1997 GRAHAMMY FILM
AWARDS
Well well well, another year has
passed us by. This was a year in which some of the biggest names
in Hollywood (Jim Carrey, Demi & Bruce, Arnold) flopped
harder than that fish at the end of that Faith No More video.
This was a year in which potentially the scuzziest man ever to
walk the face of the earth (Larry Flynt) was deified by Hollywood
as a crusader for justice. This was another year where Chris
Farley and Adam Sandler dueled for post-SNL box office supremacy.
This was a year in which our thirst for a GREAT horror film was
finally quenched. 1996 was a good year for the film industry,
despite some of the high profile flops. Of the 46 movies I saw
released during the 1996 calendar year, 22 were good enough to be
considered for the Top Ten movies of the year. I had such a hard
time deciding on ten that I decided to convert my annual list
from 10 films to twelve (sort of). This year, you will find 13
films that come HIGHLY recommended from yours truly. An honorary
recommendation was given to Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet";
any directorthat has the audacity to make a movie that runs for
four hours in 70mm during the MTV age is good enough to make my
list, even though I haven't seen it yet. So without further ado,
here are my Baker's Dozen of Films to see from 1996...
HONORARY "Hamlet" (directed by Kenneth Branagh)
12) "Looking For
Richard" (directed
by Al Pacino)
11) "Tin Cup" (directed by Ron Shelton)
10) "Scream" (directed by Wes Craven)
9) "City of Lost
Children" (directed
by Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro)
8) "Flirting With
Disaster" (directed
by David O. Russell)
7) "Jerry Maguire" (directed by Cameron Crowe)
6) "Trainspotting" (directed by Danny Boyle)
5) "Everyone Says I
Love You" (directed
by Woody Allen)
4) "Swingers" (directed by Doug Liman)
3) "Breaking the
Waves" (directed
by Lars von Trier)
2) "Big Night" (directed by Stanley Tucci and
Campbell Scott)
AND, THE NUMBER ONE FILM
OF 1996 IS....
1) "Fargo" (directed by Joel Coen)
a new feature of my "top
ten" films of the year is this...9independent movies,
currently out on video, that you should make apoint of seeing
ASAP (you probably missed these when they were out in the theater,
they are great films that deserve to be seen)
listed in no particular order
"Exotica" (directed by Atom Egoyan)
"Kicking and
Screaming" (directed
by Noah Baumbach)
"Party Girl" (directed by Daisy von Scherler
Mayer)
"Theremin: An
Electronic Odyssey"
(directed by Steven M. Martin)
"What Happened Was..." (directed by Tom Noonan)
"Living in
Oblivion" (directed
by Tom DeCillo)
"The Last Supper" (directed by Stacy Title)
"The Trigger
Effect" (directed
by David Koepp)
"Wallace and
Gromit: A Close Shave" (directed by Nick Park)
mad props to everyone who took
home an award tonight. thank you very much, and until next time,
the balcony is closed
Mark Graham
27 january 1997
