Category: 1994

Reel 83: In the Style of Howard Hawks

Our first episode of 2025 is the last of our “In the Style of” series, and this was a fun one to make for us. This time around we’re looking at films that emulate director Howard Hawks in one way or another. Maybe it’s dialogue, maybe it’s the overall vibe, maybe it’s the cinematography…

…Nah. It’s not the cinematography. But it is the vibe and the dialogue. Both of these films, which couldn’t be more different in content and tone from one another (or from most of Hawks’ work, for that matter), definitely have an echo that could get you thinking, “Yeah…he would have handled this pretty much the same way.”

On to fhe movies themselves. And we open up with 1994’s The Bus That Couldn’t Slow Down Speed, directed by Jan de Bont in his American feature debut as a director, and starring Keanu Reeves and a then largely-unknown Sandra Bullock. It’s a tense thriller that still manages to overlay a lot of laugh-out-loud  humor, and a little bit of romantic comedy. Dennis Hopper plays a pretty definitive crazy guy as only he can, and we get some smaller-but-solid performances from the likes of Jeff Daniels, Joe Morton and Alan Ruck.

From there we jump ahead to 2015 and The Martian, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon for half the movie, and Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels (again), and a lot of other solid talent holding up the other half. Matt Damon is stranded on Mars and needs to stay alive for much longer than his equipment was designed to do. And all the folks on Earth have to find a way to get to Mars much faster than they expected they’d ever need. Again, a taut, serious story with a humorous overlay that’s quite faithful to its source material. Is the story good science? …eh…mostly. There are a few spots where Andy Weir, the book’s author, concedes he had to break the rules to get some characters where they needed to be. But in the long run you don’t care because it’s a fun ride.


COMING ATTRACTIONS:

If you like Denzel Washington, you’re going to love the next episode. Denzel is on the case, as we screen The Mighty Quinn, which wasn’t his first film role but it was his first after St. Elsewhere (I think…I’m pretty sure), and then it’s Inside Man, a heist film with an ending that we think will surprise you.

Reel 60: Hail Oceania

Yes, yes, we know. We skipped #59. There’s an explanation at the beginning of this episode, and Mea Culpa. #59 will be the next one we drop. And THAT, rather than this, will finish our tour Around the World in Twenty  Films. (So, never mind what Sean says about it being the last stop.)

The thing that strikes me as interesting, retrospective to our conversation, is that in both of this episode’s films, we’re dealing with the sins of the past. And not the long past, but as part of living memory.

First up, we’re reviewing 1994’s Once Were Warriors, directed by Lee Tamahori. It’s a look at the Hekes, a lower-class New Zealand family, and how they deal with some of their personal struggles. You kind of feel for some of them, then you feel for others, then you’re not sure what to think, and if this sounds confusing, it is, but in a good way. Ultimately, you will not be dissatisfied by the ending.

From there we jump to Western Australia, to check out Rabbit-Proof Fence, directed by Philip Noyce. It’s based on a true story about three young girls and a very, very long walk they take across the continent. This one doesn’t so much confront Australia’s past as it pushes the viewer into confronting it, especially when you realize that these events – as outmoded as they sound – took place during the lifetimes of people who are still alive today.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:
As noted above, our next episode will be the one that was supposed to happen here. We’ll be reviewing Parasite and Shoplifters, though not in that order.

Reel 56: Only Connect

See? Weren’t you promised an episode with this title a while back? We do the fan service pretty well, methinks. (Also, I don’t have an especially good reason for it, but I kind of like the artwork on this episode.)

This time around, “Only Connect” is a rather ironic title, because the films we’re looking at deal with many, many missed connections between people and events.

In the first film, Exotica (1994), Atom Egoyan takes us through a pair of parallel stories, plus a third storyline that actually manages to tie the other two together, even though (spoiler) it’s not concurrent with the other two. In this case the connections are there and it’s up to the viewer to pick up the breadcrumbs left behind.

After the intermission, we’re going to Turkey to see The Edge of Heaven, a 2007 Turkish-German drama written and directed by Fatih Akın. This one will have you confused at first. Then, as the various pieces come together, you’ll get frustrated. But ultimately you’ll settle in and accept the way events worked out. (I think; that’s how it worked out for me, anyway.)


COMING ATTRACTIONS:

Put on your rented tuxedo, because we’re going to a couple of weddings. First, from 2001, it’s Monsoon Wedding, an Indian comedy-drama directed by Mira Nair. Although it takes place in India, you’ll recognize most of the drama that happens when extended families find themselves in one place.

From there we’re off to Denmark and 2007’s After the Wedding, a 2006 Danish-Swedish drama directed by Susanne Bier. It’s a complex story about people with complex motivations, and the people affected by them.

 

Reel 23: Little Womens

Little Women is a book that’s been adapted into some sort of visual medium, whether it’s a big-screen film, or a TV movie, or even a mini-series, many many times.

Now, we have been making an effort to keep the episodes down to a more digestible length, but this time around we’ve got a righteously overstuffed episode simply because we’re discussing three films rather than the usual two, plus there’s such a rich vein of original material to pick through as we compare and contrast three different film adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.

So strap yourself in: we spend about 40 minutes on the 1933 version, directed by George Cukor and starring Katharine Hepburn as Jo, then after the break we move on to 1994, directed by Gillian Armstrong and starring Winona Ryder, and finish with the Greta Gerwig-directed version from 2019, starring Saoirse Ronan. Have your popcorn ready, it’s a long ride.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:

In our next episode we go traveling with some Foreign Correspondents. First up is a trip to Nicaragua, with 1983’s Under Fire. After that we jump to 1997 when we receive a hearty Welcome to Sarajevo.

Reel 5: The Film Was Better

When a book is adapted for movies, the usual thing you’ll hear from people who have consumed both versions is that “the book was better.” In this week’s episode, Sean (who has read the books) and Claude (who hasn’t) explore the reasons behind why this isn’t always the case.

The first film on our virtual projector is 1994’s Nobody’s Fool, starring Paul Newman, Melanie Griffith, Bruce Willis and a host of amazing character actors. Newman is doing his “lovable rogue” thing but he’s toned it way down, and it truly works. Robert Benton directed this film, based on the novel by Richard Russo.

Atom Egoyan is the director behind our second film, The Sweet Hereafter. Ian Holm, Bruce Greenwood and Sarah Polley headline this film in which a lot of small moments manage to come together in a way that will allow you to bring them back on your own, without much help from us.

Next episode, we begin SorkinFest with four episodes looking at the works of Aaron Sorkin. We start with Sorkin’s pairups with films directed by Rob Reiner, The American President and A Few Good Men.