The Inkwell
The Inkwell 1994, R, 110 min. Directed by Matty Rich, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Larenz Tate, Joe Morton, Suzzanne Douglass, Glynn Turman, Morris Chestnut, Jada Pinkett Smith. Seventeen-year-old director Matty Rich burst on the scene a few years ago with his debut film Straight Out of Brooklyn, a dramatically evocative though stylistically…
Crooklyn
Crooklyn 1994, PG-13, 115 min. Directed by Spike Lee, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Alfre Woodard, Delroy Lindo, David Patrick Kelly, Zelda Harris, Carlton Williams, Sharif Rashed, Tse-Mach Washington, Christopher Knowings. Spike Lee’s follow-up to his grand-scale bio-epic Malcolm X is a slice-of-life family drama set in 1970s Brooklyn. Instead of the elaborate,…
When a Man Loves a Woman
When a Man Loves a Woman 1994, R, 126 min. Directed by Luis Mandoki, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Meg Ryan, Andy Garcia, Tina Majorino, Lauren Tom, Ellen Burstyn. Though it takes its name from Percy Sledge’s Sixties hit and leads off with it on the soundtrack, this film by director Mandoki (Gaby…
Dialogues With Madwomen
Dialogues With Madwomen 1994. Directed by Allie Light, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Part testimonial document, part preventive talisman, and part social indictment, Dialogues with Madwomen gives voice to seven articulate women telling their tales of madness and institutionalization. Director Light (who, with her partner Irving Saraf, won an Oscar in 1991…
La Strada
This Academy Award-winner sealed Fellini’s reputation as a director of international renown. La Strada represents a fertile cross-pollination of Fellini’s noted tendencies toward both stark neorealism and symbolic expressionism. It stars Masina in one of her most memorable roles as the simple naïf, who is bought for a bowl of food by a roadshow strongman…
Clean Slate
Clean Slate 1994. Directed by Mick Jackson, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Dana Carvey, Valeria Golino, James Earl Jones, Kevin Pollack, Michael Murphy, Michael Gambon. Didn’t Dana Carvey learn anything from his last Hollywood debacle, the odious, wildly unpopular Opportunity Knocks? From the looks of things, I guess not. Clean Slate is another…
Being Human
Being Human 1993, PG-13, 122 min. Directed by Bill Forsyth, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Robin Williams, John Turturro, Anna Galiena, Vincent D’Onofrio, Hector Elizondo, Lorraine Bracco, Lindsay Crouse. A nifty idea that goes everywhere (and nowhere). Williams takes another turn for the dramatic (which, in the past, has almost always resulted in…
The Crow
The Crow 1994, R, 100 min. Directed by Alex Proyas, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Brandon Lee, Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott, David Patrick Kelly, Rochelle Davis. First the bad news: The Crow has the thinnest plotting and characterizations of any recent film I can think of. As befits its comic-book origins, it’s little…
