Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: 1994 in films and TV-series

The Top 7 of the Year

1. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective - Tom Shadyac + Best American Movie of the Year + Best Animal Movie of the Year + Breakthrough of the Year: Jim Carrey + Best Comedy of the Year + Best Debut of the Year + Most Deserved Hit of the Year + Best Florida Movie of the Year + Best Huge Hit Movie of the Year + Best Poster of the Year + Most Underrated Movie of the Year

2. Crumb, documentary - Terry Zwigoff

3. Frasier - season 2 - David Angell, Peter Casey, David Lee + Returning TV-series of the Year + Best Sitcom of the Year + Best Washington State Movie

4. Dumb and Dumber/Dumb & Dumber - Bobby and Peter Farrelly + Best Colorado Movie of the Year + Best Road Movie of the Year

5. Four Weddings and a Funeral - Mike Newell + Best British Movie of the Year + Best $ Return of the Year: 55.84 + Best Mega-hit Movie of the Year + Best On-screen Couple of the Year: Hugh Grant & Andie MacDowell + Most Profitable Movie of the Year: 93.88 mil. $ range + Best Romcom of the Year

6. Chungking Express/重慶森林 - Wong Kar-wai + Best Hong Kong Movie of the Year

7. Exotica - Atom Egoyan + Best Canadian Movie of the Year + Best Sex Drama of the Year

Other good, recommendable titles of the year (in alphabetical order):

Death of a Cheerleader, TV movie - William A. Graham + Best True-crime Movie of the Year + Best TV movie of the Year

The Hudsucker Proxy - Joel Coen + Best Mega-flop of the Year + Most Expensive Flop of the Year: 20.48 mil. $ range + Best Satire of the Year + Worst $ Return of the Year: 0.45

The Bottom 4 of the Year

1. Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles - Neil Jordan + Most Overrated Movie of the Year + Most Undeserved Hit of the Year

2. The Crow - Alex Proyas

3. Three Colors: White/Trois Couleurs: Blanc - Krzysztof Kieslowski

4. Ed Wood - Tim Burton

[13 titles in total]

Notes:

Though opened with a meager 13 title count, 1994 already boasts one masterpiece - and no grade zero trash yet.

Topping the Top 7 list is said masterpiece; Tom Shadyac's zany popular comedy smash, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Terry Zwigoff's great cartoonist biography documentary Crumb takes silver; and the second season of David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee's chuckle-worthy sitcom classic Frasier bronze.

The list goes on with another Jim Carrey comedy bull's eye, Bobby and Peter Farrelly's Dumb and Dumber; Mike Newell's sensational British romcom Four Weddings and a Funeral; Wong Kar-wai's stylish metropolitan drama Chungking Express; and Atom Egoyan's stirring sex drama Exotica rounds off the list in this first edition.

The Bottom 4 list hands the turkey gold to Neil Jordan's hard-to-take vampire costume yawner Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles; with Alex Proyas' dark, ugly, star-killing The Crow taking silver; and Krzysztof Kieslowski's high-brow, unfunny 'comedy' Three Colors: White claiming bronze. Tim Burton's misdirected B/W filmmaker biopic Ed Wood rounds off the list.

Among those enjoying audiences' favor in 1994 are first of all Jim Carrey, whose starring debut in Ace Ventura began a year of heading 3 films that collected more than 500 mil. $ at the box office (Dumb and Dumber and The Mask being the other two films.) Wonderful comedies are already far in overweight on the list, and Mike Newell, Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell enjoyed another one of the year's rare, triumphant hits with Four Weddings and a Funeral.

In the other end of the spectrum, continued hard-hitters in American cinema Tim Burton and the Coen brothers all suffered smacks at the box office with their major duds Ed Wood and The Hudsucker Proxy.

Future updates will greatly expand the works of the year, their receptions, qualities and lacks thereof.

Biggest flops of the year:

[The loss is based solely on the cost and box office earnings for the films. Marketing costs and additional revenue (home video, TV rights and other auxiliary profits) are not taken into account]

1. The Hudsucker Proxy - 20.48 mil. $ rage

2. Ed Wood - 12.48 mil. $ range

= Combined losses: 32.96 mil. $

Biggest hits of the year:

[The gain is based solely on the cost and box office earnings for the films. Marketing costs and additional revenue (home video, TV rights and other auxiliary profits) are not taken into account]

1. Four Weddings and a Funeral - 93.88 mil. $ range

2. Dumb and Dumber - 81.88 mil. $ range

3. Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles - 29.44 mil. $ range

4. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective - 27.88 mil. $ range

5. The Crow - 14.6 mil. $ range

6. Exotica - 2.12 mil. $ range

= Combined profits: 249.8 mil. $

1994 titles currently on the watch-list:

Coming Out Under Fire, Heavenly Creatures, The NeverEnding Story III, Tammy and the T-Rex, Barcelona, The Paper, Priest, 8 Seconds, Carlo & Ester, To Live, Faust, Wild Reeds, Death and the Maiden

Previous annual lists: