Close to Eden
Close to Eden 1991, PG, 118 min. Directed by Nikita Mikhalkov, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Badema, Bayaertu, Vladimir Gostukhin. There’s a kind of loopy fiction yet anthropological honesty to this Russian-made (and French-produced) movie set in the isolated steppes of Chinese Inner Mongolia. Modern culture intersects with pre-industrial traditions and the results…
Dave
Dave 1993, PG-13, 110 min. Directed by Ivan Reitman, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Frank Langella, Kevin Dunn, Ving Rhames, Ben Kingsley. Scrambling after the Frank Capra crown, Ivan Reitman offers up Mr. Prisoner of Zenda Goes to Washington, a charming political comedy. Small-time actor and employment agency boss…
The Night We Never Met
The Night We Never Met 1993. Directed by Warren Leight, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Matthew Broderick, Annabella Sciorra, Kevin Anderson, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Justine Bateman. If this were only slighter, it might be more substantial. Brian (Anderson) is getting married and has already moved in with his girlfriend. In order to keep his…
Splitting Heirs
Splitting Heirs 1993. Directed by Robert Young, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Eric Idle, Rick Moranis, Barbara Hershey, John Cleese. Splitting Heirs starts with a truly awful title pun and goes downhill from there, proving once again that Michael Palin is really the only Python worth watching these days. Idle (who is also…
Ishi: The Last Yahi
Ishi: The Last Yahi 1992. Directed by Jed Riffe, Pamela Roberts, Narrated by Linda Hunt, Voices by , Starring . This wonderful, award-winning, hour-long documentary is an absorbing, eye-opening look at the dichotomous American obsession with “savagery” and “civilization.” It recounts the history of the last four years in the life of a man known…
Full Contact
Full Contact 1992, NR, 96 min. Directed by Ringo Lam, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Chow Yun-Fat, Simon Yam, Anthony Wong, Ann Bridgewater, Bonnie Fu. While it may lack the self-assured, stylistic integrity of John Woo’s films, this recent Hong Kong import more than makes up for it in its unabashedly frenzied pacing…
Sidekicks
Sidekicks 1992, PG, 101 min. Directed by Aaron Norris, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Chuck Norris, Jonathan Brandis, Beau Bridges, Mako, Julia-Nickson Soul, Joe Piscopo. All of you who have at one time nursed the notion that Joe Piscopo may be some sort of lower life form are proven correct in this silly…
Bound by Honor
Bound by Honor 1993. Directed by Taylor Hackford, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jesse Borrego, Benjamin Bratt, Enrique Castillo, Damian Chapa. “No Baptist sermon, eh?” So crack the young heroes of this saga of Chicano brotherhood whenever they feel they’re being lectured. And as often as the phrase is repeated in the film’s…
Like Water for Chocolate
Like Water for Chocolate 1992, R, 113 min. D: Alfonso Arau; with Regina Torne, Lumi Cavazos, Marco Leonardi. Like Water for Chocolate, a simmering cauldron of romance and revolution, passion and purity, mysticism and witticism, is a powerful and heady brew. Based on Laura Esquivel’s best-selling novel and directed by her then-husband Alfonso Arau (who…
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story 1993. Directed by Rob Cohen, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jason Scott Lee, Lauren Holly, Nancy Kwan, Robert Wagner, Michael Learned. Though it could hardly be termed a stroke of luck, the timing of this Bruce Lee film bio could hardly be better. Ever since his sudden and…
Three of Hearts
Three of Hearts 1993. Directed by Yurek Bogayevicz, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Kelly Lynch, William Baldwin, Sherilyn Fenn, Joe Pantoliano, Gail Strickland. Though fashioned like an old-time screwball comedy, Three of Hearts’ presentation of its central love triangle is thoroughly contemporary. A rejected lover hires an “escort” to woo and then break…
