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In a year when most of Hollywood went for brainless "event" films, it was the work of independent filmakers that really triumphed. This one did so more than any other in 1996 (save for John Sayles' Lone Star and the Coen Brothers' Fargo). It follows a group of heroin addicts in Edinburgh, Scotland, as they do anything to get high. One group member (Ewan McGregor) is contemplating getting off the drug and choosing the straight path, while his friends, the Sean Connery-obsessed Sick Boy (Hackers Jonny Miller) and the constant screw-up Spud (Ewen Bremner), are attempting a major drug score.A delicious black comedy in the vein of Pulp Fiction, a great script, live-wire pacing and some great performances by McGregor and crew. Like Drugstore Cowboy, this doesn't preach against drugs, nor does it attempt to glorify them or condone the lifestyle of drug users, especially during the final half hour. Full of hilarious moments and some really sobering ones, it's a little hard to describe what this is like. It can best be described as something like a sucker punch to the solar plexus.
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A romantic comedy, that looks at sex, love and marriage in much the same way Sex, Lies and Videotape did. Without the camera of course. The story focuses on three major characters. Joseph (Eric Stoltz) has proposed marriage to his lady love Sarah (Meg Tilly). Stoltz's best friend Frank (Craig Sheffer) decides that this would be the perfect time to profess his love for Tilly. Really bad timing on Sheffer's part! But things may not be as they seem, as we wonder who is really in control of the situation. It's just as confusing for friends, who discuss the effects their behavior is having on one another.The movie is filmed in a series of vignettes, each written by a different writer, so at times the story goes a little off the track. But it benefits from three terrific lead performances, extremely funny dialogue and some interesting questions raised during the proceedings. It's more interesting than recent "Generation-X" pictures, which are mostly full of mind-numbingly stupid characters, who seem constantly bored (and are at the same time, boring).
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A remake of the popular TV series, Kevin Costner stars as prohibition-era G-man Elliot Ness, who must deal with corruption in the police department and the crime underworld of Al Capone (Robert De Niro). He gains streetwise wisdom and friendship from tough Irish cop, Jimmy Malone (Sean Connery, in a knockout role), and fellow agents George Stone (Andy Garcia) and Oscar Wallace (Charles Martin Smith).Full of some gritty, fast-paced action sequences, great production values and some towering performances (especially by De Niro, Connery and Garcia). The climax, which has some traces of the "Odessa steps" sequence from Potemkin, is a real nail-biter. Brian De Palma packs a skillful directorial punch, with everything near perfect.
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An underrated comedy from Brian De Palma, which follows two complete screw-ups (Danny DeVito and Joe Piscopo), who mess up big time when they try to double-cross their boss (Dan Hedaya). Hedaya decides the ultimate punishment should be that they be secretly assigned to kill each other. They take off for Atlantic City, in hopes of finding someone in the mob who can bargain for their lives with Hedaya.Despite what little praise this received, it has plenty of moments that are guarantied to get some huge laughs. It's also full of memorable characters, including wrestler Lou Albano as the quick-tempered hit man, Fixer. DeVito and Piscopo are also quite good, pulling off a modern-day Laurel-and-Hardy act with expert comic grace. If there is anything wrong with this, it's the tendency towards the end to attempt to force laughter from the audience. But the ending does manage to pull off a whammy, despite this minor flaw.
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This movie gives new meaning to the word "forced". Steve Martin, Martin Short and Chevy Chase play three silent Western stars, who go down to Mexico, in the belief that they are doing a live performance for a small village. Instead, it turns out they have to face off with a deadly Mexican bandit. What happens during the rest of the film really doesn't need describing here.An utterly predictable waste of time, which wastes the comic talents involved. Only Chase shines occasionally, and then only very rarely. Martin and Short on the other hand are trying much too hard to get laughs, by doing the same old stuff they used to do on Saturday Night Live. Director John Landis at least lays off on all the usual in-jokes for film buffs.
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Rick Moranis stars as a total geek (a role that he can play in his sleep by now), returning to his boyhood home to teach at the local elementary school. He runs into his old childhood bully (Tom Arnold), who blames Moranis for the mess his in his life. He does this, because of a long ago incident in which Moranis ratted on Arnold for stealing a moonrock. He ended up in a boys home, which was full of much worse kids than Arnold ever dreamed of being. So, Arnold spends most of the movie exacting his revenge and making Moranis' life miserable.If this sounds like a plot for a horror film, it may surprise you that it's supposed to be a comedy! That's hard to tell, considering all the meanness and viscousness that goes into the actions of the characters. Especially during the almost unwatchable last half hour! Arnold does have some of his charisma, but I'm starting to wonder why anybody would think of him as a box-office sensation. The utter pits!!
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Horror maestro John Carpenter's remake of the 1950's classic, the thing from another world can now take on any shape it pleases, including humans, dogs, etc. This causes paranoia among a remote team at an Arctic outpost. But when the thing strikes, it does contain some interesting moments, if not suspenseful ones.Kurt Russell and cast are completely overshadowed by the over-the-top special effects, some of which you can barely see, since it's so dark throughout the picture. Like most remakes, you'd be much better off renting the classic.
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