Favorites Of 1996

1. BREAKING THE WAVES (Lars Von Trier)
-- LONE STAR (John Sayles)
3. NIGHTJOHN (Charles Burnett)
4. SECRETS AND LIES (Mike Leigh)
5. THE BLOODY CHILD (Tinka and Nina Menkes)
-- CRASH (David Cronenberg)
7. BASQUIAT (Julian Schnabel)
-- COLOR OF A BRISK AND LEAPING DAY (Christopher Munch)
-- THE CRUCIBLE (Nicholas Hytner)
-- MULHOLLAND FALLS (Lee Tamahori)
-- SLING BLADE (Billy Bob Thornton)

Runners Up
PARADISE LOST:The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, The Portrait of a Lady, When We Were Kings, I Shot Andy Warhol, Fargo, The Quiet Room, Mother, A Family Thing, The People vs. Larry Flint, Trainspotting, Mars Attacks!

1. GOODBYE SOUTH, GOODBYE (Hou Hsiao Hsien/Taiwan)
2. LA PROMESSE (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne/Belgium)
3. CHRONICLE OF A DISAPPEARANCE (Elia Suleiman/Palestine)
-- DEEP CRIMSON (Arturo Ripstein/Mexico)
-- MY SEX LIFE (Arnaud Desplechin/France)
-- THIEVES (Andre Techine/France)
6. COMRADES: ALMOST A LOVE STORY (Peter Chan/Hong Kong)
7. THE DAY A PIG FELL INTO THE WELL (Hong Sang-soo/S. Korea)
-- NENETTE ET BONI (Claire Denis/France)
-- TEMPTRESS MOON (Chen Kaige/China)
-- L'APPARTEMENT (Gilles Mimouni/ France)
-- A MOMENT OF INNOCENCE (Mohsen Makhmalbaf/Iran)
-- KOLYA (Jan Sverak/Czech Rep)
-- THREE LIVES AND ONLY ONE DEATH (Raul Ruiz/France)

Runners Up

Lumiere and Company, Ponette, Tesis, The Dog in the Manger, Autumn Sun, Under the Skin, Drifting Clouds, Microcosm, Gabbeh, A Self Made Hero, When the Cat's Away.

I really love Basquiat. I think it was made in a way that perfectly explained the lifestyle of one of my favorite artists. Bowie was Andy Warhol as far as I was concerned.

I also feel compelled to mention Star Trek: First Contact, attested by many as the best of the Trek films. To me, it was the kind of stuff that big-budget films should aspire to be.

Originally posted by HorseradishTree
I really love Basquiat.

I do too. It's the perfect marriage of filmmaker and subject. Julian Schnabel's insider status regarding the art scene and Basquiat himself practically guarantees a certain authenticity. Schnabel is building a very specialized filmography as all his movies are artist biopics. Basquiat was followed by Before Night Falls, about Cuban poet Reynaldo Arenas. His next film, The Lonely Doll, depicts the life of eccentric children's author Dare Wright.

I also feel compelled to mention Star Trek: First Contact, attested by many as the best of the Trek films.

Not a fan of Star Trek (or Star Wars for that matter). I don't dislike them though. Actually, I really enjoyed one Trek movie involving whales, but I can't think of the title.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was certainly the most popular of the films. While I embrace it for its humor and camp, many of my friends call it a travesty to the legacy of Star Trek. They felt offended by its blatant "save the whales" message. 'Twas the second film directed by the great Leonard Nimoy.

Legacy?!
IMdb voters rate Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan as the best Trek by a comfortable margin.
News Flash: Rejoice Trekkies. Paramount just hired J.J. Abrams (Mission Impossible III) to direct the 11th Trek feature. Due out Summer 2008.
Here's my Sci-Fi Favorites list.

I have modified my list of "best personal" films (to use a term used by Tab that implies there is both objectivity and subjectivity in one's esthetic judgements) for the year 1996. I have added MULHOLLAND FALLS
a pure genre film directed by New Zealand director Lee Tamahori, one of those thriller/mysteries where the villains are working for a US government agency. These films are often called "conspiracy thrillers" or "paranoid thrillers". I don't necessarily subscribe to these designations but you get a sense of the film it is. This one in particular is set in 1950s Los Angeles. It has a Raymond Chandler vibe to it. It has a "Chinatown" feel to it too. The DP is Haskell Wexler. Cast includes Nick Nolte, Jennifer Connelly, and John Malkovich.

I just made up a list to answer someone who loves The English Patient, which my friend and I walked out of. The BS-detector goes off early on that one. I never saw Sling Blade or Breaking the Waves, despite recommendations. Was not such a completist then as I became later. Hindsight because I didn't see Hard Eight till later after Boogie Nights and Magnolia made PTAnderson huge. The other ones I did see though. 10/10/22

My 2022 list of 1996 best/favorites

Quote:

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Basquiat
La Promesse
Flirting with Disaster
Secrets and Lies
Trainspotting
Marvin's Room
When We Were Kings
Hard Eight
The Pillowbook
Romeo & Juliet

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chris Knipp

I just made up a list to answer someone who loves The English Patient, which my friend and I walked out of. The BS-detector goes off early on that one.

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I didn't like The English Patient either. Wonder if we'd have the same response nowadays.
I'm surprised there's only one film from your list I did not watch. The scriptwriter died at age 33 with this being his sole film credit. You know the one I am talking about?

You haven't seen MARVIN'S ROOM. Scott McPherson died of AIDS in 1992. The film made me realize beyond the mimicry of WHAT'S EATING GILGERT GRAPE and the boldness of TOTAL ECLIPSE Leo was an actor who had the actor's perhaps higher skill, the ability to move you profoundly. I'm glad you didn't like THE ENGLISH PATIENT either! I don't know what I'd think now but nothing by Minghella impressed me, but I wouldn't have walked out of it if it hadn't been for the friend I went to see it with, and the auditorium oppressively packed with adoring fans. She still makes a practice of leaving early and prompted by her she, her husband, and I walked out midway of MY DINNER WITH ANDRE.