- O Brother where art thou? by Joel & Ethan Coen (2000)
The odyssey set in Mississippi during the 30’s depression. Three escaped convicts (one of them Everett Ulysses McGill - George Clooney) try to get to a hidden treasure and experience their very own odyssey; sirens, cyclops, a visit to the underworld, blind seer, killed cows, twists and turns all inclusive. Great cast, great music, great characters, great camera, great movie!
- Being John Malkovich by Charlie Kaufmann (script) and Spike Jones (director) (1999)
A jobless pupeteer who is as melancholic as his puppets with an animal-crazy wife finds a strange job in an even stranger surrounding, and then he finds an even still stranger secret door to: John Malkovich’s brain. Inside that brain he experiences ’’adventures’’ until he learns to manipulate his ’’host’’, and then everything becomes strange. Weird but good!
- Fargo by Joel & Ethan Coen (1996)
A real ’’film noir’’, only it’s mostly white because of the snow in Minnesota, before it turns all red. A used car salesman hires two thugs (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife. They agree on dividing the ransom money among them. But then everything goes from bad to worse. Strong characters, great dialogues, an Oscar for Frances McDormand as the pregnant police woman.
4.
Peter’s friends by Kenneth Branagh (1992)
Peter (Steven Fry) has lately come into possession of a large English mansion. He invites a couple of friends he hasn’t seen for a while for a New Years Dinner. They all come and they all bring with them their problems, ticks, spleens and psychoses. But there is one real problem none of them has known about and it’s Peter’s: Again here is a great assembly of stars, among them Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, great portraits of different people.
5.
Just cause by Arne Glimcher (1995)
Something slightly lighter for a change: Just cause features Sean Connery as a teacher of law who is strongly against Capital Punishment. He becomes involved in a case of a black convict who claims that he was wrongfully sentenced as the murderer of a teenage school girl. Connery get’s him retried and found innocent, but this is only the first half of the movie... Connery is brilliant, but far more impressing is Ed Harris in the role of (another) convict and murderer.
6.
Deep cover by Bill Duke (1992)
Laurence Fishburne is an under cover cop who has to find evidence against a Latino gangster. His superior officer keeps telling him that he (Fishburne) has the profile of a criminal and Larry sinks deeper and deeper into his cover and crime; brilliant character portraits, brilliant actors (e.g. Jeff Goldblum).
7.
Monster’s ball by Mark Forster (2001)
Billy Bob Thornton works in a prison where regularly inmates are executed. His Dad used to work there and his son does. Halle Berry is the wife of a man about to be electrocuted (Puff Daddy) with a massively overweight son and lots of other burdens to bear. The movie shows the most unlikely love story between two most unlikely people, often without many words because these people often don’t know what to say. Berry rightfully was awarded an Oscar.
8.
Dancer in the Dark by Lars von Trier (2000)
Lars von Trier belongs to a group of mostly Danish directors that calls itself “Dogma”. They set themselves a few dogmas: no artificial light, only handheld cameras etc. Dancer in the Dark features Björk, the Icelandic singer, as a mother who is going blind soon and whose son has inherited the same illness. Only expensive surgery can save his eyesight. She works long hours only to save money for her son’s operation. Therefore she is desperate when this money is stolen by her neighbour and landlord, a man who she deeply trusted. The characters are wonderfully shown, the actors are wonderful (Catherine Deneuve , Peter Stormare as close friends), the story is wonderful. The end is nothing for poor nerves, no family film!
9.
Much Ado about Nothing by Kenneth Branagh (1993)
Kenneth Branagh has earned himself quite a name as director of Shakespeare plays and this is well deserved. Branagh uses the original Shakespeare lines, albeit a little shortened. Branagh and Emma Thompson are a wonderful couple of two jesters, Denzel Washington is great and Keanu Reeves gives a wonderfully bad-tempered Don John. And then Micheal Keaton! Very comic, far lighter than you think Shakespeare is and very sensuous!
10.
Bend it like Beckham by Gurinder Chadha (2002)
Now for something really lighter: Bend it is my neighbour’s girls’ (8 and 12) absolute favourite and rightfully so. This mixture of teenage problems, teenage girls’ problems and immigrant teenage girls’ problem is just right. Still the movie is not one of problems (as German movies usually are) but funny and relaxed. Well, and I don’t like soccer but that really didn’t bother me. I’m looking forward to Gurinder Chadha’s new movie “Bride and Prejudice”.