Once again, it is time for my top 10 list of the movies of the past year. Why do I do this? Because after seeing about 50 movies a year, I feel I owe it to myself. Kind of like writing a trip report after going somewhere on company business.
Who cares what I consider the top 10 movies of 1991? I'm not sure I do. I don't take enough notes during the year to trust my recollections the following January. Still, I write this column each year to justify the large amounts of popcorn that I must eat during these movies.
This year there weren't any movies that I felt very strongly about. Some movies were just too preachy and didn't make the top 10. Others had some particular flaw that just bugged me. A common one is when a character is "punished" for loving someone. True, that's the way life is but in some movies it just seem too contrived.
10. Beauty and the Beast - In the old days, animation was done by many artists over many years in order to complete a movie like Sleeping Beauty. That became too expensive so we got a lot of shortcuts. Now, computers are making it financially feasible to do good animation again. This movie showed some of that technology working but it also used animation to really show something special; not just anthropomorphic rodents.
9. Other People's Money - Devito's nasty guy actually has a heart in this movie. That kept it from becoming one more "how the little guy can win" story.
8. City Slickers - A movie almost perfectly timed for my 40th birthday. This movie will probably make a growth industry out of "dude" ranches. Also, Jack Palance is a very funny guy, really.
7. Truly Madly Deeply - this year's version of "Ghost" was a bit more adult. It also had characters that seemed more real, albeit one of them was dead.
6. Rambling Rose - Earlier I said that some films punished characters for loving someone. Not here. Rose loves most everyone, that's her charm. One of two top movies that are about interesting and strong (ultimately) women.
5. Backdraft - Director "Opie" created a movie that really showed fire. The camera work alone put this movie on this list.
4. What about Bob - The funniest movie that I saw this year. If you know any psychology types, you may hurt yourself laughing during this movie. If on the other hand you are not a Bill Murray fan, you may think he was too weird to actually be crazy.
3. Grand Canyon - The top 3 movies on this list could almost be in any order. This movie spoke to a lot of fears that we have. Watching this movie you keep expecting the worst to happen but it doesn't. That's why this movie works. It keeps setting up these awful situations that always, ALWAYS end up with the best possible conclusion. Okay, it is moralistic but so was every episode of Star Trek.
2. Thelma & Louise - The opposite of Grand Canyon. When the worst could happen, it usually did. The best part of this movie is that it showed us two strong women. The worst part was that the result of that strength didn't seem to help.
1. Mr. Doctor - This movie made #1 with me and didn't rate a mention anywhere else. Simply put, this movie made the biggest emotional impact on me. William Hurt was the star but two important roles really made this movie. Christine Lahti as Hurt's wife and (I think it was) Elizabeth McGovern as a dying cancer patient. These two roles portrayed strong women without punishing them at the end for having that strength.
Other mentions
Hook - I liked this movie. I never recognized Dustin Hoffman in the title role and Robin Williams was certainly a restrained Pan. Most of the criticism of this movie is the small role given to Julia Roberts as Tinkerbell. This is just picking at nits, I liked this movie.
JFK - This was an excellent movie but with the same a National Enquirer attitude toward the facts. Some say this movie should be regarded only as a movie but Oliver Stone says that every award this movie gets is a testimonial to his own version of what happened. By all means, draw your own conclusions. Just don't use this movie as your sole resource.
Best Popcorn - The century 10 in Mountain View is at least consistent. Everywhere else it seems to depend on your luck.
Most Nudity - Prospero's Books had hundreds of mostly naked people but not to titillate. I think they were just trying to save on costumes.
I didn't get it - Other people liked these films but I didn't: Angel at My Table, Life is Sweet. Both foreign films.
See them anyway - These films didn't make the top 10 but you have to see them just so you know what other people are talking about: Terminator 2, Star Trek 6, Doors, JFK.