Movie – S.F.W. (1994)

The title “S.F.W.” stands for “so fucking what”, the unintended catchphrase of the main character of the film.  Obviously the studios couldn’t put the full title on posters, in print ads, or in TV trailers, so they abbreviated it, much like the more recent Canadian film YPF (2007) where the first two letters stood for “young people”.  S.F.W is a biting satire on the media and instant celebrity, as well as anticipating the rise of “reality” shows.  For 1994 it was WAY ahead of its time.  While I would not compare it to 1976’s Network in terms of quality, the two are certainly twins in how the things in the movies that appeared to be insanely over the top when they came out have come true in the years since then.  S.F.W. is also the first film in which I ever saw Reese Witherspoon and Tobey Maguire.

Movie – Immortal Beloved (1994)

Immortal Beloved is the final film from 1994 that I will be reviewing for this A Great Year for Movies category.  It is also the one I saw most recently – about one year ago.  I believe I had heard of this film back when it came out, but it didn’t sound like anything I would be interested in.  And I can’t tell you why I decided to finally watch it after all these years.  I put it in my Netflix queue at one point and I received it a few months later when it came to the top.  After watching this film I kicked myself for not seeing it sooner.  I also went out and bought it so I could watch it again when I wanted, especially a few key scenes from it. 

Movie – Serial Mom (1994)

Serial Mom might be the first John Waters film I ever saw.  If you’ve never seen any movies from him let’s just say that they are out of the ordinary.  This film, for instance, is a dark comedy about a seemingly perfect mom that is a serial killer of people who do not observe all the standards of a polite society.  And this may be the most mainstream of the John Waters’ films that I have seen.  Reactions to this film vary widely, as they do with most of his movies.  Some people think this film is an outrage; I thought it was funny as hell.

Movie – The Last Seduction (1994)

The first time I heard about the movie The Last Seduction was in relation to the controversy over lead actress Linda Fiorentino being declared ineligible for being nominated for an Oscar.  (More on that below.)  I learned that the film was a modern noir, and even though I like that genre, for whatever reason I never got around to seeing it.  I’d always put it on the “maybe later” mental list of movies to watch.  Flash forward to just a few years ago and I decided that enough was enough and I should see this.  I’m glad I did because I really enjoyed the movie and Fiorentino’s performance was ferocious in it.

Movie – Forrest Gump (1994)

Every once and a while a movie that is very popular with audiences will also win the Best Picture Oscar.  This happened in 1994 with Forrest Gump.  In fact, the film received 13 Oscar nominations and won six, including four of the “big five” – Picture, Director, Actor, and Screenplay.  It only missed out for Best Actress (there was no nomination for the film in that category.)  It also provided Tom Hanks with his second consecutive Best Actor Oscar – something only Spencer Tracy had accomplished before him.  Forrest Gump is a bittersweet look at the extraordinary life of one man who touched many other lives around him.

Movie – The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

When I first discovered IMDB.com in April of 1997 I noticed it had a “Top 250” list and that the movie that was ranked number one was The Shawshank Redemption.  While I remembered that it was a prison film, I had not seen it and knew nothing else about it, this despite the fact that it received seven Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture, just two years prior.  A movie about a man falsely imprisoned didn’t sound like something I would want to see, so I didn’t seek it out.  It wasn’t until several years later that I finally did see it and only then did I realize that I had misjudged it.  Yes, the basic plot about an innocent man being sent to prison is correct, but rather than being depressing, the film is ultimately an uplifting one about the power of the human spirit.

Movie – The Ref (1994)

I was originally going to do my post on The Ref some time after Christmas, but I was reminded recently by another blogger that The Ref takes place at Christmastime.  I figured it would make more sense to post my recommendation for this film prior to the holiday, rather than after.  It might provide a change of pace for those folks who have overdosed on too many sweet, wholesome Christmas movies.  You see, The Ref is a caustically funny dark comedy that brings together three very different leads and succeeds brilliantly at making it work.

Movie – Widows’ Peak (1994)

At first glance Widows’ Peak would be easy to disregard.  On the surface it looks like just another in a long line of quaint, harmless British/Irish films about quaint, harmless British/Irish people.  Well, in the case of Widows’ Peak anyone who thinks either the film, or the women in it, are harmless would be very wrong.  This film is filled with delightfully nasty bits of both humor and drama that added up to a very unexpected pleasure for me.

Movie – True Lies (1994)

After his 1993 movie Last Action Hero did not do well with audiences (it was ahead of its time with its meta premise and self-referential humor – you can read my positive review of it here), Arnold Schwarzenegger came roaring back with True Lies, a good old fashioned, over the top action movie.  It was directed by his Terminator partner James Cameron.  Reportedly it was Schwarzenegger that got Cameron interested in the project.  The result was a very fun movie that provided people with a good combination of action and comedy.

Movie – Clerks (1994)

For all the talk about Cinemax being “Skin-emax” because of playing a softcore movie on Friday nights back in the 80s and 90s, they also had a great selection of smaller movies that sister channel HBO wouldn’t run.  I saw a number of foreign films, documentaries, and independent films for the first time on Cinemax back then.  One series they had was the first movies from independent filmmakers.  Among those films was Clerks, a laugh-so-hard-your-sides-hurt comedy.

Movie – Hoop Dreams (1994)

I was watching TV at the end of 1994 when Siskel and Ebert had their year end awards show.  In prior years the two would often have a number one movie that the other didn’t even have in their entire Top Ten.  In 1994, though, both of them named Hoop Dreams the best film of the year; not Pulp Fiction, not Forrest Gump, but Hoop Dreams.  Years later Ebert would name the film the best of the entire 1990s.  As for myself, I feel that you can keep your blue lines that are thin, your truths that are inconvenient, and your jobs that are inside; Hoop Dreams is the best documentary film ever made.  Period.

Movie – Once Were Warriors (1994)

Once Were Warriors is a powerful drama from New Zealand that takes a look at a Maori family living in Auckland.  If the 2002 film Whale Rider was the rural, hopeful look at the Maori culture, Once Were Warriors is the much grittier city cousin.  I can’t remember why I picked this tape off the rental shelf back in 1994 or 1995, but I am glad I did.  It disappeared not long after and it was impossible to find a copy for many years.  Almost ten years passed before it was finally released on DVD in the U.S.  I bought it and watched it again.  I was a little worried that my memories of this film had been built up over the years and that when I saw it again I would end up disappointed.  As it turns out, my fears were unfounded.  Not only did this film’s impact on me stand up to my memories, if anything it grew in stature.  As great a year as 1994 was for movies I consider this film to be the best of the best.

A Great Year for Movies - 1994

“That's why when somebody say, ‘When you get to the NBA, don't forget about me’ […] I should've said to them, ‘If I don't make it, don't you forget about me.’"  - William Gates, Hoop Dreams

If you stop to think about it, the movies that came out in 1994 were released a generation ago.  (Anyone feel old?)  Many of them have already been forgotten, some justly so, some unjustly.  I am going to be recommending the best films of 1994; ones I’ve given at least a four star rating to.  You will find some of the usual suspects among these films (but not The Usual Suspects – that’s a 1995 film).  However, I can almost guarantee that there will be some movies that you have either forgotten about, or maybe never even heard of in the first place.  In fact, the two films that I consider the best of the year – ones I have given five star ratings to – are not the most well known.  The important thing is, you will know about them after I am done.

Why am I doing this category?  Why this year?  It is because I consider 1994 to be the second best year for quality, enjoyable movies in all of cinema history.  1939 would be number one, in case you are curious.  1954 and 1974 are also standouts.  1994 had so many good movies that I wouldn’t have time to review them all here even if I spent a month on it.  That’s why I am going to limit this category to only 4 and 5 star films (fifteen in all – four of them I have already reviewed for other categories.)

So that these good films at least get some notice, here are the 1994 movies that I would give three stars to.  Check them out if they sound interesting:  The Legend of Drunken Master; Eat Drink Man Woman; SFW; The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; Four Weddings and a Funeral; Chungking Express; Pulp Fiction; The Hudsucker Proxy; Nell; Nobody’s Fool; The Lion King; The Crow; Stargate; The Mask; Heavenly Creatures; Ed Wood; Il Postino; Interview with the Vampire; Quiz Show; Sister My Sister; Maverick; Barcelona; Farinelli; The Road to Wellville; Three Colors: Red; Three Colors: White; and Star Trek: Generations. 

Here are the “shut your brain off and have fun” three star movies: With Honors; Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult; Only You; It Could Happen to You; The Santa Clause; PCU; Wolf; I.Q.; Airheads; Speechless; Timecop; Terminal Velocity; My Father the Hero; Milk Money; Major League II; Color of Night; Junior; and Dumb and Dumber.

Here are the 1994 movies I have seen that I would not recommend: Satantango; Legends of the Fall; Cemetery Man; Natural Born Killers; Wild Reeds; Exotica; Muriel’s Wedding; Clear and Present Danger; Ace Ventura: Pet Detective; The Client; Reality Bites; The Paper; Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; The River Wild; Corrina, Corrina; Greedy; Blown Away; Disclosure; Blue Chips; Love and a .45; Trapped in Paradise; The Shadow; Princess Caraboo; The Chase; Drop Zone; City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold; The Air Up There; Beverly Hills Cop III; The Scout; The Favor; I Love Trouble; The Specialist; Chasers; On Deadly Ground; The Next Karate Kid; Exit to Eden; and Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow.

There are some notable 1994 movies that I have not seen.  If you have a particular favorite among them, please let me know:  To Live; Crumb; Through the Olive Trees; Shallow Grave; The Madness of King George; Little Women; Wyatt Earp; Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle; and Angels in the Outfield.

As I post the reviews, I will come back and add links here for those posts:

Five star films:

Once Were Warriors
Hoop Dreams

Four Star films:

Leon: The Professional - (reviewed January 11, 2011)

Speed - (reviewed June 2, 2011)

Don Juan Demarco - (reviewed August 15, 2011)

The Secret of Roan Inish - (reviewed March 27, 2012)
Clerks
True Lies
Widows' Peak
The Ref
The Shawshank Redemption
Forrest Gump
The Last Seduction
Serial Mom
Immortal Beloved

On to the reviews…

Movie – The Secret of Roan Inish (1994)

The movie The Secret of Roan Inish uses the Celtic myth of selkies as a central part of its tale.  It is based on the out of print book The Secret of Ron Mor Skerry by Rosalie K. Fry.  John Sayles (Matewan, Eight Men Out, Lone Star) adapted and directed the film.  He shifted the location to western Ireland and changed the name to Roan Inish (Gaelic for Island of the Seals

).  The result is a quite magical movie that can be enjoyed by most anyone.  It may or may not be a little slow for children, but adults will certainly appreciate it.  All ages will like the tales that are told.

Movie – Don Juan Demarco (1994)

A couple of years ago I was discussing the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie with a co-worker.  She mentioned she had “a thing” for Johnny Depp.  I told her that if that was the case then she had to see his movie Don Juan Demarco.  She smiled fondly, and a little naughtily, and said that she had.

Movie – Speed (1994)

Speed is, quite simply, one of the best action movies ever made.  It also made Sandra Bullock a star and cemented Keanu Reeves as an action hero.  Part of what made the movie so great was that the concept was so simple.  There’s a bomb on a bus.  Once the bus reaches 50 miles per hour the bomb arms.  When the bus drops below 50 miles per hour the bomb explodes.  They even put this in the trailers and it immediately grabbed people’s attention – because the bus is in Los Angeles, famous for its traffic jams.  How can you possibly keep a bus going 50 miles an hour in and around L.A.?

Movie – The Professional (1994)

The Professional features the screen debut of Natalie Portman.  It’s immediately apparent that she is destined for big things.  She is almost preternaturally mature in this role.  She acted opposite Jean Reno, who also became a star because of this movie.  You may not recognize his name, but you will recognize his face.  He became the go to actor whenever Hollywood needed a Frenchman in their movie (i.e. Godzilla, Mission Impossible, The Da Vinci Code, etc.)