The MoFos Top 100 of the 90s Countdown - Redux

That's how a friend got me to see that film. Needless to say but, while I agreed it was Point Break with Cars, in no way was it Point Break with cars. Never seen any of the others.

I love seeing mentions like this because it reminds me how it's always relevant. Orwell was writing about his time. His day. 1984 is just a reversal of the year he wrote it because he was writing as he saw the world there and then and just expanded on it. Which is what a lot of sci fi is anyway, isn't it?

It also reminds me that 'golden ages/time' are someone elses crap time and 'things had already gone wrong by then' in their opinion. A Christmas Carol is another example held up of a bygone age when it was 'the real Christmas' but, again, Dickens was writing about the Christmas' he remembered as a child and not the 'commercialised' version he saw about him in 1840's Victorian England.

They've done studies into this and the thing to remember is that it seems that about 50 years ago things were 'perfect' and that's replicated in writing going back to the 1700's at least. Be it in 'literature' or personal diaries. In Western countries, anyway. My hypothesis? It's because you were young then and being young is better than being old. You know less, you've experienced less and you don't ache as much.

Is Against All Odds supposed to be good? I remember it being thought of that way when it came out.

I had The Remains Of The Day at #16. It's just a gloriously sumptuous looking film and, as a buttoned up Englishman, I feel like I've known a few Stevens (although maybe not quite to that extreme) and can relate to and understand all the class system politics and nuance. Although never in service, as a young boy my eldest family members were of that generation and had that reverence and deference for people due to their station, not for who they were. On a human level, it's a heartbreaking yet frustrating film and, if you're going to have narrative art films, this is top tier stuff. This is the performance Hopkins should've won the Oscar for.

I've not seen A Moment Of Silence or Close Up (though I think I might have it?) and Election is something I saw when it came out and liked, but it didn't really click with me (which surprised my friends at the time) and I've never returned to.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

I like Election, I've seen it a few times, but as far as caricature dark comedy goes I think Reese Witherspoon did a more ballsy job in Freeway (1996).
Still, I'd put it above the similar Drop Dead Gorgeous which was also fun but maybe not quite as smart.

Re: Point Break with Cars, I'm not a car person and I really didn't like the original The Fast and the Furious, but I will admit that Fast Five was a really strong, action film, and I also had fun with the next couple of films in the series.

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HK has never spoken truer words. I don’t really do social media anymore, but at the dawn of it I wanted to call everyone from my generation out for being liars or having selective memory at the very least. I lived in the same neighborhood as these people. Their experience couldn’t have been that different than mine. The good old days is a myth and a lie.

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Letterboxd

“Except for markf, you’re all a disgrace to cinema.”

Some catch-up for me...

The Blair Witch Project - Like many here at MoFo, I went to this in 1999 with a group of friends. It was a bunch of ravers, and a couple of the girls were not horror fans at all. My GF and I both ended up liking it quite a bit, but the two other bouncy/cutsie chicks were both sort of traumatized afterwards. One of them came out of the theater in a fair amount of distress and had to sit down for a while and collect herself. She swore off seeing any more horror films in the future at that point. I think the film still holds up pretty well these days, but is a far cry from a classic, IMO. That said, i tend to be someone who actually enjoyed the sequel from 2016, especially the third act, which I find to be genuinely unsettling even on additional viewings. Was not on my ballot.

Beauty and the Beast - Have seen this many, many times over the past few years, and my daughter just adores this. Excellent story and animation and really strong music. Didn't make my ballot, though.

I have neither seen or heard of either A Moment of Innocence or The Remains of the Day.

I have seen Election once, and I recall really liking it. With all the accolades here, I want to watch it again. Didn't even consider it for my ballot.

Never heard of Close-up.

Still just Three Colors: Red from my ballot so far...

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Election was my Number One.
Thank you to everyone else who voted for it. More so when I read that it's never made it into any lists on this forum. Kinda shocking that.

As I said it in the Group watch thread, it's my favourite Payne movie & one of my favourite satires. Kind of a typical Payne flick if you think about it.
@Holden Pike put it better than everyone else when he said, '... the characters are unlikeable. Deliciously by design'.

I am really glad they didn't go with the alternate ending, which was actually the original ending.

Of the other movies, I am glad to see Total Recall, Lost Highway & Before Sunrise making the list. All of them were my late cuts.

Seen both can’t recall how I felt about Election, since it’s been since it’s first release on dvd. That was about 25 years ago or so.

Saw Close Up and didn’t think too much of it.

Freeway is certainly a more intentionally outrageous flick amped at a much higher level of satire, and a good movie, but nowhere near the same class of Election. Not in my book, anyway.

Election's characters are all unlikable, for sure. Very deliciously by design. But if you watch a movie like Election to see who wins the Carver High School student body presidency, I dare say you have completely missed the point. This isn't The Mighty Ducks or Legally Blonde. In the wise words of third-party candidate Tammy Metzler, "Who cares about this stupid election?" Election is a satire that uses human weaknesses and hypocrisies for its fodder, and it doesn't let anybody off the hook. I think it does so very effectively and with some terrific dark humor, which is director Alexander Payne's specialty: deeply flawed protagonists in uncomfortable situations, either due to or made worse by their own decisions or lies, rarely with any real triumphs. But what wonderful characters, and how delightful watching their struggles and failures.

Election did not place on my MoFo ballot, but it is easily one of my Top Hundred of the decade and a worthy, overdue inclusion. By its plot description alone it may seem in line with Clueless (1995), but it is much more like To Die For (1995) or Welcome to the Dollhouse (1996).

Payne has a very strong filmography, and even though Election was only his second feature it remains right up there among his best work (Sideways, Nebraska, The Holdovers). This is only Payne's third title to appear on an official MoFo list. Sideways was #60 on the MoFo Top 100 of the Millennium then moved up to #39 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 2000s while The Descendants snuck onto the bottom on the MoFo Top 100 of the 2010s at #98.

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

I liked the ending we got, but like I said, I really liked what that alternate ending brought to the table. Curious why you didn't like it?

I don't like Election's unused ending, either. The ending Payne gives us is perfect. The one from the novel lets the characters off the hook a bit, and that ain't the direction they would go. In the unused ending McAllister sees Tracy's modest upbringing and fears, humanizing her and likely further regretting his actions towards her. For her part, she trusts him as a responsible adult at face value, showing a level of naiveté and innocence we had not seen before. That's all hogwash and undercuts the petty decisions they let rule them. People don't change that dramatically that quickly. Especially not when they think they are in the right and free of blame, as both felt completely justified in their actions around the election. In the "real" ending, McAllister continues to be a bitter, delusional schmuck, and Flick is still on her upward trajectory likely making the exact same sorts of mistakes, failing upward until one of these days way down the line when she's not pretty enough to get away with such behavior. Apt and poetic fates for both. And still darkly funny.

Election's another one I never knew existed!

Havent seen either, neither made my list.

Due to its poster and popularity among the masses, I've ignored any info about Election for many years, thinking it is some usual crappy teen movie. At the same time, Alexander Payne became one of the most loved cinema figures for me of the last generation filmmakers. That's meaning that I've seen hundreds of times About Schmidt, Sideways and Nebraska, finding all these titles as absolute masterpieces of the new century. So, during the high excitement about the recent Payne's success with The Holdovers, I opened his catalog to see is there something I've missed. And yes, I couldn't believe seeing Election there. Then, I proceeded it with caution to find out that it is quite a good serious film. There wasn't place in my ballot for it but will be in my top 70-90 of the 90's for sure.

Long Live Alexander Payne!

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"Population don't imitate art, population imitate bad television." W.A.
"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." M.T.

I've seen and liked both Election and Close Up, but neither made my ballot.

Seen: 28/28

Oh, I don't know. Everyone can decide for themselves what they're getting out of it.
To quote David Bowie:
All art is unstable. Its meaning is not necessarily that implied by the author. There is no authoritative voice. There are only multiple readings.

Ditto.

Thanks for this insight. Given what you say about your background, I can understand why Election wouldn't click for you. As a buttoned-down American, I wonder if it didn't seem less of a dark comedy or satire than a mockumentary of American school "culture."

1993 was a bit of a mess. I agree ... Hanks was good in Philadelphia, but just good. Hopkins was sublime. The other snub I've never gotten over was Tommy Lee Jones over Ralph Fiennes (didn't he go by Rafe back then?) for supporting actor. Jones? Yeah, good, in a mannered sort of way that the script made possible. Fiennes was chilling in Schindler in a way that went well beyond the mere scripting of his lines.

Wondering where we'll see these turn up later ....

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Scarecrow: I haven't got a brain ... only straw. Dorothy: How can you talk if you haven't got a brain? Scarecrow: I don't know. But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't they? Dorothy: Yes, I guess you're right.

Every time I hear that for every piece of art there is a unique interpretation (which I agree with), I recall this poem from Stephen Crane:

Once there was a man -
Oh, so wise!
In all drink
He detected the bitter,
And in all touch
He found the sting.
At last he cried thus:
'There is nothing -
No life,
No joy,
No pain -
There is nothing save opinion,
And opinion be damned.'

Good point.
These high school politics and cheerleader culture are alien to me, and even if Election had been a straightforward drama it would still look like "much ado about nothing".
I guess that's why I find it so fascinating to watch.

Another two movies from my watchlist!

”…but MM, it seems like you have every movie ever made on your damn watchlist!?”… ah yes, it is indeed way too long and way too overwhelming at this point haha

Anyway! Election is a Payne I haven’t seen and a popular one at that. I’ve seen quite a few of his films and i enjoy them very much. I like his style.

Close-up is by Abbas of which I’ve only seen Certified Copy - a movie I very much enjoyed. So yeah, I’ve been meaning to check out more from him ever since.