1993: Year in Review

Abel Ferrara's sci-fi/horror update is an engrossing, creepy and refreshing take on somewhat hackneyed material - a remake of a remake of an adaptation of a novel. Setting an unsettling mood during the opening credits and never letting go, the film stars Gabrielle Anwar as Marti Malone, a typical teenage girl whose father (Terry Kinney) and stepmother (Meg Tilly) move her and her little stepbrother Andy (Reilly Murphy) out to a Southern military base; her dad works for the EPA and wants to investigate the water on the base. They're barely in the vicinity when things get weird: an army officer confronts Marti with a knife in a gas station bathroom and suggests that nobody is who they appear to be. Though General Platt (R. Lee Ermey) thinks nothing's wrong and just wants the EPA investigation done with, the medical doctor (Forest Whitaker) has...concerns. On base, Marti befriends the General's daughter (Christine Elise from TV's "ER") and falls for Tim (Billy Wirth), a handsome chopper pilot. Soon, it appears that, yes - alien pods are gradually changing people in order to create exact replicants. Can they be stopped? The novel by Jack Finney was originally adapted in 1954 by Don Siegel and again in 1978 by Philip Kaufman. Abel Ferrara is the reigning bad boy of independent cinema, the master of true grit ("King of New York," "Bad Lieutenant"). Working with what I imagine has to be his biggest budget yet, he's crafted a surprisingly intelligent and gripping thriller that looks great and doesn't insult the audience. Anwar does a respectable job as the heroine, Tilly is creepily effective as the stepmother (who was creepy even before she became "one of them"). The somewhat ingenious thing about this version is that by setting it on a military base, you can never be too sure who is an alien and who is merely conforming to a code of conduct - which is, I suspect, what Ferrara and his screenwriters (5 including Larry Cohen, Stuart Gordon and Nicholas St. John) had in mind. If we wish the resolution were a bit more clever - that it had just a few more brain cells and a few less explosions - the overall results are still way more effective than we could've anticipated.

Nancy Savoca's sweetly whimsical film takes some period romance, family dynamics, generational gaps, mixes in a dash or two of magical realism, and blindsides you with its true depths, and its brilliance in the process. It tells the story of three generations of an Italian-American family in New York City, and gives us insight into the ways in which superstitions, deep-seeded fears, and blind Catholic faith grow and wane throughout the decades. Joseph Santangelo (Vincent D'Onofrio) plays pinochle with his neighbors across the street, Lino Falconetti (Victor Argo) and his son Nicky (Michael Rispoli). Nicky is a veteran who is growing obsessed with Japanese culture, dreams of singing Italian opera to a female Asian performer, and is whispered about in the neighborhood for venturing out every day to find an Asian wife. One night, Lino bets Joseph the right to marry his daughter Catherine (Tracey Ullman) and loses, but Joseph would've married her anyway. Joseph works in the butcher shop across the street, and before you know it the young couple is married and living with Joseph's overbearing and superstitious mother Carmela (Judith Malena), who criticizes Catherine's first meal cooked for her new suitor and never seems fully accepting of her daughter-in-law. When Catherine becomes pregnant, Carmela is constantly berating her for her apparent willingness to ignore old-wives tales, thus inviting doom upon her unborn child. Sure enough, the first child is lost, and there is a period of deep, dark depression looming within the Santangelo home. Then, a miracle: Teresa is born, she goes to Catholic school and an early disappointment (what is the Pope hiding?) tests her faith. In high school, Teresa (now played by the luminescently off-beat Lili Taylor), who is forbidden from becoming a nun by her father, becomes obsessed with the idea of becoming a saint - through everyday actions. Soon, it's 1970 and she's attending college, only to meet a challenge to her path in life - an aspiring TV lawyer (Michael Imperioli). This is about the point where the film takes a turn, and becomes about much more than we ever could've expected. Taylor's half is essential to shed light on the significance and arc of her parents' half. The film is spread over two hours, about evenly split between the early married life of Joseph and Catherine, and his mother's meddling, and then the blessing that comes with Teresa's birth, only to give way to what her parents come to see as some form of madness. Carmela almost certainly would've approved of Teresa's apparent zealotry, but her parents grow from mild concern to fear and regret; her obsession is juxtaposed toward the end with her uncle Nicky's. I think this is a great film, but I will see it again. Nancy Savoca, who co-wrote (with Richard Guay) and directed, adapted a novel by Francine Prose, and shows a sure feel for this material. She never strains for effect, taking her pacing and storytelling qualities from everyday life, rather than heavy-handed plot machinations. This was her follow-up to her debut "True Love" (1989) with Annabella Sciorra and the bittersweet "Dogfight" (1991), with River Phoenix, also starring Lili Taylor. Here she employs low-key, simple special effects to demonstrate the spiritual visions of both Teresa, and her grandmother. In Lili Taylor, she has found perhaps the perfect actress for this part. She is fragile, quiet, low-key but astonishingly effective as she plays a difficult part in a larger picture that might've become obvious or over-the-top, but in Taylor's hands feels completely naturalistic and believable. I am not religious, and I'm not sure you need to be to understand or enjoy this film. What I took away from it was an appreciation for the faith of one devout religious person, and how her "modern Catholic" parents have deviated from their faith to such a degree that their daughter seems almost alien to them. Or mad. NOTE: Was it odd seeing Vincent D'Onofrio play Lili Taylor's father after playing her fiance and getting cold feet in "Mystic Pizza" (1988)? Yes...but only for a minute.

Mel Gibson's directorial debut is a surprisingly thoughtful, literate and enjoyable - if rather melodramatic - tale about the relationship between a good teacher and a fine young student. Gibson stars as Justin McLeod, the physically and psychologically-scarred victim of a tragic automobile accident that claimed the life of a student some years ago. McLeod is now faced with living every single day with the facial scars he survived the crash with. His world is altered one day when Chuck (Nick Stahl, in his feature debut), a curious young man whose mother is a serial bride (she has three kids by three different husbands AND a new fiancee'), WANTS to leave home to attend a fancy boarding school and thus comes seeking his tutorial assistance. The film is about the relationship between Chuck, who is fatherless and rumored to be mentally handicapped as well as emotionally unstable, and this former teacher who needs to trust someone, and needs someone to trust him. Malcolm MacRury's screenplay adaptation of a novel by Isabelle Holland is an intelligent, if slightly sudsy affair, with an appreciative grasp of the English language. Gibson, as a director, is thoughtful and competent enough, and has crafted an engaging and worthy little film.

Mike Leigh's bleak, disturbing but darkly funny portrait of Apocalyptic prophecy, sexual deviance, and unabashed misanthropy in working-class London on the cusp of the new Millennium is one of the most important films of its decade. Leigh gives us two of the most repellent male characters ever put on film, and then hypnotizes us with their exploits. First, we meet Johnny (David Thewlis, who won Best Actor at Cannes). In the film's first shot, the handheld camera rushes forward as he has rough sex with a crying, screaming woman against a wall in a dark Manchester alleyway. She breaks free and runs for help. He runs away and steals a car, driving to London. Is he a rapist? I think he's just trying to express the sense he has that anyone who thinks they want him doesn't know what they're getting themselves into. Arriving in "the Big Shitty," he goes looking for his former girlfriend Louise (Lesley Sharp), but first meets her "wicky wacky friend" Sophie (the late Katrin Cartlidge). She's into rough sex and almost neo-medeival garb, and is drawn to Johnny immediately. Across town is the truly disgusting Jeremy (Greg Cruttwell), a vile uppercrust businessman who likes to verbally and physically debase just about every woman he meets. Johnny is smart, but seems quite destitute, getting by on his wits - which occasion some people to want to beat the snot out of him. Jeremy seems to have had every privilege, and believes that it is his good fortune which allows him the opportunities to treat everyone who comes into his orbit like garbage. Feeling suffocated by Sophie's advances, and Louise's lack of same, Johnny sets off into the cold London night, and spends the next few days meeting and interacting with some of the saddest, loneliest, most alienated people the city has to offer, partaking in debates about the literal elements of the Bible and the Apocalyptic quatrains of Nostradamus. Among those he has run-ins with are a young Scottish couple (including Ewen Bremner), who lose each other easily in the crowded city streets, a curiously philosophically minded security guard (Peter Wight), a "sad-faced" and quiet cafe girl (the lovely and fragile Gina McKee), an older woman who dances in her underwear in the window, and others. Meanwhile, Jeremy arrives at Louise and Sophie's flat, claiming to be the landlord and looking for their uptight roommate Sandra (Claire Skinner), who is on safari in Zimbabwe. What he does to terrorize and harrass Sophie and Louise makes them wish Johnny were still around. What Leigh accomplishes with this juxtaposition is no mean feat; he is essentially saying that there are varying degrees of sociopaths and vileness and that being near Johnny is maybe a walk in the park compared to being anywhere near Jeremy. Writer-director Leigh has a curious way of working: he comes up with a rough theme or concept, hires his cast, and (having worked for years in the theater) spends a lot of time improvising and rehearsing to flesh out characters, dialogue and situations before finally conceiving a finished screenplay. It is this unique work ethic that had previously yielded only three features: "Bleak Moments" (1971), "High Hopes" (1989), and "Life Is Sweet" (1991), all about working-class Londoners trying to get by in harsh times. However, none of those films equal this one for its sheer melancholy; the characters look pale and the cinematography by Dick Pope paints the frames in a flat, high-contrast tone, as if to underline the utter coldness and emotional distance of these people - who are all, in a sense, naked. Andrew Dickson's musical score is all pianos and harsh violin strings, and lends the film a momentum and immediacy that is even present in its slowest, quitest moments. Thewlis gives the film's best performance as Johnny, meeting each new situation with a curious sense of witty and funny (albeit dark) humor; he is someone who is unabashedly himself and noone else. That this gets him into some trouble is, perhaps, inevitable. If I've made the film sound totally serious, I must clarify: Johnny's sense of humor, dark as it is, makes this film curiously entertaining. It is a brutal film, but it is an honest one. As tough to watch as it is, Leigh's film weaves a remarkable spell; you can't take your eyes off it.

Tony Scott's hyperkinetic, darkly funny, and hugely entertaining action extravaganza has more plot twists than you can count, and yet it's also a surprisingly moving tale of young love in a violent, crazy world. Christian Slater is Clarence Worley, a Detroit comic book store clerk who spends his birthday at a Sonny Chiba kung-fu triple feature. There, he meets Alabama (Patricia Arquette), a sweet blonde gal with many similar interests. The two go out for pie and a conversation after the movie, have sex, and Clarence finds out that Alabama is a call girl. They get married and Clarence, urged forward by his Elvis-esque conscience (Val Kilmer), goes to get her things from her pimp, a wanna-be black gangsta named Drexyl (Gary Oldman). Clarence kills Drexyl and takes off with a suitcase, but it turns out to have tons and tons of uncut cocaine inside. Clarence and Alabama hatch a plan: they'll go to Clarence's ex-cop father (Dennis Hopper) for a bit of assistance before high-tailing it for Hollywood to stay with Clarence's ex-college roommate Dick Ritchie (Michael Rapaport) and his pothead, couch-surfing roommate Floyd (Brad Pitt), use Dick's contact with a movie studio underling (Bronson Pinchot) to get a meeting with a big-time movie producer named Lee Donowitz (Saul Rubinek), and sell the cocaine to make enough money to retire to Cancun. This might make for a half-way decent plan if they knew that they have been followed by several Sicilian gangsters (including James Gandolfini as an introspective hitman) in league with a consiglieri named Vincenzo Coccotti (Christopher Walken). Add a couple of gung-ho detectives (Chris Penn and Tom Sizemore) into the mix, and you've got the makings for a good old-fashioned Mexican standoff. Tony Scott is known as a director of action films with a grasp of style over substance ("Top Gun," "Days of Thunder"). Working from a screenplay by Quentin Tarantino ("Reservoir Dogs"), Scott has made a violent, darkly funny, and surprisingly bittersweet modern fable about two young dumb kids who just want a better life for themselves. Tarantino's screenplay is melodramatic, intense, violent and contains tons of colorful dialogue with a plethora of memorable one-liners. The cinematography by Jeffrey L. Kimball is slick and glossy, with just the slightest aura of grit. The performances are all top-notch, high octane, and over-the-top, with a particularly memorable scene (with Dennis Hopper) coming from Christopher Walken, who is positively Satanic as a Sicilian mobster who just about meets his match in the least likely of places. This film may not have anything to say, but it is pure, unadulterated fun.

NOTE: The Unrated Director's Cut on DVD runs 121 minutes.