40 Favorite Films of 1996
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- DirectorJulian SchnabelStarsJeffrey WrightMichael WincottBenicio Del ToroThe brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.
- DirectorAnjelica HustonStarsJennifer Jason LeighRon EldardGlenne HeadlyA mother and daughter find their lives adversely affected when a new man enters the picture. Will their family ever be what they expect?
- DirectorCaroline LinkStarsSylvie TestudTatjana TriebHowie SeagoSince the earliest days in her childhood Lara has had a difficult but important task. Both her parents are deaf-mute and Lara has to translate from sign-language to the spoken word and vice versa when her parents want to communicate with other people. Getting older and more mature she becomes interested in music and starts to play clarinet very successfully. However her parents are deaf, they cannot share Lara's musical career. The day comes when Lara has to decide between her parents and her own ambitions.
- DirectorCampbell ScottStanley TucciStarsTony ShalhoubStanley TucciMarc AnthonyNew Jersey, 1950s. Two brothers run an Italian restaurant. Business is not going well as a rival Italian restaurant is out-competing them. In a final effort to save the restaurant, the brothers plan to put on an evening of incredible food.Top 1000
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsLuke WilsonOwen WilsonNed DowdThree friends plan to pull off a simple robbery and go on the run.
- DirectorLana WachowskiLilly WachowskiStarsJennifer TillyGina GershonJoe PantolianoTough ex-con Corky and her lover Violet concoct a scheme to steal millions of stashed mob money and pin the blame on Violet's crooked boyfriend Caesar.Top 1000
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsEmily WatsonStellan SkarsgårdKatrin CartlidgeOilman Jan is paralyzed in an accident. His wife, who prayed for his return, feels guilty; even more, when Jan urges her to have sex with another.Top 1000
- DirectorBen StillerStarsJim CarreyMatthew BroderickLeslie MannA designer makes a grievious mistake when he rejects the friendship of a borderline cable guy.
- DirectorBruno BarretoStarsDennis HopperAmy IrvingAmy LocaneJoseph Svenden is a middle-aged school-teacher who lives on a farm with his dying mother. In his simple life there are no excitements, even in long-time relationship with a widow. However, when seventeen-year-old beauty enrolls in his class, Joseph would soon end up in her arms. After that, Joseph is torn between the passion and feeling that he is doing something wrong.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJames SpaderHolly HunterElias KoteasAfter getting into a serious car accident, a TV director discovers an underground sub-culture of scarred, omnisexual car-crash victims who use car accidents and the raw sexual energy they produce to try to rejuvenate his sex life with his wife.Top 1000
- DirectorNicholas HytnerStarsDaniel Day-LewisWinona RyderPaul ScofieldA Salem resident attempts to frame her ex-lover's wife for being a witch in the middle of the 1692 witchcraft trials.
- DirectorDouglas McGrathStarsGwyneth PaltrowJames CosmoGreta ScacchiWhile matchmaking for friends and neighbours, a young 19th Century Englishwoman nearly misses her own chance at love.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsWilliam H. MacyFrances McDormandSteve BuscemiMinnesota car salesman Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.Top 1000
- DirectorNick BroomfieldStarsMistress BeatriceNick BroomfieldMistress CatherineMasochism, rubber, corporal punishment, wrestling, and infantilism are all examined into detail as a documentary crew visits a bondage house and its mistresses in upstate New York.
- DirectorCarroll BallardStarsJeff DanielsAnna PaquinDana DelanyA father and daughter decide to attempt to lead a flock of orphaned Canada Geese south by air.
- DirectorMatthew BrightStarsReese WitherspoonKiefer SutherlandBokeem WoodbineA twisted take on "Little Red Riding Hood", with a teenage juvenile delinquent on the run from a social worker travelling to her grandmother's house and being hounded by a charming, but sadistic, serial killer and pedophile.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsOssie DavisCharles S. DuttonAndre BraugherA disparate group of African-American men travel by bus to Washington, DC for the Million Man March.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsSpalding GrayMike McLaughlinMelissa RobertsonAfter doctors inform him that an eye affliction will require risky surgery, monologist Spalding Gray recounts his various pursuits for alternative medicine to avoid the doctor's scalpel.
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsPhilip Baker HallJohn C. ReillyGwyneth PaltrowProfessional gambler Sydney teaches John the tricks of the trade. John does well until he falls for cocktail waitress Clementine.Top 1000
- DirectorMary HarronStarsLili TaylorJared HarrisMartha PlimptonThe story of Valerie Solanas, a '60s radical who preached misandry in her "Scum" manifesto. She wrote a screenplay for a film that she wanted Andy Warhol to produce, but after he repeatedly ignored her, she shot him.
- DirectorHenry SelickStarsPaul TerryJoanna LumleyPete PostlethwaiteAn orphan who lives with his two cruel aunts befriends anthropomorphic bugs who live inside a giant peach, and they embark on a journey to New York City.
- DirectorMichael WinterbottomStarsChristopher EcclestonKate WinsletLiam CunninghamIn late 1800s England, Jude plans to go to the city and attend university but marries early and becomes a stonemason. When his wife leaves, he moves to the city, where he befriends his liberal cousin Sue.
- DirectorJan SverákStarsZdenek SverákAndrey KhalimonLibuse SafránkováA confirmed bachelor is in for the surprise of his life when a get-rich-quick scheme backfires and leaves him with a pint-sized new roommate.
- DirectorSusan Warms DryfoosStarsJulie AndrewsLauren BacallCarol ChanningThe childhood, adolescence, and incredible adult years of Al Hirshfeld, celebrated creator of thousands of line drawings of famous people - many in the entertainment industry - over a span of more than sixty years.
- DirectorJohn SaylesStarsChris CooperElizabeth PeñaStephen MendilloWhen the skeleton of his murdered predecessor is found, Sheriff Sam Deeds unearths many other long-buried secrets in his Texas border town.
- DirectorLisa KruegerStarsScarlett JohanssonAleksa PalladinoMary Kay PlaceA pregnant teen and her younger sister run away from foster homes and kidnap a woman whom they believe can help with the pregnancy.
- DirectorAlbert BrooksStarsAlbert BrooksDebbie ReynoldsPaul CollinsA neurotic, twice-divorced sci-fi writer moves back in with his mother to solve his personal problems.Top 1000
- DirectorJoe BerlingerBruce SinofskyStarsTony BrooksDiana DavisTerry WoodA horrific triple child murder leads to an indictment and trial of three nonconformist boys based on questionable evidence.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsWoody HarrelsonCourtney LoveEdward NortonThe story of controversial pornography publisher Larry Flynt, and how he became a defender of free speech.
- DirectorPeter GreenawayStarsVivian WuEwan McGregorYoshi OidaA woman with a body-writing fetish seeks to find a combined lover and calligrapher.
- StarsHelen MirrenJohn BrobbeyJulia LaneSuperintendent Tennison (Dame Helen Mirren) investigates a seemingly straightforward drug murder that she believes is linked to a smugly smooth crime boss.
- DirectorJean-Pierre DardenneLuc DardenneStarsJérémie RenierOlivier GourmetAssita OuedraogoRoger uses his son Igor to ruthlessly traffic and exploit undocumented immigrants. When one of the immigrants is killed, Igor is guilt-ridden and wants to care for the dead man's family against his father's orders.Top 1000
- DirectorPatrice LeconteStarsCharles BerlingJean RochefortFanny ArdantTo get royal backing on a needed drainage project, a poor French lord must learn to play the delicate games of wit at court at Versailles.Top 1000
- DirectorMike LeighStarsTimothy SpallBrenda BlethynPhyllis LoganFollowing the death of her adoptive parents, a successful young black optometrist establishes contact with her biological mother -- a lonely white factory worker living in poverty in East London.
- DirectorBilly Bob ThorntonStarsBilly Bob ThorntonDwight YoakamJ.T. WalshKarl Childers, a simple man hospitalized since his childhood murder of his mother and her lover, is released to start a new life in a small town.
- DirectorLee David ZlotoffStarsAlison ElliottEllen BurstynMarcia Gay HardenOscar-winner Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist) headlines this critically praised drama about a young woman, just out of prison, who finds spiritual redemption working at a cafe in Maine.
- DirectorÉric RohmerStarsMelvil PoupaudAmanda LangletGwenaëlle SimonAs a reserved young graduate vacations in a seaside town, he hopes his girlfriend will join him. But he ends up bonding with a local young woman whose female friend is also smitten with him.
- DirectorDoug LimanStarsVince VaughnHeather GrahamJon FavreauA wannabe actor has a hard time moving on from a break-up, but he is lucky to have supportive friends.
- DirectorDanny BoyleStarsEwan McGregorEwen BremnerJonny Lee MillerRenton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out despite the allure of drugs and the influence of friends.Top 1000
- DirectorSteve BuscemiStarsSteve BuscemiCarol KaneMark Boone JuniorTommy is an unemployed mechanic who spends most of his time in a bar (Trees Lounge) in a small blue collar town. He seems to always be thinking, "If only X then I could stop drinking".
- DirectorChristopher GuestStarsChristopher GuestFred WillardCatherine O'HaraAn aspiring director and the marginally talented amateur cast of a hokey small-town Missouri musical production go overboard when they learn that someone from Broadway will be in attendance.Top 1000
- DirectorLeon GastStarsMuhammad AliGeorge ForemanDon KingBoxing documentary on the 1974 world heavyweight championship bout between defending champion, George Foreman, and the underdog challenger, Muhammad Ali.Top 1000
- DirectorDan IrelandStarsVincent D'OnofrioRenée ZellwegerAnn WedgeworthIn 1933 Texas, a schoolteacher and aspiring writer meets a pulp fiction writer, and a relationship soon develops between the two, but it is doomed by his slavishly devotion to his ailing mother and insistence on his freedom.