Philadelphia (1993)
DIRECTOR: Jonathan Demme
CAST:
Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Antonio Banderas, Jason Robards, Joanne Woodward, Mary Steenburgen, Bradley Whitford, Charles Napier, Daniel von Bargen
REVIEW:
AIDS (Auto Immune Deficiency Syndrome) emerged as a major crisis in the early 80s but was largely ignored into the beginning of the 90s in the United States even though the US had more cases than any other nation. Educational programs were well underway in Europe, but US politicians gave it low priority, and President Ronald Reagan did not mention it in a speech until 1987. By that time there were 51,000 cases in 113 countries. Reagan’s administration resisted congressional efforts and the crusading of Surgeon General C. Everett Koop to increase funds for AIDS research and prevention. To many Americans, AIDS was a ‘gay disease’ and was not considered a subject for polite conversation due to its (exaggerated) association with homosexuality. Media treatment focused on the relatively few heterosexuals who had contracted the disease through blood transfusions. This partially changed in 1985, when archetypal Hollywood leading man Rock Hudson announced that he was gay and dying of AIDS. Hudson died in October of that year, leaving $250,000 to an AIDS research foundation, and while the revelation that a popular celebrity was infected prompted more coverage of the shamefully ignored plight of thousands of infected homosexuals, many Americans continued to inaccurately view AIDS as a disease which only pertained to homosexuals, who were largely viewed with indifference or even considered to deserve it. Despite its status as the worst epidemic of modern times, it was the subject of extraordinary ignorance and fear, with infected individuals ostracized and even attacked by others who believed incorrectly that you could contract it through casual contact. The epidemic peaked in 1993, the same year of a second step forward in AIDS awareness, director Jonathan Demme’s (The Silence of the Lambs) flawed but courageous and socially important drama Philadelphia. Continue reading
Schindler’s List (1993)
DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg
CAST:
Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Embeth Davidtz, Caroline Goodall
REVIEW:
Oskar Schindler was an unlikely hero. German businessman and war profiteer, womanizer, slave laborer, and a member of the Nazi Party with prominent friends within the SS, he happily moved in on the heels of the conquering German Army and set up an enamelware factory in occupied Krakow, taking advantage of cheap Polish-Jewish labor in the service of the Third Reich. Yet coming into such close contact with Jews at a time when his own government was implementing plans for their total annihilation seems to have lit a spark of humanity within the opportunistic Schindler, and by the Nazis’ downfall in 1945, he had bankrupted himself and his factory and endured repeated arrests by the Gestapo to bring nearly 1,200 Polish Jews safely through the war and the simultaneously blazing Holocaust. This German war profiteer and nominal Nazi had saved more Jews than any other individual. And yet, for decades afterward, his story, and theirs, remained largely untold. Continue reading
Geronimo: An American Legend (1993)
DIRECTOR: Walter Hill
CAST: Jason Patric, Robert Duvall, Gene Hackman, Wes Studi, Matt Damon, Rodney A. Grant, Kevin Tighe
REVIEW:
While its title might be simply Geronimo, a more accurate name for this movie might be The Geronimo Campaign. Walter Hill, not a stranger to the Western genre, directs this chronicle of the “Geronimo Campaign” in which famed Apache war leader Geronimo, with 34 men, managed to elude 5,000 US cavalry troops between 1885 and 1886 before his surrender in September 1886. Continue reading
Carlito’s Way (1993)
DIRECTOR: Brian De Palma
CAST: Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, John Leguizamo, Luis Guzman, James Rebhorn, Viggo Mortensen, Adrian Pasdar, Rick Aviles, John Ortiz
REVIEW:
Carlito’s Way, an adaptation of the same-named novel and its sequel After Hours (combining material from both) is director Brian De Palma returning to the gangster trough he previously explored with Scarface and The Untouchables (reuniting with Al Pacino from the former). To that end, Carlito’s Way lacks the depth and epic scope of The Godfather, but is less cartoonish than Scarface, and provides a colorful and engaging two and a half hours for fans of the genre.
Continue readingA Bronx Tale (1993)
DIRECTOR: Robert De Niro
CAST: Robert De Niro, Chazz Palminteri, Lillo Brancato, Francis Capra, Kathryn Narducci, Taral Hicks
REVIEW:
For his directorial debut, Robert De Niro tells a coming-of-age tale set against the backdrop of a Bronx neighborhood under the Mafia’s influence (the screenplay was written by Chazz Palminteri, who adapted it from his own one-man play partially based on his own childhood). A Bronx Tale could be considered a “mob movie”, but that’s more the backdrop than the focus, and the movie avoids melodramatic stereotypes. Continue reading
In the Line of Fire (1993)
DIRECTOR: Wolfgang Petersen
CAST: Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, Rene Russo, Dylan McDermott, John Mahoney, Gary Cole, Fred Dalton Thompson
REVIEW:
As a teenager, Jeff Apple was fascinated by the Secret Service agents protecting President Lyndon Johnson during a motorcade. Twenty years later, now a successful film and television producer, Apple began to research the agency for a feature film. In 1990 he assigned the script to novice screenwriter Jeff Maguire, whose script was later sold to Castle Rock Entertainment. The end product, starring long-time tough guy Clint Eastwood and helmed by acclaimed German director Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot) demonstrates that an accomplished director, a solid script, and a strong cast can elevate what could have been a generic premise into a lean, taut, intelligent thriller. For those who savor smart thrillers that don’t require one’s brain to be checked at the door, you should definitely place yourself In the Line of Fire. Continue reading
Sleepless In Seattle (1993)
DIRECTOR: Nora Ephron
CAST: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Bill Pullman, Ross Malinger, Rosie O’Donnell, Rob Reiner, Rita Wilson, Victor Garber, Frances Conroy, David Hyde Pierce, Gaby Hoffmann, Dana Ivey, Carey Lowell
REVIEW:
Whether you find Sleepless In Seattle a chore or a breeze to sit through depends on how game you are for letting an unabashedly feather-light romantic comedy-drama sweep you along on its sugar-coated ride. For one not immediately turned off by what is an unabashedly “chick flick” romance (as is to be expected from Nora Ephron), though, it boasts likable characters and a script that has a little more intelligence and wit than is often found in its genre.
Continue readingJurassic Park (1993)
DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg
CAST: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Ariana Richards, Joseph Mazzello, Martin Ferrero, Bob Peck, Wayne Knight, Samuel L. Jackson
REVIEW:
Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, adapted from the book by Michael Crichton, is a tremendous special effects landmark, throwing up dinosaurs onscreen that are so realistic that at times it’s hard to believe they’re special effects creations. In fact, so impressive is the film on a technical level that it’s easy to forgive the serviceable but unspectacular narrative and thinly-drawn characters. At the bottom line, the story is just a vehicle to string dinosaur scenes together, and does an effective job of serving its purpose. Jurassic Park succeeds because it promises dinosaurs, and it delivers dinosaurs beyond anything ever before seen onscreen.
Continue readingGuilty as Sin (1993)
DIRECTOR: Sidney Lumet
CAST: Rebecca De Mornay, Don Johnson, Jack Warden, Stephen Lang
REVIEW:
Guilty as Sin is a slickly, if somewhat shallowly, entertaining courtroom/psychological drama/thriller that serves up plot complications like clockwork, all in moderately engrossing if not particularly surprising or electrifying. It’s not a great courtroom or thriller classic, but it’s an adequate diversion for 107 minutes.
Continue readingThe Last of the Mohicans (1992)
DIRECTOR: Michael Mann
CAST:
Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Russell Means, Wes Studi, Eric Schweig, Jodhi May, Steven Waddington, Maurice Roëves, Patrice Chéreau
REVIEW:
Based loosely on James Fenimore Cooper’s novel, Michael Mann’s (Manhunter, Heat, Public Enemies) The Last of the Mohicans is a sumptuous and stirring adventure, an enthralling viewing experience that should appeal to anyone who enjoys Braveheart or Rob Roy. By every conceivable standard, The Last of the Mohicans is in the same league, and it’s a grand, passionate, rousing adventure on its own merits. Continue reading