1994--The Year in Review

1994 marks the beginning of the Tarantino age, for better or worse (its effects still reverberate today, and mostly from ill-equipped imitators). As stunning as his 1992 debut Reservoir Dogs was, it couldn't prepare us for the time-jumbling tale awaiting in his sophomore directorial effort Pulp Fiction. It was simply impossible to watch this movie without feeling your heart racing so fleetly, you might require a shot directly to the ol' pump to slow it down. Absolutely everything works so perfectly in it that you actually feel in your gut the moviemaking machine operating absolutely to par. It was a slam dunk at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme D'or. But the populist vote arrived when Forrest Gump was released in the summer to absolute acclaim and big box office. I stupidly fell for Zemeckis's film upon first viewing--in fact, it took me a few years to realize it was a venal work, filled with damning judgments directed at its most innocent characters, and ever since then, I've found Forrest Gump unwatchable, even though I like elements of it. It likewise hoodwinked the Academy into awarding it Best Picture and five other accolades (including a second consecutive Best Actor Oscar for Tom Hanks). But Gump never blinded me to the quality of Pulp Fiction, a movie that continues to offer deeper insight into the concepts of loyalty, understanding, and morality--it's a much more lovable and entertaining film, even with its abject bloodiness. Its two closest competitors--Terry Zwigoff's painfully intimate documentary Crumb and Tim Burton's gorgeous, surprisingly joyful biopic Ed Wood (with Johnny Depp again arriving up top under Tim Burton's direction)--come within a hair's breadth of besting Tarantino's epic. And yet the year included additional remarkable titles like Hoop Dreams, Little Women, Natural Born Killers (co-written by Tarantino), Heavenly Creatures, box-office disappointment The Shawshank Redemption, and art house hits Four Weddings and a Funeral, Leon (released as The Professional in the US), The Hudsucker Proxy, To Live, Through the Olive Trees, and surprise Best Picture nominee Il Postino (which wouldn't hit US shores until 1995). I have to note the tie I've arrived at here: it's just impossible to choose between the two finest supporting male performances of the entire decade; as much as I adore Martin Landau's lovingly detailed portrayal of Bela Legosi in Ed Wood, it feels horribly wrong to ignore Samuel L. Jackson's superb showing as the icy, contemplative hitman Jules Winnfield. 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: PULP FICTION (US, Quentin Tarantino)
(2nd: Crumb (US, Terry Zwigoff)
followed by: Ed Wood (US, Tim Burton)
Three Colors: Red (France/Poland/Germany, Krzysztof Kieslowski)
To Live (China, Zhang Yimou)
Hoop Dreams (US, Steve James)
Vanya on 42^nd Street (US, Louis Malle)
The Shawshank Redemption (US, Frank Darabont)
Little Women (US, Gillian Armstrong)
Natural Born Killers (US, Oliver Stone)
Heavenly Creatures (New Zealand, Peter Jackson)
Leon (aka The Professional) (US/France, Luc Besson)
The Hudsucker Proxy (US, Joel Coen)
Through the Olive Trees (Iran, Abbas Kiarostami)
Il Postino (Italy, Michael Radford)
A Pure Formality (Italy/France, Giuseppe Tornatore)
Quiz Show (US, Robert Redford)
The Kingdom (Denmark, Lars Von Trier)
Chungking Express (Hong Kong, Wong Kar-Wai)
The Madness of King George (UK, Nicholas Hytner)
Burnt by the Sun (Russia, Nikita Mikhalkov)
Fresh (US, Boaz Yakin)
Spanking the Monkey (US, David O. Russell)
Shallow Grave (UK, Danny Boyle)
Four Weddings and a Funeral (UK, Mike Newell)
Reality Bites (US, Ben Stiller)
Being Human (US, Bill Forsyth)
The Glass Shield (US, Charles Barnett)
Nobody’s Fool (US, Robert Benton)
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Australia, Stephen Elliott)
Before the Rain (Macedonia/UK/France, Milcho Manchevski)
Eat, Drink, Man, Woman (Hong Kong, Ang Lee)
Forrest Gump (US, Robert Zemeckis)
Queen Margot (France, Patrice Chereau)
The Boys of St. Vincent (Canada, John N. Smith)
Bandit Queen (UK/India, Shekhar Kapur)
Muriel's Wedding (Australia, P.J. Hogan)
Death and the Maiden (UK, Roman Polanski)
Exotica (Canada, Atom Egoyan)
Ladybird Ladybird (UK, Ken Loach)
The Last Seduction (US, John Dahl)
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (US, Alan Rudolph)
Wyatt Earp (US, Lawrence Kasdan)
Interview with the Vampire (US/UK, Neil Jordan)
Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey (US, Steven M. Martin)
A Great Day in Harlem (US, Jean Bach)
Barcelona (US, Whit Stillman)
I Like it Like That (US, Darnell Martin)
Bullets Over Broadway (US, Woody Allen)
The Lion King (US, Roger Allers and Ron Minkoff)
Once Were Warriors (New Zealand, Lee Tamahori)
Cemetery Man (Italy/France/Germany, Michele Soavi)
Faust (Czechoslovakia/UK, Jan Svankmajer)
I'll Do Anything (US, James L. Brooks)
The Mask (US, Charles Russell)
It Could Happen to You (US, Andrew Bergman)
Ashes of Time (Hong Kong, Wong Kar Wei)
Go Fish (US, Rose Troche)
When a Man Loves a Woman (US, Luis Mandoki)
Speed (US, Jan de Bont)
True Lies (US, James Cameron)
The Ref (US, Ted Demme)
Cabin Boy (US, Adam Resnick)
Legends of the Fall (US, Edward Zwick)

ACTOR: Johnny Depp, ED WOOD (2nd: Nigel Hawthorne, The Madness of King George, followed by: Woody Harrelson, Natural Born Killers, Morgan Freeman, The Shawshank Redemption; John Travolta, Pulp Fiction; Massimo Troisi, Il Postino; Roman Polanski, A Pure Formality; Gerard Depardieu, A Pure Formality; Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump; Paul Newman, Nobody’s Fool)

ACTRESS: Irene Jacob, THREE COLORS: RED (2nd: Linda Fiorentino, The Last Seduction, followed by: Kate Winslet, Heavenly Creatures; Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle; Juliette Lewis, Natural Born Killers; Natalie Portman, Leon; Melanie Lynskey, Heavenly Creatures; Meg Ryan, When A Man Loves a Woman; Jessica Lange, Blue Sky)





SUPPORTING ACTOR: (TIE) Martin Landau, ED WOOD and Samuel L. Jackson, PULP FICTION (2nd: Robert Downey Jr., Natural Born Killers, followed by: John Turturro, Quiz Show; Paul Scofield, Quiz Show; Bob Gunton, The Shawshank Redemption; Bruce Willis, Pulp Fiction; Dennis Quaid, Wyatt Earp; Myketi Williamson, Forrest Gump)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Brooke Smith, VANYA ON 42ND STREET (2nd: Kirsten Dunst, Interview With The Vampire, followed by: Claire Danes, Little Women; Uma Thurman, Pulp Fiction; Helen Mirren, The Madness of King George; Janeane Garafalo, Reality Bites; Amanda Plummer, Pulp Fiction; Dianne Wiest, Bullets Over Broadway; Jamie Lee Curtis, True Lies)

DIRECTOR: Quentin Tarantino, PULP FICTION (2nd: Tim Burton, Ed Wood, followed by: Terry Zwigoff, Crumb; Krzysztof Kieslowski, Three Colors: Red; Oliver Stone, Natural Born Killers; Zhang Yimou, To Live; Frank Darabont, The Shawshank Redemption; Steve James, Hoop Dreams; Abbas Kierostami, Through the Olive Trees)



NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM: THREE COLORS: RED (France/Poland/Germany, Krzysztof Kieslowski) (2nd: To Live (China, Zhang Yimou), followed by: Through The Olive Trees (Iran, Abbas Kierostami); A Pure Formality (Italy/France, Giuseppe Tornatore); Il Postino (UK/Italy/France, Michael Radford); Chungking Express (Hong Kong, Wong Kar Wei); Burnt By The Sun (Russia, Nikita Mikhalov); Eat, Drink, Man, Woman (Thailand, Ang Lee); Before the Rain (Macedonia/France/UK, Milcho Manchevski))



DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: CRUMB (US, Terry Zwigoff) (2nd: Hoop Dreams (US, Steve James), followed by: Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey (US, Steven M. Martin); A Great Day in Harlem (US, Jean Bach))

ANIMATED FEATURE: THE LION KING (US, Roger Allers and Ron Minkoff) (2nd: Faust (Czechoslovakia/UK, Jan Svankmajer))



ANIMATED SHORT: BLACK ICE (US, Stan Brakhage) (2nd: Tales From The Far Side (US, Marv Newland), followed by: Bob’s Birthday (UK, David Fine and Alison Snowden)



LIVE ACTION SHORT: TREVOR (US, Peggy Rajski) (2nd: Bottle Rocket (US, Wes Anderson), followed by: Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life (UK, Peter Capaldi) (tied with Trevor); Some Folks Call It A Sling Blade (US, George Hickenlooper); Sabotage (US, Spike Jonze))



ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avery, PULP FICTION (2nd: Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, Ed Wood, followed by: Krzysztof Kieslowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, Three Colors: Red; Wei Lu and Hua Yu, To Live; Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, Heavenly Creatures)



ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Frank Darabont, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (2nd: Alan Bennett, The Madness of King George, followed by: Robin Swicord, Little Women; Anna Pavignano, Michael Radford, Furio Scarpelli, Giacomo Scarpelli and Massimo Troisi, Il Postino; Paul Attanasio, Quiz Show)



CINEMATOGRAPHY: Stefan Czapsky, ED WOOD (2nd: Piotr Sobocinski, Three Colors: Red, followed by: Roger Deakins, The Shawshank Redemption; Robert Richardson, Natural Born Killers; Owen Roizman, Wyatt Earp)

ART DIRECTION: THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE, The Hudsucker Proxy, Ed Wood, Quiz Show, Little Women

COSTUME DESIGN: THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT, Interview With The Vampire, Little Women, The Madness of King George, Queen Margot



FILM EDITING: NATURAL BORN KILLERS, Pulp Fiction, Hoop Dreams, The Shawshank Redemption, Leon



SOUND: SPEED, The Shawshank Redemption, Natural Born Killers, Leon, Forrest Gump

SOUND EFFECTS: SPEED, Leon, Forrest Gump



ORIGINAL SCORE: Thomas Newman, LITTLE WOMEN (2nd: Howard Shore, Ed Wood, followed by: Zbigniew Priesner, Three Colors: Red; Luis Bacalov, Il Postino (won in 1996); Thomas Newman, The Shawshank Redemption)



ORIGINAL SONG: “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” from THE LION KING (Music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice) (2nd: "Hakuna Matata” from The Lion King (Music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice), followed by "Circle of Life" from The Lion King (Music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice); "Regulate" from Above the Rim (Music by Warren G., Nate Dogg, Michael McDonald, Dr. Dre, and Bob James, lyrics by Warren G. and Nate Dogg); "Stay (I Missed You)" from Reality Bites (Music and lyrics by Lisa Loeb))



ADAPTED SCORE/SCORE FOR A MUSICAL: David Boeddinghaus, CRUMB (2nd: Hans Zimmer, The Lion King (won as Original Score))

SPECIAL EFFECTS: FORREST GUMP, The Mask, The Hudsucker Proxy

MAKEUP: ED WOOD, The Mask, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

A Cinema Gallery: 200 Images, Part 3

Now, for part 3 of my six-part series following 200 landmark film images, we go all monochrome. Black-and-white is all the rage here with these 35 images (this makes 104 of the guaranteed 200, and no directors will be mentioned more than once):

Is this real??? Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 33; PHOTOG: Henry Sharp)

Our man amongst his treasured swings in Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa, 52; PHOTOG: Asakazu Nakai)


The mail is thrust out of a moving train on a fateful Kansas day. In Cold Blood. (Richard Brooks, 67; PHOTOG: Conrad Hall)

Jackboots in line for the Oscar-winning short Hitler Lives (Don Siegel (uncredited); producer: Gordon Hollingshead, 45)

A child killer pleads his case, his strangling fingers straightened in the underrated remake of M (Joseph Losey, 51; PHOTOG: Ernest Laszlo)


"Eddie, I'm so sorry." Ed Wood. (Tim Burton, 94; PHOTOG: Stephan Czapsky)

For the very first time, a lawyer must make a choice between eastern justice and western survival in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford, 62; PHOTOG: William H. Clothier)


A newlywed understands her doom in The Honeymoon Killers (Leonard Kastle, 69; PHOTOG: Oliver Wood)

The getaway, and a culmination to a groundbreaking long shot filmed on location, in Gun Crazy (Joseph H. Lewis, 50; PHOTOG: Russell Harlan)


Dreamscape. Last Year at Marienbad. (Alain Renais, 61; PHOTOG: Sacha Vierny)

Bones rattle about in The Skeleton Dance (Walt Disney, 29)

The mad title image--a shock for me at an early age--for The Snake Pit (Anatole Litvak, 48; PHOTOG: Leo Tover)

Another title image, this time for Woman in the Dunes (Hiroshi Teshigahara, 64; PHOTOG: Hiroshi Segawa)

Waifs wait to be educated in the bedroom. The Knack …And How To Get It (Richard Lester, 65; PHOTOG: David Watkin)

The ladies' auxillary's talk on the cultivation of hydrangeas moves on in The Manchurian Candidate (John Frankenheimer, 62; PHOTOG: Lionel Lindon)

"Your future's all used up." Orson Welles in Touch of Evil. (Orson Welles, 58; PHOTOG: Russell Metty)

A sunset drive in Hud (Martin Ritt, 63; PHOTOG: James Wong Howe)

"I am, George. I am." Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Mike Nichols, 66; PHOTOG Haskell Wexler)


Leon Theremin demonstrates his musical invention in Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey (Steven M. Martin, 94)


A sleepless night alone in L’Atalante (Jean Vigo, 34; PHOTOG: Louis Berger, Boris Kaufman, Jean-Paul Aphen)

A movie star's beloved is laid to rest in Sunset Blvd. (Billy Wilder, 50; PHOTOG: John F. Seitz)


Joe is so much more charismatic and sweet than that other big ape. Mighty Joe Young. (Ernest B. Schoedsack, 49; PHOTOG: J. Roy Hunt, Bert and Herb Willis)


A snowy rush to safety in The Tale of the Fox. (Wladyslaw and Irene Starewicz, 30; PHOTOG: Wladyslaw Starewicz)

The trial is afoot, with all of the afterlife's humanity as excited audience, in A Matter of Life and Death / Stairway to Heaven (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger, 46; PHOTOG: Jack Cardiff)

Humorist and Alcgonquin Round Table staple Robert Benchley details The Sex Life of the Polyp. (Thomas Chalmers, 28; PHOTOG: Thomas Chalmers)

A door breathes, and a house is alive, in The Haunting (Robert Wise, 63; PHOTOG: Davis Boulton )

What shall I sing to my lord from my window? What shall I sing for my lord will not stay? What shall I sing for my lord will not listen? Where shall I go when my lord is away? Whom shall I love when the moon is arisen? Gone is my lord and the grave is his prison. What shall I say when my lord comes a-calling? What shall I say when he knocks on my door? What shall I say when his feet enter softly? Leaving the marks of his grave on my floor. Enter my lord! Come from your prison! Come from your grave, for the moon is a-risen. Welcome, my lord... The Innocents. (Jack Clayton, 61; PHOTOG: Freddie Francis)

Two unforgettable faces: John Barrymore and Carole Lombard in Twentieth Century. (Howard Hawks, 34; PHOTOG: Joseph H. August)

"The little man who lives inside my brain." Crumb. (Terry Zwigoff, 94; PHOTOG: Maryse Alberti)

Scorpions entertwined at the outset of L'Age D'Or (Luis Buñuel, 30; PHOTOG: Albert Duvergier)

Not a storybook marriage in Tomorrow. (Joseph Anthony, 72; PHOTOG: Allan Green)

The gold's gone outta this town in Yellow Sky. (William A. Wellman, 48; PHOTOG: Joe McDonald)

One boulder makes hilarious contact in Seven Chances. (Buster Keaton, 25; PHOTOG: Byron Houck, Elgin Lessly (uncredited))

The sunny side of the street. Jammin’ The Blues. (Gjon Mili, 44; PHOTOG: Robert Burks)

Tomorrow: Color returns for 36 more times!

Part One of this six-part series is right here,
while Part Two is here.