[<<] 1996 [>>]
Related: 1990s
Music: Lil Kim - Body and Soul - Roy Davis Jr
Non-fiction: Grindhouse: The Forbidden World of "Adults Only" Cinema (1996)
Films: Irma Vep (1996) - The Cable Guy (1996) - Ridicule (1996)
Deaths: Robert Benayoun - Donald Cammell - Marcello Mastroianni - Marguerite Duras
Key work of art: The Holy Virgin Mary (1996) - Chris Ofili
Infinite Jest: A Novel (1996) - David Foster Wallace [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
In a sprawling, wild, super-hyped magnum opus, David Foster Wallace fulfills the promise of his precocious novel The Broom of the System. Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, Infinite Jest bends every rule of fiction, features a huge cast and multilevel narrative, and questions essential elements of American culture - our entertainments, our addictions, our relationships, our pleasures, our abilities to define ourselves. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. --Amazon.com
A Brief History of Everything (1996) - Ken Wilber [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK] [...]
This account of men and women's place in a universe of sex and gender, self and society, spirit and soul is written in question-and-answer format, making it both readable and accessible. Wilber offers a series of original views on many topics of current controversy, including the gender wars, multiculturalism, modern liberation movements, and the conflict between various approaches to spirituality. - amazon.com editorial
House singles
- 'Fired Up' by Funky Green Dogs
- 'Rollers' by Vicious Muzik (Loleatta Holloway sample)
- Nuyorican Soul - Sweet Tears
- Mateo & Matos - New York Style
- Norma Jean Bell - I'm The Baddest Bitch
- Norma Jean Bell - I Like The Things You Do For Me (KDJ)
- Joe Claussell/Kerri Chandler - Escravos De Jo
- Jepthé Guillaume - The Prayer
- Francois Kevorkian - FK-EP
- Roy Davis Jr - Gabrielle
- Todd Terry - Jumpin'
- Michael Procter - Love Don't Live
- Abstract Truth - Get Another Plan
- Glenn Underground - The Strictly Jazz Unit Project
- Roy Davis Jr - Alive On The Set
- The Heartists - Belo Horizonti
- Black Magic - Freedom (Make It Funky)
- Yellow Sox - Flim Flam
- Bah Samba - Carnival
- Etienne de Crecy - Prix Choc (‘sensemilla...marijuana’)
CDs
- Endtroducing... (1996) DJ Shadow [Amazon US]
DJ Shadow, a.k.a. Josh Davis, could be credited with bringing newfound introspection to the gloating sounds of hip-hop. Condensed with urban oscillations and scatological beats, Endtroducing shutters with eclectic samples and aural montages that reach beyond the constraints of hip-hop style. Enhancing the mix with fundamentals of rock, soul, funk, ambient, and jazz, the modern fusions fail to go unnoticed, even by the casual listener. While most of the tracks are compiled by layering samples from vinyl treasures found in used-record bins, the production quality of the mosaic is unmatched. Darkened melodies carry throughout the album with its eye on the end of the tunnel. The narration samples come from numerous sources and keep the listener involved and waiting for resolution. With a message as fragmentary as an overheard conversation, Endtroducing conveys no apparent conclusion, but begs the mind, body, and soul for some rewind. --Lucas Hilbert for Amazon.com - Millions Now Living Will Never Die - Tortoise [1 CD, Amazon US]
Tortoise's sophomore release, Millions Now Living Will Never Die shows off an unlikely blossoming of talent. The Chicago instrumental band makes clear with Millions what their eponymous debut brushed in broad strokes: this is the musical legacy of the ties between experimental art music and postpunk. The sonic environments are entirely woven from percussion, basses, and occasional keyboards--all of it thrown through the blender of electronic sampling and manipulation at various points. Hypnotic, some would say, and an attempt at mirroring Steve Reich or even Can, others would note. But Tortoise demonstrate their singular vision, one that would spawn many more all-instrumental alt-rock visions. Dub bass hints, keyboard darts and dashes, strange flashes of heartbeat rhythms--it all comes together on Millions in a manner that's hard to forget and easy to dive through. --Andrew Bartlett - In Memoriam Gilles Deleuze - Various Artists[2 CD, Amazon US]
Deleuze died in 1995, this CD was released in 1996, as an hommage to Gilles. An excellent CD that showcases a lot of the top electronic artists. Even this is in no way an easy piece of art to listen to, it sure pays back all the effort and the concentration it requires from the listener. The general mood is very dark and the drones play a big part in it, so stay away if minimalist electronics are not your cup of tea, otherwise enjoy.
1. Gilles Deleuze - Gilles Deleuze 2. Happy Deterritorializations - Wehowsky/Wollscheid 3. On the Edge of a Grain of Sand 4. Bon Voyage - Alec Empire 5. Gigantic Tautological Machinery - Cristian Vogel 6. Indirection/Comtinuum - Christophe Charles 7. Abstract Miniatures in Memoriam Gilles Deleuze - Atom Heart 8. Heller - Gas 9. Intro-Spektiv - Chris & Cosey 10. Wunschmaschinenpark 11. Death Is the Begining - Steel 12. Can't Be Still 13. Starjammer - Trans Am 14. Intermodal - Rome Disc: 2 1. As In - Jim O'Rourke 2. You Are Here 0.9 B - Oval 3. 1001 - Mouse on Mars 4. Vital One - Ian Pooley 5. Pâtent 6. Qeria for Gilles Deleuze - Tobias Hazan 7. Without End - Scanner 8. Invisual Ocean - DJ Spooky 9. Gradation d'Humor 10. Traobeik 11. And Line - Kerosene 12. Garator - El Turco Loco 13. Layered Layers ]...] - The In Sound from Way Out! (1996) - Beastie Boys [1 CD, Amazon US]
American bands have never gotten in the habit of their British counterparts, who tend to release lots of extended singles filled out with not-meant-for-prime-time experimentations. If the Beasties had gotten into that habit, this would be their B-side compendium: a dozen instrumental tracks showing off their groovier side, complete with plenty of wah peddle on the guitar and prominence given to frequent Beastie collaborators "Money" Mark Nishita (keyboards) and Eric Bobo (percussion). It's tough to believe that the same band is responsible for this and the Aglio e Olio EP, but it goes a long way in explaining how they've remained viable for so long. --Randy Silver for amazon.com - Pharoah Sanders - Message From Home [1 CD, Amazon US]
Super prolific Producer/bass man Bill Laswell ( Material, Bootsy Collins, Last Poets, Bernie Worrell projects) combines his tough urban funk sensibilities with artificially sweetened Afro-pop and lays them under Pharoah's otherwordly saxophone. The end result of this experiment is a couple of cool songs including the exciting Kora drumming and bass guitar interplay on "Our Roots.." and the oceanic squealing solos that stretch throughout this experiment that fizzles. But it ain't Pharoah or the Brothers who perform on the African drums faults! [...] - Nu Yorica [Amazon US]
This is one of the few compilations to have attained classic status. SoulJazz followed a clear concept: the impact of environment and identity in the creation of a community of musicians, specifically those musicians living in East Harlem who were of Cuban and/or Puerto Rican heritage OR African-American but enamoured of Latin music during the 1970s. Ocho is an example of the latter: an all-black group from "across the river" which combined the expected soul and funk influences with hard Latin genres. Bobby Vince Paunetto, a vibist of Italian/Spanish heritage, fused Cal Tjader with breakbeats and an operaticexploitation sensibility on "Little Rico's Theme". The Puerto Riqueno Ricardo Marrero's "Babalonia" is not only a prime breakbeat cut, it's also a masterpiece of tension and release set up by the keyboard and horn arrangements.
The NuYorican sound had been developing since at least Machito's heyday in the late 1940s and 50s, but the utopian communalism and fearless artistic leaps of the era (plus the expanded tone colors brought by electrification and radical engineering) catapulted the aesthetic into something new and startling, but the window for this music was narrow, and by the early 1980s such bold blendings of different genres would have much less commercial viability. Derrick A. Smith for amazon.com
More films
- Shall we Dansu? [Amazon.com]
On his evening commute, bored accountant Sugiyama (Koji Yakusho) always looks for the beautiful woman who gazes wistfully out the window of the Kishikawa School of Dancing. One night he gets off the train, walks into the studio, and signs up for a class. Soon Sugiyama is so engrossed in his dancing he practices his steps on the train platform and under his desk, and becomes good enough for competition, compelling his wife to hire a private investigator to find out why he stays out late and returns home smelling of perfume. Among the colorful characters Sugiyama meets is his coworker Aoki (Naoto Takenaka), who transforms himself from geeky systems analyst to hilariously flamboyant (and bad-wigged) lounge lizard. Aoki explains to Sugiyama, "When I finish work, put on the clothes, the wig and become Donny Burns, Latin world champion, and I start to move to the rhythm, I'm so happy, so completely free." Here lies the chief charm of Shall We Dance, the contrast between the ultracompetitive women of the studio--including the one who caught Sugiyama's eye, Mai (Tamiyo Kusakari)--and the men who dance simply because they enjoy it. This 1996 film is somewhat comparable to the flamboyant Aussie favorite Strictly Ballroom, but Shall We Dance is especially noteworthy for contrasting the boldness of social dance with the buttoned-up societal mores of Japan, where people avoid public displays of emotion. Even in Japan, the joy of dance is irresistible. --David Horiuchi - Fargo (1996) - Joel Coen, Ethan Coen [Amazon.com]
Leave it to the wildly inventive Coen brothers (Joel directs, Ethan produces, they both write) to concoct a fiendishly clever kidnap caper that's simultaneously a comedy of errors, a Midwestern satire, a taut suspense thriller, and a violent tale of criminal misfortune. It all begins when a hapless car salesman (played to perfection by William H. Macy) ineptly orchestrates the kidnapping of his own wife. The plan goes horribly awry in the hands of bumbling bad guys Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare (one of them being described by a local girl as "kinda funny lookin'" and "not circumcised"), and the pregnant sheriff of Brainerd, Minnesota, (played exquisitely by Frances McDormand in an Oscar-winning role) is suddenly faced with a case of multiple murders. Her investigation is laced with offbeat observations about life in the rural hinterland of Minnesota and North Dakota, and Fargo embraces its local yokels with affectionate humor. At times shocking and hilarious, Fargo is utterly unique and distinctly American, bearing the unmistakable stamp of its inspired creators. --Jeff Shannon for amazon.com - Thesis (1996) - Alejandro Amenábar [Amazon.com]
Spanish director Alejandro Amenábar grabbed the attention of American audiences with his dreamy thriller Open Your Eyes, but he earlier sent shock waves throughout Spain in 1996 with this disturbing debut. Thesis is a quietly creepy psychological thriller about a young college student, Ángela (Ana Torrent) investigating the social fascination with sensational violence for her thesis project. In her search for violent video footage, she stumbles onto what may be a real live snuff film, a videotape that her professor was watching before his untimely death. With the help of a geeky gore junkie she uncovers a conspiracy that may include her handsome but sinister new boyfriend, her thesis advisor, and even her weirdo partner. When she uncovers one too many secrets lying in the catacombs of the university basement, she realizes that she may be the next victim. It goes on perhaps too long, and Amenábar's pointed observations on the lure of violence and the dark side of human nature are lost as the spiraling mystery spins into a first-person nightmare, but his skill at weaving a paranoid world where evil may lurk behind every friendly face is undeniable. Thesis is reminiscent of Brian De Palma's early thrillers: dark, stylish, subdued, and bubbling with the characters' guilty (and ultimately dangerous) fascination with the transgressive. - L'Appartement [1996] - Gilles Mimouni [Amazon UK]
Starring Vincent Cassel, Monica Bellucci, Romane Bohringer, Jean-Phillipe Ecoffey and Sandrine Kiberlain. L'Appartement is a stylish and sexy combination of love story and thriller in which one man is caught up in the passion driven fates of three beautiful women. Max, the romantic protagonist, is planning a marriage, investigating a murder, chasing after a lost love and getting bizarrely entangled with a mystery girl. Switching between time, women, chic cafes and beautiful Parisian apartments, Mimouni's film makes the most of its deliriously romantic setting whilst effortlessly unraveling an intricate and unpredictable plot which playfully ties its lovelorn characters up in knots as it races along to a heady conclusion. - Trainspotting (1996) - Danny Boyle [Amazon.com]
With its hallucinatory visions of crawling dead babies and a grungy plunge into the filthiest toilet in Scotland, you might not think Trainspotting could have been one of the best movies of 1996, but Danny Boyle's film about unrepentant heroin addicts in Edinburgh is all that and more. That doesn't make it everybody's cup of tea (so unsuspecting viewers beware), but the film's blend of hyperkinetic humor and real-life horror is constantly fascinating, and the entire cast (led by Ewan McGregor and Full Monty star Robert Carlyle) bursts off of the screen in a supernova of outrageous energy. Adapted by John Hodge from the acclaimed novel by Irving Welsh, the film was a phenomenal hit in England, Scotland, and (to a lesser extent) the U.S. For all of its comedic vitality and invigorating filmmaking, the movie is no ode to heroin, nor is it a straight-laced cautionary tale. Trainspotting is just a very honest and well-made film about the nature of addiction, and it doesn't pull any punches when it is time to show the alternating pleasure and pain of substance abuse. --Jeff Shannon for amazon.com -
Crash (1996) - David Cronenberg [Amazon.com]
Adapted from the controversial novel by J.G. Ballard, Crash will either repel or amaze you, with little or no room for a neutral reaction. The film is perfectly matched to the artistic and intellectual proclivities of director David Cronenberg, who has used the inspiration of Ballard's novel to create what critic Roger Ebert has described as "a dissection of the mechanics of pornography." Filmed with a metallic color scheme and a dominant tone of emotional detachment, the story focuses on a close-knit group of people who have developed a sexual fetish around the collision of automobiles. They use cars as a tool of arousal, in which orgasm is directly connected to death-defying temptations of fate at high speeds. Ballard wrote his book to illustrate the connections between sex and technology--the ultimate postmodern melding of flesh and machine--and Cronenberg takes this theme to the final frontier of sexual expression. Holly Hunter, James Spader, and Deborah Unger are utterly fearless in roles that few actors would dare to play, and their surrender to Cronenberg's vision makes Crash an utterly unique and challenging film experience. It's rated NC-17, so don't say you weren't warned! --Jeff Shannon - Schizopolis (1996) - Steven Soderbergh [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Schizopolis is an experimental comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh in 1996. Its title is a portmanteau of "schizophrenia" and "metropolis."
Although the film does not have a specific linear plot, a skeleton of structure exists: the film's main character is Fletcher Munson (played by Soderbergh himself), an office employee working under T. Azimuth Schwitters, the leader of a self-help company/religion/lifestyle known as Eventualism, a clear reference to L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology.
When Munson's co-worker Lester Richards (a reference to Soderbergh's idol and mentor, filmmaker Richard Lester) unexpectedly dies, Munson must take his job as speechwriter for Schwitters. His personal life suffers because of his work, and he becomes emotionally detached from his wife, who is engaged in an affair with Dr. Jeffrey Korchek, a conservative dentist who is a perfect doppelganger of Munson.
Meanwhile, Elmo Oxygen, a bug exterminator, beds lonely housewives while experiencing a rise to fame as a semi-celebrity prima donna. Also included are interludes with a half-naked man chased by mental hospital orderlies; a pompous social commentator; and news reports concerning the sale of Rhode Island.
Ultimately, the film has no definitive meaning - at the opening of the film, Soderbergh jokes, "everything in this film makes perfect sense, and if there's anything that you don't understand, it's your fault, not ours." Several interpretations have been theorized, including lack of communication - Munson and his wife only engage in templates of speech, such as "Generic greeting!" and "Generic greeting returned!" Also suggested is the idea of social restraint versus internal thought - at Lester Richards's funeral, the priest begins the eulogy: "Lester Richards is dead, and aren't you glad it wasn't you." However, such interpretations should only be taken lightly, as it is a clearly experimental and avant-garde film, as illustrated by a short message in the middle of the film stating, "IDEA MISSING."
Shot for US$250,000, Schizopolis was given limited theatrical release, considered too odd for the mainstream crowd. However, the film has found a devout audience in those who enjoy the avant garde, and was recently included in the Criterion Collection as #199. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizopolis [Dec 2004]
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Bound (1996) - Larry Wachowski, Andy Wachowski [Amazon US]
Destined for cult status, this provocative thriller offers a grab bag of genres (gangster movie, comedy, sexy romance, crime caper) and tops it all off with steamy passion between lesbian ex-con Corky (Gina Gershon) and a not-so-ditzy gun moll named Violet (Jennifer Tilly), who meets Corky and immediately tires of her mobster boyfriend (Joe Pantoliano). Desperate to break away from the Mob's influence and live happily ever after, the daring dames hatch a plot to steal $2 million of Mafia money. Their scheme runs into a series of escalating complications, until their very survival depends on split-second timing and criminal ingenuity. Simultaneously violent, funny, and suspenseful, Bound is sure to test your tolerance for bloodshed, but the film is crafted with such undeniable skill that several critics (including Roger Ebert) placed it on their top-ten lists for 1996. --Jeff Shannon - Fetishes (1996) - Nick Broomfield [Amazon US]
VERY interesting documentary about the goings-ons at an establishment in New York (Pandora's Box) that cater's to mostly male clients into bondage, rubber, infantilism, etc. The movie is very similar in style and subject to "Chicken Ranch", a documentary about a legal brothel in Nevada (also, a good documentary).
The film is quite shocking/disturbing (i.e., the male human ashtray), although no sexual acts are allowed in this totally legal establishment. Nudity is minimal (and, of course, most male genetalia is blurred out), but that doesn't matter because the most interesting parts of the movie are the interviews with the employees and clients in the film, many of which agreed to be interviewed without concealing their identities.
Overall, a fascinating document of sexuality's dark side. --rrrrob1 for amazon.com - Basquiat (1996) - Julian Schnabel [Amazon.com]
In his writing and directorial debut, Julian Schnabel's film Basquiat depicts the life of graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, a.k.a. SAMO, and the turbulent period from the late 1970s to 1988, as his life was catapulted into fame and notoriety. As Jean-Michel's work gained favorable attention from New York's elite art community, he went from a street punk living in a cardboard box to the first black artist to succeed in the all-white dominated art world. Tony Award-winning actor Jeffrey Wright does a brilliant job portraying a man tortured by self-doubt and thoughts of suicide, struggling to survive and be acknowledged as an artist. The film's use of dreamlike imagery and rhythmic pace tells the story from the perspective of Jean-Michel's eyes as he manages to "float" through relationships and gallery showings, until his impending death in 1988 from a heroin overdose. Brimming with talent, the film also stars David Bowie as pop-artist Andy Warhol, Michael Wincott as poet Rene Ricard, and many others, including Gary Oldman, Benicio del Toro, Dennis Hopper, and Courtney Love. --Michele Goodson for amazon.com - The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) - Milos Forman [Amazon US]
Leave it to Czech director Milos Forman (One Flew Over to Cuckoo's Nest) to make the most entertaining and offbeat celebration of the American Constitution that the movies have ever given us. You think the First Amendment was designed to protect you from offensive speech? Think again. The real glory of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights--as brought to life in this splendidly quirky and alternately reverent and irreverent comedy--is that it ensures everyone's freedom by protecting a whole range of expression, from the banal to the outrageous. Scripted by the writers of Ed Wood (another affectionately twisted biography of a disreputably eccentric entertainment figure), The People vs. Larry Flynt applies a similar sort of exaggerated and telescoped editorial-cartoon sensibility to the wild life and times of Hustler skin-magazine publisher Larry Flynt. It's the great (and fictionalized-but-true) American story of how smut-peddler Flynt--the poor man's redneck Hugh Hefner--ended up appealing a libel case (brought by televangelist Jerry Falwell) to the Supreme Court and winning a major legal victory that affects us all. Terrific performances by Woody Harrelson as Flynt, grunge-star-turned-glamour-puss Courtney Love as his wife Althea, and Edward Norton as their lawyer (a composite character). --Jim Emerson for Amazon.com
Schizopolis (1996) - Steven Soderbergh
Schizopolis (1996) - Steven Soderbergh [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Both a kind of home movie and a salute to the hip, pop-up sketch comedy of 1960s-early 1970s television--Laugh-In, Monty Python's Flying Circus, that sort of thing--Schizopolis is a hit-and-miss series of dada gags with vaguely connecting threads of Kafkaesque paranoia. Soderbergh himself stars as two people--one an ineffective dentist, the other a speechwriter for a cult movement called Eventualism, which has set out to "question all answers"--connected by their romances with the same woman, played by Soderbergh's real-life ex, Betsy Bramley. There isn't so much a story as a series of bits in which these characters often (though not necessarily) turn up, from press conferences on the subject of horse urination to old footage of nudists to a scene of an Eventualist exchange between husband and wife: "Generic greeting!" "Generic greeting returned!" None of this leads to a literal point, but after a while an undercurrent of disease about making sense of the modern world becomes apparent beneath the jokes. Soderbergh (sex, lies, and videotape, Out of Sight) is certainly a filmmaker who goes his own way in life, always hitting his target in one spot or another and occasionally getting a bull's-eye for his trouble. Schizopolis is no bull's-eye, and it has just as many detractors as admirers, but it's impossible not to appreciate Soderbergh's conviction that making a film out on the fringes is a worthy endeavor. --Tom Keogh
Schizopolis is an experimental comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh in 1996. Its title is a portmanteau of "schizophrenia" and "metropolis."
Although the film does not have a specific linear plot, a skeleton of structure exists: the film's main character is Fletcher Munson (played by Soderbergh himself), an office employee working under T. Azimuth Schwitters, the leader of a self-help company/religion/lifestyle known as Eventualism, a clear reference to L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology.
When Munson's co-worker Lester Richards (a reference to Soderbergh's idol and mentor, filmmaker Richard Lester) unexpectedly dies, Munson must take his job as speechwriter for Schwitters. His personal life suffers because of his work, and he becomes emotionally detached from his wife, who is engaged in an affair with Dr. Jeffrey Korchek, a conservative dentist who is a perfect doppelganger of Munson.
Meanwhile, Elmo Oxygen, a bug exterminator, beds lonely housewives while experiencing a rise to fame as a semi-celebrity prima donna. Also included are interludes with a half-naked man chased by mental hospital orderlies; a pompous social commentator; and news reports concerning the sale of Rhode Island.
Ultimately, the film has no definitive meaning - at the opening of the film, Soderbergh jokes, "everything in this film makes perfect sense, and if there's anything that you don't understand, it's your fault, not ours." Several interpretations have been theorized, including lack of communication - Munson and his wife only engage in templates of speech, such as "Generic greeting!" and "Generic greeting returned!" Also suggested is the idea of social restraint versus internal thought - at Lester Richards's funeral, the priest begins the eulogy: "Lester Richards is dead, and aren't you glad it wasn't you." However, such interpretations should only be taken lightly, as it is a clearly experimental and avant-garde film, as illustrated by a short message in the middle of the film stating, "IDEA MISSING."
Shot for US$250,000, Schizopolis was given limited theatrical release, considered too odd for the mainstream crowd. However, the film has found a devout audience in those who enjoy the avant garde, and was recently included in the Criterion Collection as #199. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizopolis [Dec 2004]