Clifford

1994

Director: Paul Flaherty

Distributor: Orion Pictures

Key Elements: Lines – Characters

My Review:

This movie is surprisingly obscure. Though few people have heard of it, it’s one of the funniest I’ve ever seen.

Maybe this is because Martin Short’s humor can be polarizing. But if you like Martin, you’ll love this character – a creepy/funny ten year old obsessed with a dinosaur themed amusement park.

Montage:



Quotes:

• Would you please stop hitting the back of my chair? I am trying to sleep!
  - I'm sorry, Miss Nice Older Person, but I don't know what you're talking about. Perhaps you were just having a nightmare about your early days in the circus.
  One more word out of you and I'll call the flight attendant.
  - Wasn't nice of the mean old lady to smash your collarbone was it, Steffen?
• Don't reject me, Uncle Martin!
• I love you, Uncle Martin.
  - And I love you too, Clinton.
  Clifford.
• What do you want to be when you grow up, Clifford?
  - A dinosaur!
• You wouldn't lie to me, would you Uncle Martin? 'Cause if you did I'd be so angry I don't know what I'd do.
• Don't send me back to my parents, they hate me!
• Here's the deal: Go to your room, write a confession that I'll take to the police, I will not send you back to your parents, and you tell Sarah that you and I are the best of friends.
  - And we are, aren't we?
  Shut up.
• He says please don't hurt him, he's the only one left in his family.
• Don't worry about Clifford, he'll be fine if you give him a ton of sugar and a book about Hitler.
• Well there it is, Clifford, Dinosaur World. Are you happy?
• Oh Uncle Martin, I am so glad you're here. I got on the train to run away, but a person tried to touch my no-no special place! And when I got back, there were bikers here. And they tied me up, Uncle Martin, and then they told me stories that they do on their bikes. Some of them were fun but some of them were scary!
• Oh, you mean Uncle Martin... Scary...*Scary* Uncle Martin.
  - I'd say I'm the happiest boy in the whole wide world, Uncle Mental Case.
  I'm the mental case? You're the one in the stray jacket.
  - I imagine when they put you in yours, you'll need a much larger one, sir.
  That's cute.

Still:

The Shawshank Redemption

1994

Director: Frank Darabont

Distributor: Columbia Pictures / Warner Brothers

Key Elements: Story – Lines – Characters – Message

My Review:

This is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. Great writing. Moving acting. And an important message.

Andy’s world has fallen apart. His wife cheated on him. Then she was murdered. And, framed for the killing, he has been sent to Shawshank prison where he suffers terrible abuse.

Amazingly, though he is knocked down, he is not destroyed. Andy holds onto hope even when everyone thinks he’s crazy. In the end, he shows them all.

As in all great stories, the gospel can be found in this one. As Red puts it, Andy “crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side.” It parallels the way Jesus went through death – both physical and spiritual – and yet came out alive and victorious on the other side. Andy not only frees himself, he takes down the corrupt prison staff and inspires Red to hope for his own freedom. In the same way, Jesus work conquers sin and death and gives us the hope of new, eternal life.

Beautiful movie.

Trailer:



Quotes:

• It's my life. Don't you understand? IT'S MY LIFE!
• I must admit I didn't think much of Andy first time I laid eyes on him; looked like a stiff breeze would blow him over. That was my first impression of the man.
• The first night's the toughest, no doubt about it. They march you in naked as the day you were born, skin burning and half blind from that delousing shit they throw on you, and when they put you in that cell... and those bars slam home... that's when you know it's for real. A whole life blown away in the blink of an eye. Nothing left but all the time in the world to think about it.
• What was his name?
  - What did you say?
  I was just wondering if anybody knew his name.
• Same old shit, different day
• I could see why some of the boys took him for snobby. He had a quiet way about him, a walk and a talk that just wasn't normal around here. He strolled, like a man in a park without a care or a worry in the world, like he had on an invisible coat that would shield him from this place. Yeah, I think it would be fair to say... I liked Andy from the start.
  This is the part I really like, when she does that shit with her hair.
• We sat and drank with the sun on our shoulders and felt like free men. Hell, we could have been tarring the roof of one of our own houses. We were the lords of all creation. As for Andy - he spent that break hunkered in the shade, a strange little smile on his face, watching us drink his beer. … You could argue he'd done it to curry favor with the guards. Or, maybe make a few friends among us cons. Me, I think he did it just to feel normal again, if only for a short while.
• I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don't want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I'd like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can't be expressed in words, and makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away, and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free.
• That's the beauty of music. They can't get that from you... Haven't you ever felt that way about music?
  - I played a mean harmonica as a younger man. Lost interest in it though. Didn't make much sense in here.
  Here's where it makes the most sense. You need it so you don't forget.
  - Forget?
  Forget that... there are places in this world that aren't made out of stone. That there's something inside... that they can't get to, that they can't touch. That's yours.
  - What're you talking about?
  Hope.
• These walls are funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That's institutionalized.
• You know what the Mexicans say about the Pacific?
  - No.
  They say it has no memory. That's where I want to live the rest of my life. A warm place with no memory.
• Get busy living, or get busy dying.
• Andy crawled to freedom through five-hundred yards of shit smelling foulness I can't even imagine, or maybe I just don't want too. Five-Hundred yards... that's the length of five football fields, just shy of half a mile.
• Andy Dufresne - who crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side.
  I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up DOES rejoice. Still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they're gone. I guess I just miss my friend.
• Ellis Boyd Redding, your files say you've served 40 years of a life sentence. Do you feel you've been rehabilitated?
  - Rehabilitated? …Well now, let's see. You know, I don't have any idea what that word means.
  Well, it means you are ready to rejoin society...
  - I know what you think it means sonny. To me it's just a made-up word. A politician's word; so, young fellows like yourself wear a suit and a tie... and have a job. What do you really want to know? Am I sorry for what I did?
  Well, are you?
  - There's not a day goes by I don't feel regret. Not because I'm in here and because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then... a stupid, young kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try and talk some sense to him. Tell him the way things are, but I can't. That kid's long gone, and this old man is all that's left. I gotta live with that. Rehabilitated? It's just a bullshit word. So you go on and stamp your form, sonny, and stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I don't give a shit.
• Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.
• I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend, and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.

Stills:

Pulp Fiction

1994

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Distributor: Miramax Films

Key Elements: Concept – Lines

My Review:

Tarantino is a master of revisiting old movie genres and making them flashy and new. Here he reinvents film noir for us.

Told in a non-linear fashion, we follow several characters of the underworld as they go throughout their day. It gives us classic lines, iconic imagery and an unforgettable movie experience.

This is when the world first realized that Tarantino has style.

Trailer:



Quotes:

• I do believe Marsellus Wallace, my husband, your boss, told you to take ME out and do WHATEVER I WANTED. Now I wanna dance, I wanna win. I want that trophy, so dance good.
• Whether or not what we experienced was an According to Hoyle miracle is insignificant.
• What is significant is that I felt the touch of God. God got involved.
• We should have shotguns for this kind of deal.
  - How many up there?
  Three or four.
  - That's countin' our guy?
  Not sure.
  - So that means there could be up to five guys up there?
  It's possible.
  - We should have fuckin' shotguns.
• I ain't saying it's right. But you're saying a foot massage don't mean nothing, and I'm saying it does. Now look, I've given a million ladies a million foot massages, and they all meant something. We act like they don't, but they do, and that's what's so fucking cool about them. There's a sensuous thing going on where you don't talk about it, but you know it, she knows it, fucking Marsellus knew it, and Antwan should have fucking better known better. I mean, that's his fucking wife, man. He can't be expected to have a sense of humor about that shit. You know what I'm saying?
• Yeah, we cool. Two things. Don't tell nobody about this. This shit is between me, you, and Mr. Soon-To-Be-Living-The-Rest-of-His-Short-Ass-Life-In-Agonizing-Pain Rapist here. It ain't nobody else's business. Two: you leave town tonight, right now. And when you're gone, you stay gone, or you be gone. You lost all your L.A. privileges. Deal?
• The night of the fight, you may feel a slight sting. That's pride fucking with you. Fuck pride. Pride only hurts, it never helps.
• The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.
• That's when you know you've found somebody special. When you can just shut the fuck up for a minute and comfortably enjoy the silence.
• I'm American, honey. Our names don't mean shit.
• Get it straight buster - I'm not here to say please, I'm here to tell you what to do and if self-preservation is an instinct you possess you'd better fucking do it and do it quick! I'm here to help - if my help's not appreciated then lotsa luck, gentlemen.

Stills:

Legends of the Fall

1994

Director: Edward Zwick

Distributor: Columbia TriStar

Key Elements: Characters – Concept

My Review:

Tristan Ludlow is probably my most favorite movie character of all time.
His older brother is cautious and jealous. His younger brother is zealous and naive. But Tristan knows exactly who he is – and he is his own. His fiercely independent personality is influenced by his father’s Native American friend giving him a rustic agency all his own. Tristan is untamable.

A love triangle (square?) masquerades as the focus of this story, but to me it is just a backdrop for the characters to play upon.

I have three favorite Tristan moments in this movie:

The first is when Tristan goes to get a drink with his father, his brother, and their Native American friend. When the bar keeper refuses to serve the Indian, Tristan doesn’t say word. He just jumps over the counter and beats the racist nearly senseless – then pours the drink himself. You don’t get away with anything with Tristan.

My second favorite part of the movie is when Tristan disappears from his family and travels the world. We see him as a sailor, a trader and a hunter. He simply heads out and conquers the world – though plagued by demons all the while.

But my most favorite moment is Tristan’s response to his younger brother’s death on the front lines of WWI. Tristan - by himself and on his own will - sneaks behind enemy lines and silently kills a dozen enemy soldiers. The next morning, a bloodied Tristan rides back into his camp tragically triumphant with multiple human scalps draped around his neck.

Tristan is wild, untamable and free. Brad Pitt makes this movie happen.

Clip:



Quotes:

• Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy, or they become legends.
• Indians! Indians were the issue in those days. I can assure you, gentlemen, there is nothing quite so grotesque as the meeting of a child with the a bullet; or an entire village slaughtered while they are sleeping. That was the Government's resolution of that particular issue and I have seen nothing in its behavior since then that would persuade me that it has gained either wisdom, common sense, or humanity.
• Samuel chose to be a soldier and soldiers die! Sent to their slaughter by men in governments! Parasites like you! Damn and blast you!
• Every hunter hopes that a good death finds him.

Stills:

Interview with the Vampire - The Vampire Chronicles

1994

Director: Neil Jordan

Distributor: Warner Brothers

Key: Concept – Lines – Characters – Visuals – Symbolism

My Review:

Based on Anne Rice’s novel, this is probably the best vampire movie I’ve seen.

It grabs my interest in particular because I find the mythology of the vampire to be heavy with symbolism. Vampirism is a great metaphor for addiction. You live, but not really - you’re a slave to that which makes you a monster.

Louis realizes this. And it’s interesting to see his self-hatred because of it.

Trailer:



Quotes:

• I'm flesh and blood, but not human. I haven't been human for two hundred years.
• No words can describe it. May as well ask Heaven what it sees; no human can know.
• I'm frightened of myself.
• You lack the courage of your convictions sir. Do it.
• …do not doubt: you are a killer, Louis.
• The world changes, we do not, there lies the irony that finally kills us.
• We belong in hell.
• I'm going to give you the choice I never had.

Stills:

The Hudsucker Proxy

1994

Director: Coen Brothers

Distributor: Warner Brothers

Key Elements: Story – Lines – Visuals – Characters

My Review:

The Coen Brothers are great film makers. Everyone knows that. But what surprises me is how deft they are at comedy as well.

The Hudsucker Proxy is both a homage to and a satire of 1950’s personality. The quick, clever writing and surreal visuals make this a fun watch.

Clip:



Quotes:

• You know, for kids.
• I used to think you were a swell guy. Well, to be honest, I thought you were an imbecile. But then I figured out you WERE a swell guy... A little slow, maybe, but a swell guy. Well, maybe you're not so slow, But you're not so swell either. And it looks like you're an imbecile after all!
• …Can I at least call you dear?
• And that's the story of how Norville Barnes climbed waaay up to the forty-fourth floor of the Hudsucker Building, and then fell all the way down but didn't quite squish hisself. You know, they say there was a man who jumped from the forty-FIFTH floor? But that's another story...

Stills:

Forrest Gump

1994

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Key Elements: Story – Characters – Lines – Music – Symbolism – Message

My Review:

The popularity of this movie is due largely to the fact that it tells the shared stories of it’s target audience – those who went through the major events of the sixties. The magic of it is that the most unlikely person, a slow and unassuming southern boy, is a single character that linking all these events together.

What I love about this movie though, isn’t so much that this antihero finds himself consistently in the most socially meaningful settings, but that he sees them all with eyes different from our own. The scene where he tells Jenny that she’s been with him his whole life shows us some of the most beautiful scenic shots in any movie.

The real question the movie asks through it all is - what is life like? Do we have a destiny of are we just floating. I think Gump has it right when he says that maybe it’s both. God is looking out for us and has a plan for our lives. At the same time, our lives are what we make of them. We can hate ourselves and our situation, or we can look at what’s around us and see the beauty that fills every moment of the world.

My favorite scene is when Gump meets his son and his first question is – Is he smart? Such incredible vulnerability just grabs you.

Trailer:



Quotes:

• My momma always said, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."
• What's normal anyways?
• He should not be hitting you, Jenny.
• Stupid is as stupid does.
• It's funny Lieutenant Dan said that, 'cause right then, God showed up.
• Sometimes, I guess there's just not enough rocks.
• Why don't you love me, Jenny? I'm not a smart man, but I know what love is.
• I'm pretty tired... I think I'll go home now.
• Mama always said: dying was a part of life.
• Jenny, I don't know if Momma was right or if, if it's Lieutenant Dan. I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it's both. Maybe both is happening at the same time. I miss you, Jenny.
• I just wanted to tell you I love you.
• That's all I have to say about that.

Stills:

The Crow

1994

Director: Alex Proyas

Distributor: Miramax Films

Key Element: Concept – Visuals – Symbolism

My Review:

Based on James O'Barr's comic book, The Crow is possibly the ultimate Goth movie.

A crow enables a slain man to return to the world as an indestructible wraith so he can enact justice upon the ones who raped and killed his girlfriend before killing him.

If we were to find a hint of the gospel in the story, it would be the Resurrection. Satan figured he had won until Jesus rose again and took total control. In similar fashion, Eric returns from death and overthrows those who that they had him conquered.

Part of the movie's popularity comes from the fact that its star, Brandon Lee tragically died during filming due to a gun-blank mishap. This story made the already eery movie even darker.

Trailer:



Quotes:

• People once believed that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, something so bad happens that a terrible sadness is carried with it and the soul can't rest. Then sometimes, just sometimes, the crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right.
• Abashed the Devil stood and felt how awful goodness is.
• Can't rain all the time...
• You shouldn't smoke these. They'll kill you.
• Little things used to mean so much to Shelly- I used to think they were kind of trivial. Believe me, nothing is trivial.
• If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them. Buildings burn, people die, but real love is forever.

Stills: