Al's Top Rated Films: 1994

Incredible crime drama from Frank Darabont and Stephen King, and also my favorite film of all time. The story is set in 1947 Portland, and follows a successful banker named Andy Dufresne who is wrongly accused of murdering his wife and her lover that she was secretively having an affair with. Andy is sentenced to life imprisonment in the infamous Shawshank State Penitentiary. The prison is led by the ruthless and corrupt Warden Samuel Norton and his merciless guards. Andy tries to make the best of prison life by making friends with a longtime convict named Ellis "Red" Redding and a surrounding group of friends, while attempting to steer clear of a cold-blooded group of gang rapists known as "The Sisters". Andy eventually becomes nearly indispensable when he is chosen to be the Warden Norton's personal accountant, where rampant money laundering is taking place. After careful planning and years of preparation, Andy decides it's finally time to make his daring escape. It makes perfect sense why it's the highest rated movie on IMDb. It's brilliantly written, directed, casted, and acted throughout. It's also very disturbing, heartwarming, and extremely entertaining. How it didn't win one of the 7 Oscars it was nominated for is absolutely insane to me. It's a perfect film. Tim Robbins (Andy) and Morgan Freeman (Red) both deliver their all-time best lead performances. Bob Gunton also had a fantastic starring role. Clancy Brown, William Sadler, Gil Bellows, Mark Rolston, James Whitmore, Brian Libby, David Proval, Larry Brandenburg, Neil Giuntoli, Joseph Ragno, Jude Ciccolella, Jeffrey DeMunn, Frank Medrano, Bill Bolender, and many others had excellent supporting roles.

Phenomenal crime drama from Quentin Tarantino that presents four correlating stories that lead to a variety of extreme outcomes. The film kicks off following two friends and audacious hitmen. Jules is a god-fearing man while Vincent is more relaxed, but also battles with a heroin problem. They work for a big crime boss named Marsellus Wallace and have been tasked to steal a briefcase with mysterious contents from other criminals, and miraculously make it out alive after a sea of bullets pass them by. Marsellus then asks Vincent to take his care-free wife Mia out for a good time while he's away, which results in a near-death experience. The story also follows a boxer named Butch Coolidge who's being paid by Marsellus to take a dive, but greed and deception comes into play and puts his life at risk. It also follows a happily married couple who plans to rob a diner. It all leads a to two deadly and thrilling confrontations that tie all the storylines together beautifully. Superb writing, dialogue, cinematography, and uniquely shot with a ridiculous amount of twists and turns. It's arguably the greatest crime drama ever made. John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, and Bruce Willis all arguably deliver the best lead performances of their careers. Ving Rhames, Uma Thurman, and Harvey Keitel also delivered outstanding starring roles. Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Rosanna Arquette, Eric Stoltz, Maria de Medeiros, Quentin Tarantino, Duane Whitaker, Peter Greene, Phil LaMarr, Frank Whaley, Bronagh Gallagher, Angela Jones, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Walken, Julia Sweeney, and others also had excellent supporting roles.

Extraordinary drama/adventure from Robert Zemeckis set in 1956 Greenbow, Alabama, and follows a simple-minded young boy named Forrest Gump who's regularly tormented and dismissed for having and IQ of 75 and awkward leg braces to correct his curved spine. He has a single mother and is told his father is "on vacation", and has one very special friend that inspires him through his entire life, named Jenny. In 1966, he joins the U.S. Army and fights in the horrific Vietnam War. After being shot, he makes his way to becoming a ping-pong superstar and is discharged in 1974. He meets Jenny in different points throughout time as she struggles with drugs and rebellion. Forrest continues to make incredible historical feats until the time he's recounting his story to a woman waiting for a bus in 1981. This is Robert Zemeckis' Oscar-winning quintessential masterpiece and one of my all-time favorite films. It's a fantastic journey through a pivotal period of history and time that looks at everything from pop culture, war, and social struggle. All the historical tie-ins and alteration of history was beautifully done. It also has one of the best classic rock soundtracks of all time. The cast is absolutely incredible. Tom Hanks' Oscar-winning lead performance was arguably the best of his career. Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, and Sally Field also had excellent starring roles. Mykelti Williamson, Michael Conner, Hanna Hall, Sam Anderson, Michael Conner Humphreys, Haley Joel Osment, Afemo Omilami, Steven Griffith, Richard D'Alessandro, Geoffrey Blake, and many others had excellent supporting roles.

Tremendous crime drama/thriller from Luc Besson set in the Little Italy neighborhood of New York City, and follows a troubled and streetwise 12-year old girl named Mathilda who's entire dysfunctional family was brutally killed by a vicious drug kingpin and corrupt DEA agent named Norman Stansfield. She seeks refuge in the neighboring apartment of an extremely disciplined and introverted professional assassin (or a "cleaner" as he calls himself) named Léon. Mathilda literally has no family or friends that can take her in, and begs Léon to train her to become a professional killer. Léon reluctantly agrees and provides the discipline and structure she always needed in her life, while she also slowly falls in love with him. Trouble comes into play when Mathilda thinks she has all the skills to avenge her 4-year-old brother (the only family member that was killed that she actually cared for) and murder Stansfield all by herself. Things don't go as planned and turn deadly. Fantastic story with a unique and powerful set of actors to drive the story. This is the first lead performance I've seen from Jean Reno, and he had the perfect eccentric personality for Léon's character. This is Natalie Portman's debut starring role, and she delivered a superbly complex and emotion-filled performance as Mathilda. Gary Oldman is great as usual, but he delivers one of his all-time best performances a Stansfield. He was the perfect villain. Danny Aiello, Peter Appel, Willi One Blood, Michael Badalucco, Frank Senger, and many others had great supporting roles.

Exceptional action-packed crime drama/thriller from Oliver Stone that follows a troubled young woman named Mallory who battles with her sexually abusive father and neglectful mother. One day during a bout of household chaos, the meat man arrives, and it's Mickey Knox. Mickey and Mallory instantly fall in love, and after a confrontation with her father, they kill him, her mother, and spare her younger brother before burning the house to the ground. That incident sets off a chain reaction as their dark pasts turn them into maniacal serial killers. They travel across New Mexico and Arizona committing brutal murders and romanticizing every killing as token of their love for each other. The heat gets turned up on them when the media gets involved and glorifies their horrific murders, which only fuels them to become legends in the killing game. Fantastic story all around. While this film didn't hold true to Quentin Tarantino's original script (a point he's been very vocal about), I happen to really enjoy the re-writes and direction Oliver Stone took this film in. The tripped-out cinematography, production design, eerie soundtrack, and editing make this film more spectacular. Woody Harrelson & Juliette Lewis are in top form and deliver a couple of their all-time best lead performances. They had great chemistry together. Tom Sizemore, Robert Downey Jr., and Tommy Lee Jones also had excellent starring roles. Rodney Dangerfield, Edie McClurg, Everett Quinton, Pruitt Taylor Vince, O-Lan Jones, Sean Stone, Glen Chin, and others also had great supporting roles.

Hysterical comedy from the Farrelly Brothers that follows a couple of morons and best friends named Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne who share a run-down apartment in Providence, Rhode Island. Due to their ridiculously dimwitted personalities, neither of them are able to hold down a job of any kind. However, Lloyd ends up with a briefcase during his last day as a limo driver, which belonged to a woman named Mary that he drove to the airport (and also fell in love with his the process). The briefcase is full of money that Mary intentionally left there for a couple of thugs to pickup that were responsible for kidnapping her husband. The briefcase is locked, so Lloyd and Harry don't know what's in it. Soon after, those same thugs track Lloyd and Harry down to get the briefcase back. They sneak out of the apartment thinking they're bill collectors, and later decide to make the 2,000+ mile drive to Aspen, Colorado, to deliver the mysterious briefcase back to Mary. They hope for a reward and a fresh start in life, while Lloyd harbors the fantasy of marrying Mary. Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly have made some of my all-time favorite comedies, and this is an all-out classic in my book. The cast was perfect and all the jokes land. Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels deliver a couple of their best and funniest lead performances to date. They had perfect chemistry together. The soundtrack was also excellent, like all Farrelly films. Lauren Holly also had a great starring role. Mike Starr, Cam Neely, Karen Duffy, Charles Rocket, Harland Williams, Teri Garr, Lin Shaye, and several others also had great supporting roles.

Fantastic revenge crime drama/thriller from Alex Proyas set on "Devil's Night" (the night before Halloween) in a depressingly crime-ridden area of Detroit. A gang of evil men—Tin Tin, Funboy, T-Bird, and Skank—enter the home of a peaceful rock guitarist named Eric Draven and his girlfriend, Shelly Webster. Eric is stabbed, shot, and thrown out of his loft window where he meets his death. Shelly is raped and beaten, and eventually dies at the hospital. One year later, a mysterious crow lands on Eric's gravestone, and he is resurrected and brought back to life. His soul was unable to rest after losing Shelly and everything he lived for, and he's now determined to get his exact revenge against any and all the men who had anything to do with he and Shelly's brutal murders. Brandon Lee delivered a fantastic lead performance, and it's a tragic loss that he was killed due to a firearm malfunction when filming. He certainly had something special. Ernie Hudson, Rochelle Davis, Michael Wincott, Bai Ling, Sofia Shinas, Anna Thomson, David Patrick Kelly, Angel David, Laurence Mason, Michael Massee, Tony Todd, and plenty others had great supporting roles.

Outstanding historical drama/biography from Robert Redford set in 1958, and follows young, ambitious, and idealistic Brooklyn-bred U.S. Congressional lawyer named Richard N. Goodwin, who sets out to uncover a scandal behind the wildly popular TV quiz show "Twenty-One”. The story starts with a middle-class Queens resident named Herb Stempel who becomes the reigning champion of the show and gets good ratings for representing ‘everyday’ kind of men. However, the show’s sponsor and producer find the ratings have plateaued, and have quickly become annoyed with Stempel’s on-air persona. They soon make a deal with Stempel to take a dive and lose the show when a charming college professor from a renowned family of writers named Charles Van Doren applies to be a contestant, and becomes the largest champion in the show’s history after defeating a humiliated and angry Stempel. In order to keep winning, make thousands of dollars, and uphold his newly acquired celebrity status, Charles dishonestly accepts answers to the questions he’ll be given in the show. Many factors weigh on his conscious as Goodwin’s investigation gets closer to blowing the top off the whole operation. Powerful Oscar-nominated screenplay from Paul Attanasio with matching fantastic Oscar-nominated direction to match from Robert Redford, and an excellent cast. Rob Morrow delivers a spectacular lead performance and was perfect for the character of Goodwin. Ralph Fiennes and John Turturro also deliver a couple of their all-time best starring roles. Paul Scofield (also Oscar-nominated for his performance), David Paymer, Christopher McDonald, Hank Azaria, Allan Rich, Johann Carlo, Elizabeth Wilson, Mira Sorvino, Martin Scorsese, and many others also had very nice supporting roles.

Hilarious action-packed comedy western from Richard Donner loosely based on the 1950s TV series, and follows a charming and quick-witted gambler named Maverick who's traveling across country to enter a winner-take-all poker tournament with a grand prize of $500,000. However, he's short $3,000 of the $25,000 tournament entry fee, and must gamble and make money on his journey. Along the way he meets a seductive thief and poker player named Annabelle Bransford and a strait-laced lawman named Marshal Zane Cooper. However, he also runs into many near-death experiences at the hands of enemies he's made, which is trouble that follows him all the way to the final tournament. Mel Gibson delivers my personal favorite lead performance of his career as Maverick. He was superb front beginning to finish. Jodie Foster also arguably delivers one of her best starring roles, right along with James Garner (Maverick from the original 1950s TV show). Graham Greene, Alfred Molina, James Coburn, Max Perlich, Geoffrey Lewis, Paul L. Smith, and many others also had great supporting roles.

Excellent comedy drama from Kevin Smith that follows a troubled young man named Dante Hicks who works at the New Jersey based Quick Stop convenience store. He gets called into work on his day off, which kicks off a series of unfortunate incidents for Dante as the day progresses. His best friend and co-worker Randal Graves, who also runs the RST Video store next store, comes in late as usual, and has a care-free and recklessly comedic attitude. He drastically disrespects everyone he comes across as he and Dante rattle on about Star Wars and engage in other seemingly meaningless debates. That comedy soon turns to dark comedy, and later drama when Dante and Randall enter into boiling arguments over Dante's life and the pain and lack of ambition he constantly pines over. This is just about my favorite Kevin Smith film (tied with Chasing Amy). The super low-budget black-and-white security camera feel works great throughout. As with any Kevin Smith film, the writing and dialogue is what really makes this film special. Brian O'Halloran (Dante) and Jeff Anderson (Randal) have become my favorite characters in Kevin Smith's filmography, and they both deliver fantastic lead performances. Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Lisa Spoonauer, Scott Schiaffo, and many others had very nice supporting roles.

Superb action-packed comedy thriller from James Cameron that follows a man named Harry Tasker who leads a double life. To his wife Helen and rebellious daughter Dana, he is a boring computer salesman that frequently has to travel for business. He and Helen have been married a long time and the magic is seemingly gone. On the flip side, he's also a badass secret agent for a top-secret U.S. counterterrorism agency. He and his partner Gib work closely together to take down terrorists across the world. Harry soon becomes suspicious that Helen is cheating on him with a sleazy car salesman who's posing as a government agent, and uses his influence to track her. However, the heat really gets turned up when his wife is kidnapped by a group of terrorists looking to detonate an atomic bomb over Florida, and Harry is forced to come clean about his lies and save his family (and the world). This is hand-down one of my favorite action thrillers of all time. The story is fantastic, the action is outstanding, all the jokes land, and the casting and acting is top notch. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis both arguably deliver their all-time greatest lead performances. The same could be said for Tom Arnold's excellent starring role. Art Malik, Eliza Dushku, Bill Paxton, Tia Carrere, Grant Heslov, Armen Ksajikian, Mike Akrawi, Charles Cragin, and others had great supporting roles.

Fantastic animated adventure from Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff set in the Pride Lands of Africa, which is led by King Mufasa. Mufasa is wise, and fills his son Simba with knowledge and the promise that one day he will be a great king when he is gone. However, both of their future plans are seriously altered when Mufasa's evil younger brother, Scar, is determined to steal the throne away from Mufasa and control the land and all the animals living in it. Scar ends up spitefully recruiting a group of crazed hyenas and a massive heard of wildebeest, and sets up a deadly trap for Mufasa and Simba. Mufasa is killed, and Scar convinces Simba he is to blame for his father's death and persuades him to run away from the pride and never come back. Simba finds peace, happiness and friends in his new life, but his childhood friend Nala finally tracks him down after years have passed, and convinces him he needs to come home and end Scar's oppressive reign. This is definitely my favorite Disney animated film. Beautifully written, voiced, animated, and perfectly casted. Matthew Broderick and Jeremy Irons both deliver fantastic lead performances. James Earl Jones, Moira Kelly, Nathan Lane, and Ernie Sabella also have great starring roles. Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Niketa Calame-Harris, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Cummings, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Guillaume, Cheech Marin, Madge Sinclair, and others also had excellent supporting roles.

Hysterical comedy from Tom Shadyac that follows an unusual and extremely eccentric detective who specializes in finding a rescuing lost pets. Business is slow and he's regularly badgered by his landlord to pay his rent while his apartment is filled with animals of all kinds. He's in for the case of his life when the Miami Dolphins NFL mascot "Snowflake" has been stolen in order to plague the players with superstition, which would ensure they lose the Super Bowl. He's continually mocked and dismissed by Lieutenant Lois Einhorn and the rest of the Miami Police Department, but when he finds a stone that belongs to a 1984 Super Bowl ring at the scene of the crime, he gets closer to cracking the case. I'm somewhat surprised to see the critics hated this film so much when it has a solid story, fantastic comedy, and one of Jim Carey's absolute best lead performances. Courteney Cox and Sean Young also had great starring roles. Tone Loc, Dan Marino, Troy Evans, Noble Willingham, Udo Kier, David Margulies, John Capodice, Bill Zuckert, Alice Drummond, and others also had great supporting roles.

Excellent action-packed thriller from Jan de Bont that follows a young and dedicated Los Angeles police department S.W.A.T. officer named Jack Traven after he and his partner saved a building of people from a bomb placed by a maniacal killer named Howard Payne. A few days after that, Payne has it out for Jack, and his new plan forces him into a dire situation after he plants a bomb on a city bus that will explode if it slows down below 50mph. Payne calls Jack to specifically tell him the bus number, and maintains plenty of rules as he plays a game of cat and mouse with Jack. A passenger named Annie turns out to be the perfect driver to assist Jack, as the face a whirlwind of terror in order to survive. Excellent story all around with great dialogue and perfect casting. Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock both delivered a couple of their best lead performances and have great chemistry together. Dennis Hopper all delivers one of his best starring roles and plays a great villain. Jeff Daniels, Joe Morton, Alan Ruck, Hawthorne James, Richard Lineback, Carlos Carrasco, and many others had very nice supporting roles.

Excellent legal/crime drama/mystery from Joel Schumacher based on John Grisham’s best-selling 1993 novel of the same name. The story follows Memphis-based 11-year-old Mark Sway and his little brother Ricky, who witness a man trying to commit suicide. When Mark tries to intervene and save the man’s life, the man catches him and threatens to kill him. Mark luckily gets away, but not before the man tells him secrets about a hidden dead body and the mob boss who was responsible for it; who is also on their way to kill him. Mark and his poor family’s lives are soon turned upside down when he’s pressed for information by the FBI, the press, and a cocky US attorney named Roy Foltrigg, when he knows he and his family’s lives are in grave danger. After seeing scenarios of the like on TV, he wisely hires a caring and sharp-witted lawyer named Reggie Love who takes the case on for free, and fights for him and his family every step of the way. The story was excellent and is one the best adaptation of a John Grisham novel. Brad Renfro and Susan Sarandon both delivered superb lead performances. Tommy Lee Jones also had an excellent starring role. Mary-Louise Parker, Anthony LaPaglia, J.T. Walsh, Anthony Edwards, Will Patton, Walter Olkewicz, Bradley Whitford, Anthony Heald, Kim Coates, David Speck, William H. Macy, Ossie Davis, Micole Mercurio, William Sanderson, and others also had excellent supporting roles.

Excellent workplace comedy drama from Ron Howard set over the course of frantically crazed 24 hour day, and follows metro editor Henry Hackett of The New York Sun tabloid newspaper. It starts with Henry waking up to his unhappily pregnant wife Martha after getting home from work the previous night at 4am. He then races back to work where he’s faced with a mass amount of problems with employees, problems from the previous day’s issue, and incomplete stories for the current issue. Throughout the day, we dive deep into each employee’s life, personal issues, and ambitions for the future, as it all leads up to a tension-filled investigation to find the truth about a major breaking case involving two young black kids being blamed for a murder they didn’t commit. Excellent story all around with a great balance of comedy, drama, and thrills. The writing is fantastic and the whole star-studded cast shines because of it. Michael Keaton delivered one of his finest lead performances. Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, and Marisa Tomei also deliver excellent starring roles. Randy Quaid, Jason Alexander, Lynne Thigpen, Jack Kehoe, Spalding Gray, Jason Robards, Catherine O'Hara, and many others had great supporting roles.

Underrated and adventurous crime thriller from Curtis Hanson that follows a Boston married couple who takes their son Roarke to Salmon River in Idaho to embark on a whitewater rafting trip for his birthday. Parts of the journey are dangerous, but his mother Gail was previously an expert guide on the river. Meanwhile, his father Tom is an architect, and there is marital tension between he and Gail from the start of the trip. Along the way they are met by two men named Wade and Terry who make friends with Roarke and Gail. It turns out they are armed killers, and they hold the family hostage and force them to guide them down the river to escape from authorities. However, they want Gail to take them down the most dangerous and treacherous stretch of the river, known as the Gauntlet. It will test all their will power and strength to come out of the situation alive. Meryl Streep plays the strong female role and mother to perfection, and delivered one of her all-time best lead performances It's a personal favorite of mine. David Strathairn also delivered one of his very best starring roles, as did Joseph Mazzello. Kevin Bacon played the perfect villain, and John C. Reilly played his sidekick perfect.

Powerful comedy drama from Spike Lee set in the summer of 1973 Brooklyn, New York; and follows the 9-year-old daughter Troy of the middle-class Carmichael family. Her mother Carolyn is a hard-working school teacher who runs a strict no-nonsense household and is continually upset with the father of the family, Woody, who is an out-of-work jazz musician who has no income flowing in. Troy continually battles and learns lessons from her 4 disorderly brothers. When Carolyn gets very sick and is diagnosed with cancer, it adds overwhelming stress and responsibility on Troy and her father to keep the family together and move forward with their lives as a family. Zelda Harris, Alfre Woodard, and Delroy Lindo all delivered excellent and powerful lead performances. Carlton Williams, Sharif Rashed, Tse-Mach Washington, Christopher Knowings, José Zúñiga, Isaiah Washington, Frances Foster, Norman Matlock, Spike Lee, Patriece Nelson, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Peewee Love, RuPaul, and many others had great supporting roles.

Hilariously underrated music inspired crime comedy from Michael Lehmann set in Los Angeles during the peak of the grunge/alternative rock movement. The story follows a band known as "The Lone Rangers" led by guitarist and lead vocalist Chazz, and backed by bassist Rex and drummer Pip. They are starved to get their music on the radio and score a record deal, so they decide to break into the most popular rock station in town in hopes of getting their demo played live on the air. When their initial plans go awry, they hold everyone hostage as many things comically go wrong with their demands and attempts to get their music to the people. This film is perfect for 90s alternative rock/grunge fans and still holds up today. The story is solid, the comedy and dialogue is excellent, and the casting is perfect. Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi, and Adam Sandler all deliver fantastic lead performances. Joe Mantegna and Michael McKean also deliver great starring roles. Michael Richards, Judd Nelson, Chris Farley, Ernie Hudson, Amy Locane, Nina Siemaszko, Marshall Bell, Reg E. Cathey, David Arquette, Michelle Hurst, Harold Ramis, and many others have great supporting roles.

Excellent comedy drama from Robert Benton that follows a 60-year-old headstrong man named Donald "Sully" Sullivan who's nearing retirement, and finds him in a transitional period between his job, his boss's beautiful wife that he has a thing for, and his pending home life and family changes. But he's mostly struggling with getting older and regretting how he has chosen to live his life up until now, and he decides it's never too late to make a change. Great story all around with excellent dialogue from a great cast. Paul New delivered an excellent Oscar-nominated lead performance filled with emotion and complexity. Jessica Tandy, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Dylan Walsh, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Gene Saks, Josef Sommer, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Bosco, Alexander Goodwin, Jay Patterson, Margo Martindale, and others also had great supporting roles.

Fantastic coming-of-age drama from Gillian Armstrong and arguably the finest adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's classic 1868 novel. The story is set during the American Civil War in 1861 Concord, Massachusetts, and follows the mother and four daughters of the working-class March family while their father has left them to fight the war alongside the Union Army. The story mainly revolves around Jo, who is fiercely independent, extremely ambitious and idealistic, and immensely dedicated to her family. Given the time period, women could not vote, or work to make their own living in most cases. If they marry, all of their money, possessions and children will become property of their husbands. Each sister is determined to build a respectable and independent life for themselves in different ways. Meanwhile, Louisa May Alcott is channeled through Jo's character as a gifted writer, and follows her journey to write her famed and classic novel about her sisters and family. Outstanding story and film in every way, and I can see why so many fans enjoy this film adaptation of the story best. Greta Gerwig’s 2019 rendition is my personal favorite, but this had a gorgeous updated production and a fantastic cast. Winona Ryder delivered a fantastic Oscar-nominated lead performance as Jo. Susan Sarandon, Trini Alvarado, Claire Danes, Kirsten Dunst, Samantha Mathis, Christian Bale, and Gabriel Byrne also delivered excellent starring roles. Mary Wickes, Eric Stoltz, John Neville, and others also had great supporting roles.

Excellent and unique fantasy-driven comedy drama from the Coen Brothers set in December 1958, New York City. When the owner of the highly successful Hudsucker Industries suddenly commits suicide, the ruthless head of the board of directors Sidney J. Mussburger decides to appoint an idealistic and completely unqualified mailroom clerk named Norville Barnes to run the company in an effort to make the company stock drop so he and his friends can buy up the shares at rock-bottom prices. That is until a determined Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter named Amy Archer starts to uncover the scandal. Excellent story with a quirky and fun production design and style. Tim Robbins, Paul Newman, and Jennifer Jason Leigh are three of my favorite actors, and they all deliver excellent lead performances. John Mahoney, Charles Durning, Jim True-Frost, Bill Cobbs, Bruce Campbell, Patrick Cranshaw, Robert Weil, Steve Buscemi, Anna Nicole Smith, and others had very nice supporting roles.

Fascinating and excellently crafted sports biography from Ron Shelton that presents an authorized autobiography of legendary baseball player Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb (1886–1961). The story is set in 1960, and follows a successful sportswriter named Al Stump who’s hired by the sickly 74-year-old Ty Cobb to help publish his biography before he dies. Al isn’t sure what he’ll find after driving to Ty’s Lake Tahoe estate, and quickly learns that he is an egotistical, hatefully racist, sexist, and belligerently reckless old man. While Al handed over the final editorial approval on his book to Ty who only wants his own glowing history to be acknowledged in the book, Al secretly decides to simultaneously start writing a second book that tells the real truth about Ty’s mysteriously controversial past life and legacy. This was a uniquely done biography and boasts some great entertainment along the way. Tommy Lee Jones delivered one of his best lead performances as Ty Cobb, and injected the film with some hilarious comedy in the process. Robert Wuhl also delivered a great starring role and had great interaction with Jones. Lolita Davidovich, Lou Myers, William Utay, and others also had very nice supporting roles.

Underrated comedy drama from Andrew Bergman set in Queens, New York City. The film is based on a true story, and follows an honest cop and all around good human being named Charlie Lang who loves the inner city community in Queens, and is content to live the rest of his life there. However, his wife and high-school sweetheart Muriel hates Queens, and their relationship is seemingly falling apart after so many years together. One day Charlie buys a lottery ticket at Muriel's request, and subsequently offers to split the possible winnings of the ticket with a troubled waitress named Yvonne Biasi, since he doesn't have enough money to tip her. The lottery ticket ends up being a shocking $4 million jackpot winner, and honest Charlie keeps his promise and splits the money with Yvonne (much to Muriel's dismay), when he discovers she is a kind and caring person who truly deserves the cash. That sets off a media frenzy that explodes with greed, tension, life changes, and love. This film was so much better than your typical romantic comedy drama, and it made it even better that if followed a true story. What really made the film is the fantastic lead performances from Nicolas Cage and Bridget Fonda. They had superb chemistry together. Rosie Perez also had a very nice starring role. Wendell Pierce, Isaac Hayes, Stanley Tucci, Seymour Cassel, Red Buttons, Richard Jenkins, and others also had very nice supporting roles.

Excellent sequel from Peter Segal, and a fantastic way to cap off the Naked Gun trilogy (1988–1994), which stands as my favorite crime comedy trilogy ever made. This time we find Frank Drebin happily coming out of retirement and going undercover to stop a crazed terrorist named Rocco from bombing the Academy Awards ceremony. Meanwhile, various encounters with Rocco's gorgeous girlfriend Tanya gets Frank in trouble with his wife Jane. Great story and comedy all around, which lives up to the magic and laughs of the first two films. Leslie Nielsen delivers a fantastic lead performance as he usually does. Priscilla Presley (Jane), George Kennedy (Ed), and O.J. Simpson (Nordberg) all return and deliver great starring roles. Fred Ward, Anna Nicole Smith, and Kathleen also played an excellent trio of criminals. Raye Birk, Earl Boen, Lois De Banzie, 'Weird Al' Yankovic, John Capodice, and others also had very nice supporting roles.