’90s
Noah’s Barks pages covering things relating to the years 1990 to 1999, i.e. the ’90s.
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Fallen Angels
Fallen Angels is better than Chungking Express. More effort is put into having the disparate stories connect to each other both literally and thematically. As a wandering city romantic I wanted to like this more than I did, but Wong Kar-Wai’s excessively quirky characters drag down the genuine emotion in the narrative and make the… (read more)
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Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible is so bloody solid! But so damn impersonal, which is my typical response to older action films. I love Brian De Palma‘s excessive bombast, but it’s not excessive here. The scale of each scene is appropriate though obviously the plot is dramatically contrived. Tom Cruise’s lack of characterization is a blessing since he… (read more)
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Following
It’s incredibly endearing that Following is exactly like what you’d expect a debut budget film from Christopher Nolan to be like. That’s regarding both what’s praiseworthy and budgetary restraints. Nolan’s lean plotting centered around lead characters is all here, but without the grand ideas and execution of his later movies. There’s still a lot of… (read more)
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Sleepy Hollow
It’s difficult to imagine any other popular director of the time who could command such a budget for an old tale and do it better than Tim Burton. Sleepy Hollow doesn’t fully transfer the power of the original story, but the soul is there. Johnny Depp’s timid and conflicting character holds the narrative together as… (read more)
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Scream
Wes Craven’s 1996 seminal satirical slasher stunningly surpasses swathes of shallow, shlocky ‘Scream’ siblings. (read more)
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Pet Shop of Horrors
This mini-series adapts part of the ‘Pet Shop of Horrors’ manga, and does a fine job of establishing atmosphere, but some horror and narrative elements lack teeth. (read more)
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On Your Mark
On Your Mark is an evocative music video with fantastical animation by Studio Ghibli that’s enough to make you wish this was one of their theatrical stories. (read more)
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Twilight of the Dark Master
Desperately seeking something as compelling as Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, I watched Twilight of the Dark Master, an OVA so forgettable that I had to pad out this blurb with anything else. (read more)
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Geeks’ Video
Studio Gainax’s ‘Geeks’ Video,’ AKA ‘Otaku no Video’ is a self-deprecating mockumentary, and a humorous "exposé" on Japanese subcultures. (read more)
