Thoughts on 1966-1967's Ultraman TV Show 1

First of all this sh*t is GREAT.  It's hokey as all hell, it was made at a time when special effects were strictly DIY, and it's full of countless WTF moments.  If you like old Godzilla movies you'll be all over this show.

Let's dive in, shall we?

1. Episode 1: Ultra Operation No. 1

Ultraman, the space policeman, crashes on Earth and decides to bond with a human being.  In this episode he battles Bemular, a monster he was taking to a "space graveyard."

Thing is, Bemular is the offended party here.  Thing's just chilling in a lake, not bothering anyone, and the Science Patrol attacks it without provocation.  The record will show that Bemular acted only in self-defense, and its force beams didn't even hit anything.  In my opinion it was just trying to scare the humans away.

At the end of this episode Ultraman throws Bemular back into the lake, though it's entirely unclear as to whether Bemular has been killed and/or defeated.  Hopefully it had time to recover from this humiliation.  I like to think that it did.

Fun Fact: "Bemular" was originally going to be Ultraman's name.  They were also thinking about calling him "Redman" before the show hit the air.

2. Episode 2: Shoot the Invader

Unlike Bemular this Alien Baltan is genuinely bad news.  He rolls up on Earth real quietlike and blasts unsuspecting humans with a freeze ray that turns them green.  NOT COOL, ALIEN BALTAN.

Then he's all like: "I got 2.3 billion MORE of me waiting up on the spaceship, which was formerly huge but is now the size of a bacteria (bacterium?).  Oh, and we're lowkey thinking about taking over the Earth."

Long story short: Ultraman and the Space Patrol ARE NOT HAVING IT.  Ultraman pushes the now regular-sized ship out of Earth's orbit, and I'm assuming that the ship's occupants, in desperate need of the "Spacium" only obtainable on Mars, later die slow, horrific deaths in the vastness of space.

This one's more slapstick than the other episodes discussed here, containing a humorous subplot involving a black eye.  One of the characters even stops to talk directly to the camera.

3. Episode 3: Science Patrol, Move Out!

This kid Hoshino-kun is precocious to the point of needing a spanking.  I realize that he's a stand-in for the show's audience, but as a member of the Science Patrol he's a serious liability.

In this episode Hoshino-kun wakes up Neronga, an invisible, electricity-consuming monster that's been sleeping under Edo Castle for a couple centuries.  Neronga looks a little like the "mind bugs" from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, but other than that he's unremarkable.  Hoshino-kun actually manages to blind Neronga in one eye before Ultraman shows up, but then, being the dumbass he is, he falls down and knocks himself out.

4. Episode 4: Five Seconds Before the Explosion

So... they were flying nuclear weapons to Jupiter to "develop" it?  In what way?  I don't think six nuclear bombs, however big they were, were going to put much of a dent in Jupiter.

And hold up -- there was a race of "underwater primitive humans" that the Science Patrol was aware of the whole time?  

Anyway, Ragon is one of the cuter Ultraman foes.  It's only too bad they couldn't find music he liked.  Maybe next time try the Beach Boys?  Or the Surfaris?  Or the Beatles hit song "Yellow Submarine," which also appeared in 1966?

5. Episode 5: The Secret of the Miroganda

Laziest attempt at a monster ever.  It's basically a big piece of carpet they cut a hole into.  The carpet mouth sprays poison (?) onto people.  I'm sure Japanese toy companies, being the completists that they are, have manufactured a Miroganda figure/model at some point, but I doubt that many kids (or adults) have bothered to buy it.

6. Episode 6: The Coast Guard Command

Ultraman pits his might against Guesra, a mutated Brazilian lizard with a love of cacao beans.  Yes, you read that right.

And into the bargain there's "Diamond-Kick," a diamond smuggler who tries to kidnap Hoshino-kun and his young associates.  I'm assuming Diamond-Kick didn't survive Guesra's attack on the warehouse.  The Science Patrol never seems to investigate monster attack sites for survivors.

7. Episode 7: The Blue Stone of Baradhi

The Science Patrol has branches in other countries?  Japan, France, India and Turkey?  Kinda wish someone in Turkey or India had jumped on this.  An Indian or Turkish version of Ultraman would have been awesome.

The map one of the Science Patrol members points to puts the "Ancient City of Baradhi" in north Iran, not far from that country's border with Turkey.  This lines up with their sighting of Mount Ararat, the place where Noah's Ark came to rest, in the distance.  The ancient city's psychic princess claims that Baradhi was once a famous trading post along the Silk Road, and given its location this might have well been the case.

There is of course no "Baradhi" on Google Maps, and searches of "Baradhi" on other sites only led me back to Ultraman.  It was an amusing wild goose chase nonetheless.

Plot Twist: Just before Antlar the giant beetle attacks, the Science Patrol visits the "Temple of Noah" inside the ancient city.  And what does their god Noah resemble?  Ultraman!  Hayata, for whatever reason, states that the statue represents one of Ultraman's ancestors.

The biblical connotations of this episode are truly profound, and would shake Western civilization to its very foundations were it not for the fact that biblical scholars don't bother to watch Ultraman.

8. Episode 8: The Monster Anarchy Zone

For some reason volcanism has turned nature upside down on an isolated Japanese island, and the result is... monsters!

Most of the monsters in this one don't even have names.  Ultraman comes in and handles sh*t as usual, and at the end there's a lesson about... nature... or something.

Damn shame about that one friendly monster.  Thing gets crushed by rocks and no one even bothers to see if it's OK!

9. Episode 9: Lightning Operation

Gabora marginally disrupts a boy scout outing, and I'm not sure which is more alarming, Gabora or the tightness of the boy scouts' denim shorts.

And how did the Science Patrol get to that island in a car?  Wasn't the bridge out?!?!

10. Episode 10: The Mysterious Dinosaur Base

The Science Patrol is sent to investigate a lake with an overabundance of fish?  Really?  Doesn't Japan have a Fish and Wildlife Department or something like that?  The trip to Lake Kitayama seems a little below the Science Patrol's pay grade.

This episode is also another instance of Ultraman and the Science Patrol bothering a monster who would have otherwise kept to itself.  This Jirahs, like Bemular above, wasn't bothering anyone at the bottom of his particular lake, and if the Science Patrol hadn't intervened there wouldn't have been any trouble in the first place.

Jirahs is, by the way, a modified Godzilla costume.  They added a frill to the neck.  In the course of their fight Ultraman adds a splash more disrespect to the encounter by ripping off this frill and playing bullfighter with it.

11. Episode 11: The Rascal from Space

This is one of the weirder ones.  Some kids find a space rock that can turn into anything you wish for -  as long as you continue thinking about it.  Eventually someone steals the space rock and asks it to turn into a monster for "reasons," and after the monster giganticizes he gets knocked out and the monster doesn't automatically disappear.

Wave Monster Gango is one of the more ridiculous Ultraman foes, and that's saying a lot.  He seems less intent on wreaking havoc than just f*cking with Ultraman in general, and I appreciate his inability to take their battle seriously.

12. Episode 12: Cry of the Mummy

Mummy wakes up, shoots a few death rays here and there, and is killed by the Science Patrol before the episode's halfway over.  

But wait!  There's more!

Before the mummy's untimely (second) demise, he summons his dinosaur-bird friend from the tomb where he was discovered, and this dinosaur-bird friend commences to stomp sh*t.

Kinda felt sorry for this monster.  The Science Patrol blinds it before Ultraman shows up, and the whole encounter feels kind of cruel.  Yes, the monster was destroying a power plant and causing a ruckus, but blinding it felt like a step too far.

12 Down, and 27 More to Go!!  Here Comes Our Ultraman!!

Related Entries:

Still More 00s Movies 1: 200-2003

Still More 90s Movies 5: Oscar Winners and Nominees

Some Other Movies From 2026

Still More 90s Movies 4: 1997-1999

Smartphones, the Internet and the Future

Exhibit A: The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt (2024).  The author, a noted social psychologist, paints a grim picture of how smartphones, social media and "safetyism" is affecting our youth.  He recommends raising the online age of consent to the age of 16 from its present age of 13, not allowing children to own smartphones until the same age, and creating more opportunities for free play.  He also encourages parents, schools and governments to enact rules and laws that reflect children's physical, emotional and developmental needs in relation to emerging technologies.

Exhibit B: How to Save the Internet by Nick Clegg (2025).  The author, a former British politician and Meta employee, describes the threats to an "open internet," and how these same threats might be addressed.  He details previous government actions to circumscribe the internet, concerns over privacy, concerns over how the flow of data across borders threatens those in power, and strategies which might be employed by both Big Tech and national governments to ensure that the internet remains the valuable resource which it presently is.

My Thoughts: I liked Haidt's book and I agree with it completely.  It's well-researched and chimes with what I've observed as both a father of two girls and a teacher of younger children.  Haidt's book is, if a little dry, very concise and to the point.  We definitely need to give more thought to how the prevalence of screens and the popularity of platforms such as Instagram and Facebook are affecting our kids.  Dumping them in front of an iPad or a phone for hours might seem harmless, but this is actually far from the case.

I liked Clegg's book a lot less.  He makes some good points, but at times his idealism verges on whimsy.  He also spends a lot of time apologizing for Meta, a company he hangs much of his reputation on.  It isn't a good look.  Much of what's in this book was known to me already, and the sources he cites are very haphazard.  He even takes shots at Haidt's book in one chapter, though I think he largely mischaracterizes that other, better work.

Given its title, Clegg's book had two responsibilities, these being: 1) explain why the internet needs saving, and 2) explain how it can be saved.  I don't think that it accomplishes either task, though I do agree with many of the points its author makes.  

I often found myself wishing that Nick Clegg had removed himself from the arguments he makes a little more.  Too much of this book depends upon claims that he knows things simply because he worked at Meta.  It's too much like asking us to take certain bits of evidence on faith.  I have no reason to believe that he was informed of every study Meta ever performed, just as I have no reason to believe that he was always among those (or even informed by those) making decisions at that company.

Unlike Haidt, Clegg also takes forever to reach his points.  He tends to circle around ideas with words, never actually embracing them until far too many paragraphs, pages and even chapters have gone by.  He could have taken lessons from Haidt's more concise, more academically rigid approach.  More of what Clegg writes could be have also been backed up with (solid) research.  Personal anecdotes only go so far toward convincing the skeptical.

Critics have attacked Haidt for creating a "moral panic" along the lines of many such panics triggered by new technologies.  Yet despite these criticisms (which Clegg echoes), Haidt's work stands on its own and deserves the praise it has received.  Clegg's book, on the other hand, is shoddily done (perhaps even ghostwritten), and deserves to be passed over.  He (or his ghost writer) voices valid concerns for the future of the internet, but I'm sure that these concerns have been voiced better elsewhere.

Related Entries:

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"Humankind" by Rutger Bregman (2020)

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"The Last Duel" by Eric Jager (2004)

Still More 00s Movies 1: 2000-2002

I'll be adding to this as I go along.  Nice to be in the 2000s again by the way.  The 90s and all of its direct-to-VHS fare can be a slog.

1. The Cell (2000)

It's easy to dismiss this one as "The Matrix meets Silence of the Lambs," but the director put a lot of thought into the visuals and the story is both well-paced and absorbing.  

I miss this phase of Jennifer Lopez's career.  Around this time she was more focused on acting, and her music career, her modeling career, and her public image didn't factor so much into the equation.

Fun Fact: Matrix comparisons aside, a lot of this movie was inspired by 1984's Dreamscape.

2. Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

I was surprised by how much I liked this movie.  Texas-born Renee Zellweger (who I often confuse with Reese Witherspoon), should have won an Oscar playing the lead, but oh well, she won an Oscar years later for Judy so I guess it doesn't matter now.  Hugh Grant and Colin Firth (another Oscar-winner) play stereotypical roles as Bridget Jones's competing suitors, but they do a lot with the parts they're given.

Fun Fact: Colin Firth also played "Mr. Darcy" in a TV adaptation of Jane Austin's novel, years before Bridget Jones entered production.

3. The Cat Returns (2002)

A high school student saves a cat's life with unexpected consequences in this Studio Ghibli production.  After some of the crushingly serious films reviewed in this entry this one was like a breath of fresh air.  I look forward to seeing more movies like it.

4. The Opportunists (2000)*

Christopher Walken stars as a safecracker forced by circumstance into one more job.  It's very low budget but I never felt bored by it.  The scenes between Walken and costar Cyndi Lauper are the highlight of the film.

5. Lakeboat (2000)

Life aboard the Seaway Queen, a freighter plying the waters between the U.S. and Canada.  Lakeboat was adapted from a David Mamet play, it very much feels like a David Mamet play, and even though I'm not a big fan of either David Mamet or plays I still found myself charmed by Lakeboat.  Some of the dialogue is surprisingly funny and Robert Forster is great as a man adrift in more ways than one.

6. The Gathering Storm (2002)

Albert Phinney stars as Winston Churchill, leading an all-star British cast in this tale of Britain waking up to the reality of another world war.  It's on the slow side but worth the effort.

Fun Fact: Tom Hiddleston plays Churchill's son Randolph.  The Gathering Storm was his fourth TV movie.  He wouldn't appear on the big screen until 2007's Unrelated.

7. Prison Song (2001)

The lives of black men in and out of prison.  There are some great scenes in this movie, and also some great performances from the leads, but the songs are a puzzling inclusion and some of the minor players aren't up to the task.

Fun Fact 1: Snow is in this.  Anyone else remember Snow?

Fun Fact 2: Director Darnell Martin is, in fact, a lady.

8. Tart (2001)

A decent movie marred by a bad title and a misleading ad campaign.  Given the existence of Whore this ad campaign would have led people to the conclusion that Tart is about a "loose woman," when this is actually far from the case.  To the contrary, she's just another teenager trying to fit in with upper class peers.  It's not a bad movie, though the relationship between the protagonist and her mother could have been demonstrated a lot better.

Fun Fact 1: Anna Paquin dropped out of the lead role to do X-Men.

Fun Fact 2: Scott Thompson, of Kids in the Hall fame, appears in this as "Kenny."

9. Laguna (a.k.a. "Vendetta") (2001)

A very young Henry Cavill hides out in a Venetian hotel from the mobsters who killed his father.  This was Cavill's first movie, and his inexperience in front of the camera shows.  There's not much info on this movie online.

The love scene in the cupola, by the way, is RIDICULOUS.

10. Little Secrets (2001)

Evan Rachel Wood stars as an abnormally self-possessed teenager serving as the neighborhood child therapist.  None of the young people in this movie seem especially young, and certain plot elements are incredibly contrived, but it's a decent effort as Disney-adjacent films go.

11. Princess of Thieves (2001)

Keira Knightley plays Robin Hood's daughter in this lower budget Disney TV movie that tried and failed to ride 1991's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves' coattails.  It's not bad so much as extremely derivative.  I'm guessing much of the budget went toward costumes, props and horses.

This movie is very early in Knightley's career.  Many consider her breakout role to be 2002's Bend It Like Beckham, and aside from a few brief appearances Princess of Thieves was her third feature film.

12. Jeepers Creepers (2001)

An inexplicably stupid pair of siblings try to evade a bat-like creature somewhere in Florida.  It was fun seeing Justin Long in this, but it never manages to generate any tension and his character's choices are completely mystifying from the moment the killer truck shows up.

Fun Fact: Eileen Brennan is in this movie for a second.

13. Cor, Blimey! (2000)

An intermittent love affair develops between an older actor and a much younger actress in this British TV movie.  The events depicted in this film reflect a real-life relationship between Sid James and Barbara Windsor, two cast members from the Carry On series.  I found the accents a bit difficult, but the performances are good and its bawdy humor still resonates.

14. Swept Away (2002)

Madonna ends up marooned on a Mediterranean island with a hot, bearded Italian.  Surprisingly enough Guy Ritchie directed this one, though it was an early effort and thus somewhat removed from the later movies that would truly cement his reputation.

Madonna isn't, by the way, the weak point of this movie.  The real weak point is the script.  It's a film that is trying to say something, but a film which can't quite get its point across.  The changes of heart Madonna's character experiences are completely unconvincing, and these parts of the story will probably remind you of other, better movies like Cast Away and Get Help.

15. Sweet Home Alabama (2002)

Reese Witherspoon returns home to the South to divorce an indecisive ex-husband.

Every single character in this movie, right down to Josh Lucas and his eminently punchable face, is annoying and deserves to die in a chemical fire.  Most grating of all is Witherspoon, who despite being a completely manipulative bitch somehow rediscovers true love at the movie's conclusion.

Josh Lucas' character should have respected himself more and Patrick Dempsey deserved better.  Even aside from all that, Sweet Home Alabama is a badly written movie populated by characters making inexplicable choices.

Fun Fact: Like Renee Zellweger (above), Reese Witherspoon also has a Best Actress Oscar to her credit.  Witherspoon's was for Walk the Line.

16. Get Carter (2000)

Sly Stallone stars as a Vegas tough guy back in town to solve the mystery of his estranged brother's murder.

It's an incredibly forgettable movie, and I wouldn't be surprised if I'd seen it before and somehow forgotten.  Stallone does his Stallone thing throughout, and while he's doing it you can't help but wonder "Why?" as the minutes tick by.

It's a remake of a 70s classic which featured Michael Caine, who also appears briefly in this updated version.  Just go watch the original -  it's miles better.

Fun Fact: Stallone is convinced, to this very day, that his version is better than the original.

17. The Animal (2001)

Rob Schneider gets animal powers and fights crime.  It's a movie that knows exactly what it is and who it's for.  In tone it's a few notches less manic than the Ace Ventura movies, though its relatively sedate pace is more a negative than a positive.  I didn't laugh, not even once, but at least it was over quickly.

A quarter of a century later a sequel is still in the works

18. Britannic (2000)

German saboteurs try (and possibly succeed) to sink a British hospital ship in this TV movie.  Bonus points for Jacqueline Bisset, but the dialogue is unconvincing and those responsible for the script don't seem to have understood the time period.

For the record my grandpa served in the Air Force during World War II, and yes, that was the subsequent world war, but still.  Espionage?  That wasn't a subject to be taken so lightly.

Fun Fact 1: Working this gig got the director his following job, helming Megiddo: The Omega Code 2.  That movie sounds so terrible I've GOT to see it.

Fun Fact 2: This film was largely an effort to cash in on Titanic's popularity.  The Britannic and the Titanic were sister ships.

19. Sacrifice (2000)

Michael Madsen stars as an escaped convict out to avenge his daughter's murder.  I have no idea what Madsen was like as a person, but as an actor he deserved better than this.  Then again, maybe it paid the bills between Quentin Tarantino movies.

R.I.P. Michael Madsen: he passed away last year.

20. The Right Temptation (2000)**

Rebecca DeMornay (or is it "DeHornay") stars with Dana Delaney (remember her?) and Kiefer Sutherland in this half-assed attempt at an erotic thriller.  Some of the dialogue in this one is TRULY cringeworthy, and worst of all are the flashbacks detailing DeMornay's troubled past.

Fun Fact: This movie was filmed in Utah!  I had no idea!

Related Entries:

Still More 90s Movies 5: Oscar Winners and Nominees

Some Other Movies From 2026

Still More 90s Movies 4: 1997-1999

Still More 90s Movies 3: 1995-1997

*Wikipedia lists 1999 as the release date.  It's a British-American production, so it's possible that it came out a year earlier or later in either country.

**Wikipedia lists 2001 as the release date.

"Trilobites & Other Stories" by Breece D'J Pancake (1992)

"I walk until I see a stumblebum cut into a passage between two buildings.  He has got his heat in him and he is squared away.  I stop to watch this jake-legger try to spread out his papers for a bed, but the breeze through the passage keeps stirring his papers around.  It's funny to watch this scum chase papers, his old pins about ready to fold under him.  The missions won't let him in because he is full of heat, so this jake-legger has to chase his papers tonight.  Pretty soon all that exercise will make him puke up his heat, and I stand and grin and wait for this to happen, but my grin slips when I see her standing in the doorway."

If you haven't heard of Breece D'J Pancake I'm not surprised.  He took his own life at the ripe old age of 26, and only lived long enough to see a few of his short stories published in magazines such as The Atlantic.  He was a product of West Virginia.

He was trying, I suppose, to be the voice of both his home state and the small town he came from.  His fiction hearkens back to the history and geography of that region, and his stories reveal a measured love for small town people living small, thwarted lives.  His stories are populated by men's men doomed to failure, and by cunning women doing whatever they can to escape loneliness,  poverty or both.  Over them all hangs the agricultural toil experienced by generations, and also a burning desire to either flee from or flee back into this same mode of existence.

Overall I liked this story collection, though there are times when the author strays a little too close to Faulkner territory.  Of course it's hard to be a Southern author and avoid that comparison, but I think that for the most part he manages to do so.

My favorite story was "First Day of Winter," which details the struggle of a poor farmer living with infirm parents.  This story was excellent, and the stories in this collection that aren't excellent were at least very good.

Related Entries:

"The Shining" by Stephen King (1977)

"Four Friends" by Robyn Carr (2024)

"The Secret" by Lee and Andrew Child (2023)

"Lies and Weddings" by Kevin Kwan (2024)

Still More 90s Movies 5: Oscar Winners and Nominees

This will be the last "Still More 90s Movies" entry.  For this entry I'll be delving into some of the Oscar winners from that decade.

By way of introduction I'm approaching this topic thusly: first, I'll be visiting the Wikipedia entry for every year listed below, and second, I'll be working my way down through the lists of Oscar winners until I find a) two movies I haven't seen before, and b) two movies also available on YouTube.  Yes, I could get movies through a variety of other legal and illegal methods, but these entries are intended for a more general audience, and some of the streaming services and torrents don't work as well in certain countries.

Besides all that I'm lazy.  Using VPNs, torrent clients and sites which force me to click off a thousand pop-ups is exhausting.

...oh, and one more thing -- since I'm basing this on the Academy Awards, be aware that all of the movies below came out the year before they won the award.

1990

1. Best Actress (Nominated): Pauline Collins: Shirley Valentine

The "middle-aged woman unsatisfied with her life thus far" movie is at this point a genre unto itself, but lead Pauline Collins, who played the same role in the stage production, pulls it off like nobody's business.  Shirley Valentine is a very charming, very funny movie with much to recommend it.

Director Lewis Gilbert, who helmed everything from Sink the Bismark! to Educating Rita, should be more widely known than he is.  My favorite of his movies is still, for all its ridiculousness, Moonraker, but Shirley Valentine also stands out in his long and accomplished filmography.

2. Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Nominated): Marlon Brando: A Dry White Season

An indisputably good movie, but in stylistic terms it feels like it belongs to the previous decade.

In A Dry White Season Donald Sutherland stars as a South African history teacher investigating his gardener's murder.  Most of the "action" in this film revolves around the securing of various documents, but it still manages to generate a fair amount of tension.

Sutherland's costar Marlon Brando is memorable as an attorney doomed to failure, but I think that Denzel Washington, who won Best Supporting Actor for Glory the same year, had much more claim to the award.  Brando was great in so many movies, but his role in this one is very abbreviated.

1991

1. Best Actor (Nominated): Richard Harris: The Field

Director Jim Sheridan is better known for his collaborations with Daniel Day-Lewis, but The Field, which follows his first movie My Left Foot, is still an impressive piece of work that should be better known.

To be fair it does meander a bit in the second half, but Richard Harris is outstanding as an Irish farmer with supposed blood rights to a local field.  Critics weren't kind to this movie, but I think they were too harsh.  It does feel a little too much like a play, but so do a lot of other movies, many of which have won Oscars.

2. Best Written Screenplay (Original Material) (Nominated): Whit Stillman: Metropolitan

A young man from the other side of the tracks befriends a group of Manhattan socialites.  The writer, director and producer of this film could have done with a bigger budget, but I appreciate the work he put into it.  The finished product is a triumph of resourcefulness.

1992

1. Best Documentary: In the Shadow of the Stars

I can't abide opera, but this documentary on the artform offers some interesting takes on what it means to be a singer in an opera chorus.  Did it change my mind about opera?  Not in the slightest, but I appreciate the work they put into what they do.

2. Best Documentary (Nominated): Death on the Job

An analysis of the three most hazardous professions, these being commercial fishing, construction (particularly tunneling) and anything in the petrochemical industry.  This documentary doesn't state much beyond the obvious, but the numbers and testimonials it puts behind its statements are well worth considering.

1993

1. Best Foreign Language Film (Nominated): Daens

A Belgian priest and social reformer tries (and largely fails) to assist textile workers in his parish.  As a historical account it rings true, but I don't think they managed to flesh out the priest as a character.  Making his personal struggles more central to the plot would have made this film much better.

2. Best Documentary: The Panama Deception

More American adventurism in Central and South America.  In this instance the U.S. props up the Noriega regime, which quickly grows to big for its britches.  The result is a highly staged intervention in that country's affairs, much of which is quite gruesome.

1994

1. Best Actress (Nominated): Debra Winger: Shadowlands

Anthony Hopkins stars as the celebrated Narnian C.S. Lewis, with Debra Winger as an American poet visiting the author.  In some ways this movie is almost too subtle for its own good, and I'm not surprised that Winger didn't win the Oscar.  She's great here, but more bombastic films and performances usually take the prize.

Slight Disappointment: I would have enjoyed a glancing shot of J.R.R. Tolkien at one of the Oxford functions.  He and Lewis were friends at the time.

2. Best Foreign Language Film (Nominated): Hedd Wyn

How many Welsh language movies have you seen?  In my case Hedd Wyn brings the grand total to one.

This movie is... OK.  I had trouble understanding what the big deal about the national poetry chair was, and also why it was of such overriding importance to the protagonist.  Absent that understanding I was left with yet another film in which our hero, wounded in battle, reflects back upon his life.  This life isn't in itself that interesting, and I think that the Academy made the right decision in passing over Hedd Wyn in favor of Belle Epoque, the Spanish nominee and winner from the same year.

1995

1. Best Foreign Language Film: Burnt by the Sun

Suicide, totalitarianism and paranoia in an idyllic Russian dacha.  This movie tested my patience early on (in particular the annoyingly precocious child), but its conclusion is satisfyingly weird.  Those able to wade through books like The Master and Margarita or The Gulag Archipelago will find a lot to like in Burnt by the Sun.

The two sequels to this movie were also very well received.  I'll watch them if I can track them down.

2. Best Documentary (Nominated): Freedom on My Mind

Notes from the civil rights struggle in Mississippi.  Many of the lessons (almost) learned from this chapter in U.S. history remain very, very relevant today, and learning more about the backgrounds of many participants adds another dimension to the events they took part in.

1996

1. Best Supporting Actress (Nominated): Mare Winningham: Georgia

Jennifer Jason Leigh.  She's one of those actors/actresses who chooses well.  If I see her name in the opening credits I know that the movie will be good, maybe even great.

Georgia I'd put in the "good" category.  Leigh played a similar role four years earlier in Rush, but there's enough of a difference between that role and her role in Georgia to overlook the similarities.  Mare Winningham is good as her older (and more famous) sibling, but in terms of story I couldn't quite figure out why people are so drawn to Leigh's character, and what kind of hold she has over them.

I think that Leigh taking the role showed a lot of courage, especially since her character is so often a source of embarrassment, but I would have liked more of this movie from the older sister's point of view.

2. Best Foreign Language Film: Antonia's Line

Several generations of women transform a Danish village.  Antonia's Line has been described as "a feminist film," and yeah, the men in this movie don't amount to much.  I enjoyed the first third of it, but found the second two thirds a little pretentious and hard to follow.  If you're familiar with films like Hospital of the Transfiguration or The Hotel New Hampshire you'll have a larger frame of reference for Antonia's Line.

1997

1. Best Foreign Language Film: Kolya (a.k.a. "Kolja")

An aging Czech bachelor looks after a Russian boy abandoned by his mother.  Unlike, Antonia's Line (above) this film isn't trying so hard to make a point, and instead offers a gripping story full of well thought-out characters.  Many of Kolya's reflections on the Russian presence in Czechoslovakia are also very funny.

I've seen a few Czech films in the course of writing these entries, and I'd have to say that Kolya is the best I've seen so far.

Fun Fact: 1984's Amadeus is, to some extent, a product of Czechoslovakia.  It was filmed there, much of the crew was Czech, and director Milos Forman immigrated from that country.

2. Best Documentary: When We Were Kings

An account of the "Rumble in the Jungle" bout between Ali and Foreman in Zaire.  I'd already been introduced to this event in 1974's Rumble in the Jungle, a much earlier BBC documentary.  In my opinion When We Were Kings adds little more than what was offered in Rumble in the Jungle.

1998

1. Best Director (Nominated): Atom Egoyan: The Sweet Hereafter

Ian Holm sells this movie like nobody's business (he really should have been nominated for Best Actor), but I had trouble with several aspects of his character.  For example, where is his office?  And why isn't he recording those home visits?  And how likely is that conversation on the plane?  And why isn't the plane moving?

Aside from Holm the perennially underrated Bruce Greenwood appears as the tormented father of two dead children, the rest of the cast being then (and now) relatively unknown.  I liked the first third of this movie, but after that point it seemed very implausible.

I can remember thinking that Atom Egoyan was overrated at the time.  Extra points for style, but not so many for substance.  My opinion on the matter remains unchanged.

Huh?: The director viewed this film as a metaphor for the Armenian Genocide.

2. Best Foreign Language Film (Nominated): Beyond Silence

A young girl born to deaf parents aspires to be a musician.  Those watching this movie in 2026 (or thereafter) might be reminded of 2021's CODA, which tackled similar themes.  The 2014 French film La Famille Belier is credited as the inspiration behind CODA, but as CODA, La Famille Belier and Beyond Silence all explore similar ideas it's hard to say which chicken came before which egg.

1999

1. Best Supporting Actress (Nominated): Brenda Blethlyn: Little Voice

It took me a minute, but as I watched Little Voice I slowly realized that I'd seen it before.  I'm not buying the turnout for "Little Voice's" debut concert, but once this hurdle is cleared it's not a bad movie.  The "breakdown" Little Voice experiences is probably the highlight of the film.

2. Best Documentary: Dancemaker

A study of the famed choreographer Paul Taylor.  I liked its inclusion of interviews which spoke against some of its subject's legacy, and the footage of the performances was well done.

Related Entries:

Some Other Movies From 2026

Still More 90s Movies 4: 1997-1999

Still More 90s Movies 3: 1995-1997

Still More 90s Movies 2: 1992-1994

NOTE: Some of the above movies won or were nominated in other awards categories.  The category listed is the first I came across.