Renaissance Man
Renaissance Man 1994. Directed by Penny Marshall, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Danny Devito, Gregory Hines, James Remar, Cliff Robertson. Dead Poets Society meets Stripes. I hate easy tags like that one as much as you probably do, but in this case, it fits like a glove. In Marshall’s newest tearjerker-cum-life lesson, DeVito…
The Princess and the Goblin
The Princess and the Goblin 1991. Directed by Jozsef Gemes, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Joss Ackland, Claire Bloom, Rik Mayall, Sally Ann Marsh. At times, it seems children are the easiest to fool. Watching The Princess and the Goblin, I remembered the highly publicized incident a few years ago in which a…
Widows’ Peak
Widows’ Peak 1994, PG, 101 min. Directed by John Irvin, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Mia Farrow, Joan Plowright, Natasha Richardson, Adrian Dunbar, Jim Broadbent, Anne Kent. There’s a twist at the end of the mostly excellent period mystery Widows’ Peak that’ll probably have the masses chatting nearly as much as The Crying…
Speed
Action. Action. Action. More Action.
Raining Stones
Raining Stones 1993. Directed by Ken Loach, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Bruce Jones, Julie Brown, Ricky Tomlinson, Tom Hickey, Gemma Phoenix. This politically scathing British film by director Ken Loach (Riff-Raff) might best be described as “kitchen-sink comedy,” named after the late-1950s to ’60s British school of principled filmmaking that focused on…
The Endless Summer II
The Endless Summer II 1994, PG, 109 min. Directed by Bruce Brown, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Robert “Wingnut” Weaver, Patrick O’Connell. This movie’s spectacular cinematography and awe-inspiring surfboard feats are so breathtaking that you needn’t be a surfing nut to get stoked on The Endless Summer II. A follow-up to Bruce Brown’s…
The Cowboy Way
The Cowboy Way 1994, PG-13, 102 min. Directed by Gregg Champion, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Woody Harrelson, Kiefer Sutherland, Dylan Mcdermott, Ernie Hudson, Cara Buono, Marg Helgenberger, Joaquin Martinez. The Cowboy Way is not a good way. It is a stunningly bad movie whose only lifeblood pumps from Woody Harrelson’s swagger and…
Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould
Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould 1993. Directed by Francois Girard, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Colm Feore. Structured by Bach’s Goldberg Variations, this film biography offers 32 brief glimpses of the short life of the ever-eccentric Canadian pianist Glenn Gould. Each section begins a separate musical “Variation” and ends when the…
Naked in New York
Naked in New York 1994. Directed by Dan Algrant, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Eric Stoltz, Mary-Louise Parker, Jill Clayburgh, Tony Curtis, Timothy Dalton, Ralph Macchio, Lynne Thigpen, Kathleen Turner, Whoopi Goldberg, Roscoe Lee Browne, Griffin Dunne, David Johansen. Hallucinatory hiccups. That’s what Jake, the young writer hero of this Dan Algrant film,…
The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl
The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl 1995, NR, 180 min. Directed by Dan Algrant, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Eric Stoltz, Mary-Louise Parker, Jill Clayburgh, Tony Curtis, Timothy Dalton, Ralph Macchio, Lynne Thigpen, Kathleen Turner, Whoopi Goldberg, Roscoe Lee Browne, Griffin Dunne, David Johansen. At three hours and one minute, this (along…
Love and Death in Saigon
Love and Death in Saigon 1989. Directed by Tsui Hark, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Chow Yun-Fat, Anita Mui, Tony Leung Kar-Fei. Hey. Wait a minute, pal. Just how many Tony Leungs do we need, anyway? There are so many these days that they have to be identified by their full Cantonese names…
