Sunday, March 28, 2010

My Favorite Films of the 1990's

1990
1. Goodfellas
2. Miller's Crossing
3. The Grifters
4. The Hunt For Red October
5. Misery
6. Awakenings
7. Avalon
8. Wild At Heart
9. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
10. Reversal of Fortune

1991
1. The Silence of the Lambs
2. Barton Fink
3. Cape Fear
4. The Fisher King
5. JFK
6. Thelma and Louise
7. Bugsy
8. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
9. City Slickers
10. Beauty and the Beasty

1992
1. Unforgiven
2. Reservoir Dogs
3. Glengarry Glen Ross
4. The Player
5. A Few Good Men
6. Patriot Games
7. Bad Lieutenant
8. The Crying Game
9. Malcolm X
10. Aladdin

1993
1. Schindler's List
2. Groundhog Day
3. Shadowlands
4. Carlito's Way
5. Jurassic Park
6. Philadelphia
7. In the Line of Fire
8. The Fugitive
9. In the Name of the Father
10. True Romance

1994
1. Pulp Fiction
2. Hoop Dreams
3. Quiz Show
4. The Lion King
5. The Shawshank Redemption
6. Ed Wood
7. Clerks
8. Leon
9. Forrest Gump
10. Natural Born Killers

1995
1. The Usual Suspects
2. Heat
3. Casino
4. Se7en
5. Before Sunrise
6. Twelve Monkeys
7. Dead Man Walking
8. Apollo 13
9. Toy Story
10. Goldeneye

1996
1. Lone Star
2. Fargo
3. Breaking the Waves
4. The People vs. Larry Flynt
5. Trainspotting
6. Sling Blade
7. Hamlet
8. Scream
9. Primal Fear
10. Swingers

1997
1. LA Confidential
2. Boogie Nights
3. The Ice Storm
4. The Sweet Hereafter
5. Jackie Brown
6. Good Will Hunting
7. As Good As It Gets
8. Chasing Amy
9. The Full Monty
10. Grosse Point Blank

1998
1. The Thin Red Line
2. Saving Private Ryan
3. The Big Lebowski
4. Out of Sight
5. A Simple Plan
6. Rushmore
7. The Truman Show
8. Pleasantville
9. American History X
10. Dark City

1999
1. American Beauty
2. Three Kings
3. Magnolia
4. Being John Malkovich
5. The Insider
6. Fight Club
7. Election
8. The Green Mile
9. The Sixth Sense
10. The Talented Mr. Ripley

Thursday, March 25, 2010

1990s in Film

As per a challenge by D-Train, he asked if I agree with a list of movies posted by some guy who named his favorites from the '90's. So I'm going to deal with this dude's list while talking about some favorites of my own.

http://www.bentclouds.com/topten1990.html

1990- Goodfellas, Metropolitan, Miller's Crossing, and The Grifters are all excellent movies (all except Metropolitan are centered on crime). Reversal of Fortune is a gem of a movie with the greatest performance from Jeremy Irons (aside from Die Hard With A Vengeance *wink**wink*). The only two movies on the list I hate are Dances With Wolves (frankly I just find it long and boring with Kevin Costner pretending to act) and I really just look at Total Recall as a simple action movie, I see nothing else in that film. Other great films from that year include Awakenings, The Hunt For Red October, Misery, Avalon, Wild At Heart, and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. My only other note is "really, Gremlins 2?" But I can't bash what I haven't seen.

1991- I'm surprised to see JFK so high on that little list but I agree, it's an excellent film and who cares if Oliver Stone ignores history but yes it's technically "historical fiction" at its finest. The Silence of the Lambs, Barton Fink, Boyz N The Hood, and the underrated Homicide (from Glengarry Glen Ross's David Mamet). Terminator 2: Judgement Day is one the greatest action films from the 90's but I really don't understand Point Break. I need characters I can get behind and when Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves are your leads, unless you are the Wachowski Bros. (The Matrix), eliciting any emotion from them is hopeless. Other great films from that year include Cape Fear, The Fisher King, Thelma and Louise, Bugsy, City Slickers, and Beauty and the Beast. I've yet to see Raise the Red Lantern but I've wanted to.

1992- Hell yes to Unforgiven, Reservoir Dogs (Quentin's first!), Hard Boiled (kick-ass with Chow Yun Fat and Tony Leung), The Crying Game (a great drama), The Player (great Tim Robbins performance), Glengarry Glen Ross, Malcolm X, and One False Move (a personal favorite). I don't like the erotic thriller Basic Instinct, Fatal Attraction did a much better job. While Under Siege is once again a cool looking movie but Steven Segal and Andrew Davis aren't Linda Hamilton and James Cameron (to reference T2 from the previous year). Other great films from that year include A Few Good Men, Bad Lieutenant, Patriot Games, and Aladdin.

1993- I completely forgot Searching For Bobby Fisher but yes its a great movie. I Love What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (I cried like a little bitch), Groundhog Day (great Bill Murray performance), Naked (outrageous performance from David Thewlis), Carlito's Way (great Pacinio performance), In the Line of Fire (John Malkovich is crazy), A Bronx Tale, and The Fugitive (sorry I badmouthed Andrew Davis in the previous paragraph). I haven't seen Three Colors: Blue, King of the Hill, Mad Dog and Glory, Manhattan Murder Mystery, and Short Cuts. I've never heard of Romeo Is Bleeding, sounds like an urban Jet Li movie. Body Snatchers isn't bad, it just doesn't compare to the original. And finally I don't hate True Romance but I don't necessarily love it either. Other great films from that year include Schindler's List (how the hell do you forget that on a best of '93 list?), Shadowlands (great Anthony Hopkins performance), Jurassic Park, Philadelphia, and In the Name of the Father.

1994- I liked Pulp Fiction, Heavenly Creatures (very underrated), Quiz Show (also underrated), The Shawshank Redemption (another great Tim Robbins film), Bullets Over Broadway, Clerks, Hoop Dreams, and Leon (kick-ass Jean Reno). I've yet to see Three Colors: Red or Crumb. For some reason when it comes to movies that Tarantino wrote, I just feel in the middle about them. Maybe because he should've directed them and that's why I'm not big on Natural Born Killers or True Romance but I don't outright hate them. Nobody's Fool isn't bad, it just doesn't compare to Paul Newman's other classic performances. Other great films include The Lion King, Ed Wood, and Forrest Gump.

1995- I liked Se7en, Heat, Casino, Before Sunrise (this was a pleasant surprise), Dead Man Walking, Nixon (Anthony Hopkins... never would've guessed as Nixon but he does it), Clockers, To Die For (great Nicole Kidman performance), Toy Story, and The Usual Suspects. I've always wanted to see La Haine. The American President, though? I mean it isn't bad but it's Michael Douglas romancing Annette Benning while debating politics... nothing revolutionary to be found there. Other great movies include Twelve Monkeys (one of the best sci-fi films in recent history), Apollo 13, and Goldeneye (the best Bond until Casino Royale).

1996- I like Fargo (love the accents), Bound, Breaking the Waves (a great performance from Emma Watson), Sydney (more commonly known as Hard Eight in the U.S.), Scream, Flirting With Disaster, Get on the Bus, The People vs. Larry Flynt (underrated), Sling Blade, and Trainspotting. I guess he didn't know Twelve Monkeys came out in '95. I agree that Dead Man and The English Patient are highly overrated (but both are from brilliant filmmakers) but Lone Star? Lone Star is a perfect film from John Sayles about a sheriff (Chris Cooper) who must investigate the murder of the previous sheriff from years ago who was run out of town. It's a slow movie but at the end of the day the performances will have you mesmerized. Other great movies include Hamlet (amazing adaptation with an outstanding cast), Primal Fear, and Swingers.

1997- I liked Jackie Brown, Boogie Nights, LA Confidential, Good Will Hunting, Chasing Amy, The Game (underrated), The Spanish Prisoner (Mamet's best), The Sweet Hereafter (an amazing film from Atom Egoyan, the best thing to come of Canada in probably ever), As Good As It Gets, Donnie Brasco, The Butcher Boy, and In the Company of Men (great Aaron Eckhart performance). I've yet to see the original Funny Games but I saw the remake and thought that was crazy so I can only imagine what Haneke's original is like. I don't understand what is so great about Life Is Beautiful. I think I just wish Ian McKellen or Edward Norton won the Oscar so I'm really bitter for no reason. But Starship Troopers, really? The only good thing about that film was the cleavage. Other great films include The Ice Storm (how is that always overlooked), The Full Monty, and Grosse Point Blank.

1998- I liked Rushmore, Out of Sight, The Thin Red Line, A Simple Plan, Run Lola Run (I was a little underwhelmed but it is still a good film), The Big Lebowski, Happiness, The General (great performance from Brendan Gleeson of In Bruges fame), and There's Something About Mary. I'm also not a big fan of Elizabeth, it looks great but it gets pretty boring. I think I need to re-watch Buffalo '66 because I wasn't too impressed with it. Other great films from this year include Pleasantville, Saving Private Ryan, The Truman Show, American History X, and Dark City.

1999- My favorite year of the decade. Being John Malkovich, Magnolia (Tom Cruise's best performance), American Beauty, Fight Club, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Insider (underrated), Boys Don't Cry, Go, The Blair Witch Project, Cookie's Fortune, Election, The Limey, The Straight Story, Sweet and Lowdown and Toy Story 2. I've yet to see Existenz or Audition. I disagree with The Sixth Sense and The Hurricane being considered overrated. One was Shymalan's best film that was very deep, well shot, and very suspenseful. The Hurricane is a great performance from Denzel Washington. I realize these paragraphs got shorter as time went on and the spelling errors probably increased but I'm almost done ranting. Other great films from this year include Three Kings (a personal favorite) and The Green Mile.