My 40 Favorite Films of the 90's - 15 - Ed Wood (1994)

Ed Wood (1994; Touchstone Pictures)

Director: Tim Burton

Writers: Rudolph Grey, Scott Alexander

Starring: Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jeffrey Jones

Edward R. Wood, Jr. is one of the most captivating and bizarre anomalies in the history of filmmaking.  Hardcore movie fans know his name.  He is the legend behind such “disasterpieces” as Plan 9 from Outer Space, Bride of the Monster, and (most notoriously) Glen or Glenda.  Widely-regarded as one of the absolute worst filmmakers in the history of the medium, Ed Wood’s story makes for some great comedy.  This is a funny and heartfelt tribute to a filmmaker whose schlock was once mocked, but is now considered an inspiration to many hopeful artists.

Ed Wood chronicles the rocky career of the titular director who, along with a small band of friends, created some of the worst movies ever made.  It explores everything from Wood’s boundless enthusiasm, to the aging Bela Lugosi’s crippling addiction.  The legends and myths about Wood’s less-scrupulous tactics are drawn and highlighted as comical moments of weakness fueled by desperation.  It all comes together to make a bright, cheerful and warmhearted tribute to the storied director and his endless, and very much deluded, optimism.

Johnny Depp gives my favorite performance of his celebrated career here.  He plays Wood as a fast-talking Hollywood man who is crippled by his immense lack of talent, which he always fails to see or admit.  Every touch and idea of Wood’s quirky filmmaking is presented in Depp’s energetic, bright-eyed performance.  Alongside Depp is a cast of supporting performances that just nail their real-life counterparts perfectly for anyone who has seen a film by Wood (I own both Bride and Plan 8 on DVD).  Martin Landau landed a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of the sad and broken Lugosi, the former star of the legendary film Dracula who, by the time Ed Wood came into his life, was a shell of his former self.  It is a heartbreaking and loving piece of acting from a legendary performer.

Tim Burton directs Ed Wood as a black and white picture attempting to recreate some of Wood’s style.  He shows us the ins and outs of Wood’s more infamous moments, all taken from a book that was a first-hand account of the notorious director’s dedication to his art.  This is both a loving tribute and a brutally-honest expose, and is a must-see for anyone who loves film, or is interested in gaining a further understanding the medium.  

Succumbing to cliche, I end with Criswald’s famous line from Plan 9 From Outer Space:  “And remember my friend... future events such as these will affect YOU in the future.”

My 40 Favorite Films of the 90's - 16 - Apollo 13 (1995)

Apollo 13 (1995; Universal Pictures)

Director: Ron Howard

Writers: Bill Broyles, Jr. and Al Reinert (adapted screenplay); Jim Lovell and Jeff Kluger (novel)

Starring: Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris

The Apollo missions were the culmination of centuries of science and mathematics evolving over generations, ending with a few chosen men walking on the dusty terrain of Earth’s Moon.  It is a story that has been told time and time again.  However, the flight of Apollo 11 was not the last of the NASA’s lunar excursions.  The Apollo 13 mission was intended to send a few astronauts to the Moon for further study but this objective was cut short due to a sudden and shocking tragedy.

The story of how Jim Lovell (Hanks), Fred Haise (Paxton) and Jack Swigert (Bacon) survive a crippling explosion aboard their ill-fated vessel is a gripping and captivating tale of strength and ingenuity.  A fuel leak leads to an explosion that rocks the ship and severely damages several essential systems, most dangerously were the climate control unit and the oxygen and air filtration system.  With certain death looming just around the corner, these three men fight to stay alive and escape the cold and deadly throws of space.  To make it back, the heroic explorers require the help of a dedicated team of technicians in Houston and one astronaut named Ken Mattingly (Sinise) who, after testing positive for measles, was forced to stay grounded.  The lengths that the headstrong NASA workers go to keep their men alive are the stuff of legend, and make for some fascinating dramatic tension.

Through the 90’s, Ron Howard had proven himself to be one of the most talented and consistent directors in Hollywood.  The former child actor and Happy Days star shocked everyone by becoming a super-talent behind the camera, taking on challenging projects that use tension and drama to keep their audiences frozen to their screens.  His work on Apollo 13 is astounding, and though the film did not sweep the Oscars (being up against the titan that was Braveheart), it deserved the awards it was nominated for.  In my honest opinion, Apollo 13 ranks alongside some of the most idiotic Oscar snubs in history, close to the likes of Citizen Kane losing Best Picture to How Green Was My Valley in 1942.

Apollo 13 is a blend of beautiful cinematography, superb performances from everyone involved, an engaging and true story and a very intelligent screenplay.  There is not a boring or pointless scene in this movie.  Everything counts, from the time the astronauts spend on Earth preparing for their missions, to the scenes that cut back to their families.  There is no filler.  The film paints a vivid picture of how everyone connected to this shocking event felt upon hearing the news.  Tom Hanks, Ed Harris and Gary Sinise (a personal favorite performer of mine) all give some of the best performances of their excellent careers in this enthralling and tense drama.

My 40 Favorite Films of the 90's - 40 - Audition (1999)

Audition: 1999; Basara Pictures

Director: Takashi Miike

Writer: Daisuke Tengan

Starring: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina

Kicking off this list of my 40 favorite movies from the 90's is one of the hardest sits of my life.  I watched Audition shortly after its release and was disturbed, disgusted, shocked and yet I loved every minute of it.  I will not hold back in saying that Audition is easily one of the most disturbing films ever made as director Takashi Miike is a master of sensory filmmaking and with films like Gozu and the Happiness of the Katakuris he blends different visual and tonal ideas, all having a certain visceral feel to them.  Audition is built upon a very simple, yet structural, use of tension and as it grows and grows the events in the movie become even more disturbing, revealing one of the most hard-to-watch final acts of any film I have ever seen.  

The plot follows a widower named Shigeru (Ishibashi) who is convinced by his brother to hold a fake audition for musicians, with the true intention being to find a new wife for the lonely man.  The one perfect girl, Asami (Shiina), seems so beautiful and so sweet to Shigeru and we get the same impressions of her from the start.  However, this expectation is promptly crushed as the film progresses and, at the start of the 2nd act, we finally get a glimpse into just how disturbed she really is.  The conclusion of this film is a prolonged, slow and quiet torture scene, where we can hear and even feel the acupuncture needles going behind the eyes and the piano-wire sawing Shigeru's feet off.  It is all done in graphic detail and with a shocking level of intimacy, especially in the sound production, which is some of the best in the horror genre.  Every sinew, every severed vein, ever prick and prod is heard over a deafening silence, otherwise only broken by a heavily-drugged and nearly-paralyzed Shigeru’s stifled cries of pain and Asami’s gleeful yet eerily-soft singing.

Now, despite its disturbing premise and final scenes, Audition is a beautiful film.  It is all very soft and delicate, with lots of close shots and lingering scenes that do not feel dragged out, instead they all add to the boiling pot.  There are a few scenes in particular that are framed just beautifully.  Long shots down a dark hallway lit in the foreground by a soft blue fluorescent light, and beautifully-framed scenes of silhouette and interior scenery that are surprisingly not boring.  Miike is very good at visual tone, and he uses the cold, sterile fluorescent lights of Shigeru's life to contrast with the warmer golden of Asami’s.  It is meant, I believe, to be a siren’s song for the audience, as though she can bring warmth and color to his world again.  We know in the end, however that this will not happen.