2004

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Director: Michel Gondry)
Nominees: Million Dollar Baby, Brothers (Brødre), My Summer of Love, Maria Full of Grace, 2046, Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, The Aviator, Before Sunset, Moolaade, Nobody Knows, Sideways

Oscars pick: Million Dollar Baby
Nominees: The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Ray, Sideways

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is an imaginative tale, as spot-on and devastatingly honest a look at love as has ever been filmed. Jim Carrey has never been better and Kate Winslet is a captivating independent spirit – they play former lovers who have gone through a procedure to erase the memory of their relationship from their minds. Thing is, Carrey is fighting to hold on to these priceless moments.

While I saw a lot of superb movies in '04, there were few that offered as singular, distinctive and elevated a viewing experience as what writer Charlie Kaufman and director Michel Gondry cooked up with Eternal Sunshine. I exited the theater gobsmacked. Sunshine is an original, thoughtful examination on the value of memory. It’s touching but also a surreal super freak-out and a tad scary. It doesn't take the cheap and predictable road on its ending. The couple doesn’t vow to change and make it work come hell or high water... they know the landmines waiting for them, but it's, okay.

This one was a real, real close call - as I adore Million Dollar Baby, the Clint Eastwood directed story about a broken-down manager and his phenom (Hilary Swank). The boxing and training scenes, the look at this fringe culture was transfixing. But Eastwood, who delves into life's gray areas better than anyone, and screenwriter Paul Haggis (working from a story by F.X. Toole) makes this more than boxing. It's about missed opportunities, regret, and redemption.

While the material is familiar, it's given a telling that is fresh and takes an unexpected turn at the end... and what a crushing turn it was. There are few movies that leave me as emotionally gutted as Million Dollar Baby.

Baby and Sunshine were movies that took me someplace new, had me experiencing a whole different level of emotional or intellectual high. And on film-making technique, they excel.   Emotional and intellectual resonance was the overall buzzwords this year. Susan Bier's brilliant wartime story Brothers was another that knocked the breath from my lungs (it features one of the saddest, heartbreaking final lines in cinema history) - and Moolaade from Senegalese writer and director Ousmane Sembène (which addresses the subject of female genital mutilation) strikes a similar chord.

Acting? This was an incredible season, which made it so, so difficult to pick just one. Honestly, I wish I could have called a 5-way tie for Best Actor (and the men behind them are no slouches.) In the end, I was most impressed with Mathieu Amalric. Here's the reason why...

Those eyes – Amalric’s eyes are alight with intelligence and weary amusement. They are expressively child-like and alternatively incredulous. When we meet Ismaël, he’s being hauled off to a Psyche ward – and from the start, the performance is hilarious, full of unbridled kinetic energy – but it is also filled with hurt and the ability to hurt. As John Cribs pointed out - "Ismaël is locked up in a mental ward, not because he’s certifiably crazy but because his uniqueness threatens the world order around him." Mathieu embodies that uniqueness brilliantly and his characters turbulent, artistic mind is a wonder to behold. Ismaël Vuillard isn't always a nice man, but he's never boring and Mathieu's skilled at keeping him from becoming a completely distasteful figure, even in his worst moments, he remains charming and likable.

Best Actor: Mathieu Amalric, Kings and Queen
Honorable Mentions:
Jim Carrey, Eternal Sunshine * Don Cheadle, Hotel Rwanda * Bruno Ganz, Downfall * Bill Murray, Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou * Javier Bardem, The Sea Inside * Ulrich Thomsen, Brothers * Paul Giamatti, Sideways * Christian Bale, The Machinist * Birol Ünel, Head-On * Leonardo DiCaprio, Aviator 

Best Actress: Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake
Honorable Mentions:
Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind * Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby * Catalina Sandino Moreno, Maria Full of Grace * Julie Delpy, Before Sunset * Fatoumata Coulibaly, Moolaadé * Sibel Kekilli, Head-On * Emmanuelle Devos, Kings and Queen * Natalie Press & Emily Blunt, My Summer of Love

Supporting Actress: Ziyi Zhang, 2046

Supporting Actor: Clive Owen, Closer

Other movies I enjoyed? Spider-Man 2, Garden State, The Incredibles, Hellboy, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, House of Flying Daggers, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Hotel Rwanda, Kings and Queen, Super Size Me, Mean Girls, Howl’s Moving Castle, Primer, A Very Long Engagement, The Chorus, Duck Season, Ray, and Downfall

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2003

Lost in Translation (Director: Sofia Coppola)
Nominees: Memories of Murder, Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks, Cold Mountain, Oldboy, End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones, The Best of Youth, Spring Summer Fall Winter…and Spring, Mystic River

Oscars pick: Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Nominees: Lost in Translation, Master and Commander: Far Side of the World, Mystic River, Seabiscuit 

Sofia Coppola directed Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson at their very best, in a movie about those beautiful connections that -while brief- stay with you for a lifetime. Brian Orndorf wrote – ”A relationship picture with elegant connective tissue; it's brittle and real, focused on the nuances of body language and unspoken desire, while indulging in a cheeky bit of knowing absurdity when the mood strikes."

That's a most brilliant movie summary, what more can I add?

I like how honest it is, how achingly tender the bond that develops between these two people.  I like the sense that even though they are in this crowded city surrounded by people, there's a loneliness that’s only capped when they are together.  It doesn't over-romanticize it, or overplay the little joys or hurts that come with any relationship. It doesn't overplay or over-explain anything. It just allows it to breathe and be observed.

I know of some folks who dislike it, dislike the measured pacing and minimalist story (the Oscar-winning script was basically 20/30 pages of notes) - but it's a special film for me - one that moves me every time I see it. I think I relate to that sense of feeling lost, needing to move, to do something -anything- though you're not sure of the how's or what's or where's needed to make such a decision. But you make a connection with someone and for a while, it's all, okay. Other movies have addressed this idea, but none so effectively as Translation; none linger and leave as deep an impression.

While I admire it for subjective reasons, it is also praiseworthy on the objective -- as in the contributions of editor Sarah Flack and cinematographer Lance Accord (I love the way this film is framed. There are picture postcard perfect shots throughout).  Their skillful involvement helped shape the look and rhythm of the film. All told – it's not only the best of the year but also my 'film of the decade'.

Oscar winner, LOTR: Return of the King didn't do a whole lot for me. It didn't help that the ending was a big stick - it refused to bow out until it had beaten me senseless with all that forced pathos. LOTR was a nice adventure with great production values, but I don’t feel that translates into "Best Picture of the year".

My top actor? It could be no other. I love Bill in just about anything, but he exceeded even my great expectations and showed a fuller, deeper side to his talents in Translation. There's not an abundance of dialogue, but he can say a lot through body language and expression. And without those grace notes, I don’t know that the film would have been as successful. Lisa Schwarzbaum wrote, "working opposite the embracing, restful serenity of Johansson, Murray reveals something more commanding in his repose than we have ever seen before. Trimmed to a newly muscular, rangy handsomeness and in complete rapport with his character's hard-earned acceptance of life's limitations, Murray turns in a great performance"

Best Actress: Toni Collette, Japanese Story
Honorable Mentions: 

Evan Rachel Wood, Thirteen & The Missing * Scarlett Johansson, Lost in Translation & Girl with a Pearl Earring * Cate Blanchett, Veronica Guerin & The Missing * Naomi Watts, 21 Grams * Jennifer Connelly, House of Sand and Fog * Patricia Clarkson, The Station Agent & Pieces of April * Anna Geislerová, Zelary

Best Actor: Bill Murray, Lost in Translation (pictured top)
Honorable Mentions:
Paul Giamatti, American Splendor * Choi Min-sik, Oldboy * Peter Dinklage, The Station Agent * Song Kang-ho, Memories of Murder * Ewan McGregor, Big Fish * Ben Kingsley, House of Sand and Fog * Rémy Girard, Barbarian Invasions * William H. Macy, The Cooler * Daniel Brühl, Goodbye, Lenin!

Supporting Actress: Marie-Josée Croze, The Barbarian Invasions

Supporting Actor: Nick Nolte, Hulk (pictured above)








Other movies I enjoyed includes X-Men United, Hulk, American Splendor, A Mighty Wind, The Missing, Underworld, Finding Nemo, The Station Agent, Elf, Bon Voyage, Owning Mahowny, Big Fish, The Barbarian Invasions, Down to the Bone, Zelary, The Human Stain, Down with Love


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2002

Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar)
Nominees: The Man Without a Past, Lilya 4-Ever, The Quiet American, Hero, City of God, Chicago, Spider-Man, About Schmidt, Dirty Pretty Things, Russian Ark, Twilight Samurai, Infernal Affairs

Oscars pick: Chicago
Nominees: Gangs of New York, The Hours, LOTR: Two Towers, The Pianist

I thought Chicago was fine entertainment, and for me, it was the best of the Oscar noms. It has great music, great performances, and a lively spirit that won me over. I do agree with the criticism that the direction had its problems. The MTV-style edits undercut the dance sequences (modern directors need to watch old Fred Astaire movies and learn how to film a dancer, by letting the dancer do most of the work, not the cameraman and editor)

While I don’t hate it, the love the Pianist receives eludes me, because nothing happens in it. I didn't get a great feeling of drama nor was I interested in this guy. He mostly just hides from the Nazis and that's it. I've seen this subject covered extensively and with so much more life and intensity. It's from Roman Polanski so the direction and camera work is assured – nevertheless, I was underwhelmed by the story, and found the telling rather dispassionate.

So I agree with Oscar (at least within the scope of their nominees) that Chicago was the best picture, but for director, I would have gone with Pedro Almodóvar (who received his first and only Best Director nod).

As for the rest of Oscar's brood? I wasn’t hot for the highly touted The Hours, LOTR: Two Towers or Scorsese's broad and cartoonish Gangs of New York. 

I prefer others, such as City of God – Which is a gripping look at a crime-riddled slum in Rio de Janeiro through the eyes of an aspiring young photographer. The piece bristles with the uneasy prospect of violence waiting in every frame. The characters are plentiful and brought to life vividly. 

Zhang Yimou's beautiful-looking Hero, is distinguished by its bittersweet romance and acts of heroism in which vengeance is swayed through words and self-sacrifice, rather than by the sword.

Beyond those (and my other nominees), there were three that I couldn't get out of my head:

The Man Without a Past is an odd, funnily deadpan and sweet Finnish film from director Aki Kaurismaki. It's about a man who loses his memory after he is robbed and beaten. He later befriends some poor folks and falls for a gal who works for the Salvation Army. MWAP is one of the quirkiest romantic comedies I've ever seen. For one, hardly anyone smiles in it -it’s like a cast full of Buster Keaton's- and that makes the dialog all the more hilarious. The bits where the protagonist introduces the Salvation Army Band to rock and roll (and gets them gigs to play for the poor and homeless) is a charming hoot and is one of several memorable sequences. It's an eccentric flick, minimalist in style, but full of wise observations about the nature of man. It might not be to everyone's taste, but it is consummate filmmaking.

The Quiet American - Director Philip Noyce's powerful adaptation of Graham Greene's complex novel, is a love triangle set in the tumultuous backdrop of 50s Vietnam. Michael Caine earned a well-deserved Oscar nomination playing the jaded British reporter, Thomas Fowler. His performance is abounding with nuance and the eloquent dialog he's given captures Greene at his finest. Brendan Fraser is solid as the idealist Alden Pyle. Pyle is a more fully rounded character here than he was in the novel (where he was simply a paper caricature representing America's arrogance). The piece is poignant without stumbling into sappy melodrama, intense without sacrificing its heart. Beautifully photographed and framed - The political mystery, murder, and romance is woven together in a seamless, spellbinding way, and it carries a genuine emotional impact

Talk To Her - As with most films by Pedro Almodóvar, "Talk" is a frank, funny and at times, uncomfortable look at relationships. In it, two men who pine for women in comas, meet in a hospital – they become friends and share stories of their beloveds, though, for each, that love is unrequited. As expected Almodóvar presents some disturbing angles, but he also draws up fascinating personalities and a thought-provoking story.

Three years after the Oscar win for All About My Mother comes yet another powerhouse - the director was really at his peak, putting on display everything that defines his work: The absurdity and breaking of taboos, the colorful set design, the soapy romantic entanglements, and the fully formed characters. It's quintessential and essential Almodóvar.

Though it's tough to have multiple equal favorites, I elected to go with Talk as my best picture.

Other movies I enjoyed on the year include: The Ring, Heaven, Lovely and Amazing, Bloody Sunday, Blade II, The Bourne Identity, Stuart Little 2, Whale Rider, Bend it Like Beckham, Raising Victor Vargas, Oasis, The Good Girl, Auto Focus, Far From Heaven, The Son (Le fils), He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, and 24 Hour Party People.

Best Actor: Michael Caine, The Quiet American
Honorable Mentions: 

Jack Nicholson, About Schmidt * Adrien Brody, The Pianist * Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Infernal Affairs * Nicolas Cage, Adaptation * Mads Mikkelsen, Open Hearts * Ralph Fiennes, Spider * Robin Williams, One-Hour Photo * Ray Liotta, Narc * Chiwetel Ejiofor, Dirty Pretty Things * Hiroyuki Sanada, The Twilight Samurai

Best Actress: Oksana Akinshina, Lilya 4-Ever
Honorable Mentions: 

Salma Hayek, Frida * Naomi Watts, The Ring * Kati Outinen, The Man Without a Past * Catherine Keener, Lovely & Amazing * Samantha Morton, Morvern Callar * Julianne Moore, Far From Heaven * Renée Zellweger, Chicago * Jennifer Aniston, The Good Girl * Audrey Tautou, Dirty Pretty Things

Supporting Actor: Paul Newman, Road to Perdition

Supporting Actress: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago


Note: My Hon Mentions for the actresses was overflowing and I was running out of room, but I also liked the cast of The Hours (Kidman, Moore, Streep, Janney, Richardson, Collette, etc)


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2000

Yi Yi (Director: Edward Yang)
Nominees: Traffic, Almost Famous, O Brother, Where Art Thou? Memento, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Peppermint Candy, The Day I Became a Woman, In the Mood for Love, Amores Perros, The Captive

Oscars pick: Gladiator
Nominees: Chocolat, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Erin Brockovich, Traffic

2000 got off to a rocky start, with Oscar selecting the paper-thin Gladiator as its best picture. My brother loves this film -- I say it's no Spartacus and didn't even deserve a nomination, let alone the award. Of the Academy's choices, they should have gone with Traffic. They gave Soderbergh the directorial award but screwed him on the Best Picture. I didn't care too much for Soderbergh's Erin Brockovich, I found it hackneyed -- and if Brockovich really is like that, then she's an abrasive cliché.

If not Traffic, then the Academy should have selected Ang Lee’s wuxia film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (which they gave the foreign award to). Aside from that, they left off too many goodies, such as Cameron Crowe's love letter to the music biz, Almost Famous or the Coen Brother's hilarious odyssey, O Brother Where Art Thou? which featured a winning soundtrack collection of folk, county, bluegrass, and gospel tunes - and had folks digging on the classic, "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow".

Out of them all, there was one delightful find that jumped to the top of the pops, Edward Yang’s Yi Yi.

The title means "Individual" in Chinese and is the first word in their dictionary. The movie runs nearly 3 hours and at a deliberate pace, but if you're patient the story offers rich rewards. It's a contemplative piece about average everyday people who wrestle with the meaning of life. Beautifully acted and directed, with a script that’s inspired. Yi Yi is about as deeply moving and insightful a film as I've ever seen.

Blogger Simon Ferrari considers it the 'film of the decade' and noted how the movie addresses,” …the clash in East Asia between tradition and westernization, morality and technology, youth and age. About the disintegration and reconciliation of a sprawling family", he continues by adding, "Its cinematography is finely-tuned, with entire conversations caught in reflections on glass surfaces, long takes, and incredible depth of field. It is funny, heartbreaking, perfect."

Nick Rogers said that it... "scratches the identifiable itch to reach out for what we've loved, set free and had come back, perhaps still not meant to be: jobs, lovers, freedoms, opportunities."

Yi Yi is one of those movies that sticks with you. Days, even weeks later it would return to my mind. Characters like the little boy pictured above, who takes photographs of people backs because he wants to show them what they cannot see. A thought that reflects the philosophy of the entire film – there is another side to every story, there are things in life that we do not see clearly.

Movies I didn't nominate but like a lot, include: Girlfight, Best in Show (and a shout out to that cast), Ginger Snaps, Unbreakable, X-Men, Quills, You Can Count on Me, Panic, State and Main (Macy is great here, but Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Rebecca Pidgeon steal the show), Audition, Two Family House, The Big Kahuna (with Danny DeVito at his best), to name more than a few

And other actors I liked... David Thewlis, Paul Bettany, and Malcolm McDowell in Gangster No 1, Sol Kyung-gu in Peppermint Candy, Chow Yun-Fat in Crouching Tiger, George Clooney in O Brother Where Art Thou? Kate Winslet in Quills, Ériq Ebouaney, Lumumba.

Best Actor: Tom Hanks, Cast Away
Honorable Mentions:
Mark Ruffalo, You Can Count on Me * Guy Pearce, Memento * Ed Harris, Pollack * Willem Dafoe, Shadow of the Vampire * Geoffrey Rush, Quills * Stellan Skarsgård, Aberdeen * Tony Leung Chiu Wai, In the Mood for Love * Javier Bardem, Before Night Falls * William H. Macy & Donald Sutherland, Panic * Lee Byung-hun, Joint Security Area * Kōji Yakusho, Eureka * Eric Bana, Chopper

Best Actress: Ellen Burstyn, Requiem for a Dream
Honorable Mentions:
Laura Linney, You Can Count on Me * Bjork, Dancer in the Dark * Gillian Anderson, The House of Mirth * Aoi Miyazaki, Eureka * Marie-Josée Croze, Maelström * Lena Headey, Aberdeen * Sylvie Testud, The Captive * Maggie Cheung, In the Mood for Love * Marcia Gay Harden, Pollock 

Supporting Actress: Jennifer Connelly, Requiem for a Dream

Nominee: Zhang Ziyi, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 

Supporting Actor: Emilio Echevarria, Amores Perros
Nominee: Samuel L. Jackson, Unbreakable






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2001

The Royal Tenenbaums (Director: Wes Anderson)
Nominees: Spirited Away, The Others, The Devil's Backbone, Ghost World, Amélie, Read My Lips, Moulin Rouge! Remembrance of Things to Come, Fragile as the World

Oscars pick: A Beautiful Mind
Nominees: Gosford Park, In the Bedroom, LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring, Moulin Rouge!

In the late 90s a group of American filmmakers with a distinct, idiosyncratic voice burst on the scene -- among them, Paul Thomas Anderson, Alexander Payne, writer Charlie Kaufman, and Wes Anderson. In 2001 Wes directed what I consider his perfect movie. Tenenbaums is about a family of child protégés who are unable to translate these talents into successes as adults, but who find a measure of grace after reuniting during their fathers (believed) terminal illness. The film is one that improves with each viewing, probably because it is so detailed and richly textured: Every piece collaborates to create the tenor of the film, nothing is out of tune with the other: The colorful ensemble cast, the distinct music, the smart dialog, and ironic humor, the camerawork that emphasizes a singular style -- all of these elements coalesce in scenes that burn into my consciousness (Richie's suicide attempt, his and Margot's declaration of love in a tent, Henry and Etheline's kiss coming after a pratfall and confession, the look on Margot's face as she gets off a bus).

What sets this film apart from the whimsical Amélie (which I liked and nominated) and other quirky movies, is that I never feel like Wes is being cute to show off, or because he's trying to prove he's a hip, eccentric guy. He created this world and it's an odd place, but it's honest, it's true to itself – it doesn't mock its characters (e.g. Napoleon Dynamite) -- at its core, it has depth and purity. And as an examination of the family dynamic, it’s every bit as perceptive as Welles's Ambersons.

This was a close race, and I could have easily chosen Spirited Away, which tells of a 10-year-old girl, caught in a magical world where she needs to find a way to help her parents who were turned into pigs. Hayao Miyazaki's imaginative animated classic draws from Japanese folklore, which is enchanting, scary, and unpredictable. It won the Oscar for best animated feature and is considered by many to be the director/writer's supreme masterpiece (though I lean a little more towards Princess Mononoke -- they are pretty near equal. What La Dolce Vita and 8 ½ are to Fellini, Spirited & Mononoke are to Miyazaki)

Oscar-wise: While not a bad movie, I never connected with A Beautiful Mind, its characters and story didn't spark much interest or empathy in me. And though it's a dangerous thing to say within earshot of fanboys, LOTR I find ponderous, loaded with pomposity (and whiny emo Frodo gets on my last nerve). The Academy's other nominees are solid, Moulin Rouge is a gorgeous splash of color with inventive choreography (though some of the over-the-top humor irritated, see the wince-inducing "Like a Virgin" sequence) and Altman's Gosford Park is a well told and acted tale.

Acting Awards:
David Lynch's Mulholland Drive is a full out assault on the Hollywood system, and while I felt it lost focus in its final act, what came before was amazing. And it took an amazing actress to make it work. Naomi Watts as Betty starts off the wide-eyed innocent, almost cartoon-like in her sunny optimism. Slowly but surely that innocence is worn away to nothing as Hollyweird eats away at her soul if you will. Betty is ground in the gears of the dream machine, and Watts is extraordinary in her transformation.

Best Actor: Tom Wilkinson, In the Bedroom
Honorable Mentions:
Gene Hackman, The Royal Tenenbaums * Billy Bob Thornton, The Man Who Wasn't There * Ryan Gosling, The Believer * Gael Garcia Bernal & Diego Luna, Y Tu Mama Tambien * Cillian Murphy, On the Edge * Michel Bouquet, How I Killed My Father * Jiang Wen, Devils on the Doorstep

Best Actress: Naomi Watts, Mulholland Drive
Honorable Mentions:
Sissy Spacek, In the Bedroom * Anjelica Huston & Gwyneth Paltrow, The Royal Tennenbaums * Nicole Kidman, The Others * Emmanuelle Devos, Read My Lips * Aoi Miyazaki, Harmful Insects * Judi Dench & Kate Winslet, Iris * Cate Blanchett, Charolotte Gray * Maribel Verdu, Y Tu Mama Tambien 

Supporting Actor: Steve Buscemi, Ghost World

Nominee: Brian Cox, L.I.E

Supporting Actress: Helen Mirren, Gosford Park

Other movies I enjoyed this year include Donnie Darko, My First Mister, Charlotte Gray, Monsters Inc, Baran, Center of the World, Take Care of my Cat, Monsoon Wedding, and The Man Who Wasn’t There, to name a few


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1999

Magnolia (Director: Paul Thomas Anderson)
Nominees: American Beauty, Iron Giant, The Limey, All About My Mother, The Straight Story, The Sixth Sense, Postmen in the Mountains, Rosetta, Being John Malkovich, The Talented Mr. Ripley

Oscars pick: American Beauty
Nominees: The Cider House Rules, The Green Mile, The Insider, The Sixth Sense

Such an audacious undertaking, only a young gun feeling his oats would dare something like this - but while it's excessive (in later years a more seasoned PTA would declare that he should have cut 20 minutes from the film) that swagger and excess are what makes Magnolia, Magnolia (call it Anderson's "White Album").

Its wiki page summarizes the film as "an epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of happiness, forgiveness and meaning in the San Fernando Valley" - I'd add that this 'search' often springs from the scars parents leave on their children, the aftereffects of that, on both. There are also so many moving pieces, where any single act sets off a chain reaction of people or persons hurling towards one another. Even those who are defined by their loneliness, are linked in some way, by varying degrees (illustrated so powerfully in the sing-along sequence - another seeming coincidence, that really isn't, everything and everyone is connected).

That music, by Aimee Mann, inspired the stories, and delivers such mournful feeling to scenes. She adds so much to the tone of the picture. (I awarded "Save Me" the Best Original Song - these are listed in the "Awards Rundown" posted on the right).

In addition, the acting is all around stunning - over the top at times (Julianne Moore was particularly irksome with the chewing of scenery) but it was also a convincing reflection of a soul's fragility, or kind-heartedness, or their anger or resignation, or any myriad of emotional state a particular person finds themselves in. They made you feel it.

The picture concludes just as it should, outrageous to the end, with the biblical raining of frogs, but also compassionately, with acts of kindness and forgiveness, and a first, hopeful smile on the face of someone who perhaps felt they'd lost the capacity for such a thing.

Magnolia's divided viewers since its release, some feel it amounts to a lot of stuff and nonsense, others find it perceptive and moving, but that it challenges one to think and debate, is the mark of something special to my mind. 

 

Note: 1999 offered such an overload of nominees, I decided to keep things manageable by removing a few favorites. Here's a list of my top 50.

Best Actor: Richard Farnsworth, The Straight Story
Honorable Mentions: Jim Carrey, Man on the Moon * Russell Crowe and Al Pacino, The Insider * Forest Whitaker, Ghost Dog * Haley Joel Osment and Bruce Willis, The Sixth Sense * Kevin Spacey, American Beauty * Lopsang, Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl * Sean Penn, Sweet and Lowdown * Terence Stamp, The Limey * Jim Broadbent, Topsy Turvy * Bob Hoskins, Felicia's Journey

Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Election
Honorable Mentions:
Li Xiaolu, Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl * Hilary Swank, Boys Don't Cry * Annette Bening, American Beauty * Edie Falco and Madeline Kahn, Judy Berlin * Janet McTeer, Tumbleweeds * Émilie Dequenne, Rosetta * Roth, Cruze, Paredes, Pena, and San Juan, All About My Mother * Elaine Cassidy, Felicia's Journey

Supporting Actress: Samantha Morton, Sweet and Lowdown

Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, The Insider

Special Award - Best Ensemble: Magnolia - Jason Robards, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Melora Walters, Tom Cruise, John C. Reilly, Philip Baker Hall, Jeremy Blackman, April Grace, William H. Macy, Melinda Dillon, Ricky Jay, etc

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1998

Dark City (Director: Alex Proyas)
Nominees: Perfect Blue, The Last Days of Disco, Elizabeth, The Truman Show, Rushmore, Central Station, The Thin Red Line, Eternity and a Day, Saving Private Ryan, The Celebration, The Silence, The Pear Tree

Oscars pick: Shakespeare in Love
Nominees: Elizabeth, Life is Beautiful, Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line

The 90s gave us one of the great westerns (Unforgiven), and now it gifts us one of the finest in science fiction. Dark City is so brilliantly conceived that it does what Leone's Once Upon A Time In the West did -- it fills me with awe and leaves me breathless.

City is set in a landscape that is pure 40s noir. And as with the genre it has its murder mystery and its femme fatale -- but it takes these tropes and blends in these otherworldly beings who emerge from the darkness and control the very fabric of time and space... and mind!

There are certain denizens of this city who sense a wrongness, they are driven mad over the niggling idea that they have been cast in a heterocosm, and that everything that is, everything they are, is a lie. No, not truly a lie, the memories are real, but they belong to others. The people here then have become the psychological equivalent of Frankenstein's monster.

The film (primarily the director's cut) adds to this unsettling idea in large and small ways. As when we hear a nightclub singer (Jennifer Connolly) and realize that she doesn't have a strong voice as the one dubbed into the theatrical version -- something in the back of our minds tells us, "This isn’t who she is." The movie is so effective in creating an air of disassociation that it prevents some viewers from getting attached to the characters and their plight. Not so for me, I have empathy for them, and I can relate to the thought of feeling ‘out of place’ with the world.

One man awakens and resists these alien builders of reality. It's his task to solve this puzzle. He is our guide through this city. He feels he'll find the answers at a place from his childhood called Shell Beach. And I, in turn, experienced his urgency, "Get to Shell Beach", I thought, "Find the answer." But what he discovers shocked the ever-loving hell out of me.

Unique, imaginative and thought-provoking, Dark City ultimately has its power struggle, and for a moment I wondered if the man would be the hero or give in to the dark force he has acquired and become something worse than those he opposes. I expected the worse – the worse would have been the predictable and easy path. What was refreshing was that this dark city took a hopeful and positive left turn. It gave us light.

The film is a structural achievement - a visionary tour de force. I am mesmerized over the way Proyas weaves dialog, music, performance, camera, and design… and forms these pieces into a magnificent whole. It impresses me in the way Hitchcock’s eye for detail impresses me. Or Kieslowski with his visual rhymes and ‘score as storytelling device’, or Dreyer in the way he utilizes movement and vocal inflection to create a particular rhythm and tone. As with the films of these geniuses, everything works in concert - everything is essential. Even the use of quick edits. Though I prefer the old school, slow framing style, I think the frequent shock-cuts add to the fractured nature of the piece. Proyas tapped into this creative wellspring only once in his career. While he made and has made very good movies – he has never, before or since- created one as elevated as Dark City.

While I often quote Roger Ebert, I don't always agree with him -- but I agreed with him when he named Dark City as his #1 movie of the year. Ebert also recorded 2 outstanding commentary tracks for the film.

Phew – after that draining outpouring of admiration, I almost don't have the energy to address the other contenders: Though they are wonderful as well.

I dug Shakespeare in Love a lot when it was released. But watching it again, it comes off a rather soft and spongy told tale and doesn't really get into gear until its final half. I still like the movie, it's a lovely bittersweet romance, but after all these years I've cooled to it, and today I would have been rooting for Elizabeth.

Boasting some of the best dialogue ever written, Elizabeth also features one of cinemas great performances. Cate Blanchett was robbed. I love Gwyneth Paltrow, and her work was cute and enjoyable in Shakespeare, but compared to the wide arc of development that Blanchett put on display –from doe-eyed innocent to tough as nails leader of a nation- it's not even close as to who the best actress was between these two (and a close second to Blanchett was Fernanda Montenegro in Central Station). Elizabeth can get melodramatic and if it had won, it likely would have incurred the same backlash as befell Shakespeare. But of Oscar's nominees –actress and film- I would have gone with the Virgin Queen.

Not that I would have complained if The Thin Red Line won. It was an incredible introspective film from Terrence Malick.  While I liked Saving Private Ryan (its opening scene is striking) it wasn't my favorite Oscar nom as it seemed to be for others this year -- and I felt the Thin Red Line was the better war movie of the two.

Looking over my nominees –from Wes Anderson's Rushmore to Peter Weir's Truman Show - or even those that didn't make the final cut (The Apple, Dil Se..) and this was a good year for me; I grew attached to these productions and most have found their way into my Blu-Ray collection. I enjoyed revisiting them.

Best Actor: Jim Carrey, The Truman Show
Honorable Mentions:
Ian McKellen, Gods and Monsters * Peter Mullen, My Name Is Joe * Brendan Gleeson, The General * Bruno Ganz, Eternity and a Day * Clive Owen, Croupier * Tom Hanks, Saving Private Ryan * Edward Norton, American History X * Nick Nolte, Affliction * John Hurt, Love and Death on Long Island

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth 
Honorable Mentions:
Fernanda Montenegro, Central Station * Ana Moreira, Os Mutantes * Gwyneth Paltrow, Shakespeare in Love * Jane Horrocks, Little Voice * Christina Ricci, Buffalo '66 * Alfre Woodard, Down in the Delta * Kimberly Elise, Beloved * Katrin Cartlidge, Claire Dolan

Supporting Actress: Joan Allen, Pleasantville 

Supporting Actor: Billy Bob Thornton, A Simple Plan







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1997

Princess Mononoke (Director: Hayao Miyazaki)
Nominees: L.A. Confidential, The Sweet Hereafter, As Good as It Gets, Waiting for Guffman, The Game, Hard Eight

Oscars pick: Titanic
Nominees: As Good as It Gets, The Full Monty, Good Will Hunting, L.A. Confidential

This is another superlative year at the movies - From Atom Egoyan's solemn tragedy The Sweet Hereafter to Christopher Guest's classic comedy Waiting for Guffman. Not only that, but James Brooks actually made a movie I liked. While I didn't care his Terms of Endearment and was cool towards Broadcast News, I dug As Good as It Gets, which features a hilarious idiosyncratic performance from Jack Nicholson.

I thought Titanic was a decent flick, not the best of the year, but decent. I see it as the Gone with the Wind of its time and don't have a problem with it winning. Though for me it was a 2-horse race between L.A. Confidential and Princess Mononoke.

I'm a Noir/mystery enthusiast so L.A. Confidential was a guaranteed win for me... though at first viewing I wasn't sure about it. It's different from traditional Noir and that threw me. It's brightly colored and lit, a lot slicker than the down and dirty crime stories I was used to. But once I got used to it I was hooked. The characters were interesting, sharply written and acted -- I especially liked Kevin Spacey as slick narcotics detective Jack Vincennes. The plot is full of knotty twists and turns. Story and setting-wise, it's akin to Chinatown.

It's nature vs. industry, with each fighting for survival in Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke. This is a near-perfect picture. There's not a missed beat, not a flaw in theme, narrative, or character. Writer-Director Miyazaki delivers his message without getting overly preachy or heavy-handed. And I loved the ambiguity, the way the story offers many shades of gray: For example, Lady Eboshi isn't cut and dried villainy; she does good for her people. On the other hand, nature can be volatile and dangerous (I laughed when the wolf grabs the prince's head and starts shaking it – these ain't Disney's happy, helpful singing animals. They'd just as soon eat you than give you comfort). The ending is epic, truly breathtaking.

The blurb on the DVD case compared Mononoke to Star Wars. I think it's more ambitious than that. Miyazaki's magnum opus is a film filled with imagination and an ending that leaves some viewers scratching their heads (though the Hayao faithful and those familiar with Japanese folklore get it). This isn't easy mind-candy animation. This is a challenging work of beauty and visionary genius -- and while the pull from L.A. Confidential was strong, I just couldn't bypass Mononoke. 

Best Actor: Philip Baker Hall, Hard Eight
Honorable Mentions:
Jack Nicholson, As Good as It Gets * Crowe, Pearce, Cromwell & Spacey, L.A. Confidential * Ian Holm, The Sweet Hereafter * Michael Douglas, The Game * Robert Duvall, The Apostle * Djimon Hounsou, Amistad * Ralph Fiennes, Oscar and Lucinda * Sam Lee, Made in Hong Kong

Best Actress: Parker Posey, The House of Yes (also: Waiting for Guffman)
Honorable Mentions:
Judi Dench, Mrs. Brown * Julie Christie, Afterglow * Helena Bonham Carter, The Wings of the Dove * Sarah Polley, The Sweet Hereafter * Cate Blanchett, Oscar and Lucinda * Molly Parker, Kissed * Susanne Lothar, Funny Games

Supporting Actor: Robert Forster, Jackie Brown

Supporting Actress: Gwyneth Paltrow, Hard Eight







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1996

A Moment of Innocence (Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf)
Nominees: Pretty Village, Pretty Flame, Fargo, Secrets and Lies, La Promesse, Emma, Sling Blade, The English Patient, Gabbeh

Oscars pick: The English Patient
Nominees: Fargo, Jerry Maguire, Secrets & Lies, Shine

I've always enjoyed movies about making movies. Whether it's a love letter, an expose, or a means to work out a block (see Fellini) or, as in the case with Mohsen Makhmalbaf's A Moment of Innocence, an opportunity to come to terms with the past. The story is based on a true event, where, as a teenager, Makmahlbaf stabbed a policeman at a protest rally. Years later he seeks redemption and (along with the policeman), closure, by capturing the act on film. What neither expected was this Rashomon-like journey, where reality is in the eyes and minds of the beholder. We see two sides of the coin, two perspectives on what happened and why. Along with two others - the actors portraying the filmmaker and the former cop, who inject their own personalities into the tale and resist seeing history repeat itself - which culminates in one of cinema's most memorable final freeze-frames.

While the story is simple, there's a wellspring of poignancy and idea, drawing from human connections and introspection, kindness and forgiveness. And though wise and based on a serious, terrible deed, it's not morose. There are several laugh-out-loud situations. Such as the cop wanting the handsome boy to play him in the movie. Scene after scene, Moment proves itself a significant and special film experience.

In respect to Oscar's pick? Though Fargo was my choice among the Acadamy's nominations, in hindsight, knowing that the Coen's will eventually receive an award, I’m glad Anthony Minghella (who died too soon) got to have his Oscar triumph. He was truly a talented director and his textured work on the English Patient shouldn’t be dismissed. Whether one enjoys the movie is up to individual taste, but while I thought it was overlong, I also found it well told and moving. And hell I was just happy that idiotic pile, Jerry Maguire didn't win

Just behind Moment was the brutal and audacious Serbian antiwar picture, Pretty Village, Pretty Flame (a movie I was better able to appreciate and understand after reading Misha Glenny's penetrating article on it, in the November 1996 issue of Sight & Sound). And in third place, the wickedly brilliant Fargo. The movie is about a kidnapping gone wrong, and the Coen's manage to take something darkly sardonic, and mix in some warmth and good nature in its 'Minnesota nice' characters - lead by the delightfully charming Frances McDormand as pregnant police chief Gunderson. (And I can not say enough about the passive/aggressive turn by William H. Macey.)

Along with a great cast of characters (who dominate my acting awards), it displays expert visual and narrative construction (Ethan's Oscar-winning script ranks among the finest ever written). I think of it as the photo negative of Blood Simple. Simple is dark, drenched in shadow and practically humorless, Fargo is bright, covered in snow and funny. In both we watch a criminal plan unravel, in both, we get some painfully black moments.

Other nominations: Sling Blade is flawed, but I liked the relationship between the lead characters and Billy Bob's performance. Emma continues the Jane Austen flood from 95, Gwyneth Paltrow was delightful in the title role, one of her best (though ignored by Oscar).

Best Actor: William H. Macy, Fargo
Honorable Mentions:
Philippe Torreton, Captain Conan * Billy Bob Thornton. Sling Blade * Geoffrey Rush & Noah Taylor, Shine * Ewan McGregor, Trainspotting * Dragan Bjelogrlić & Nikola Kojo, Pretty Village, Pretty Flame * Max Von Sydow, Hamsun

Supporting Actors: Peter Stormare & Steve Buscemi, Fargo

Best Actress: Frances McDormand, Fargo (pictured center)
Honorable Mentions:
Brenda Blethyn, Secrets & Lies * Gwyneth Paltrow, Emma * Emily Watson, Breaking the Waves * Ana Torrent, Thesis * Kate Winslet, Jude * Laura Dern, Citizen Ruth * Catherine Keener, Walking and Talking * Ghita Nørby, Hamsun

Supporting Actress: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Secrets & Lies (pictured left)



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1994

Three Colors: Red (Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski)
Nominees: Exotica, The Shawshank Redemption, Leon: The Professional, Quiz Show, Three Colors: White, Chungking Express, Pulp Fiction, Crumb, Before the Rain, Vanya on 42nd Street, Hoop Dreams, The Emigrant

Oscars pick: Forrest Gump
Nominees: Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, The Shawshank Redemption

I don't loathe the flawed Forrest Gump. While criticisms are valid, I find worth in its clever and fascinating technical characteristics. Nevertheless, in a year with so many great movies, I don't see how it earns even a nomination. Consider the competition and you'll find a landslide of film more worthy of the little guy in gold.

The motion picture a lot of people latch onto in 1995 is Pulp Fiction. And while I do not number myself among the Tarantino faithful, even I have to admit that this was damn fine filmmaking. I was especially fond of the Bruce Willis bits. Pulp has been analyzed and debated to death (is it neo-noir, is it postmodernism?) Me, I see it as clip-art. The director stuck together a lot of bits and pieces from other movies (for example, the adrenaline needle scene, which is lifted straight from Scorsese's little-seen documentary American Boy) and somehow pulled it all together to make something weird and distinctly his.

For me, there were far better movies than Oscar's Gump -- even several that are stronger than the peoples champion, Pulp.

And what a crowded field: From the beautifully scripted and acted Quiz Show and Shawshank Redemption, to the unique, anti-narrative of 'Hong Kong Second Wave' film master, Wong Kar Wai, and his challenging Chungking Express (which was a favorite of Tarantino's). There were also a couple of superb documentaries, which Oscar inexplicably ignored

Above these stands my #2, Exotica from Canadian writer/director Atom Egoyan. Focused around a strip club, the story explores the tragic and dispirited lives of its characters. It's original, complex and sad/touching.

My #1 is Kryzsztof Kieslowski's Three Colors: Red. The final chapter in a trilogy, it is a poignant piece that excels on every cinematic level - from color to sound to editing to script.  I loved Film Critic Geoff Andrew’s insights...

"While Kieslowski dips into various interconnecting lives, the central drama is the electrifying encounter between Valentine - caring, troubled - and the judge, whose tendency to play God fails to match, initially, the girl's compassion. It's a film about destiny and chance, solitude and communication, cynicism and faith, doubt and desire; about lives affected by forces beyond rationalization. The assured direction avoids woolly mysticism by using material resources - actors, color, movement, composition, sound - to illuminate abstract concepts. Stunningly beautiful, powerfully scored and immaculately performed, the film is virtually flawless, and one of the very greatest cinematic achievements of the last few decades. A masterpiece."

Geoff echoes my sentiments to a tee. I recently spent 6 hours of my life going over the 3 Colors Trilogy again and by the end, there was not a doubt in my mind what the best film of 1994 was. Red is a remarkable achievement, a work of art in every sense of the word.

This was Kryzystof's final film; he died in 1996 after botched heart surgery. While Oscar did reward him with a best director nod, it did not offer the movie a best picture or best foreign language film nomination. Ultimately the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences pulled a Mr. Bungle -- breaking up a good 3-year run for itself and slipping back into safe, tepid waters.

Best Actress: Linda Fiorentino, The Last Seduction
Honorable Mentions:
Irène Jacob, Three Colors: Red * Isabelle Adjani, Queen Margot * Natalie Portman, Leon * Julianne Moore, Vanya on 42nd Street * Toni Collette, Muriel's Wedding * Sandrine Bonnaire, Joan the Maid I & II * Sandra Oh, Double Happiness * Inna Churikova, The Year of the Dog * Karolina Ostrozna, Crows

Best Actor: Gary Oldman, Immortal Beloved
Honorable Mentions:
Jean-Louis Trintignant, Three Colors Red * Samuel L. Jackson, Pulp Fiction * Nigel Hawthorne, The Madness of King George * Johnny Depp, Ed Wood * Ralph Fiennes, Quiz Show * Morgan Freeman & Tim Robbins, The Shawshank Redemption * Xia Yu, In the Heat of the Sun

Supporting Actress: Virna Lisi, Queen Margot

Supporting Actor: Martin Landau, Ed Wood







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1995

Maborosi (Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda)
Nominees: The Usual Suspects, Dead Man, Sense and Sensibility, The Flower of My Secret, Toy Story, Before Sunrise, Se7en, Safe, Leaving Las Vegas, The Bridges of Madison County

Oscars pick:  Braveheart
Nominees: Apollo 13, Babe, Il Postino, Sense and Sensibility

Oscar winner Braveheart failed to fire me up. Mel Gibson often brutalizes his characters (in lieu of actual characterization), and while that seems to foster an emotional response in viewers, it actually drives a wedge between the movie and me. While others are drawn in, I pull away.

I liked Il Postino (internationally released in 1994) and was charmed by my introduction to Pixar -- Toy Story, the film that changed the face of animation. And while the art isn't as slick as it would become, and the series has arguably improved with each movie, I have a special place in my heart for the first. I was especially tickled by Buzz Lightyear's belief that he was the real deal, something that would be lost in the sequels.

1995 was Jane Austen crazy– Clueless, a modern telling of Emma -one of my favorite novels from the author- is a delightfully funny romantic confection, which for a time made Alicia Silverstone a big star. There were also prime BBC television adaptations of Persuasion (which played in theaters in the States), and Pride and Prejudice.

Ang Lee and screenwriter Emma Thompson offered up Sense and Sensibility. Thompson tightens up the story, takes out a few characters and situations while still retaining Austen’s voice. She does ramp up the romance (these were not romantic men), but you get the drama, the humor (though it's not as incisive), the sadness, the stifling decorum and uptight people of privilege who make life a misery for those they see beneath them. Lee's direction is picturesque, as you’d expect in a period piece like this. But it's his eye for composition and blocking that makes his work distinct and memorable.

As much as I appreciate all this Austen, I awarded the Felix to another...

Maborosi, Kore-eda's feature debut, doesn't rest on conventional narrative - so it's less about story than capturing a mood and feeling. It's slow cinema that manifests an overall calm amidst inner turmoil. It's a poem, about a woman who has suffered several losses -most recently the suicide of her husband- that haunt her dreams and her waking life.

The director is often compared to Ozu, probably because they are formal stylists. But here he conjures up Mizoguchi, in that many scenes are filmed in long or medium shot, even those that would normally call for close-ups. The picture is marked by repetitions in movement and sound (the bells). There are callbacks (conversations about freckles; the woman peering through the window of her husband's workplace). And that ubiquitous train. All of it is brought to life by Masao Nakabori's incredible cinematography, which is so thoughtfully framed, so expressive - whether he's filming in the city or nature (both serene and volatile).

This isn't a Hollywood production, the kind that tries to wring every single tear out of a viewer, and it doesn't provide answers. Why would this man, who had this beautiful family, and who showed no signs of depression, do this? The film isn't about unraveling a mystery but coming to terms with your grief. How little things will bring back the memories and tear away the scar tissue, returning you to square one... with heart aching and mind swimming with maddening questions.

In total, Maborosi is unhurried, painful, yet life-affirming. And one of Kore-eda's very best.

Photo courtesy of DVD Beaver, who consider the film essential viewing.

Best Actor: Morgan Freeman, Se7en
Honorable Mentions:
Ian McKellen, Richard III * Nicolas Cage, Leaving Las Vegas * Kevin Spacey, The Usual Suspects * Vincent Cassel, La Haine * Ethan Hawke, Before Sunrise * Joe Pesci & Robert De Niro, Casino * Kōji Yakusho, Kamikaze Taxi * Richard Harris & James Earl Jones, Cry, the Beloved Country * Stellan Skarsgård, Zero Kelvin

Best Actress: Elisabeth Shue, Leaving Las Vegas
Honorable Mentions: 

Julianne Moore, Safe * Marisa Paredes, The Flower of My Secret * Nicole Kidman, To Die For * Kate Winslet & Emma Thompson, Sense and Sensibility * Parker Posey, Party Girl & Kicking and Screaming * Angela Bassett, Strange Days * Sandrine Bonnaire, Isabelle Huppert, La Cérémonie * Meryl Streep, The Bridges of Madison County

Supporting Actress: Chus Lampreave, The Flower of My Secret

Supporting Actor: Kevin Spacey, Se7en 

Also liked Don Cheadle, Devil in a Blue Dress







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1993

Schindler's List (Director: Steven Spielberg)
Nominees: 3 Colors Blue, A Perfect World, Groundhog Day, The Age of Innocence, The Remains of the Day, The Scent of Green Papaya, Farewell My Concubine, The Last Bolshevik, Short Cuts, The Piano

Oscars pick: Schindler's List
Nominees: The Fugitive, In the Name of the Father, The Piano, The Remains of the Day

A first-rate season and –shock- Oscar and Felix agree 2 years running. To be honest, I didn't want to revisit Schindler's List, it was difficult viewing the first go round -- but I quickly discovered that while painful, a second viewing was vital in opening up new vistas. This is an unbelievably poignant and significant picture, and Spielberg showed incredible growth as a filmmaker. 

The director took inspiration from the brutal Russian war film Come and See, which had a stylish bent, but not at the expense of the tragedy that unfolded on screen. What Steven delivers in this movie still carries his distinct visual style and heart (and sentimentality, at the end), but it comes with a maturity, honesty, and sobriety benefiting the subject. And enough praise can't be heaped on cinematographer Janusz Kamiñski for his part in the look and tone of the piece.

1995 was rock solid, from classic comedy (Groundhog Day) to dramatic gems from directorial aces like Clint Eastwood (A Perfect World) and Jane Campion (The Piano); Age of Innocence was Scorsese tapping successfully into Ophuls and Visconti territory. And Kieslowski's 3 Colors Blue is just as impressive an achievement as Schindler's. So impressive that an argument could be made that its brilliant, concise direction, and wise story about grief, is in some ways superior to the Oscar winner. But I can't see my way to not selected Schindler's List. It’s just too important a film.

The only odd thing for me is that in such a superb season, how did the Fugitive earn an Oscar nomination? While it is a decent little action/drama, I never saw it as anything near to great.

Best Actor: Anthony Hopkins, Shadowlands & Remains of the Day
Honorable Mentions: 

Daniel Day-Lewis, The Age of Innocence & In the Name of the Father * Liam Neeson, Schindler's List * David Thewlis, Naked * Bill Murray, Groundhog Day * Leslie Cheung, Farewell My Concubine * Tom Hanks, Philadelphia * Zbigniew Zamachowski, Three Colors: White

Best Actress: Juliette Binoche, Three Colors: Blue
Honorable Mentions:
Man San Lu, The Scent of Green Papaya * Holly Hunter, The Piano * Emma Thompson, The Remains of the Day * Michelle Pfeiffer, The Age of Innocence * Gong Li, Farewell My Concubine * Debra Winger, Shadowlands * Angela Bassett, What's Love Got to Do with It?

Supporting Actress: Anna Paquin, The Piano

Supporting Actor: Ralph Fiennes, Schindler’s List

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