Drunken Master II
Drunken Master II 1994, R, 99 min. Directed by Lui Chia Liang, Jackie Chan, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Chan, Anitia Mui, Ti Lung, Liang, Andy Lau, Chin Kar Lok. Jackie Chan scores a ballistic home run with his latest effort, a sequel to his 1979 classic, which also serves as a triumphant…
Highway Patrolman
Highway Patrolman 1993, NR, 105 min. Directed by Alex Cox, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Roberto Sosa, Bruno Bichir, Vanessa Bauche, Zaide Silvia Gutierrez, Pedro Armendariz Jr., Malena Doria. This Highway Patrolman is no Robocop or Mad Max. In fact, the movie takes the whole police action drama as a form and turns…
The Hudsucker Proxy
This Coen brothers film is a goofy ode to genres and eras gone by. Although it’s a little less “weird” than much of their work, it still retains a mannered and quirky air with performances that walk a line between realism and understated surreality.
Iron Monkey
Iron Monkey 1993, PG-13, 90 min. Directed by Yuen Woo-Ping, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Yu Rong-Guang, Donnie Yen, Jean Wong. Jeez, doesn’t Tsui Hark know any Chinese folk heroes other than Wong Fei-Hong? Every time I turn around it’s another Hark-produced Wong Fei-Hong Fest, and frankly, I’m getting sick of the guy.…
Faraway, So Close
Faraway, So Close 1993, PG-13, 140 min. Directed by Wim Wenders, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Otto Sander, Peter Falk, Horst Buchholz, Nastassja Kinski, Bruno Ganz, Willem Dafoe, Solvieg Dommartin. Faraway, So Close is not so much a sequel to Wenders’ brilliant, poetic Wings of Desire as it is a separate film with…
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk 1990, NR, 60 min. Directed by Mariann Trench, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring William Gibson, Timothy Leary, Vernon Reid, Jaron Lanier. Cyberjoke is a more apt title for this inane, dated, and ultimately boring exploration of the cyberpunk world. Director Trench seems to think cobbling together talking head interviews with such cyber-celebrities…
Clifford
Clifford 1994. Directed by Paul Flaherty, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Martin Short, Charles Grodin, Mary Steenburgen, Dabney Coleman. When Clifford is good, he’s very, very good, but when he is bad, he’s… rather a mediocre little fellow. Actually, it isn’t Clifford himself who’s weak but the film that bears his name. As…
The Trial
The Trial NR, 118 min. Directed by David Jones, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Kyle MacLachlan, Anthony Hopkins, Jason Robards, Polly Walker, Alfred Molina, Juliet Stevenson. Harold Pinter penned this current adaptation of Franz Kafka’s The Trial which was committed to film once before by Orson Welles. MacLachlan stars as Joseph K in…
Hans Christian Andersen’s Thumbelina
Hans Christian Andersen’s Thumbelina 1994, G, 87 min. Directed by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, Narrated by , Voices by Jodi Benson, Gilbert Gottfried, Carol Channing, John Hurt, Charo, Starring . A basic entertainment rule of thumb should be to never have an opening act better than the headliner. Don Bluth and Gary Goldman should have…
Four Weddings and a Funeral
This romantic comedy is as intoxicated by words, dialogue, and characters as by love.
Meet the Feebles
Meet the Feebles 1989, NR, 94 min. Directed by Peter Jackson, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Mark Hadlow, Donna Akersten, the voice of Stuart Devenie. Imagine Kermit the Frog had been a junkie. Imagine Miss Piggy had been a grade-z torch singer with a preposterously ample bosom and a runaway case of manic…
