1995

1995

I like to dub this as The Year of Kevin Spacey. Without question the breakout actor of the year, he cemented himself as a great dramatic actor for years to come with his Oscar winning supporting turn in The Usual Suspects and his appearance at the end of Se7en. I subsequently saw everything he did from that point forward (ironically until Pay It Forward). This year is also important to me because The Usual Suspects is my favorite movie of all time. I spent much of this year (and a good portion of 1996) recommending this movie to everyone I knew. When I got it for Christmas on VHS, I would loan it out to people insisting they experience the magic I felt when I saw it. This was not a fantastic overall year for films but the good far outweighed the bad and it contained some truly great pictures as well.

The Top Three
The Usual Suspects, Se7en, Heat


For me, this film is where it's at. It's my favorite genre (crime/noir) and done to perfection. I mean, my God there are good performances from Stephen Baldwin AND Kevin Pollack here! No other film can boast that. ;) Seriously, though the acting is superb, especially Spacey, Gabriel Byrne and Chazz Palminteri. However, the true strength of this film is the fantastic script by then first time screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie, who deservingly won an Oscar for his efforts. The plot serpentines around New York and LA, finishing with arguably the greatest ending of all time. I mean the moment Palminteri drops his coffee cup...pure cinematic gold. I get goosebumps every time, even now as I'm typing this sentence. This was the film that got me interested in serious cinema and the process of film-making itself. I have a soft spot for everyone involved with this film and I could go on and on about its greatness but I will restrain myself and simply reiterate that I love this film above all others.

The second half of my Kevin Spacey double bill lovefest is a bit on the strange side to put it mildly. Se7en is without a doubt one of the best high concept films because it actually works. Morgan Freeman is perfect as the grizzled veteran detective. In fact I think he was born to play exactly this character in this film, that's how perfect he is. There's also a very good performance from Brad Pitt though he was still early in his career and there are a few moments that are rough around the edges. However, the true star of this film are the crime scenes, each more horrific than the next.  I'm going to borrow from a critic I heard discussing this film in saying that "the death scenes in Se7en are art-directed to within an inch of their lives". The amount of detail on screen is a David Fincher trademark and it really began with this film. Like The Usual Suspects, this film has one of the best endings around and left everyone with that eternal line, "What's in the box!?".


For years, everyone in Hollywod had always asked themselves why Robert Deniro and Al Pacino had never been in a movie together. Arguably the two greatest actors of theirs or any generation, the wet dream of cinephiles everywhere finally came to fruition in the greatest way possible. Michael Mann's Heat is the quintessential cops and robbers movie, with one of the best heist sequences of all time. The great thing about this movie is that there is no good or bad. It's just people, with all of their issues and the cops have just as many (if not more) than the robbers. As is the case with all of Mann's films, the cinematography is almost a character in the film and the "cool blue" that bathes Los Angeles at night not only sets a perfect atmosphere but reflects the character's moods in their respective scenes when necessary. As great as all of the above is, the cherry on top of this film is the diner scene between Deniro and Pacino. It's not only a cool moment of the two actors going head to head but it's very rare that you have two characters in a film in that situation, each able to show mutual respect for the other while at the same time establishing their own dominance of the situation. A perfect scene.

Best of the Rest
Braveheart, Apollo 13, Babe, Crimson Tide, Devil in a Blue Dress, Toy Story, Goldeneye, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Friday, 12 Monkeys

There's such a diverse collection of films that were good this year that it felt like every genre was well represented. You had a crazy, bloody, historical epic in Braveheart on one hand and a restrained, calculated thriller in Apollo 13 vying for Oscar glory. A double shot of Denzel with Crimson Tide (one of the best submarine films ever) and Devil in a Blue Dress, which is a slightly flawed but highly underrated gem of a neo-noir. There was also the return of James Bond and the best since the original Sean Connery run in Goldeneye. Die Hard did indeed come back with A Vengeance after a lackluster sequel and Samuel L. Jackson continued his hot streak. Then you had the beginning of Pixar with the wonderful Toy Story and a very lovely family film about a talking pig with Babe. Round it out with a nutty Terry Gilliam time-travel sci/fi film in 12 Monkeys and a classic comedy from the hood with Friday and the year 1995 was pretty damn entertaining.

Other Films of Note
Casino, Kids, Get Shorty, Mallrats, Bad Boys, Tommy Boy, Billy Madison, Desperado, Trapped in Paradise, Strange Days, Empire Records, Outbreak, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls

Overall, this year for me was very personal as I started seeing more mature films and really expanded my film repertoire. I discovered my favorite film of all time and was well on my way to experiencing films in a different way. Before this year, I had always just watched movies as a form of entertainment. After this year, I began to appreciate the art form and the collaborative process that goes into making it. To say the least it was a very important year in my film life. It was the year when things took on new meaning.