1994 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

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: 

    
2022 in films - according to Film Excess 

2021 in films - according to Film Excess 

2020 in films - according to Film Excess 

2019 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

2019 in films - according to Film Excess 
2018 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2018 in films - according to Film Excess  
2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2017 in films - according to Film Excess
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2016 in films - according to Film Excess

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV] 
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2014 in films - according to Film Excess

2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI] 
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2013 in films - according to Film Excess    
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V] 
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess   

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess   

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  

2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
2001 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

2000 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  

1998 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

1997 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

1996 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

1995 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
 

What do you think of Film Excess' 1994 lists?

What films would comprise your personal lists? 
Anything essential missing on the watch-list in your opinion?

2001 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

The Top 10 of 2001

1. A. I. Artificial Intelligence - Steven Spielberg + Best American Movie of the Year + Best Sci-Fi Movie of the Year + Worst Poster of the Year

2. Donnie Darko - Richard Kelly + Best Debut Movie of the Year + Best Drama of the Year + Best Period Movie of the Year + Best Shooting Star Actor of the Year: Jake Gyllenhaal + Best Youth Movie of the Year + Most Undeserved Flop of the Year

3. Ghost World - Terry Zwigoff + Best Big Flop Movie of the Year + Best Coming-of-age Movie of the Year + Best Independent Movie of the Year + Best Shooting Star Actress of the Year: Thora Birch 

4. Band of Brothers, miniseries - Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg + Best Miniseries of the Year + Best War Title of the Year 

5. Nowhere in Africa/Nirgendwo in Afrika - Caroline Link + Best Adaptation of the Year + Best German Movie of the Year + Most Deserved Hit of the Year

6. A Beautiful Mind - Ron Howard + Best Big Hit Movie of the Year + Best Biopic of the Year

7. The Believer - Henry Bean + Best Low-Budget Movie of the Year + Best New York Movie of the Year + Best True-Story Movie of the Year 

8. The Devil's Backbone/El Espinoza del Diablo - Guillermo del Toro + Best Ghost Story of the Year + Best Spanish Movie of the Year 

9. 24 - season 1 - Robert Cochran, Joel Surnow + Best Action Title of the Year + Best New TV-series of the Year + Best Actor's Comeback of the Year: Kiefer Sutherland

10. Bandits - Barry Levinson + Best Crime Comedy of the Year + Best Heist Movie of the Year

Other great movie

Family, documentary - Phie Ambo, Sami Saif

Good, recommendable movies (in alphabetic order)

Behind Enemy Lines - John Moore

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion - Woody Allen + Best Detective Movie of the Year + Best Huge Flop Movie of the Year

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within - Hironobu Sakaguchi, Motonori Sakakibara + Career-Killer of the Year + Costliest Flop of the Year: 102.96 mil. $ range

Freddy Got Fingered - Tom Green + Best Crazy-Comedy of the Year + Most Under-appreciated Movie of the Year 

From Hell - Albert and Allen Hughes + Best London Movie of the Year + Best Slasher of the Year

Gosford Park - Robert Altman + Best Filmmaker's Comeback of the Year: Robert Altman + Best Murder Mystery of the Year + Best UK Movie of the Year

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone/Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - Chris Columbus + Best Adventure Movie of the Year + Best Family Movie of the Year + Best Fantasy Movie of the Year + Best Mega-Hit Movie of the Year + Best New Franchise of the Year + Best Poster of the Year + Most Profitable Movie of the Year: 309.04 mil. $ range

The Pledge - Sean Penn + Best Ensemble of the Year: Jack Nicholson, Benicio Del Toro, Aaron Eckhart, Helen Mirren, Robin Wright Penn, Vanessa Redgrave, Sam Shepard, Harry Dead Stanton, Tom Noonan, Mickey Rourke + Best Nevada Movie of the Year

Shake It All About/En Kort En Lang/Shake It - Hella Joof + Best Copenhagen Movie of the Year + Best Danish Movie of the Year + Best Romcom of the Year

Spirited Away/千と千尋の神隠し (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) - Hayao Miyazaki + Best Japanese Movie of the Year

The Bottom 3 of 2001

1. Amélie/Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain - Jean-Pierre Jeunet + Best $ Return of the Year: Returned 17.39 times its cost + Most Overrated Movie of the Year + Most Undeserved Hit of the Year 

2. Hannibal - Ridley Scott

3. Formula 51/The 51st State - Ronny Yu + Most Deserved Flop of the Year

Other failed, poor and/or mediocre movies (in alphabetic order):

15 Minutes - John Herzfeld
Blow - Ted Demme
Chop Chop/Fukssvansen - Niels Arden Oplev  + Best Dark Comedy of the Year
Evolution - Ivan Reitman + Best Arizona Movie of the Year
The Fast and the Furious - Rob Cohen + Best Los Angeles Movie of the Year
Grev Axel - Søren Fauli + Best Box Office Disaster of the Year + Best On-Screen Couple of the Year: Peter Frödin & Sofie Gråbøl + Worst $ Return of the Year: Returned 0.17 times its cost
Hedwig and the Angry Inch - John Cameron Mitchell

[31 titles in total]

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. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within - 102.96 mil. $range
2. Bandits - 47.96 mil. $ range
3. Evolution - 40.68 mil. $ range
4. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion - 25.44 mil. $ range
5. The Pledge - 23.24 mil. $ range
6. Formula 51 - 21.24 mil. $ range
7. Blow - 19.72 mil. $ range
8. 15 Minutes - 19.48 mil. $ range
9. Freddy Got Fingered - 8.28 mil. $ range
10. A.I. Artificial Intelligence - 5.64 mil. $ range

= Combined losses: 314.64 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. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - 305.04 mil. $ mil. $ range
2. Spirited Away - 113 mil. $ range 
3. A Beautiful Mind - 67.4 mil. $ range
4. Amélie - 59.56 mil. $ range
5. Hannibal - 53.64 mil. $ range
6. The Fast and the Furious - 44.88 mil. $ range
7. Gosford Park - 15.28 mil. $ range
8. Nowhere in Africa - 1.82 mil. $ range

= Combined profits: 660.62 mil. $

Notes:

The first 2001 lists has 3 towering masterpieces reigning supreme in the Top 10: Steven Spielberg's long-in-the-works sci-fi fairytale A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Richard Kelly's incredible debut, teen angst sci-fi drama Donnie Darko, and Terry Zwigoff's graphic novel adaptation, coming-of-age dramedy Ghost World.
The list goes on with great titles; again Spielberg and Tom Hanks' WWII spectacular miniseries Band of Brothers; Caroline Link's poignant war refugee drama Nowhere in Africa; Ron Howard's mathematician biopic A Beautiful Mind; Henry Bean's provocative political indie The Believer; Guillermo del Toro's marvelous ghost story The Devil's Backbone, Robert Cochran and Joel Surnow's first season of the long-running action thriller TV-series smash 24; and finally Barry Levinson's hugely entertaining heist crime comedy Bandits.
Other noteworthy titles of the year include Woody Allen's detective romance The Curse of the Jade Scorpion; the colossally ambitious computer game adaptation animation Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, (by far the year's costliest flop though); the first Harry Potter movie; Hayao Miyazaki's enormously popular, strange animation Spirited Away; Tom Green's outrageous, critically savaged crazy-comedy Freddy Got Fingered; and Robert Altman's delightful English manor whodunit Gosford Park.
On the Bottom list, which only consists of 3 titles so far, we find Jean-Pierre Jeunet's mysteriously beloved, infantile Paris romance Amélie; Ridley Scott's disappointing horror Hannibal; and Ronny Yu's uninspired drug-comedy Formula 51.
Worth noting about the collection of 2001 titles reviewed at the moment is the rather large number of star vehicles that fared poorly at the box office: Samuel L. Jackson (Formula 51), Robert De Niro (15 Minutes), Jude Law (A.I. Artificial Intelligence), Johnny Depp (both Blow and From Hell), Bruce Willis, Cate Blanchett and Billy Bob Thornton (Bandits), Jack Nicholson (The Pledge), Charlize Theron (The Curse of the Jade Scorpion) and Julianne Moore (Evolution): All fronted titles that didn't make profits in cinemas. On the other end of the scale Harry Potter and (unusually) 2 foreign titles (Spirited Away and Amélie) really pulled some commercial weight.

2001 titles currently on the watch-list:

Session 9, The Center of the World, The Deep End, The Fluffer, Super Troopers, Festival in Cannes, Sleepless, Barteleby, Undeclared

Previous annual lists:
    
2019 in films - according to Film Excess 
2018 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2018 in films - according to Film Excess  
2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2017 in films - according to Film Excess
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2016 in films - according to Film Excess
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2014 in films - according to Film Excess
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2013 in films - according to Film Excess    
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V] 
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess   
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess   
2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  
2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  
 
What do you think of the 2001 lists?
Which 2001 titles are at the top and bottom of your lists?
Which worthwhile 2001 titles are missing on the watch-list?