I really their miss them reviewing films every week. It was a great way to keep up with what films were out there. Thanks for everything guys. Things are just not the same anymore without you.
I always watched this. I loved it as a kid and a young man. They didn't want to be film makers. They loved film, the value of it, it's power and ability to reach so many people. We'll never see a duo like that again. I have a portrait of them in my office. Oscar Wilde wrote an essay, "The Critic as Artist", they did it.
@@scottmccurdy6493 I still wince every time I see a "Rotten Tomatoes" listing next to a film! I visited the site once..maybe twice. I don't get their ratings..it's as confusing as trying to understand Football stats! Kudos to you.
I’ve been binging S&E for a week now, and they were so great together. So many good movies I never heard of watching these episodes )(and I love movies!) btw, the theme song does not get the love it deserves! It’s killer!
Ebert said Fargo was the best film of 1996, then years later said that No Country for Old Men was the best Film the Coen brothers had ever made. I think he was right both times..
The Coen Brothers are in my top five, easy. No particular order: 1. Coen Brothers. 2. Quentin Tarantino. 3. Denis Villeneuve. 4. Martin Scorsese. 5. Christopher Nolan.
In my personal opinion I believe Fargo is actually better than No Country (although both are terrific) and I really think the Academy gave the Oscar to the Coens for No Country as a make-up gesture for not giving it to them for Fargo. The English Patient is good but nowhere near as good as Fargo, and William H. Macy also got robbed that year.
Kudos to Gene for being ballsy enough to include "Kingpin" on his list, a great comedy that was unjustly panned. This looks much better today than Roeper's irreverent selection of "Shallow Hal" in 2001.
Siskel always manages to surprise me with a left-field choice like this, like the year he put Under Siege in his top 10. Not complaining though: Kingpin is funny as hell. Not only does it have one of the best jump scares I’ve seen (Roy seeing his landlady in the rear view mirror), but it also has one of the best running gags (every time Roy shows off his championship ring, everyone focuses on the prosthetic hand except at the end, when he’s trying to draw attention to his hand, but the guy notices the ring instead)
I had no idea Siskel loved it so much (he was my absolute favorite, most influential critic of my life). I have watched them since I was a teen in late 80’s and he taught me so much about film!! They both picked out a lot of talent and were right about so much. They are both a great loss to the film world…
Well My List For Best Movies of 1996 are, 1. 12 Monkeys. 2. Bio-Dome. 3. Dunston Checks in. 4. Eye for an Eye. 5. Lawnmower Man 2 Beyond Cyberspace. Matt Fewer a National Treasure. 6. From Dusk Till Dawn. George Clooney a National Treasure the roles he's been in is memorable. 7. Bed of Roses. Christian Slater a National Treasure the roles he's been in is memorable. 8. Black Sheep. 9. Happy Gilmore. 10. Muppet's From Space. (WWE Superstar Hulk Hogan has a Cameo Appearance in this movie). 11. Mary Reilly. 12. Down Periscope. Kelsey Grammer a National Treasure. 13. Homeward Bound 2 Lost in San Francisco. 14. All Dogs Go To Heaven 2. Animated Movie. 15. James and the Giant Peach. 16. Jane Eyre. 17. Mystery Science Theater 3000 The Movie. 18. The Substitute. 19. The Craft. 20. The Great White Hype. 21. Twister. Helen Hunt a National Treasure the roles she's been in is memorable. 22. Flipper. Paul Hogan a National Treasure. 23. Dragonheart. 24. Eddie. 25. The Phantom. Billy Zane a National Treasure. 26. The Cable Guy. Jim Carey a National Treasure the roles he's been in is memorable. 27. The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Demi Moore, Kevin Kline, Tony Jay, Jason Alexander, The Late Mary Wickes and David Ogden Stiers are National Treasures. 28. The Nutty Professor. Eddie Murphy a National Treasure. 29. Theodore Rex. 30. Independence Day. 31. Harriet The Spy. 32. The Adventures of Pinocchio. 33. Joe's Apartment. 34. Matilda. 35. Alaska. 36. Aladdin and the King of Thieves. Animated Movie. 37. Darkman 3 Die Darkman Die. 38. Carpool. 39. The Island of Dr. Moreau. 40. A Very Brady Sequel. 41. The Crow City of Angels. 42. First Kid. 43. Bogus. 44. Fly Away Home. 45. D 3 The Mighty Ducks. 46. Dear God. 47. Larger Than Life. 48. Romeo + Juliet. Leonardo Dicaprio a National Treasure. 49. Space Jam. 50. Jingle All The Way.
"She may be a woman, she may be pregnant, but she handles it very well." I like Roger Ebert.... I've read his autobiography; I like him a lot. I like them oth, Siskel for his Philosophy background and Ebert for his way with words, but really? "She may be pregnant, but she handles it well." I still love both of these guys guys, Francis McDormand does such a great job in this film!
I enjoy the fact that so often the eventual Oscar winner is absent from one or both of their lists. These guys were smart, insightful and entertaining.
Haven't seen it. I worried from their description that it was a 'pretentious film critic choice' type of film but if comments all these years later are recommending it I'll give it a try.
Throughout their career on TV together, they were actually in harmony more often than not, and had much more in common than appearances often suggested. Likely because their disagreements were often so dramatic.
That's an uncommon opinion! It's tough to say which year was the greatest *on average*, but I agree with Gene and Roger that 1993 had the highest number of great films and no other year from that decade comes close.
I must retort with an emphatic "nuh-uh!" '91, '94, '95, '97 and '99 all had way more to make top 10 lists out of. It was hard to even think of 10 for '96.
I don’t know if you’re right or wrong, but those top 3 films (Secrets & Lies / Breaking the Waves / Fargo) is an incredibly strong Top 3 to contend with.
@@bamabat8435 1991 and 1995 were terrible years, and 1999 has been totally overrated. You actually had trouble making a top ten list in the year of Fargo, Jerry Maguire, The English Patient, Sling Blade, Big Night, Secrets and Lies, Angels and Insects, Breaking the Waves, Hamlet, Looking for Richard, Hard Core Logo, Trees Lounge, Welcome to the Dollhouse, Shine, Lone Star and The People Vs. Larry Flynt?
I'm so glad this is on TH-cam. The music, the adverts, the tone and set design is SO 'upbeat 90's city living.' It's a real mood. Plus since I was a kid in the 90's I only know about 3-5 of the movies on these lists, the really iconic ones, so I'm being introduced to heaps of new films.
Wow Secrets and Lies, Breaking The Waves, and Fargo all made both Siskel and Ebert's top three on their lists which all ended up getting nominations for the female leads and shows how much Brenda Blethyn, Emily Watson, and Frances McDormand all had a deserving chance at winning the Oscar if only it had been handed to them in a three-way tie.
I was staying in the guest house of film editor Patsy Buba when he was editing Looking For Richard for Al Pacino. Pat had edited George Romero's films like Knightriders, Creepshow, Day of the Dead and The Dark Half before scoring real big with Casino & Heat. I knew Pat because I grew up in NJ with his younger cousin. The two of us ended up going to college in Pittsburgh (different schools of course) which happens to be where Patsy and his family are from. My love for the city of Pittsburgh started with Dawn of the Dead and it coincided with my love for films when, in Pittsburgh, I got to meet George at a test screening for the film The Dark Half. Then years later, when I found myself staying at Patsy's guest house watching him edited an Al Pacino film, I knew that that's what I wanted to do with the rest my life. Patsy passed away a few years back. His cousin and I haven't talked it over twenty years and I never made it as a screenwriter. It's funny. When I was a kid, I had all these hopes and dreams, but today, all I have are...dreams.
I wish these two were still alive so that they could know how much we still value their older shows. They set the model for Pardon The Interruption and countless other shows with two people arguing about a subject they love.
Glad to see 'Secrets & Lies' by the brilliant Mike Leigh and 'Breaking the Waves' on both of these lists. I'm surprised to see 'Bound' this high for them, but I enjoyed the film a good bit myself. I haven't seen either of the docs here. 'Lone Star' and 'Welcome To the Dollhouse' are exceptional as well.
I can't believe that these two stuffed shirts completely overlooked movies such as Independence Day, and Twister! These two movies were two of the biggest Blockbusters of 1996!
They were smart enough to know that box-office success has everything to do with business and nothing to do with quality. These are professional film critics, not yahoo fanboys.
My top 10 from 1996: 1. Fargo 2. Paradise Lost 3. Shine 4. Breaking the Waves 5. The People vs. Larry Flynt 6. Secrets & Lies 7. Bound 8. Jerry Maguire 9. Sling Blade 10. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
1996 was certainly loaded. That was the year indies really came into their own plus there were tons of crowd-pleasing films from the big studios, such as Independence Day, the first Mission Impossible, Jerry Maguire, The Birdcage, The Rock, etc. That may be the year I saw the most films in the theater.
Yeah!!! These two intellectual stuffed shirts (Almost) completely snubbed those movies, along with Twister! It's pathetic! This is what really made me hate their show, more and more, as the years passed by. I couldn't believe it! Only Gene would bring up "Kingpin," which I personally thought was somewhat dumb in spots, but insanely funny! These two were supposed to be movie critics, not high-falutin' snobs, that overlooked anything and everything that didn't fit into a royal theme!
I disagree about the scene in Fargo. McDermotts character is so good because she's not a super cop she is just an ordinary person who only figures it out after her encounter with an ex boyfriend. It's only after he lies to her that it clicks that the husband lied as well. Of not for that encounter she never would have figured it out. It's brilliant and absolutely nessesary
I discovered Freeway late night on HBO. I loved it. It was also one of three movies I saw that week where Brooke Shields died violently. (The other two: King of the Gypsies and Freaked)
I just saw the 1990 “Best of” clip and by 1996 Roger looks much heavier and a lot more gray while Gene is losing hair quickly. They had a camaraderie that lasted through the years and got more finely tuned. Roger doesn’t look well here though. Lot of good memories watching these great film critics and lovers of the arts.
Roger's peak years for weight were the mid-1980s. He lost a lot on the Pritikin diet around the time of his marriage 1992-93., probably for the satisfaction of his wife, and began to pack it on again beginning in 1994. Given his demanding schedule, by his own admission, he relied too much on fast food and pizza. He went vegetarian beginning in the late 90s/early 2000s, which helped a little but not a lot given his fondness for junk food. The cancer treatments beginning in 2003 are what slimmed him down permanently. Gene began wearing a light toupée in his late 30s and he certainly is here. Most of his crown hair had thinned away by 1982/83, but years later he somehow had more.
Algorithms of TH-cam likely contribute to viewing of film clips that result in flagging for copyright infringement similar to some of the videos that I have been watching here that apparently disappeared.
Sriously, going to check out "Lonestar" this weekend. Please, tell me, anyone, f you've seen it! Is it worth it? I like Chris Cooper. And, I like good dialogue. ... Thank you.
Gene proudly proclaimed 1996 to be the Year of the Woman, because it was a time when the rise of female executives made the women seem far more complex and far more interesting than men, who he thought looked duller and duller with each successive action picture of 1996. Runners-up on Gene's Top 10 list for 1996 were Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet", the BBC's "Cold Comfort Farm", Douglas McGrath's "Emma" and Trevor Nunn's "Twelfth Night". His favorite family movies of 1996 were "James and the Giant Peach", "Fly Away Home" and the original "Space Jam" (the sequel, "Space Jam: A New Legacy", will be out next week). His favorite reissues of 1996 were of "Vertigo" and "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg". His other favorites were "Basquait", "I Shot Andy Warhol", and "Angels & Insects." (SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, December 22, 1996)
My list: 1. The Funeral (Abel Ferrara) 2a. Flirting With Disaster (David O. Russell) 2b. Schizopolis (Steven Soderbergh) 3. Thieves/Les Voleurs (André Techiné) 4. Fargo 5. Escape From LA (John Carpenter) 6. Kansas City (Robert Altman) 7. For Ever Mozart (Jean Luc Godard) 8. Mars Attacks! (Tim Burton) 9. Secrets & Lies 10. Microcosms (Claude Nuridsanny & Marie Pérennou) 11. Jingle All the Way (Brian LeVant) HMs: The Cable Guy (Ben Stiller), Daylight (Rob Cohen), Get on the Bus (Spike Lee), Happy Gilmore (Dennis Dugan), Kingpin, Last Man Standing (Walter Hill), Looking for Richard, Nenette + Boni (Claire Denis), The Quest (Jean Claude Van Damme), Sling Blade (Billy Bob Thornton), Space Jam (Joe Pytka), A Summer Tale (Éric Rohmer) Szamanka (Andrzej Zulawski), Welcome to the Dollhouse
Big Night was an absolute gem and the final scene in the kitchen, which was entirely in silence, is a master class in behavioral acting. Oh, and The English Patient was an continues to be hot garbage. Has anyone who saw it once ever bothered to see it again?
@@gheller2261 I think it holds up well as a sprawling, novelistic love story and David Lean-lite panorama of gorgeous deserts. The slow reveal through a series of flashbacks is deliriously intoxicating. Certainly my tempo. I don't experience "boredom" with movies unless I'm dealing with the likes of Chantal Akerman or that Apichtapong guy from Thailand.
@@flaccidusminimus2170 I typically like quiet films that take time to tell the story. I tend not to want to be simplistic, but my primary reaction to The English Patient was "boooorrrriiiinnnnngggg." My wife has a great way to describe how she judges a film or a play, whether it was "two eyes open" or not. For me, it was decidedly the latter. There was a reason for the classic Seinfeld episode and when I first saw it, it confirmed that I was not the only one. I have asked and I do not know a single person who has seen it again after seeing it in the theater. To each his own, I guess.
I too tried watching the English Patient when it came on TV a couple of years after its release, but I fell asleep during the movie. Having watched a few opening scenes and having listened to a few others while half asleep my distinct impression of the movie is that it was basically Ralph Fiennes sitting deformed in bed engaging in pretentious soliloquies. I do remember watching Big Night on New Years day 2001 or 2002. I did not know that this movie existed, I just discovered it at random while channel surfing. It was a revelation! Great movie! A rumination on the dilemmas we face when we have to choose between something that's popular and will make us successful and what we know it's good and at best will leave us poor. Years later, I ran into Stanley Tucci in a NY restaurant. I wanted to tell him how much I loved this little known movie, but I thought it would be wise to let him eat his dinner with his friends.
Already by this time my tastes were totally different then these guys, best of them were the late 80s. I enjoyed 12 monkey, First Wives Club, The Craft, Scream, Truth abt Cats and Dogs, one fine day 🎉I think by this time they needed a younger voice and a woman’s voice 💎
I sometimes wonder what it would have been like watching this program in the 2000s if Gene hadn't died. Two crotchety greyhaired geezers trying to pass as the critical vanguard and chief arbiters of good taste on the movie beat in America. How long would that have lasted? Richard Roeper didn't have much intellectual heft and was a tad impish, but having a late boomer as opposed to an early one certainly made a difference (in ways both intriguing and bad).
1. Fargo 2. Crash 3. Lone Star 4. Last Man Standing 5. I Shot Andy Warhol 6. Romeo and Juliet 7. The English Patient 8. Star Trek: First Contact 9. Sling Blade 10.Everyone Says I Love You
@@joeski734 Stuff pre-vhs is very clear. Just watch some adams family or Beverly hillbillies. If it says at the beginning "X was TAPED in front of a live audience"... its gonna look like crap.
They were 100% right about Fargo. The english patient was bor...ing. Breaking the waves made one of their lists. Lars von Trier is officially a messed up dude. Dancer in the Dark with Bjork was a great film. But since then he's jumped off the deep end.
I was hoping to see the Japanese movie Shall We Dance which swept the Japanese Academy Awards on the list. To me it is easily one of the most entertaining and flat out funny movies in many years. The characters are unforgettable. The movie was remade in 2004 as an American film but the copy utterly pales in comparison to the original.
8:20 i agree with Siskel. "Everyone Says I Love You" in no way was Woody Allen's best film as Ebert tried to argue. Annie Hall, Manhattan, and especially Hannah and Her Sisters(1986) were so much better.
The scene in the restaurant has a purpose: when she finds out that he was lying to her about everything, that's what makes her question whether Jerry was telling the truth or not, as she was reminded of her instinct during their first meeting - and that's why she goes back to question him again. The scene isn't coming out of left field at all: from the first time we meet Marge, we're given scenes of her home life, pregnancy, and how her personal life and her work are intermingled in that town; so the old High School friend who shows up and turns out to have lied is just another part of her personal life that motivates her work. It helps her break the case.
I think it's both. The scene does strike most first-time viewers as random and misplaced, but Gene was praising its oddness. Every scene that looks and feels tangential in "Fargo" has a narrative purpose, including the poetic scene of the man shoveling snow in his driveway (my favorite).
Speaking of dollhouse, its horrifying to consider how many confused teens lack good guidance these days and are given the keys to the castle (their own psyches and future) and are going to trash the place.
In '96 I was 12 and it was the first year I really started paying attention to movies and started on my road to becoming an afficianado. That said, my list for '96, in no particular order, would have to include: Fargo, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Trainspotting, Primal Fear, Lone Star, Sling Blade and Swingers. And I guess you could throw Sleepers, Jerry Maguire and A Time to Kill on there too, just to make it 10. Even numbered years must just suck because '95 and '97 were awesome. Correction: I forgot that '94 was awesome too. 2nd correction: I forgot about Hard Eight and The Cable Guy from '96. Also, ID4, Scream, The Craft, The Rock, Mission: Impossible, Romeo+Juliet and The Nutty Professor were culturally significant, if not... ya know... good.
I still love The English Patient. I think it’s the best film of the 1990s. I know I’m in the minority on this. Even though it won Oscars, I don’t think it gets the recognition it deserves. My best list: 1. English Patient 2. Sling Blade 3. Hamlet 4. Fargo 5. Trainspotting 6. Breaking the Waves 7. Courage Under Fire 8. Kolya 9. Mars Attacks 10. Independence Day (I’m almost ashamed for including this)
I recall liking it a great deal, but it's been over a decade since I last saw it. Much like "Shakespeare In Love", I think the major awards it received have inspired an undue and immature contrarian backlash that has distorted the consensus opinion and public perception of it since its release.
I like the Seinfeld episode where Elaine hates the movie The English Patient as everyone else is gushing about it ... She sees it with her boss who's completely moved by it while he cries.. "The Passion!" .. freakin hilarious.
I agree, I loved both of these guys growing up, but I think they really missed the mark on horror and comedies. I did ignore them with those two genres.
My Favorite and Best Flim of the Year 1996 in my opinion was 1. Harriet The Spy 2. Daylight 3. Mission Impossible 4. Beavis and Butthead Do America 5. Independent Day 6. Space Jam
Fargo was the best film of the year and I still love it, it turned me into a huge Coen Brothers fan. It’s rare to get a quality film where rural North Dakota (my home state) was used as the setting. It’s should’ve won the Best Picture in 1997. Lone Star was the other great noir film of that year and it’s sadly fallen into obscurity but John Sayles has never really been a big name unless one really loves indie cinema. Bound is the really the only Wachowski Sibling film I like and considering the path their lives took, I can see why they made such a daring film (at least for the time). It’s an incredible piece of puzzle artistry that demands multiple viewings. Kingpin wasn’t ever memorable for me. It’s flat compared to Dumb and Dumber and There’s Something About Mary. Welcome To The Dollhouse is too cruel to watch. I haven’t touched another Todd Solondz film since I first saw it in 1999. I want to see Looking For Richard and Secret & Lies. Other favorites from that year were Scream, Primal Fear, Sleepers, Trees Lounge and Hard Eight.
Top Ten of 1996: 1. Fargo 2. Bottle Rocket 3. The Cable Guy 4. Breaking the Waves 5. Trainspotting 6. Waiting For Guffman 7. Basquait 8. Big Night 9. Kingpin 10. Hard Eight
Good list. I also think highly of The Cable Guy. That film turned me around on Jim Carrey. And then Man in the Moon solidified my appreciation of his talent.
My Top Ten Movies of 1996 is, 10. 12 Monkeys. 9. Bio-Dome. 8. Dunston checks in. 7. Eye for an Eye. 6. Lawnmower man 2 beyond cyberspace. 5. Happy Gilmore. 4. Muppet Treasure Island. 3. Mary Rielly. 2. Down Periscope. 1. Homeward Bound 2 lost in San Franscisco.
3:14 A movie about a secret lesbian couple, who met by chance, who have to hide their relationship from then men in their lives, written and directed by two, at the time, closeted trans women? If any movie was more on the nose, in the 90s, I have not seen it.
I stopped going to the movies not long after Siskel died. Maybe the timing was coincidental, but I just wasn’t interested in what was being offered. And smartphones in theaters really put the nail in the coffin as far as I’m concerned.
Mostly "art films," indie movies, and festival winners in the top films of 1996 - branded by American film critics and the industry as the "year of independent filmmaking" (which is contradictory to the reality that independent films have been making waves since the early years of World cinema)... Voici mes meilleurs films de 1996: 1. Vertigo (re-release), Alfred Hitchcock 2. Breaking the Waves, Lars von Trier 3. Fargo, Joel Coen 4. Secrets and Lies, Mike Leigh 5. Jerry Maguire, Cameron Crowe 6. The People vs. Larry Flynt, Milos Forman 7. Ponette, Jacques Douillon 8. James and the Giant Peach, Henry Selick 9. A Self-made Hero, Jacques Audiard 10. Love Serenade, Shirley Barrett
I take your point, but 1996 was a particularly bad year for big studio films (at least most people would say so, qualitatively speaking). And without doing any hard number crunching, it certainly appears as though there were far more independent, small studio releases on the market in '96 than in years past.
The mid 90s were a rebuke for the previous decade of big Hollywood bulldozers rolling over world cinema. Following Star Wars and other big studio successes, the 80s were the golden days of blockbusters, and by mid 90s people realized the value of independent cinema and started to appreciate it more. It's too bad the trend reversed in the late 90s.
@@zxbc1 It was mostly the critics who "started to appreciate it more". Independent and foreign films received more distribution beginning in the mid-90s, but the market was still dominated by blockbusters. Look at the top 50 highest grossers of 1996. "Shine" and "The English Patient" are the only off-Hollywood productions in there. This was the year that "Independence Day", "Twister", and "Mission: Impossible" set box-office records and dominated popular discourse. Hardly a year that demonstrated a public rebuke of blockbusters, quite the contrary. It's just that the big hits were, in general, unusually bad.
@@Spiqaro gee, how'd you guess? couple years ago, my buddy comes up to me & says, "hey, you know andy & larry wachowski, right?" i say, "not personally, but yeah"... he says,"well, now they're lily & lana wachowski"..... i say, "what, they got arrested & raped in jail!!!" he says, "no, both had a sex change". i'm still puking.
No I'm pretty sure most of his movies up to and including "Match Point" are still widely seen and admired. A few after that as well. "Cancel culture" is the outsized influence of a fringe minority who exploit the insecurities of their peers and friends. We can get along just fine by ignoring those voices and appreciating art on our own terms. Most people do.
Woody should NEVER have been canceled. What a crock!! He's only guilty of falling in love. And their marriage has lasted for over twenty years. Mia Farrow is nuts! Oh, and Woody just happens to be one our greatest American filmmakers. He'll never be 'canceled' in my book!
@flaccidusminimus2170 Well, that's encouraging, actually. Just some malicious, ill conceived gossip about Woody's private life. Mainly fanned by his vindictive ex, Mia Farrow. It was a 'me too' thing and word when out about him being 'canceled'. It's all bullshit. Woody rocks!
Trainspotting not being here is madness. Maybe Americans just don't know of it mind, I'm sure it's about to find an audience over there though when Criterion release it next year & its reputation beyond how revered it is just in the UK will grow. Only Fargo was a better film from 1996 than Trainspotting imo.
My Top Ten Favorite Movies of 1996 (and the Movie Companies) is, 10. Bio-Dome. (Metro-Goldwyn-Meyers). 9. Dunston Checks In. (20th Century Fox). 8. Eye for an Eye. (Paramount Pictures). 9. Lawnmower Man 2 Beyond Cyberspace. (New Line Cinema). 8. From Dusk Till Dawn. (Dimension Films). 7. Bed of Roses. (New Line Cinema). 6. Black Sheep. (Paramount Pictures). 5. The Juror. (Columbia Pictures). 4. Happy Gilmore. (Universal Pictures). 3. Muppet Treasure Island. (Walt Disney Pictures/The Jim Henson Company). 2. Mary Reilly. (TriStar Pictures). 1. Down Periscope. (20th Century Fox). Here's My Honorable Mentions. 1. The Birdcage. (United Artists). 2. Homeward Bound 2 Lost in San Francisco. (Walt Disney Pictures). 3. All Dogs Go To Heaven 2. (Metro-Goldwyn-Meyers). Animated Movie. 4. Sgt. Bilko. (Universal Pictures/Imagine Pictures). 5. James and the Giant Peach. (Walt Disney Pictures/Allied Filmmakers). 6. Jane Eyre. (Miramax Films). 7. Mystery Science Theater 3000 the Movie. (Gramercy Pictures/Universal Pictures). 8. The Craft. (Columbia Pictures). 9. The Great White Hype. (20th Century Fox). 10. Twister. (Warner Bros Pictures/Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment). 11. Flipper. (Universal Pictures/The Bubble Factory). 12. Spy Hard. (Hollywood Pictures). 13. Dragonheart. (Universal Pictures). 14. The Phantom. (Paramount Pictures/The Ladd Company). 15. The Cable Guy. (Columbia Pictures). 16. The Hunchback of Notre Dame. (Walt Disney Pictures). Animated Movie. 17. The Nutty Professor. (Universal Pictures/Imagine Entertainment). 18. Theodore Rex. (New Line Cinema). 19. Independence Day. (20th Century Fox/Centropolis Entertainment). 20. The Adventures of Pinocchio. (New Line Cinema/Savoy Pictures/The Kushner-Locke Company). 21. Kingpin. (Metro-Goldwyn-Meyers/Rysher Entertainment). 22. Matilda. (TriStar Pictures/Jersey Films). 23. Jack. (Hollywood Pictures/American Zoetrope). 24. Aladdin and the King of Thieves. (Walt Disney Home Video). Animated Movie. 25. Alaska. (Columbia Pictures/Castle Rock Entertainment). 26. House Arrest. (Metro-Goldwyn-Meyers/Rysher Entertainment). 27. Tales from the Crypy presents Bordello of Blood. (Universal Pictures). 28. Tin Cup. (Warner Bros Pictures/Regency Enterprises). 29. Darkman 3 Die Darkman Die. (MCA Universal Home Entertainment/Renaissance Pictures). 30. Carpool. (Warner Bros Pictures/Regency Enterprises). 31. The Island of Dr. Moreau. (New Line Cinema). 32. A Very Brady Sequel. (Paramount Pictures/The Ladd Company). 33. The Crow City of Angels. (Miramax Pictures/Dimension Films). 34. First Kid. (Walt Disney Pictures/Caravan Pictures). 35. Bogus. (Warner Bros Pictures/Regency Enterprises). 36. Fly Away Home. (Columbia Pictures). 37. D3 the Mighty Ducks. (Walt Disney Pictures). 38. The Ghost and The Darkness. (Paramount Pictures/Constellation Films). 39. Thinner. (Paramount Pictures/Spelling Films). 40. Dear God. (Paramount Pictures/Rysher Entertainment). 41. Larger Than Life. (United Artists). 42. Romeo + Juliet. (20th Century Fox). 43. Space Jam. (Warner Bros Pictures). 44. Jingle All The Way. (20th Century Fox/Fox 2000 Pictures/1492 Pictures). 45. 101 Dalmatians. (Walt Disney Pictures/Great Oaks Entertainment). 46. Daylight. (Universal Pictures). 47. Mars Attacks!. (Warner Bros Pictures). 48. The Preacher's Wife. (Touchstone Pictures/The Samuel Goldwyn Company). 49. One Fine Day. (20th Century Fox/Fox 2000 Pictures). 50. Evita. (Hollywood Pictures/Cinergi Pictures). 51. The People vs Larry Flynt. (Columbia Pictures/Phoenix Pictures).
honestly, aside from fargo, i didn;t care for much of 1996 films. I'm sure some of the trash ones i liked, but these good films...i just didn't care for.
I really their miss them reviewing films every week. It was a great way to keep up with what films were out there. Thanks for everything guys. Things are just not the same anymore without you.
I always watched this. I loved it as a kid and a young man. They didn't want to be film makers. They loved film, the value of it, it's power and ability to reach so many people. We'll never see a duo like that again. I have a portrait of them in my office. Oscar Wilde wrote an essay, "The Critic as Artist", they did it.
It's really something the internet can't replicate. You don't feel well informed listening to Imdb or Rotten Tomatoes, just stupider.
These days people just look at some arbitrary number on some stupid tomato website.
@@scottmccurdy6493 I still wince every time I see a "Rotten Tomatoes" listing next to a film! I visited the site once..maybe twice. I don't get their ratings..it's as confusing as trying to understand Football stats! Kudos to you.
I’ve been binging S&E for a week now, and they were so great together. So many good movies I never heard of watching these episodes )(and I love movies!) btw, the theme song does not get the love it deserves! It’s killer!
Ebert said Fargo was the best film of 1996, then years later said that No Country for Old Men was the best Film the Coen brothers had ever made.
I think he was right both times..
I still feel sad that Siskel didn't live to see No Country for Old Men.
He's pretty accurate. But a shout out for The Big Lebowski too!
Absolutely! As much as I like No Country for old men, The Big Lebowski exists in it's own universe!@@waynej2608
The Coen Brothers are in my top five, easy.
No particular order:
1. Coen Brothers.
2. Quentin Tarantino.
3. Denis Villeneuve.
4. Martin Scorsese.
5. Christopher Nolan.
In my personal opinion I believe Fargo is actually better than No Country (although both are terrific) and I really think the Academy gave the Oscar to the Coens for No Country as a make-up gesture for not giving it to them for Fargo. The English Patient is good but nowhere near as good as Fargo, and William H. Macy also got robbed that year.
Kudos to Gene for being ballsy enough to include "Kingpin" on his list, a great comedy that was unjustly panned. This looks much better today than Roeper's irreverent selection of "Shallow Hal" in 2001.
Siskel always manages to surprise me with a left-field choice like this, like the year he put Under Siege in his top 10. Not complaining though: Kingpin is funny as hell. Not only does it have one of the best jump scares I’ve seen (Roy seeing his landlady in the rear view mirror), but it also has one of the best running gags (every time Roy shows off his championship ring, everyone focuses on the prosthetic hand except at the end, when he’s trying to draw attention to his hand, but the guy notices the ring instead)
Amen
I had no idea Siskel loved it so much (he was my absolute favorite, most influential critic of my life). I have watched them since I was a teen in late 80’s and he taught me so much about film!! They both picked out a lot of talent and were right about so much. They are both a great loss to the film world…
@@erakfishfishfishhe also put Blue Brothers in his top 10 best list of 1980.
Yes! I thought that I was one of the few who really liked Kingpin. Bill Murray's out of control comb over was worth the price of admission alone. 😂👍
I love that Gene gave Kingpin props. I remember seeing it 3 times in the theatre and my stomach hurting from laughing
I love Welcome to the Dollhouse and Paraside Lost. And of course Fargo.
Well My List For Best Movies of 1996 are,
1. 12 Monkeys.
2. Bio-Dome.
3. Dunston Checks in.
4. Eye for an Eye.
5. Lawnmower Man 2 Beyond Cyberspace. Matt Fewer a National Treasure.
6. From Dusk Till Dawn. George Clooney a National Treasure the roles he's been in is memorable.
7. Bed of Roses. Christian Slater a National Treasure the roles he's been in is memorable.
8. Black Sheep.
9. Happy Gilmore.
10. Muppet's From Space. (WWE Superstar Hulk Hogan has a Cameo Appearance in this movie).
11. Mary Reilly.
12. Down Periscope. Kelsey Grammer a National Treasure.
13. Homeward Bound 2 Lost in San Francisco.
14. All Dogs Go To Heaven 2. Animated Movie.
15. James and the Giant Peach.
16. Jane Eyre.
17. Mystery Science Theater 3000 The Movie.
18. The Substitute.
19. The Craft.
20. The Great White Hype.
21. Twister. Helen Hunt a National Treasure the roles she's been in is memorable.
22. Flipper. Paul Hogan a National Treasure.
23. Dragonheart.
24. Eddie.
25. The Phantom. Billy Zane a National Treasure.
26. The Cable Guy. Jim Carey a National Treasure the roles he's been in is memorable.
27. The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Demi Moore, Kevin Kline, Tony Jay, Jason Alexander, The Late Mary Wickes and David Ogden Stiers are National Treasures.
28. The Nutty Professor. Eddie Murphy a National Treasure.
29. Theodore Rex.
30. Independence Day.
31. Harriet The Spy.
32. The Adventures of Pinocchio.
33. Joe's Apartment.
34. Matilda.
35. Alaska.
36. Aladdin and the King of Thieves. Animated Movie.
37. Darkman 3 Die Darkman Die.
38. Carpool.
39. The Island of Dr. Moreau.
40. A Very Brady Sequel.
41. The Crow City of Angels.
42. First Kid.
43. Bogus.
44. Fly Away Home.
45. D 3 The Mighty Ducks.
46. Dear God.
47. Larger Than Life.
48. Romeo + Juliet. Leonardo Dicaprio a National Treasure.
49. Space Jam.
50. Jingle All The Way.
"She may be a woman, she may be pregnant, but she handles it very well."
I like Roger Ebert.... I've read his autobiography; I like him a lot. I like them oth, Siskel for his Philosophy background and Ebert for his way with words, but really? "She may be pregnant, but she handles it well."
I still love both of these guys guys, Francis McDormand does such a great job in this film!
I enjoy the fact that so often the eventual Oscar winner is absent from one or both of their lists. These guys were smart, insightful and entertaining.
that year the "English Patient" won didn`t it??
@@iluvmylovebirdandmybudgiet7729
Yup
The 90’s look like the 80’s now
Breaking the Waves is my number one movie of 1996, and my number 2 of the whole decade (after schindlers list).
Haven't seen it. I worried from their description that it was a 'pretentious film critic choice' type of film but if comments all these years later are recommending it I'll give it a try.
Fargo was the best film of that year.
Bound for me, but Fargo is a close second.
Recently rewatched Bound. Such a good movie.
I like how they wrapped things up on such a convivial note.
It suggests that they really enjoyed each other’s company, at least on the show.
Throughout their career on TV together, they were actually in harmony more often than not, and had much more in common than appearances often suggested. Likely because their disagreements were often so dramatic.
1996 was a GREAT year for movies, the best of the decade.
That's an uncommon opinion!
It's tough to say which year was the greatest *on average*, but I agree with Gene and Roger that 1993 had the highest number of great films and no other year from that decade comes close.
@@flaccidusminimus2170 1999?
I must retort with an emphatic "nuh-uh!" '91, '94, '95, '97 and '99 all had way more to make top 10 lists out of. It was hard to even think of 10 for '96.
I don’t know if you’re right or wrong, but those top 3 films (Secrets & Lies / Breaking the Waves / Fargo) is an incredibly strong Top 3 to contend with.
@@bamabat8435 1991 and 1995 were terrible years, and 1999 has been totally overrated. You actually had trouble making a top ten list in the year of Fargo, Jerry Maguire, The English Patient, Sling Blade, Big Night, Secrets and Lies, Angels and Insects, Breaking the Waves, Hamlet, Looking for Richard, Hard Core Logo, Trees Lounge, Welcome to the Dollhouse, Shine, Lone Star and The People Vs. Larry Flynt?
ALRIGHT, LOOK. MY FAVORITE
"I have seen Fargo four times, I could see it every week. It is a film festival"
Siskel is so right
I'm so glad this is on TH-cam. The music, the adverts, the tone and set design is SO 'upbeat 90's city living.' It's a real mood.
Plus since I was a kid in the 90's I only know about 3-5 of the movies on these lists, the really iconic ones, so I'm being introduced to heaps of new films.
Bet Gene has seen Fargo many times in heaven.
Primal Fear would be high on my list.
"Secrets and Lies" is an incredible film. No. 2 and 3 on their lists. Too bad they didn't talk about it here.
I love that they both chose Fargo b/c as much as I did like The English Patient, Fargo was certainly the best of the year
Lone Star and Fargo are my top 2. I thought 2 Days in the Valley might make their list but it was a good year for movies.
To me, it was Lone Star, Secrets & Lies and Fargo that were the unbeatable films of 1996.
I think Elaine would have disagreed with them on English Patient
"I HATE IT!!"
But would they have agreed with her on Sack Lunch?
@@langdonalger9219 they hated sack lunch lol
Elaine’s an idiot.
I agree with Elaine. Couldn’t stand The English Patient.
Wow Secrets and Lies, Breaking The Waves, and Fargo all made both Siskel and Ebert's top three on their lists which all ended up getting nominations for the female leads and shows how much Brenda Blethyn, Emily Watson, and Frances McDormand all had a deserving chance at winning the Oscar if only it had been handed to them in a three-way tie.
Big Night and Lone Star are big favorites.
Where's Sling Blade???
For real, Sling Blade would be in my top 5 for 1996.
Welcome to the Dollhouse is a very good film
Yup.
I was staying in the guest house of film editor Patsy Buba when he was editing Looking For Richard for Al Pacino. Pat had edited George Romero's films like Knightriders, Creepshow, Day of the Dead and The Dark Half before scoring real big with Casino & Heat. I knew Pat because I grew up in NJ with his younger cousin. The two of us ended up going to college in Pittsburgh (different schools of course) which happens to be where Patsy and his family are from. My love for the city of Pittsburgh started with Dawn of the Dead and it coincided with my love for films when, in Pittsburgh, I got to meet George at a test screening for the film The Dark Half. Then years later, when I found myself staying at Patsy's guest house watching him edited an Al Pacino film, I knew that that's what I wanted to do with the rest my life.
Patsy passed away a few years back. His cousin and I haven't talked it over twenty years and I never made it as a screenwriter.
It's funny. When I was a kid, I had all these hopes and dreams, but today, all I have are...dreams.
What types of stories did you write?
@Dave Davies thanks
@@TheNameisPlissken1981 you failed but its nothing bad ,we get knocked down we get up and plug on / nothing wrong with it
@@batchagaloopytv5816 actually, it's worse then failing. I never really tried.
@@TheNameisPlissken1981 Quitters are Winners
I wish these two were still alive so that they could know how much we still value their older shows. They set the model for Pardon The Interruption and countless other shows with two people arguing about a subject they love.
Glad to see 'Secrets & Lies' by the brilliant Mike Leigh and 'Breaking the Waves' on both of these lists. I'm surprised to see 'Bound' this high for them, but I enjoyed the film a good bit myself. I haven't seen either of the docs here. 'Lone Star' and 'Welcome To the Dollhouse' are exceptional as well.
only movie I ever cried watching
This was a good year.
Yes. Mike Leigh is incredibly talented. I really liked his Another Year too!
I can't believe that these two stuffed shirts completely overlooked movies such as Independence Day, and Twister! These two movies were two of the biggest Blockbusters of 1996!
They were smart enough to know that box-office success has everything to do with business and nothing to do with quality. These are professional film critics, not yahoo fanboys.
Box office doesn't equate quality. I bet you voted for Trump.
Kudos to Roger Ebert for acknowledging Branagh's Hamlet -- a piece of cinema history if there ever was one.
It's up there with Olivier's Richard III as the best cinematic Shakespeare adaptation.
You don't watch The English Patient. You suffer through it.
I love how the 90’s decided to have a theme instrument. Very considerate for future historians.
My top 10 from 1996:
1. Fargo
2. Paradise Lost
3. Shine
4. Breaking the Waves
5. The People vs. Larry Flynt
6. Secrets & Lies
7. Bound
8. Jerry Maguire
9. Sling Blade
10. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
So glad you included Hunchback
Bound was great. I'm due to watch it again. P.S. Fargo is a one word title.
1996 was certainly loaded. That was the year indies really came into their own plus there were tons of crowd-pleasing films from the big studios, such as Independence Day, the first Mission Impossible, Jerry Maguire, The Birdcage, The Rock, etc. That may be the year I saw the most films in the theater.
Yeah!!! These two intellectual stuffed shirts (Almost) completely snubbed those movies, along with Twister! It's pathetic! This is what really made me hate their show, more and more, as the years passed by. I couldn't believe it! Only Gene would bring up "Kingpin," which I personally thought was somewhat dumb in spots, but insanely funny! These two were supposed to be movie critics, not high-falutin' snobs, that overlooked anything and everything that didn't fit into a royal theme!
I disagree about the scene in Fargo. McDermotts character is so good because she's not a super cop she is just an ordinary person who only figures it out after her encounter with an ex boyfriend. It's only after he lies to her that it clicks that the husband lied as well. Of not for that encounter she never would have figured it out. It's brilliant and absolutely nessesary
Fargo was very good. Francis won the Oscar.
It's crazy that it was her first of 3.
19:21 How could you not love these guys?! 😂
Scream, Sling Blade, Citizen Ruth, Fargo, Fear, Freeway, The Birdcage, The Rock & Romeo +Juliet are my personal favorites from this year.
I discovered Freeway late night on HBO. I loved it. It was also one of three movies I saw that week where Brooke Shields died violently. (The other two: King of the Gypsies and Freaked)
Sling Blade was a great movie.
@@branagain Dwight Yoakam's character 'Doyle' cracks me up every time I rewatch it .. John Ridder too. It's such a great movie.
hello fellow cinephiles. fun movie fact... jim belushi as 'arthur ridzik' in 'red heat' asks the newsstand guy for "raisinettes & a sun-times".
I miss these guys!
Elaine disagrees with The English Patient being one of the best movies of the year.
I just saw the 1990 “Best of” clip and by 1996 Roger looks much heavier and a lot more gray while Gene is losing hair quickly. They had a camaraderie that lasted through the years and got more finely tuned. Roger doesn’t look well here though. Lot of good memories watching these great film critics and lovers of the arts.
Roger's peak years for weight were the mid-1980s. He lost a lot on the Pritikin diet around the time of his marriage 1992-93., probably for the satisfaction of his wife, and began to pack it on again beginning in 1994. Given his demanding schedule, by his own admission, he relied too much on fast food and pizza. He went vegetarian beginning in the late 90s/early 2000s, which helped a little but not a lot given his fondness for junk food. The cancer treatments beginning in 2003 are what slimmed him down permanently.
Gene began wearing a light toupée in his late 30s and he certainly is here. Most of his crown hair had thinned away by 1982/83, but years later he somehow had more.
I had to edit the Hamlet clip for copyright reasons. I've no idea why they're picking on that one especially.
Algorithms of TH-cam likely contribute to viewing of film clips that result in flagging for copyright infringement similar to some of the videos that I have been watching here that apparently disappeared.
You got to hand it to Raisinets - Never changed their packaging design in 20+ years. They really said, f** it, we aint changing for sh1t.
Yes, that’s the main thing I took away from this video as well.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
@@langdonalger9219 Is your name a Simpson's reference?
@@Antonio_Ortiz yep
Lol. Good observation.
Ghost in the shell is my favorite of 1996. :)
1995
Sriously, going to check out "Lonestar" this weekend. Please, tell me, anyone, f you've seen it! Is it worth it? I like Chris Cooper. And, I like good dialogue. ... Thank you.
YES! But no one who gives a recommendation can ever guarantee that the other person will like it.
It's a decent movie.
I'm sure you watched it by now, but I thought it was fine. I don't think it's top 10 or very memorable.
Definitely a top 5 movie that year.
Gene proudly proclaimed 1996 to be the Year of the Woman, because it was a time when the rise of female executives made the women seem far more complex and far more interesting than men, who he thought looked duller and duller with each successive action picture of 1996.
Runners-up on Gene's Top 10 list for 1996 were Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet", the BBC's "Cold Comfort Farm", Douglas McGrath's "Emma" and Trevor Nunn's "Twelfth Night". His favorite family movies of 1996 were "James and the Giant Peach", "Fly Away Home" and the original "Space Jam" (the sequel, "Space Jam: A New Legacy", will be out next week). His favorite reissues of 1996 were of "Vertigo" and "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg". His other favorites were "Basquait", "I Shot Andy Warhol", and "Angels & Insects."
(SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, December 22, 1996)
LOL
Sone very good films that year. IMO, both Fargo and Lone Star were better films than The English Patient, which won the Best Picture award
My list:
1. The Funeral (Abel Ferrara)
2a. Flirting With Disaster (David O. Russell)
2b. Schizopolis (Steven Soderbergh)
3. Thieves/Les Voleurs (André Techiné)
4. Fargo
5. Escape From LA (John Carpenter)
6. Kansas City (Robert Altman)
7. For Ever Mozart (Jean Luc Godard)
8. Mars Attacks! (Tim Burton)
9. Secrets & Lies
10. Microcosms (Claude Nuridsanny & Marie Pérennou)
11. Jingle All the Way (Brian LeVant)
HMs:
The Cable Guy (Ben Stiller), Daylight (Rob Cohen), Get on the Bus (Spike Lee), Happy Gilmore (Dennis Dugan), Kingpin, Last Man Standing (Walter Hill), Looking for Richard, Nenette + Boni (Claire Denis), The Quest (Jean Claude Van Damme), Sling Blade (Billy Bob Thornton), Space Jam (Joe Pytka), A Summer Tale (Éric Rohmer) Szamanka (Andrzej Zulawski), Welcome to the Dollhouse
It's the "best" movies of '96, not "how many movies you can name" of '96.😝
I’m gonna assume you haven’t seen Breaking the Waves since it didn’t even get HM’ed 😅
lol escape from LA
Escape from LA and Jingle All the Way both blow goats.
@@Brynbraughton Seriously,.That movie was soo Badd~
Big Night was an absolute gem and the final scene in the kitchen, which was entirely in silence, is a master class in behavioral acting. Oh, and The English Patient was an continues to be hot garbage. Has anyone who saw it once ever bothered to see it again?
Yes. I've seen it twice and will probably see it again someday.
@@gheller2261 I think it holds up well as a sprawling, novelistic love story and David Lean-lite panorama of gorgeous deserts. The slow reveal through a series of flashbacks is deliriously intoxicating. Certainly my tempo.
I don't experience "boredom" with movies unless I'm dealing with the likes of Chantal Akerman or that Apichtapong guy from Thailand.
I loved both both movies.
@@flaccidusminimus2170 I typically like quiet films that take time to tell the story. I tend not to want to be simplistic, but my primary reaction to The English Patient was "boooorrrriiiinnnnngggg." My wife has a great way to describe how she judges a film or a play, whether it was "two eyes open" or not. For me, it was decidedly the latter. There was a reason for the classic Seinfeld episode and when I first saw it, it confirmed that I was not the only one. I have asked and I do not know a single person who has seen it again after seeing it in the theater. To each his own, I guess.
I too tried watching the English Patient when it came on TV a couple of years after its release, but I fell asleep during the movie. Having watched a few opening scenes and having listened to a few others while half asleep my distinct impression of the movie is that it was basically Ralph Fiennes sitting deformed in bed engaging in pretentious soliloquies.
I do remember watching Big Night on New Years day 2001 or 2002. I did not know that this movie existed, I just discovered it at random while channel surfing. It was a revelation! Great movie! A rumination on the dilemmas we face when we have to choose between something that's popular and will make us successful and what we know it's good and at best will leave us poor.
Years later, I ran into Stanley Tucci in a NY restaurant. I wanted to tell him how much I loved this little known movie, but I thought it would be wise to let him eat his dinner with his friends.
Already by this time my tastes were totally different then these guys, best of them were the late 80s. I enjoyed 12 monkey, First Wives Club, The Craft, Scream, Truth abt Cats and Dogs, one fine day 🎉I think by this time they needed a younger voice and a woman’s voice 💎
I sometimes wonder what it would have been like watching this program in the 2000s if Gene hadn't died. Two crotchety greyhaired geezers trying to pass as the critical vanguard and chief arbiters of good taste on the movie beat in America. How long would that have lasted? Richard Roeper didn't have much intellectual heft and was a tad impish, but having a late boomer as opposed to an early one certainly made a difference (in ways both intriguing and bad).
The fact that Trainspotting, which was part of a whole culture movement unlike any of these movies is not even mentioned 💀
96 was a weird year where the awful Independence Day and Twister beat out everybody else box office wise.
Independence Day is awesome. It’s stupid beyond measure, but still awesome.
@@erakfishfishfish WAIT. WHAT ABOUT THE 1996 BLOCKBUSTER FILM "E R A S E R" WITH ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER FOR WARNER BROS. HUH? 🤨
1. Fargo
2. Crash
3. Lone Star
4. Last Man Standing
5. I Shot Andy Warhol
6. Romeo and Juliet
7. The English Patient
8. Star Trek: First Contact
9. Sling Blade
10.Everyone Says I Love You
Its amazing to me how VHS while convenient, destroyed the quality of an entire generation of videos/programs.
Yes but this wouldn't even be watchable otherwise.
@@joeski734 Stuff pre-vhs is very clear. Just watch some adams family or Beverly hillbillies. If it says at the beginning "X was TAPED in front of a live audience"... its gonna look like crap.
They were 100% right about Fargo. The english patient was bor...ing. Breaking the waves made one of their lists. Lars von Trier is officially a messed up dude. Dancer in the Dark with Bjork was a great film. But since then he's jumped off the deep end.
Breaking the Waves was on both their lists.
Hamlet was excellent.
Ooo, Static Guard!! Haha
I was hoping to see the Japanese movie Shall We Dance which swept the Japanese Academy Awards on the list. To me it is easily one of the most entertaining and flat out funny movies in many years. The characters are unforgettable. The movie was remade in 2004 as an American film but the copy utterly pales in comparison to the original.
Released in the U.S. July 1997. You couldn't have seen it in 1996 unless you lived in Japan.
8:20 i agree with Siskel. "Everyone Says I Love You" in no way was Woody Allen's best film as Ebert tried to argue. Annie Hall, Manhattan, and especially Hannah and Her Sisters(1986) were so much better.
Shine?
5 Secrets and Lies
4 Paradise Lost
3 Sling Blade
2 Lone Star
1 Fargo
Honorable Mentions People vs Larry Flynt and Bound
Primal Fear was a damn good film
The scene in the restaurant has a purpose: when she finds out that he was lying to her about everything, that's what makes her question whether Jerry was telling the truth or not, as she was reminded of her instinct during their first meeting - and that's why she goes back to question him again. The scene isn't coming out of left field at all: from the first time we meet Marge, we're given scenes of her home life, pregnancy, and how her personal life and her work are intermingled in that town; so the old High School friend who shows up and turns out to have lied is just another part of her personal life that motivates her work. It helps her break the case.
I think it's both. The scene does strike most first-time viewers as random and misplaced, but Gene was praising its oddness. Every scene that looks and feels tangential in "Fargo" has a narrative purpose, including the poetic scene of the man shoveling snow in his driveway (my favorite).
Welcome to the Dollhouse is an absolutely gut-wrenching movie. Fantastic movie but not a feel good movie at all.
I feel the same way Elaine feels about The English Patient.
No Bottle Rocket! What a shame.
Speaking of dollhouse, its horrifying to consider how many confused teens lack good guidance these days and are given the keys to the castle (their own psyches and future) and are going to trash the place.
In '96 I was 12 and it was the first year I really started paying attention to movies and started on my road to becoming an afficianado. That said, my list for '96, in no particular order, would have to include: Fargo, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Trainspotting, Primal Fear, Lone Star, Sling Blade and Swingers. And I guess you could throw Sleepers, Jerry Maguire and A Time to Kill on there too, just to make it 10. Even numbered years must just suck because '95 and '97 were awesome.
Correction: I forgot that '94 was awesome too.
2nd correction: I forgot about Hard Eight and The Cable Guy from '96. Also, ID4, Scream, The Craft, The Rock, Mission: Impossible, Romeo+Juliet and The Nutty Professor were culturally significant, if not... ya know... good.
I still love The English Patient. I think it’s the best film of the 1990s. I know I’m in the minority on this. Even though it won Oscars, I don’t think it gets the recognition it deserves.
My best list:
1. English Patient
2. Sling Blade
3. Hamlet
4. Fargo
5. Trainspotting
6. Breaking the Waves
7. Courage Under Fire
8. Kolya
9. Mars Attacks
10. Independence Day (I’m almost ashamed for including this)
I recall liking it a great deal, but it's been over a decade since I last saw it. Much like "Shakespeare In Love", I think the major awards it received have inspired an undue and immature contrarian backlash that has distorted the consensus opinion and public perception of it since its release.
I like the Seinfeld episode where Elaine hates the movie The English Patient as everyone else is gushing about it ... She sees it with her boss who's completely moved by it while he cries.. "The Passion!" .. freakin hilarious.
its just trashy
What the hell are 'Raisenettes'?
I've never seen them sold in Canada. Maybe they're American only?
Raisenettes are what I call 'nasty candies'. Yucky!
Scream is terribly under appreciated both for this particular year and in general. One of the most well-written movies ever made.
liked it but the ending really overbearing....
I agree, I loved both of these guys growing up, but I think they really missed the mark on horror and comedies. I did ignore them with those two genres.
My Favorite and Best Flim of the Year 1996 in my opinion was
1. Harriet The Spy
2. Daylight
3. Mission Impossible
4. Beavis and Butthead Do America
5. Independent Day
6. Space Jam
Correction: The Cohens lied about the movie being based on a true story. Great movie nonetheless.
More of a practical joke on their part, but it seems plausible every time I see it.
Fargo was the best film of the year and I still love it, it turned me into a huge Coen Brothers fan. It’s rare to get a quality film where rural North Dakota (my home state) was used as the setting. It’s should’ve won the Best Picture in 1997. Lone Star was the other great noir film of that year and it’s sadly fallen into obscurity but John Sayles has never really been a big name unless one really loves indie cinema.
Bound is the really the only Wachowski Sibling film I like and considering the path their lives took, I can see why they made such a daring film (at least for the time). It’s an incredible piece of puzzle artistry that demands multiple viewings.
Kingpin wasn’t ever memorable for me. It’s flat compared to Dumb and Dumber and There’s Something About Mary.
Welcome To The Dollhouse is too cruel to watch. I haven’t touched another Todd Solondz film since I first saw it in 1999.
I want to see Looking For Richard and Secret & Lies.
Other favorites from that year were Scream, Primal Fear, Sleepers, Trees Lounge and Hard Eight.
Top Ten of 1996:
1. Fargo
2. Bottle Rocket
3. The Cable Guy
4. Breaking the Waves
5. Trainspotting
6. Waiting For Guffman
7. Basquait
8. Big Night
9. Kingpin
10. Hard Eight
Waiting for Guffman is def. a Top 10 film of ‘96!
Good list. I also think highly of The Cable Guy. That film turned me around on Jim Carrey. And then Man in the Moon solidified my appreciation of his talent.
15:15 ouch
My Top Ten Movies of 1996 is,
10. 12 Monkeys.
9. Bio-Dome.
8. Dunston checks in.
7. Eye for an Eye.
6. Lawnmower man 2 beyond cyberspace.
5. Happy Gilmore.
4. Muppet Treasure Island.
3. Mary Rielly.
2. Down Periscope.
1. Homeward Bound 2 lost in San Franscisco.
You forgot Mad Dog Time and Jingle All the Way.
3:14
A movie about a secret lesbian couple, who met by chance, who have to hide their relationship from then men in their lives, written and directed by two, at the time, closeted trans women? If any movie was more on the nose, in the 90s, I have not seen it.
I stopped going to the movies not long after Siskel died.
Maybe the timing was coincidental, but I just wasn’t interested in what was being offered.
And smartphones in theaters really put the nail in the coffin as far as I’m concerned.
Mostly "art films," indie movies, and festival winners in the top films of 1996 - branded by American film critics and the industry as the "year of independent filmmaking" (which is contradictory to the reality that independent films have been making waves since the early years of World cinema)...
Voici mes meilleurs films de 1996:
1. Vertigo (re-release), Alfred Hitchcock
2. Breaking the Waves, Lars von Trier
3. Fargo, Joel Coen
4. Secrets and Lies, Mike Leigh
5. Jerry Maguire, Cameron Crowe
6. The People vs. Larry Flynt, Milos Forman
7. Ponette, Jacques Douillon
8. James and the Giant Peach, Henry Selick
9. A Self-made Hero, Jacques Audiard
10. Love Serenade, Shirley Barrett
I take your point, but 1996 was a particularly bad year for big studio films (at least most people would say so, qualitatively speaking). And without doing any hard number crunching, it certainly appears as though there were far more independent, small studio releases on the market in '96 than in years past.
@@flaccidusminimus2170 I concur. Low-budget and independently produced American movies were among the best of 1996.
The mid 90s were a rebuke for the previous decade of big Hollywood bulldozers rolling over world cinema. Following Star Wars and other big studio successes, the 80s were the golden days of blockbusters, and by mid 90s people realized the value of independent cinema and started to appreciate it more. It's too bad the trend reversed in the late 90s.
@@zxbc1 It was mostly the critics who "started to appreciate it more". Independent and foreign films received more distribution beginning in the mid-90s, but the market was still dominated by blockbusters. Look at the top 50 highest grossers of 1996. "Shine" and "The English Patient" are the only off-Hollywood productions in there. This was the year that "Independence Day", "Twister", and "Mission: Impossible" set box-office records and dominated popular discourse. Hardly a year that demonstrated a public rebuke of blockbusters, quite the contrary. It's just that the big hits were, in general, unusually bad.
Big Night was a great movie, but I never got the Fargo hype.
Bound should have been called "Feisty Heisty."
that film makes a lot more sense know that... y'know.
@@jdbankshot Since the brothers decided to jump aboard the crazy train and call themselves women?
@@Spiqaro gee, how'd you guess? couple years ago, my buddy comes up to me & says, "hey, you know andy & larry wachowski, right?" i say, "not personally, but yeah"... he says,"well, now they're lily & lana wachowski"..... i say, "what, they got arrested & raped in jail!!!" he says, "no, both had a sex change". i'm still puking.
Bummer that Woody is canceled because Everyone Says I Love You has some good moments.
No I'm pretty sure most of his movies up to and including "Match Point" are still widely seen and admired. A few after that as well. "Cancel culture" is the outsized influence of a fringe minority who exploit the insecurities of their peers and friends. We can get along just fine by ignoring those voices and appreciating art on our own terms. Most people do.
Who gives a shit if he's "canceled"?
Woody should NEVER have been canceled. What a crock!! He's only guilty of falling in love. And their marriage has lasted for over twenty years. Mia Farrow is nuts! Oh, and Woody just happens to be one our greatest American filmmakers. He'll never be 'canceled' in my book!
@@waynej2608 I mostly agree...but where does this notion come from that he has been "cancelled" in the first place? I'm really not seeing that.
@flaccidusminimus2170 Well, that's encouraging, actually. Just some malicious, ill conceived gossip about Woody's private life. Mainly fanned by his vindictive ex, Mia Farrow. It was a 'me too' thing and word when out about him being 'canceled'. It's all bullshit. Woody rocks!
The English Patient but not Sack Lunch? Pffffft.
1996 the year Hollywood really began to increase dark perverse humor and situations in film
I found Welcome To The Dollhouse uncomfortable for all the wrong reasons. I've never been a big Solondz fan.
I love his work, but have been hard-pressed to find someone else who has! Definitely a hard filmmaker to enjoy
Trainspotting not being here is madness. Maybe Americans just don't know of it mind, I'm sure it's about to find an audience over there though when Criterion release it next year & its reputation beyond how revered it is just in the UK will grow. Only Fargo was a better film from 1996 than Trainspotting imo.
Trainspotting is fucking SUBLIME ✨️
My Top Ten Favorite Movies of 1996 (and the Movie Companies) is,
10. Bio-Dome. (Metro-Goldwyn-Meyers).
9. Dunston Checks In. (20th Century Fox).
8. Eye for an Eye. (Paramount Pictures).
9. Lawnmower Man 2 Beyond Cyberspace. (New Line Cinema).
8. From Dusk Till Dawn. (Dimension Films).
7. Bed of Roses. (New Line Cinema).
6. Black Sheep. (Paramount Pictures).
5. The Juror. (Columbia Pictures).
4. Happy Gilmore. (Universal Pictures).
3. Muppet Treasure Island. (Walt Disney Pictures/The Jim Henson Company).
2. Mary Reilly. (TriStar Pictures).
1. Down Periscope. (20th Century Fox).
Here's My Honorable Mentions.
1. The Birdcage. (United Artists).
2. Homeward Bound 2 Lost in San Francisco. (Walt Disney Pictures).
3. All Dogs Go To Heaven 2. (Metro-Goldwyn-Meyers). Animated Movie.
4. Sgt. Bilko. (Universal Pictures/Imagine Pictures).
5. James and the Giant Peach. (Walt Disney Pictures/Allied Filmmakers).
6. Jane Eyre. (Miramax Films).
7. Mystery Science Theater 3000 the Movie. (Gramercy Pictures/Universal Pictures).
8. The Craft. (Columbia Pictures).
9. The Great White Hype. (20th Century Fox).
10. Twister. (Warner Bros Pictures/Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment).
11. Flipper. (Universal Pictures/The Bubble Factory).
12. Spy Hard. (Hollywood Pictures).
13. Dragonheart. (Universal Pictures).
14. The Phantom. (Paramount Pictures/The Ladd Company).
15. The Cable Guy. (Columbia Pictures).
16. The Hunchback of Notre Dame. (Walt Disney Pictures). Animated Movie.
17. The Nutty Professor. (Universal Pictures/Imagine Entertainment).
18. Theodore Rex. (New Line Cinema).
19. Independence Day. (20th Century Fox/Centropolis Entertainment).
20. The Adventures of Pinocchio. (New Line Cinema/Savoy Pictures/The Kushner-Locke Company).
21. Kingpin. (Metro-Goldwyn-Meyers/Rysher Entertainment).
22. Matilda. (TriStar Pictures/Jersey Films).
23. Jack. (Hollywood Pictures/American Zoetrope).
24. Aladdin and the King of Thieves. (Walt Disney Home Video). Animated Movie.
25. Alaska. (Columbia Pictures/Castle Rock Entertainment).
26. House Arrest. (Metro-Goldwyn-Meyers/Rysher Entertainment).
27. Tales from the Crypy presents Bordello of Blood. (Universal Pictures).
28. Tin Cup. (Warner Bros Pictures/Regency Enterprises).
29. Darkman 3 Die Darkman Die. (MCA Universal Home Entertainment/Renaissance Pictures).
30. Carpool. (Warner Bros Pictures/Regency Enterprises).
31. The Island of Dr. Moreau. (New Line Cinema).
32. A Very Brady Sequel. (Paramount Pictures/The Ladd Company).
33. The Crow City of Angels. (Miramax Pictures/Dimension Films).
34. First Kid. (Walt Disney Pictures/Caravan Pictures).
35. Bogus. (Warner Bros Pictures/Regency Enterprises).
36. Fly Away Home. (Columbia Pictures).
37. D3 the Mighty Ducks. (Walt Disney Pictures).
38. The Ghost and The Darkness. (Paramount Pictures/Constellation Films).
39. Thinner. (Paramount Pictures/Spelling Films).
40. Dear God. (Paramount Pictures/Rysher Entertainment).
41. Larger Than Life. (United Artists).
42. Romeo + Juliet. (20th Century Fox).
43. Space Jam. (Warner Bros Pictures).
44. Jingle All The Way. (20th Century Fox/Fox 2000 Pictures/1492 Pictures).
45. 101 Dalmatians. (Walt Disney Pictures/Great Oaks Entertainment).
46. Daylight. (Universal Pictures).
47. Mars Attacks!. (Warner Bros Pictures).
48. The Preacher's Wife. (Touchstone Pictures/The Samuel Goldwyn Company).
49. One Fine Day. (20th Century Fox/Fox 2000 Pictures).
50. Evita. (Hollywood Pictures/Cinergi Pictures).
51. The People vs Larry Flynt. (Columbia Pictures/Phoenix Pictures).
Well, those certainly are lists. Nobody can take that away from you. Beyond that... ehh.
honestly, aside from fargo, i didn;t care for much of 1996 films. I'm sure some of the trash ones i liked, but these good films...i just didn't care for.
You have gotto see the airplane
Not the best year for films I think.
I hated Fargo with a passion.
Why? Lol
Not hate for me but I was always indifferent towards it and I've watched it like 3 times over the years. It's just meh.
they forgot phenomenon
That received mixed reviews, wasn't enthusiastically embraced by many, and made few end of year lists. These two only gave it a mild recommendation.
ahhh when the wachowskis were still brothers
I detested Fargo. I walked out 30 minutes in
Your an idot