Favorites Of 1990

[Sano]

Yes, Kiarostami :-)))
Close-up was one of the best movie experiences in my life, and though I was stood up by a woman I loved before the screening, i left the theater in a state of bliss.
If Kiarostami had made only this film, he would still have a firm place in film history.
I adore the scene where Kiarostami is following his protagonist, who is riding with Makhmalbaf through the city and the sound ceases to work. Sometimes life is the best director.

Wild at Heart was also the only Lynch film I didn't like when I first saw it a couple of years ago. I was already a huge fan of Lynch back than (probably more than now), but I couldn't appreciate this film. But a couple of further viewings convinced me that it is indeed one of his best and deservedly won the Palme d'Or.

Re:Song of Exile
This was probably the copy I saw. More films by Ann Hui should be out on DVD. This is so far the only film by her I've seen (still remember her in Tsai's "The River" though).

[oscar jubis]

I took a decade! to respond to your excellent post. I certainly agree with your comments about Abbas Kiarostami, who passed away this year under strange circumstances. He was one of the greats.It's strange to write in the past about him. His sophisticated engagement between past and present seems so futuristic; He was also so much ahead of mainstream culture in his mixture of the documentary and the fictive or stylized.

I finally managed to buy a dvd of ann Hui's Song of Exile. I'm very excited about watching it, as well as a Blu-ray of her highly popular film A Simple Life. I am finally going to catch up with An Hui :-)

I am also writing to hail a film I overlooked back in 1990 (This thread is for films released in 1990 after all) and again I overlooked it when I posted this list and tried to watch any important 1990 films I had missed. Adrian Lyne's JACOB'S LADDER is a must-see and maybe a great film. Part of its effectiveness is how it keeps you guessing whether to call it a psychological drama or a fairly realistic horror film. It belongs to any discussion about films that broach Vietnam and US military intervention in general. Why did I miss it? I don't gravitate to film's starring Tim Robbins. Elizabeth Pena is fantastic in the earthy, concerned girlfriend role. Pena dies to young. I loved her in La Bamba and Lone Star. She was named after the town where she was born. I am not really a fan of other movies directed by Adrian Lyne such as Flashdance and Fatal Attraction. I notice that after being idle for almost 15 years, he is scheduled to direct a "steamy thriller" again. Anyway, Jacob's Ladder is pretty good, good enough for a spot in my Top 10 Favorite movies of 1990.

[Sano]

I finally managed to buy a dvd of ann Hui's Song of Exile. I'm very excited about watching it, as well as a Blu-ray of her highly popular film A Simple Life. I am finally going to catch up with An Hui :-)

I am also writing to hail a film I overlooked back in 1990. Adrian Lyne's JACOB'S LADDER is a must-see and maybe a great film. Anyway, Jacob's Ladder is pretty good, good enough for a spot in my Top 10 Favorite movies of 1990.

Wow, I had all but forgotten about this Film Forum and your wonderful posts Oscar. Glad to see you are still "into" cinema - so am I. I haven't seen a film by Ann Hui for a long time. Last one must have been THE POSTMODERN LIFE OF MY AUNT when it came out. Needless to say it was wonderful. My first (and so far last) Encounter with SONG OF EXILE was via the rare subtitled VHS which was for a long time the only way to see this wonderful film before filesharing and such opened up a whole new world for film lovers.

I am not familiar with the work of Adrian Lyne myself, though I do have an unseen DVD of JACOB'S LADDER sitting on my shelves for about 10 years now. I have seen one film by Lyne so far (actually in a film studies Seminar, "by accident" so to say) and found it delightful: FATAL ATTRACTION. A funny and thrilling hommage to genre cinema of yore, I found it to be a gift for cineastes. Too bad, the General public usually seems to regard it as one of those mysoginistic 80s Thrillers about "crazy" females, when it is in fact so much more. At least it seemed to me, many years ago. So I've marked Lyne as a filmmaker to watch in the back of my head but haven't had time to see some other films of his oevre so far. I'll definitely look into JACOB'S LADDER next, when I get the time.

[oscar jubis]

Sano, I have many DVDs waiting for years to be opened and watched! One of these days I will make a point of watching them.Instead I often keep re-watching the same films. For example, I've watched Renoir's A Day in the Country and Malick's The Tree of Life several times in the past few weeks!and neglect new films. I want to watch both Ann Hui movies you mention, they sound fascinating. The last movie I watched is Werner Herzog's doc about connectivity and the internet titled Lo and Behold. It's as thought-provoking as you'd hope, and expect. By the way, I've been finally won over by The Tree of Life, a film that won the Palme D'Or and always listed among the best of the 21st century, and yet SO divisive (My favorite critics don't like it at all). I think THE TREE OF LIFE is a masterpiece even if it's splintered and indulgent and overly religious (for some). Thanks so much for your reply. Do watch Jason's Ladder and Keep in touch.
Oscar aka Professor Kino

[Chris Knipp]

I love The Tree of Life but I have been so disappointed by Malick's recent efforts, especially the unbearable Knight of Cups, which I couldn't sit through (at Landmark Sunshine in NYC), and that's kind of unusual. This seems to be a case of self-overindulgence.

I didn't know Kiarostami had passed away. I was wondering what had happened to him. I like Asghar Farhadi, whom I didn't buy into at first. I have seen The Salesman and written a review (more appreciative than most) waiting for release date. It was in the NYFF, but I didn't get to see all their Main Slate this year as I did from 2005 till now. I have seen quite a few outside or since the festival but there are also quite a few I haven't yet, namely:

20th Century Women (Mike Mills 2016)
Hermia and Helena (Matías Piñeiro 2016)
Jackie (Pablo Larrain 2016)
Julieta (Pedro Almodóvar 2016)
Lost City of Z, The (James Gray 2016)
My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea (Dash Shaw 2016)
Paterson (Jim Jarmusch 2016)
Personal Shopper (Oliver Assayas 2016)
Rehearsal, The (Alison Maclean 2016)
Sieranevada (Cristi Puiu 2016)
Son of Joseph/Le fils de Joseph (Eugène Green 2016)
Yourself and Yours (Hong Sangsoo 2016)

I look forward to seeing 20the Century Women, Jackie, Paterson, and Julieta, all coming to US theaters soon, and Personal Shopper next March. I'm afraid Lost City of Z not to mention the others, may be harder to see in US cinemas.