68 - The Michigan Daily - W ee. 4, ~e. - Thursday, January 18, 1996

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Gabriel Byrne (second from right) was one of "The Usual Suspects."

FILM
Continued from Page 1B
Joshua Rich
1. "Crumb"
2. "Leaving Las Vegas"
3. "Carrington"
4. "The Usual Suspects"
5. "Clockers"
6. "Unzipped"
7. "Toy Story"
8. "Nixon"
9. "Seven"
10. "Smoke"
In a year when there was no
"Schindler's List" or"Pulp Fiction," no

one outstanding film that clearly stood
out from the rest, audiences were treated,
rather, to a selection of mainly medio-
cre, unexceptional pictures with few
standouts. Hence, there were four films
- "Crumb," "Leaving Las Vegas,"
"Carrington" and "The Usual Suspects"
- which were equally particularly
memorable, while the innovative, comi-
cal and entirely engaging "Crumb" takes
the top prize.
Jen Petlinski
1. "Leaving Las Vegas"
2. "Kids"
3. "Nixon"
4. "Apollo 13"

5. "Sense and Sensibility"
6. "The Brothers McMullen"
7. "Clueless"
8. "The American President"
9. "While You Were Sleeping"
10. "The Bridges of Madison County"
Both Mike Figgis' "Leaving Las
Vegas" and Larry Clark's "Kids" were
two of this year's best. Elisabeth Shue
and Nicolas Cage give stunning perfor-
mances as two struggling lovers in "Ve-
gas." The documentary style of "Kids"
is a frightening wake-up call to adoles-
cents living in the world of risk, drugs
and STDs.
1995 provided film-going audiences
with many rewarding independent films
such as these. And in a year filled with
sequels ("Ace Ventura: When Nature
Calls"), expensive flops ("Waterworld")
and no substance ("Showgirls"), we
have been forced to search for some-
thing more. "Vegas" and "Kids" can
convince us to stop searching - they
have shown us the psychologically real
side of life that has been nearly absent
in the movies of 1995.
Michael Zilberman
1. "12 Monkeys"
2. "Nixon"
3. "Apollo 13"
4. "Smoke"
5. "Desperado"
6. "Living In Oblivion"
7. "Heat"
8. "Rob Roy"
9. "Seven"
10. "Strange Days"
Runners-up: "Little Odessa," "Toy
Story," "Nick Of Time," "To Die For,"
"Get Shorty"
In "12 Monkeys," Terry Gilliam fi-
nally abandoned his penchant for me-
andering non-narratives; his trademark
semi-surrealist visuals, however, are
still at hand. The result is a stunningly
complex movie that also makes sense.
Oliver Stone's "Nixon" turned out much
more than the quiet and dull counter-
part to "JFK," thanks largely to Sir
Anthony Hopkins' performance. He
looks and talks nothing like Nixon, but
five minutes into the film, you forget
that. Ten minutes later, you forget what
the real Nixon looked like. "Desperado,"
"Living In Oblivion" and "Smoke" are
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three great pocket-sized movies.
"Apollo 13," "Seven," "Rob Roy" and
"Strange Days" are all finely crafted
entertainment that probably wouldn't
have made the list in a better year; only
"Heat" comes this close to transcend-
ing its genre.
Worst Movies Of 1995
"Congo"
"Dracula: Dead And Loving It"
"Showgirls"
"White Man's Burden"
"Powder"
Neal C. Carruth
1. "Leaving Las Vegas"
2. "Persuasion"
3. "Toy Story"
4. "The Postman (Ii Postino)"
5. "The Secret of Roan Inish"
6. "Nixon"
7. "Amateur"
8. "A Great Day in Harlem"
9. "Heat"
10. "The Usual Suspects"
The best film of 1995 was Mike
Figgis' somber, comic and terrifying
romance "Leaving Las Vegas." Nicho-
las Cage gives a stunning turn as the
hell-bent alcoholic Ben.
Amanda Root, in her own subdued
way, is equally powerful in the spare,
delicate production of Jane Austen's
"Persuasion." Computer animation and
a clever screenplay work magic in
Disney's "Toy Story," a film that offers
as much pleasure to adults as it does to
children. Italian cinema lost one of its
great stars, Massimo Troisi, who gives
his final performance in the enchanting
and devastating "The Postman." Indie
auteur John Sayles created a fascinat-
ing tale of myth and fancy with "The
Secret of Roan Inish."
Oliver Stone and Anthony Hopkins
bring an incredibly vivid "Nixon" to
the screen. The wry Hal Hartley tinkers
with our preconceptions about social
identity in "Amateur." Jean Bach as-
sembles a beautiful setofremembrances
of things past with jazz world titans like
Dizzy Gillespie and Sonny Rollins in
"A Great Day in Harlem." Michael
Mann crafted "Heat," a compelling
crime drama that also manages to ex-
amine the injustice we inflict upon one
another in romantic relationships. And
a superb cast and well-constructed script
made Bryan Singer's "The Usual Sus-
pects" unusually powerful entertain-
ment.
Christopher Corbett
'. "Seven"
2. "Braveheart"
3. "Crimson Tide"
4. "Leaving Las Vegas"
5. "Casino"
6. "GoldenEye"
7. "Waterworld"
8. "Batman Forever"
9. "French Kiss"
10. "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Ev-
erything, Julie Newmar"

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1995 didn't have that "You have to
see this to believe it" kind of film like
last year's miracle, "The Shawshank
Redemption." But a few were worth the
cash. "Seven," a bodacious gross-out
movie, turned the popcorn you ate into
cream-of-popcorn, and that's precisely
why you dragged your friends to see it.
"Braveheart," with its mega-blood,
hand-to-hand war scenes was cool, and
had The Most Beautiful Girl in the
World of Film, '95, Sophie Marceau.
And given what happened in the last
few scenes of the film (YESSSSSI),
what more could you have asked for?
Kate Brady
1 "Sense and Sensibility"
2. "Strawberry and Chocolate"
3. "A Pure Formality"
4. "Leaving Las Vegas"
5. "Jeffery"
6. "Seven"
7. "The Brothers McMullen"
8. "Mighty Aphrodite"
9. "Nixon"
10. "Priest"
Alexandra Twin i
1. "Georgia" 1
2. "Dead Man Walking" i
3. "Living in Oblivion" ;
4. "Crumb"
5. "Leaving Las Vegas"
6. "Kids"
7. "Unzipped" s
8. "Nixon"
9, "Sense and Sensibility" i
10. "Amateur"
Runners up: "Apollo 13," "Before I
Sunrise," "The Brothers McMullen," t
"Clockers," "Clueless," "the four cor-
ners of nowhere," "How to Make an
American Quilt," "Mighty Aphrodite," i
"Othello," "Seven," "12 Monkeys," i
"Toy Story," "Usual Suspects"
As tends to be the case every year, i
big, bloated Hollywood would-be
blockbusters ("The Scarlet Letter,"
"Cutthroat Island," "Judge Dredd," etc)
all fell flat on their inflated egos while
indies and underdogs kicked their cin-
ematicbutts. Occasional filmmakerTim
Robbins' lyrical death penalty drama 1
"Dead Man Walking" found occasional
actor Sean Penn turning in the perfor-
mance of his career. Mike Figgis' "Leav-
ingLasVegas"markedthere-introduc- i
tion of long-overlooked Elisabeth Shue,
as well as Nicolas Cage in the male lead
performance of the year. His female
counterpart was the always astonishing
Jennifer Jason Leigh, whose "Geor-
gia," - the story of a terrible singer
who pales in the light of her talented 1
sister - was the best film of the year.
Although neither of his films war- 1
ranted top 10 consideration, 1995 was
unquestionably the year of Kevin
Spacey. While he added spice to his
perennial "good buddy" role in last
spring' "Outbreak," it was while baring 1
his teeth in the underseen "Swimming
With Sharks," the horrific "Seven,"and
the admirably crafted (and surprise t
sleeper hit of the year) "The Usual
Suspects" that Spacey finally caught 1
the public eye. Older, (early '40s), i
plainer (balding and pasty) and more
obscure (he has close to two dozen 1
films out that no one's seen), than al- i
most any other movie star out there,
Spacey may not be the next Brad Pitt 1
but he's also no flash in the pan. Look 1
for him at the Oscars in March, along
with Cage and Leigh.
Prashant Tamaskar I
1. "Seven" t
2. "Nixon"
3. "Leaving Las Vegas" - t
4. "While You Were Sleeping" t
5. "The Usual Suspects"

Nicolas Cage as a doomed alcoholic
and Elizabeth Shue In "Leaving Las
Vegas"
6. "Crimson Tide"
7. "Apollo 13" Y '
8. "Braveheart"
9. "Get Shorty"
10. "Toy Story," "Babe"
This year proved that the major stu-
dios can still make high quality block-
buster films. "Seven" is a drearyruel-
ing movie that combined an engrossing
story with superior film-making, Oliver
Stone's "Nixon" successful ly,,captu
the duality ofone of the most epjWaW
characters in American histonr'. The
depressing "Leaving Las Vegas"docu-
ments an agonizing relations e hip be-
tween an alcoholic and a prostitute. ;
Granted, it may have been p fluff,
but there probably wasn't a more enter-
taining film in 1995 than "While You
Were Sleeping," thanks mostly to
Sandra Bullock. "The Usual Sp"Vects"
is a slick mystery that fgotures -a very
memorable ending. The remarkala
intense "Crimson Tide" allows Denzel
Washington and Gene Hackman to strut
their stuff while trying to avoid acrisis.
In "Apollo 13" the heroes u4 their
minds instead of their muscles to pre-
vent a space tragedy. Mel Gibson's
"Braveheart" merges solidcharseier de-
velopment, acting and plot with exquis-
ite fighting scenes. A comedyvwith a
bite, "Get Shorty" makes excel-lent use
of its star-studded cast. Despite supeo
cial differences between the fancy "Troy
Story" and the simple "Babe,' the true
nature of these two heart warming fi lies
were very similar.
Kristin Long
1. "The Postman" (Il Postino) The
Italian subtitle flick that touchse on ro-
mance and war, focusing on the life of a
poet and his awestruck postman.-
2. "While You Were Sleeping" Rand
Bullock captivates our hearts with this
story as she falls in lovewith the family of
a man whose life she saves. -e
3. "Sabrina" This remake of the flick
with Humphrey Bogart stars.Harrrison
Ford and is a great romance.
4. "Outbreak" Dustin Hoffman tries to
end an epidemic that's sweeping the na-
tion. The suspense makes it worthwhile.
5. "Dangerous Minds" Ivliehelle
Pfieffer stars in this powerful flick abo
the violence and trauma in city selools.
6. "Nine Months" This story =about a
pregnancy-tom relationship hasUslaugh-
ing and crying at the same time;;
7. "Father of the Bride Part JF' The
best sequel to hit the market givang'.its
predecessor a bit of a challenge. s<
8. "Apollo 13" Tom Hanks'isiounds
us once again, this time in space"
9. "Home forthe Holidays" A 11m of
family reunions that makes you'tl b
ter about the oddities in your family.
10. "Crimson Tide" A great suspense
thriller; it thrives on its powerful cast of
Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington,

STUi ENTS!
Catering hours available
HELP WANTED AT THE
LAWYER'S CLUB
DINING SERVICES (551 S. State)
$6.00 per hour to start
C,4LL 7ro4-1115 OR
STOP BY
E.O.E.

Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre
Tickets go on sale January 15, 1996
For tickets and information, call 313-971-2228
Beginning January 29, call 313-763-1085

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"Forrest, mama always said don't touch that lever!" Tom "Gump" Hanks (right}=
orbits the moon with Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon in this year's "Apollo 13."




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