1996--The Year in Review

Even though I absolutely adore all of the films in my top 20 (and especially in my top five), the picture I’ve easily chosen as 1996's champ is so magnificent, I cannot even measure my love for it. Lars Von Trier's Breaking the Waves is an otherworldly dive into devotion and faith that astounds me again and again. Honestly, it contains one of the three most devastating performances in cinema history (I would put Faconetti's The Passion of Joan D'Arc and Brando's A Streetcar Named Desire in that top three). If it weren’t for the unmatchable Emily Watson, the four-year-old Victoire Thivisol, winner of the Venice Film Festival's Best Actress accolade, would have definitely gotten my choice as Best Actress for her remarkably prescient performance as Ponette (actually, the entire 1996 Best Actress roster is just completely out of hand with greatness--1996 might be the best year for female actors since the 1950s). Yet Emily Watson--in her debut feature performance--is superb as the fiercely faithful, love-starved Bess McNeill; her performance, in fact, seems beyond comprehension (it probably helped that she had rarely been in front of a camera before, even if her relationship to it seems altogether magical). Von Trier, along with his athletic photographer Robby Muller and an astute team of editors, created a film work that is truly unlike anything ever seen--it's so emotionally powerful, you feel like you've been wholly remade after seeing it (its final shot kills you with a devastating gut punch--you have to rub your eyes to take it in). Yes, I love the Coen Brothers' Fargo like everyone else does--it's definitely the best American movie of the year. And I adore Billy Bob Thornton's debut film Sling Blade nearly as much--his lead performance as Karl Childers, an insightful yet slow-minded murderer released into the real world, is easily among the most staggering actor-to-character transformations in cinema (Thornton also wrote and directed the film in an equally singular fashion--it's a shame he hasn't been able to match it; the difficulty of getting a movie made and seen has really gotten to him). 1996 was a dazzling year for independent films, so much so that nearly all of the Best Picture nominees that year hailed from indie outlets. The eventual Best Picture winner, Anthony Minghella's moving epic The English Patient (which wrongfully though predictably swept the awards), helped mint Harvey and Bob Weinstein's Miramax Films as a go-to spot for filmmakers looking to tell more challenging stories. From here on to the present day, the Weinsteins' efforts would be considered Oscar gold. 1996, as such, stands as a cinematic milestone. 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: BREAKING THE WAVES (Denmark/UK, Lars Von Trier)
(2nd: Fargo (US, Joel Coen)
followed by: Sling Blade (US, Billy Bob Thornton)
Secrets and Lies (UK, Mike Leigh)
Ponette (France, Jacques Doillon)
Flirting With Disaster (US, David O. Russell)
Citizen Ruth (US, Alexander Payne)
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (US, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky)
Lone Star (US, John Sayles)
Bottle Rocket (US, Wes Anderson)
Trainspotting (UK, Danny Boyle)
Bastard Out of Carolina (US, Angelica Huston)
Trees Lounge (US, Steve Buscemi)
The English Patient (UK/US, Anthony Minghella)
Hamsun (Sweden/ Norway, Jan Troell)
Hamlet (UK, Kenneth Branagh)
Schitzopolis (US, Steven Soderburgh)
The Quiet Room (Australia/Italy/France, Rolf de Heer)
Microcosmos (France, Claude Muridsany and Marie Perennou)
The People Vs. Larry Flynt (US, Milos Forman)
La Promesse (Belgium, Jean-Luc Dardenne and Pierre Dardenne)
Freeway (US, Matthew Bright)
Hard Eight (US, Paul Thomas Anderson)
Beautiful Thing (UK, Hettie Macdonald)
When We Were Kings (US, Leon Gast)
Fly Away Home (US, Carroll Ballard)
Tesis (Spain, Alejandro Amenabar)
Box of Moonlight (US, Tom DiCillo)
The Whole Wide World (US, Dan Ireland)
Mother Night (US, Keith Gordon)
The Nutty Professor (US, Tom Shadyac)
Jude (UK, Michael Winterbottom)
Emma (US, Douglas McGrath)
The Crucible (US, Nicholas Hynter)
William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (US, Baz Luhrmann)
The Cable Guy (US, Ben Stiller)
Executive Decision (US, Stuart Baird)
Ridicule (France, Patrice Leconte)
Beavis and Butthead Do America (US, Mike Judge)
Pusher (Denmark, Nicolas Winding Refr)
Love Serenade (Australia, Shirley Barrett)
Courage Under Fire (US, Edward Zwick)
Big Night (US, Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci)
Beautiful Girls (US, Ted Demme)
Grace of My Heart (US, Allison Anders)
Saint Clara (Israel, Ari Folman and Ori Sivan)
Project Grizzly (Canada, Peter Lynch)
The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story (US, Susan Warms Dryfoos)
The Funeral (US, Abel Ferrara)
James and the Giant Peach (US, Henry Selick)
Swingers (US, Doug Liman)
The Rock (US, Michael Bay)
Kingpin (US, Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly)
Bound (US, Larry Wachowski and Andy Wachowski)
Crash (Canada, David Cronenberg)
Brassed Off (UK, Mark Herman)
Everyone Says I Love You (US, Woody Allen)
Jerry Maguire (US, Cameron Crowe)
Kolya (Czech Republic, Jan Sverak)
Mars Attacks (US, Tim Burton)
Shine (Australia, Scott Hicks)
Michael Collins (US/UK, Neil Jordan)
Scream (US, Wes Craven)



ACTOR: Billy Bob Thornton, SLING BLADE (2nd: Owen Wilson, Bottle Rocket, followed by: Eddie Murphy, The Nutty Professor; Max Von Sydow, Hamsun; Timothy Spall, Secrets and Lies; Woody Harrelson, The People Vs. Larry Flynt; Stellan Skarsgaard, Breaking The Waves; Kenneth Branugh, Hamlet; Steve Buscemi, Trees Lounge)



ACTRESS: Emily Watson, BREAKING THE WAVES (2nd: Victoire Thivisol, Ponette, followed by: Laura Dern, Citizen Ruth; Frances McDormand, Fargo; Brenda Blethyn, Secrets and Lies; Reese Witherspoon, Freeway; Patricia Arquette, Flirting with Disaster; Kristin Scott Thomas, The English Patient; Jena Malone, Bastard Out of Carolina)



SUPPORTING ACTOR: William H. Macy, FARGO (2nd: Dwight Yoakam, Sling Blade, followed by: Edward Norton, Primal Fear; Steve Buscemi, Fargo; Robert Carlyle, Trainspotting; Noah Taylor, Shine; Cuba Gooding Jr., Jerry Maguire; Paul Scofield, The Crucible; John Ritter, Sling Blade)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Katrin Cartlidge, BREAKING THE WAVES (2nd: Courtney Love, The People Vs. Larry Flynt, followed by: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Secrets and Lies; Juliette Binoche, The English Patient; Natalie Portman, Beautiful Girls; Mary Tyler Moore, Flirting With Disaster; Debbie Reynolds, Mother; Barbara Hershey, The Portrait of a Lady; Joan Allen, The Crucible)

DIRECTOR: Lars Von Trier, BREAKING THE WAVES (2nd: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Fargo, followed by: Mike Leigh, Secrets and Lies; Jacques Doillon, Ponette; Billy Bob Thornton, Sling Blade; Danny Boyle, Trainspotting; David O. Russell, Flirting With Disaster; Anthony Minghella, The English Patient; John Sayles, Lone Star)



NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM: PONETTE (France, Jacques Doillon) (2nd: The Quiet Room (Netherlands, Rolf de Heer), followed by: Hamsun (Germany/Norway/Sweden/Denmark, Jan Troell); La Promesse (Belgium, Jean-Luc Dardenne and Pierre Dardenne); Tesis (Spain, Alejandro Amenabar); Ridicule (France, Patrice Leconte); Saint Clara (Israel, Ari Folman and Ori Sivan); Kolya (Czech Republic, Jan Sverak))

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: PARADISE LOST: THE CHILD MURDERS AT ROBIN HOOD HILLS (US, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky) (2nd: When We Were Kings (US, Leon Gast), followed by: Microcosmos (France/Switzerland/Italy, Claude Nuridsany and Marie Perennou); Project Grizzly (Canada, Peter Lynch); The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story (US, Susan Warms Dryfoos))

ANIMATED FEATURE: BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD DO AMERICA (US, Mike Judge) (2nd: James and the Giant Peach (US, Henry Selick))



ANIMATED SHORT: WAT'S PIG (UK, Peter Lord) (2nd: Quest (Germany, Tyron Montgomery), followed by: Canhead (US, Timothy Hittle))



LIVE ACTION SHORT: THE WILD BUNCH: AN ALBUM IN MONTAGE (US, Paul Seydor and Nick Redman), followed by: Around the World (France, Michel Gondry); Kill The Day (Scotland, Lynne Ramsay); Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O’Brien (US, Jessica Yu) (won as Documentary Short); Commingled Containers (US, Stan Brakhage))



ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, FARGO (2nd: Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Citizen Ruth, followed by: John Sayles, Lone Star; Mike Leigh, Secrets and Lies; Lars Von Trier and Peter Asmussen, Breaking the Waves)



ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Billy Bob Thornton, SLING BLADE (2nd: John Hodge, Trainspotting, followed by: Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson, Bottle Rocket; Anne Meredith, Bastard Out of Carolina; Anthony Minghella, The English Patient)

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Robby Muller, BREAKING THE WAVES (2nd: John Seale, The English Patient, followed by: Caleb Deschanel, Fly Away Home; Roger Deakins, Fargo; Chris Menges, Michael Collins)

ART DIRECTION: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S ROMEO + JULIET, Hamlet, Evita, The English Patient, Ridicule

COSTUME DESIGN: HAMLET, Ridicule, Emma, The English Patient, The Portrait of a Lady



FILM EDITING: BREAKING THE WAVES, Fargo, Trainspotting, Evita, The Rock 



SOUND: THE ROCK, Twister, The English Patient, The Ghost and the Darkness, Evita

SOUND EFFECTS: TWISTER, The Rock, Daylight



ORIGINAL SCORE: Carter Burwell, FARGO (2nd: Daniel Lanois, Sling Blade, followed by: Gabriel Yared, The English Patient; Rachel Portman, Emma; Howard Shore, Crash)



ADAPTED SCORE/SCORE OF A MUSICAL:  David Caddick and Andrew Lloyd Webber, EVITA (2nd: Adam Schlesinger, That Thing You Do, followed by: Dick Hyman, Everyone Says I Love You) 

 

ORIGINAL SONG: “God Give Me Strength” from GRACE OF MY HEART (Music and lyrics by Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello) (2nd: “That Thing You Do” from That Thing You Do (Music and lyrics by Adam Schlesinger), followed by: “Trees Lounge” from Trees Lounge (Music and lyrics by Hayden); "You Must Love Me" from Evita (Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Tim Rice); “Because You Loved Me” from Up Close and Personal (Music and lyrics by Diane Warren))

SPECIAL EFFECTS: INDEPENDENCE DAY, The Nutty Professor, Multiplicity



MAKEUP: THE NUTTY PROFESSOR, The Crucible, Evita

2012 Atlanta Film Festival review: BASICALLY FRIGHTENED: THE MUSICAL MADNESS OF COL. BRUCE HAMPTON

It's taken over seven years (and 300 hours of footage) for the filmmakers to get a handle on its structure, but the documentary about legendary musical guru Col. Bruce Hampton is finally here, and it's named Basically Frightened, after the good colonel's poetic, funny (he's a VERY funny guy, Hampton), and bluesy list-song about things that give him the willies.  Given that he's one of the most daring personalities ever to hit a stage (and we're talking Frank Zappa-type daring here; Zappa was a contemporary and a fan), after seeing this vastly entertaining tribute piece you might well think that Hampton really isn't afraid of anything, except maybe his own shadow.  He's been in the music biz for five decades now while flying decidedly under the radar, except to say that he's been tremendously influential to the jam band movement best represented by those who often headline the famed H.O.R.D.E. festival, including Dave Matthews, The Allman Brothers, Derek Trucks, The Grateful Dead, Blues Traveller, Phish, Widespread Panic, Unknown Hinson, Peter Buck (of REM), Susan Tedeschi, and Rolling Stones associate Chuck Leavell (also repped here is the late Phil Walden, the CEO of Capricorn Records, who goes on record as labeling Hampton "the Vincent Van Gogh of rock 'n roll").   Each of these artists have veered from their road schedules to provide interviews singing the praises of their "crazed uncle," and this is certainly a feature of Basically Frightened that will help it find its audience.



Also represented here is Billy Bob Thornton, who cut his directorial teeth in the early 90s by helming a video featuring Col. Bruce and one of his many bands (the colonel has led, most famously, the Hampton Grease Band, The Lost Ones, The Aquarium Rescue Unit, and his present outfit The Pharaoh Gummint).  Thornton went on to cast Hampton in a key scene for his Oscar-winning Sling Blade, in which the colonel plays the idiosyncratic lyricist for Dwight Yoakam's troubled troupe (the late, great Vic Chesnutt provides the music). That was the first time I'd ever seen Col. Bruce Hampton, even though I'm a native Atlantan.   In the years before Sling Blade, I had read Hampton's name as it headlined many an Atlanta music venue, but I'd somehow missed seeing the man in action until 2005, when I finally met him at an October 26th gig in Tucker, GA.  I walked into the place and shook his hand, and he said "Happy birthday" to me.  I was awe-struck.   How could he have known that today was my birthday?

But, in fact, he does this with everybody.  The documentary even has a segment devoted to this unusual talent, which keys into Hampton's otherworldly connection to the writhings of the universe.  Col. Bruce seems to be a magnet and conductor for inexplicable phenomenon.   One of Basically Frightened's memorable moments has a few of Hampton's cohorts describing an on-the-road shake-up during which all witnessed a UFO arrival near a many-peopled mountaintop.  A newcomer might chalk this sort of thing up to some sort of reductive acid flashback, but the film makes it clear that Col. Bruce and his band are vehemently anti-drug (at least, for their own purposes).  Their wildness comes naturally, even onstage, where there seems to exist a miraculous telepathy between Hampton and his bandmates.   The UFO sequence, like most of the movie, is goosed with underground-comix-flavored graphics by Joe Peary, whose work helps break up the film's tremendously talky visage.

And that brings me to my one major complaint with Basically Frightened: it's yakkity-yak all the way.  In its zeal to educate, it sometimes becomes headsy and pedantic.  The film begins with a tidal wave of praise from people you might know better that Hampton, and it subsequently seems to plead the viewer to dig deeper into this musical treasure (the problem here is that much of Bruce's output is hard to access nowadays).  But I feel that, in movies, showing is better than telling and, save for one powerful segment, Basically Frightened is afraid to let Col. Bruce's music take center stage.  I've since seen Hampton live three times, and the thing that strikes me about his acumen is his loving inclusion of all musical styles.  In a Hampton live show, you might hear pure funk, followed by bluesy travelling, and then with a delve into classic country music.  Then, in the middle, you might get total performance-artist wildness.  But Basically Frightened prefers the wildness, because it's more visual (the sight of Col. Bruce speaking tongues at a microphone IS something extraordinary).

However, rarely does the soundtrack allow for anything other note except "weird."  Hampton's music serves as background for the interviews, but it registers as nothing but noise.  It's no surprise that the film's most effective sequence concludes with the brilliant "Hallifax," off of the Hampton Grease Band's notoriously low-selling debut double-disc Music to Eat.  It helps that the story of Hampton's promising-then-disappointing major label bow is classic documentary material (this is also the film's only emotional low-point).  But the fact that directors Michael Koepenick and Tom Lawson III cap this sequence with a full minute of Hampton's incredible song, which goes on for a trip-taking nine minutes on the album, lets us breathe a little bit while companioned only by the music and photographed scenes from 1969's Atlanta Music Festival.  Full disclosure: I saw a rough cut of this movie back in the mid-2000s, because one of my best friends Tim O'Donnell, was hard at work editing the piece, and did so with tremendous results alongside his fellow editors.  But, with all the performance footage shot for this film, it surprises me that the final product--timing in at around 90 minutes--doesn't allow for more unencumbered moments of musical bliss.   Midway through watching Basically Frightened, I wondered if a Stop Making Sense-style concert movie might do a better job of introducing the masses to Col. Bruce; I could see it leading to impassioned record-buying much more effectively than do the adoring words from a coterie of the man's well-loved admirers. I have to admit that watching the movie proved to be a respectful intro to this this monumental artist.  In that way, I think Basically Frightened does its job--but only as a primer.  I contend a meticulously-filmed stage performance is absolutely in order.  The brave and never self-important Col. Bruce Hampton, Ret. deserves another tribute, this time purely tune- and performance-based.

Courtesy of my friend Rich Gedney (who did the camerawork here), I took some time out at the Atlanta Film Festival closing party to interview director Michael Koepenick regarding his impassioned involvement with this project.   Check it out...

Forgotten Movie Songs #4: "The Maker" from SLING BLADE

Super-producer Daniel Lanois had twisted the sound knobs for artists like U2, Bob Dylan and Peter Gabriel long before he composed the thoughtful, isolation-flavored score to Billy Bob Thornton's 1996 directorial debut, Sling Blade. As a capper to this movie about the long-hospitalized Karl Childers and his loving and violent adventures outside institution walls, Lanois offered up a forceful yet gracious closing credits song called "The Maker." The song wasn't written for the film, surprisingly, though it works splendidly as commentary on a story that sports dark notions about how we fight one evil with another and, as a bonus, it weaves in religious commentary where Thornton's film often was just too subtly-written to tread. I'm sure that Thornton--a musician himself--garnered great inspiration from this song while writing Sling Blade, and that it led him to hire Lanois as a composer of what still stands as a outstanding rock-based score.

Here is a circa-1990 live performance of "The Maker," music and lyrics by Daniel Lanois.



Oh, oh deep water
Black, and cold like the night
I stand with arms wide open
I've run a twisted mile
I'm a stranger
in the eyes of the maker

I could not see
For fog in my eyes
I could not feel
For the fear in my life
From across the great divide
In the distance I saw a light
Jean Baptiste
Walking to me with the maker

My body is bent and broken
By long and dangerous leaps
I can't work the fields of Abraham
and turn my head away
I'm not a stranger
In the hands of the maker

Brother John
Have you seen the homeless daughters
Standing there with broken wings
I have seen the flaming swords
There over east of Eden
Burning in the eyes of the maker
Burning in the eyes of the maker
Burning in the eyes of the maker
Burning in the eyes of the maker

Oh river, rise from your sleep