists screwed up in promoting this wonderful modern noir title. See this film immediately, if you haven't already.