From AwardAnnals
Results of the Saturn Award in the year 1990. For a ranked list of films, try an honor roll:
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Robert Zemeckis
It’s 1947 Hollywood, and Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins), a down-on-his-luck detective, is hired to find proof that Marvin Acme, gag factory mogul and owner of Toontown, is playing hanky-panky with femme fatale Jessica Rabbit, wife of Maroon Cartoon superstar Roger Rabbit. When Acme is found murdered, all fingers point to Roger, and the sinister, power-hungry Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd) is on a mission to bring Roger to justice. Roger begs the Toon-hating Valiant to find the real evildoer and the plot thickens as Eddie uncovers scandal after scandal and realizes the very existence of Toontown is at stake!
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is deliciously outrageous fun the whole family will enjoy.
Big
Penny Marshall
A perfect marriage of novel but incisive writing, acting, and direction,
Big is the story of a 12-year-old boy who wishes he were older, and wakes up one morning as a 30-year-old man (Tom Hanks). The script by Gary Ross (
Dave) and Anne Spielberg finds some unexpected ways of attacking obvious issues of sex, work, and childhood friendships, and in all of these things the accent is on classy humor and great sensitivity. Hanks is remarkable in the lead, at times hilarious (reacting to caviar just as a 12-year-old would) and at others deeply tender.…
Willow
Ron Howard
From legendary filmmakers George Lucas and Ron Howard comes one of the most beloved fantasy tales of all time. This groundbreaking film features stunning special effects, dazzling action and a classic battle between good and evil.
When young Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis) finds an abandoned baby, he is suddenly thrust unto an adventure filled with magic and danger. According to an ancient prophecy, the sacred child is destined to end the reign of the evil sorceress Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh). Now, the only a single swordsman (Val Kilmer) at his side, Willow must overcome the forces of darkness that threaten to destroy anyone who stands in the Queen’s way!
The Land Before Time
Don Bluth
This 1988 animated feature from Don Bluth (
An American Tail) focuses on an orphaned young dinosaur, Littlefoot, who has to make his way to the paradise of the Great Valley in order to survive a plague. Along the way, he meets up with some other dinos from different species, and they all bond and travel together. On the way, they have plenty of adventures. Even with elements of suspense, this is a pretty relaxed movie that isn’t in a particular hurry to roll out its story. Kids will like the originality of the concept, and the themes of friendship and…
Scrooged
Richard Donner
Most critics couldn’t get behind Bill Murray’s modern retelling of Charles Dickens’s
A Christmas Carol, finding it too unfocused at times and not nearly wicked enough. Still, if you’re a Murray fan, you have to enjoy his deliciously nasty portrayal of the world’s meanest TV executive, who has his cathartic moment one cold Christmas night in New York City. The various ghosts lead him on a ghost-town tour of Manhattan, with stops at holidays past, present, and future and a Kumbaya moment when Al Green and Annie Lennox sing “Put a Little Love in Your Heart.”…
Without a Clue
Thom Eberhardt
Without a Clue is an underrated comedy featuring stellar teamwork by two great actors, Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley. This Sherlock Holmes pastiche with a twist stars Kingsley as physician, writer, and self-effacing super-sleuth Dr. John Watson, who channels his genius for deduction into lucrative stories about Holmes. Watson wants the world to believe the fictional private eye actually exists, posing a problem when a steady stream of troubled souls come seeking Holmes’s help. The doctor’s prescription: hire a two-bit, drunken, skirt-chasing actor (Caine)…
