For further background in the year in film please refer to the Some Other Movies From 1992 entry.
The following things happened in 1992:
- Bosnian Serbs declared their own republic. This would lead to the Bosnian War later on.
- Related to the above, Yugoslavia began to break up.
- Deng Xiaoping embarked on his "Southern Tour."
- Boris Yeltsin announced that Russia would stop targeting cities in the U.S. with nuclear weapons.
- George H.W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin met to declare an end to the Cold War.
- The European Union was created.
- People rioted in Los Angeles after the televised beating of Rodney King.
- The Falun Gong movement was founded in China.
- The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed into law by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
- The Cartoon Network was launched.
- Bill Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush to become President of the United States.
- CDs began to outsell cassette tapes.
- Isaac Asimov died. He was 101 years old.
Linked entries can be viewed in their entirety on YouTube.
Excellent
1. Reservoir Dogs
Still one of Quentin Tarantino's best movies, and the carnage at the end is just as impactful as it was in 1992. Harvey Keitel, who co-produced this movie, is its heart and soul, and Tim Roth is also great as one of his accomplices.
Some Good Ones
1. Man Bites Dog
Belgian film about a film crew profiling a serial killer. It's got a strange sense of humor. One of the better horror movies I've seen lately, even if it's a bit slow.
2. Porco Rosso
Studio Ghibli production about a flying ace who happens to be a pig. I enjoyed it a lot more than the recently seen Kiki's Delivery Service. It has more of a plot, and the characters are more engaging.
3. Bitter Moon
A reserved British couple cross paths with a free-thinking American and his French wife. I wanted to put this in the "Excellent" category, but the American's literary style of speaking took me right out of the movie. Nevertheless Peter Coyote was an excellent choice for the lead, and Emmanuelle Seigner was perfectly cast as his vindictive spouse. Polanski has done more cohesive movies.
4. Baraka
Freeform documentary about...? I have no idea. Whatever it is, a documentary crew spanned the globe filming it, and it highlights a range of topics. There are some religious ceremonies, some factory farming, some volcanoes... I couldn't tell you what it's about, but it's a beautifully shot two hours.
5. Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights
Ralph Fiennes stars as the famous Heathcliff, with Juliette Binoche as his ladylove. I can remember reading the novel in college, but I'd forgotten most of the story. Fiennes does "smoldering" well, and Binoche is equally good at pining. It's very formulaic at times but still worth seeing.
6. Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama
I was hoping this would be a Bollywood musical full of hot Indian women, yet upon watching it I discovered that it's a Japanese-Indian animated feature based on the classic Sanskrit epic. It's a fairly entertaining adventure story which both sanitizes and demystifies the original. Is that a bad or a good thing? I guess that depends on your level of interest in Hindu theology.
Fun Fact 1: The release of this movie in Japan marked the 40th anniversary of India-Japan relations.
Fun Fact 2: Unsurprisingly, news of a Japanese-led animated version of The Ramayana created controversy in India. Certain sectors of Indian society voiced the opinion that The Ramayana was their exclusive cultural property (regardless of all the other Southeast Asian nations in which it is celebrated), and that turning it into a cartoon amounted to sacrilege.
7. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
On one level this movie is silly. Why would you hire a nanny just to build a greenhouse? And without references? And how slow on the uptake IS her husband, really?
On another level this movie is a well executed thriller, and Rebecca De Mornay steals the show as the vengeful nanny. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle went a long way toward reinvigorating her career, and her newfound popularity was well deserved.
If you liked The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, you might also like a French movie called Inside (A l'Interieur). Just be careful with Inside. It's a lot less restrained in terms of the carnage inflicted by the "villain."
Fun Fact 1: Curtis Hanson directed this the year before The River Wild. He'd go on to direct L.A. Confidential five years later.
Fun Fact 2: This was Julianne Moore's second movie. In it she has a small role as a real estate agent and family friend.
8. Rebels of the Neon God 青少年哪吒
Taiwanese film about a group of young people struggling to find happiness in urban Taipei. I moved to Taiwan 7 years after this movie's release, and it brought back a lot of memories of Taipei as it used to be. It's on the slow side, but the characters are interesting. I'd be happy to see other movies by the same director.
9. Sarafina!
High school students in Soweto battle Apartheid. It's a musical - and I usually HATE musicals - but Hugh Masekela's contributions to the soundtrack made it an easy watch for me. It was released just after South Africa's Apartheid laws were lifted and Nelson Mandela was released from jail.
My only complaint about this movie is Whoopi Goldberg getting top billing. She's barely in this movie.
10. Dead Alive
Things go from bad to gross as zombies invade a small New Zealand town. Pre-1997, most of us had a hard time imagining Peter Jackson directing anything as ambitious as Lord of the Rings, and movies like Dead Alive were the primary reason. In the early 90s he more closely resembled a kiwi version of Sam Raimi.
Fun Fact: This movie begins on Skull Island. Years later Jackson would go on to direct King Kong.
I'm unclear as to what this "NCC Camp" is. A school? Some kind of class? Some kind of military training?
Ah, here it is. "National Cadet Corps." Apparently it's a voluntary thing in India, intended to create "disciplined and patriotic citizens." I'm not sure what Govinda or the other guys in this movie get out of attending NCC Camp, but apparently getting expelled from it is a big deal.
I'm also not entirely sure what the plot of this movie is. The brother of the local gangster attends NCC Camp, Govinda is there, Govinda falls in love, songs are sung, and then Govinda is unjustly accused of improprieties with a girl at the camp. It's an entertaining 2.5 hours, even if I wasn't entirely sure what was going on.
Fun Fact: As I'm sure all Indians are aware, Govinda would go on to be a member of the Parliament of India in 2004. He was absent a lot, and eventually resigned.
Not-So-Fun Fact: Divya Bharti, Govinda's love interest in this movie, died a year later. She fell from the balcony of her apartment building under "mysterious circumstances."
Some Bad Ones
1. Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth
A.K.A. The One with the CD-Slinging Cenobite. What really hampers this movie is the low quality of the special effects. The beginning isn't bad, but once the movie advances into more effects-heavy shots the low budget becomes obvious. I've always viewed this franchise as a wasted opportunity, and revisiting Hellraiser III has done nothing to change my opinion.
2. Mikey
If they'd taken the subject matter more seriously it might have been a good movie. As it is child psychopath Mikey finds a new family after murdering his previous one. If Mikey's teacher looks familiar, it's because she's played by Ashley Laurence, a.k.a. Kirsty from the first Hellraiser.
So Bad It's Good
1. Universal Soldier
Was this the height of Van Damme's career? I'm not sure if it's this movie or Hard Target. At any rate it's silly fun, and one gets the feeling that costar Dolph Lundgren was in on the joke. Roland Emmerich directed, and as you might imagine it displays his typical lack of subtlety.
Related Entries:
