Iron & Silk
Iron & Silk 1990. Directed by Shirley Sun, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Mark Salzman, Pan Quingfu, Jeanette Lin Tsui. Based on Ivy Leaguer Mark Salzman’s experiences in China in 1982-84, Shirley Sun (A Great Wall) and crew have managed to create not so much another martial arts fistfest as they have an…
The Object of Beauty
The Object of Beauty 1991. Directed by Michael Lindsay, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring John Malkovich, Andie Macdowell, Lolita Davidovich. The yuppie dream of an unencumbered life where style always exceeds substance is at the crux of The Object of Beauty. Malkovich and MacDowell are indolent young Americans living in a luxury hotel…
One Good Cop
One Good Cop 1991. Directed by Heywood Gould, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Michael Keaton, Rene Russo. For such a talented actor, Keaton ends up in too many mediocre movies. From The Squeeze to Pacific Heights, he seems to come out with a clunker every other year or so, and though he’s not…
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead 1991. Directed by Tom Stoppard, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Gary Oldman, Tim Roth, Richard Dreyfuss, Iain Glen. Director and playwright Tom Stoppard reworked his original play for the screen, but nevertheless, it seems slightly dated, an absurdist remnant of the sixties. Confused and lost, they seem more…
Oscar
Oscar 1991. Directed by John Landis, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Sylvester Stallone, Peter Riegert, Chazz Palminteri, Ornella Muti, Marisa Tomei, Tim Curry, Vincent Spano, Yvonne Decarlo, Don Ameche, Eddie Bracken. Stallone has been trying to murder Rocky/Rambo for a few movies now, and it is probably this comedy that will finally finish…
A Kiss Before Dying
A Kiss Before Dying 1991, R, 94 min. Directed by James Dearden, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Matt Dillon, Sean Young, Max Von Sydow, James Russo, Martha Gehman, Adam Horovitz. The good things of American life — money, status, success — are only a marriage or murder away for the anti-hero in A…
Defending Your Life
Defending Your Life 1991. Directed by Albert Brooks, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Albert Brooks, Meryl Streep, Rip Torn, Lee Grant. Brooks plays a neurotic, self-absorbed advertising executive who runs into a bus with his brand new Mercedes and finds himself in Judgment City where he can eat all he wants and not…
Ju Dou
Ju Dou 1990, 95 min. Directed by Zhang Yimou, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Gong Li, Li Baotian, Li Wei. Delirious melodrama, Chinese style. What a mix. I’m not sure what the Chinese reference points for this movie are. But in America they’d be Douglas Sirk and The Postman Always Rings Twice. Nominated…
La Femme Nikita
La Femme Nikita 1990, NR, 118 min. Directed by Luc Besson, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Anne Parillaud, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Tcheky Karyo, Jeanne Moreau. Besson makes instant cult films. They are beautiful enough and stylish enough to make the critics squirm when they have to complain, “it’s not enough.” Obviously, there’s something going…
