Taking a look at the year 1994, picking my 10 favorite movies from that
year in random order.
Andy Dufresne was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1947 for the murder
of his wife and her lover. Prison life is horrible and violent, but Andy
befriends the influential fellow prisoner Red and cleverly gets into the flattery
of the cruel custodians. Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, who each give an
incredible performance also give each other excellent opposites. This and the
clever script and tight direction ensured that the film has been on top of the
IMDb best movies list. Fun fact is that the movie wasn’t that successful at the
start and didn’t win any Academy Awards. For me, it has been my all-time favorite
movie for a while.
This film directed by Robert Zemeckis is a beautiful and uplifting
allegory about a charming nobody who served in Vietnam, met presidents and has
more influence on the course of history than he himself could ever have imagined.
Tom Hanks is fantastic as Forrest Gump. It was nominated for thirteen Oscars
and one six of them, for instance for best movie. The movie that beat “The
Shawshank Redemption”, but also happens to be my second favorite movie of
all-time.
Director Quentin Tarantino’s second film turned him into a superhero of independent
cinema and marked a comeback for former teen idol John Travolta. Tarantino tells
three different stories in criminal circles, which are connected to each other.
They all seem like separate stories at first, since the film is also told in a
non-chronologic way. But eventually everything comes together. This is one of
Tarantino’s first lessons in great filmmaking.
The young lion prince Simba grows up in the paradise kingdom of father
Mufasa, dreaming of the day when he will rule the savannah himself. But Mufasa’s
jealous brother Scar together with a gang of hyenas, forges a plan to get rid
of him. It’s a classic, hand-drawn Disney musical that actually has everything you
could wish for: from adventure to humor, romance, cheerful songs and
heartbreaking drama. I still remember seeing this for the first time when it
came out, on the big screen, during a birthday party of a classmate. I was in
awe!
Passenger Annie has to get behind the wheel of her commuter bus, as
she;s not allowed to drop the speed below 50 miles per hour, otherwise a bomb
will explode, placed by bad guy Howard Payne. Luckily she get help from policeman
Jack. It’s a very strong directorial debut of cameraman Jan de Bont. An action
movie in which the pace doesn’t drop a second.
The two hundred year old vampire Louis has had enough of eternal life
and drinking blood of innocent people. He pours his heart out to journalist
Mallow and tells him about the unscrupulous Lestat, the man who once turned him
into a vampire. Intelligent horror film, which focuses on the psychology of
undead existence. Nice acting performances by Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and a very
young Kirsten Dunst.
Everything is exaggerated in “True Lies”: the action scenes, the
one-liners, the characters. But that’s why this film is so much fun. Because
you shouldn’t take it too seriously. Arnold Schwarzegger plays a secret agent,
who tells his wife that he is a programmer. She thinks her life is boring,
until she finds out what Harry really does.
One evening publisher Will Randall is bitten by a wolf, on his way home.
It seems like just an incident, but soon Will starts to change: his senses have
developed to the insane and hair grows in unexpected places. Will has become a werewolf.
Jack Nicholson visibly enjoys playing the role of Randall, in which he transforms
from a worn out older man into an energetic, lusty wolf man. And Michelle
Pfeiffer is at her most beautiful in this film.
Dark fairy tale about a rock star who returns to earth as a ghost to
take revenge a year after he was murdered. He is assisted by a mysterious crow.
Brandon Lee, son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee, dies under mysterious circumstances
on the set, when he was shot with a gun that was loaded with real bullets
instead of blanks. I think this is an underrated movie.
Léon lives next door to young Mathilda. He reluctantly takes her in after her family has been murdered by policeman Stansfield, a corrupt, mad psychopath. Mathilda discovers that Léon is an assassin and wants to join forces with him to avenge her family. She cannot pay him, but has a proposition: when he teaches her how to kill Stansfield, she teaches him how to read. A great action crime drama, directed by Luc Besson and starring Jean Reno and a young Natalie Portman.
