The MoFos Top 100 of the 90s Countdown - Redux

[beelzebubble]

Catching up:

It might just be my own biases, but for me the '90s is the last decade that has a true "feel" of its own (though like all decades it has porous borders, exemplified by movies like Total Recall that feel in many ways as much "'80s" as they do "'90s"), whereas by the 2000s movies feel blended together into a stylistic mush, so a film that came out in, say, 2007 doesn't feel much different from a film that came out in, say, 2016. Probably needless to say, but this is a bad thing, emblematic of broader cultural trends that seem to be pushing us inexorably into an artistic future designed by algorithms.
I really feel this. I feel that this true in all of the arts and design. I think this is why some people feel like the world hasn't changed since 1999.


Also, Ethan Hawke is my Hollywood doppleganger; in spite of this, I didn't vote for it. I might have considered Dead Man more strongly had I seen it more recently than the late '90s. Alas.That must be nice.:) Roseanne and Rosie O'Donnell are mine. :bawling:


Neither of these is on my list and I haven't seen Dead Man. I am not a Jarmusch fan so by this time I didn't even watch his films. I saw Gattaca but it didn't really make a strong impression on me.

[Wyldesyde19]

Gattaca is a film I figured I’d get around to when it first came out in theaters. Fast forward to nearly 30 years later and I keep pushing it down the list. Maybe soon.

Dead Man was a very interesting film.
Notice how during his travels every home he came upon for worse and worse until finally he came upon ruins. I think it was burned down, yeah?

However, it never fully clicked for me and it’s probably a film that benefits a second, or even third, viewing.

Not terrible, by any means. Just a films that exists in my mind that I can’t shake, which may say more about it than I ever realized when I first watched it.

Neither made my ballot of course.
1/2 today,
8/16 total.

[PHOENIX74]

86. Gattaca (1997) - I've watched Gattaca several times over the last few years - it's a film I have great admiration for, fusing film noir motifs with a message-infused sci-fi world that seems purposely fictional in that style and visual artistry becomes such an integral component of the movie - more so than reality itself. They're launching men and women into space wearing suits? They launch a mission a week but still haven't been to Titan yet? Doesn't matter - what does is the neo-fascist world our main characters find themselves in, with people now discriminated against in the most fundamental way - via their DNA. There's murder, intrigue and thriller elements that make Gattaca exciting on a surface level, but the art nouveau and art deco visual elements are more interesting to me, along with the strain Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law put into their performances - infusing the world we're seeing with it's own sense of tension, alienation and coldness. If Gattaca were to be on television when I turn it on, I'd stop and watch every time. Not on my list though - it would make my top 100.

85. Dead Man (1995) - Considered for my list, and a really great Jim Jarmusch classic. There's way too much to talk about regarding this one - I actually saw it for the first time when it came my way via a Recommendation Hall of Fame here on this site. It's odd that it had to be that way, because I really like Jim Jarmusch, and this is one of his big movies. Anyway - moments : Crispin Glover on the train is up there for me as an all-time great, and any time Gary Farmer is pontificating or quoting William Blake. "Every night and every morn / Some to misery are born / Every morn and every night / Some are born to sweet delight." As far as commentary about America is concerned, this would be up amongst my top 10 considerations. Dead Man would definitely have been in my Top 50, and it only missed out on a spot on my ballot by a squidge. I'm looking forward to watching it again one day, when I get the time - it's something I give my full attention to.

Seen : 16/16

[gbgoodies]

I saw Gattaca a few years ago and I liked it. It's a great sci-fi thriller, but it didn't make my list for this countdown.

I watched Dead Man for the Westerns Countdown. I don't remember much about it except that I thought it was okay, but too slow, and I haven't had any desire to rewatch it.

[Holden Pike]

Our dear, departed Mark French will never have his spirit or impact here at movieforums.com diminished. For fun and to bring his voice back into our 1990s reboot for a moment, here are some of his unique thoughts on Dead Man from the MoFo Top 100 Westerns countdown...


Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch, 1995)
3; Cult Rating: 4

Talk about revisionist westerns!! I still don't honestly believe that it's a legit western, but it obviously has to be considered an illegitimate one, if nothing else! Jarmusch brings in drugy effects, self-references which date back to "Popeye" cartoons [Michael Wincott ad-libs beautifully (I believe)], Gary Farmer gives his greatest performance in a "mainstream" (read: bigger, CULTish) flick, Johnny Depp gets blown hither and yon just like the feather in Forrest Gump, only to become a tough S.O.B., Robert Mitchum gets to talk to bears, lies to humans, and ignores men, and Robby Muller gets to try to one-up his Down by Law cinematography - I personally love his work in Honeysuckle Rose. Dead Man is a personal movie and should definitely be seen with the best picture turned on and the sound turned up. I still prefer Jarmusch's Night on Earth and Ghost Dog, but this film's utter surrealism and total wackness (the scene with Iggy Pop and Billy Bob Thornton pretty much defines "out-there" filming technique!) pushes it over the edge for people who are interested in avant-garde westerns.

Yippee Ki-Yay, MoFo-er.

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https://youtu.be/dsCi-PayFIs?si=SgxB79LhPDsxwPGW

[Captain Quint]

A true indie master, though to be honest I didn't fully connect with Jarmusch early on, the films were all right, good, but it wasn't until Mystery Train came out and I fell in love with it, that I jumped on the Jim train - later, Dead Man, which might be my favorite. Ghost Dog, Only Lovers Left Alive and Patterson were others I enjoyed quite a bit. Cate was great in Coffee and Cigarettes (and Bill Murray a hoot).

Looking forward to Father Mother Sister Brother

Oh, and love the hair!

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[Captain Quint]

5lists74pointsA Few Good Men (https://www.movieforums.com/movies/881-a-few-good-men.html)Director
Rob Reiner, 1992

Starring
Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon

[Captain Quint]

5lists74pointsDumb and Dumber (https://www.movieforums.com/movies/8467-dumb-and-dumber.html)Director
Peter Farrelly, 1994

Starring
Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Lauren Holly, Teri Garr

[Captain Quint]

Tie broken by highest position on individual ballots (4th to 5th)

Dumb - The concept (titled Ski Nuts, about "two dumb guys in Aspen") came from John Hughes, who sold it to the Farrelly brothers but asked that his name be removed from the writing credits.

Wiki reports that 100 actors (!?) turned down the role of Lloyd, including Steve Martin and Martin Short. It wound up the 3rd hit for Carrey, continuing a hot streak that began with Ace Venture, and then The Mask.

Speaking of streaks, A Few Good Men would signal the beginning of the end of a good run for director Rob Reiner, which started in the 80s with Spinal Tap and would continue with 6 other good to great features. The streak would come to a screeching halt with the critically panned, box office failure, North.

As to AFGM, for me, well, it was all about Jack

https://youtu.be/9FnO3igOkOk?si=gT4aAVNuQE9M0oCz

Dumb was ranked #59 in the previous 90s countdown, AFGM was previously unranked.

[Holden Pike]

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In addition to placing at #59 on the first MoFo '90s List, Dumb and Dumber was also #43 on the MoFo Top 100 Comedies. Somehow this is the first official MoFo List for A Few Good Men. I can barely handle that truth.

[The Rodent]

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. Dumb and Dumber (1994) - 83rd
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
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18.
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20.
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22.
23.
24.
25.


First from my list :D

I think what makes Dumb And Dumber so special is that almost every line of dialogue is something that the characters have misheard or misunderstood.
It's just a ton of fun, rewatched it a couple days ago too and it holds up extremely well after 30 years.

[MovieFan1988]

Have seen so far: 6 - True Romance - A decent Crime/romance film with a good cast in it

The Crow - Saw this recently for the first time and thought it was a good revenge tale.

My Cousin Vinny - A decent comedy movie, it was nice to see Joe Pesci in this.

Dumber and Dumber - One of the first and favorite comedies that I have seen when I started watching movies and good performances by Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey for making the movie funny. The chemistry between the both of them in this film is astounding and fun to watch.

Dumber and Dumber is #4 on my ballot list.

Have not seen so far: 13

My Ballot List So Far:
#4 - Dumber and Dumber
#25 - Fear - One Pointer

[The Rodent]

Probably alphabetical :)

[Captain Quint]

As someone who enjoys poor taste humor, Petey the bird will never not be funny

[The Rodent]

"I just thought he was real quiet"

[John-Connor]

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/d079FivUa7v29dOf78RHepnul7J.jpg

107134

Dumb and Dumber rules, it’s one of the funniest films ever made. Already gave it a lot of love in the comedy countdown so decided to cut it for this one. Glad it made the list, Mock! Yeah! :D

You know I looked at my favorite actors top 100 and thought, who can deliver such a powerful scene in the believable way Jack did in A Few Good Men? The answer for me is; no one. Funny thing is I came to this conclusion after watching Humphrey Bogart on the stand in The Caine Mutiny (1954). Well, maybe Pacino could do it but he tends to go over the top sometimes. Here’s the kicker, Jack Nicholson did most of it freestyle and off script, shocking everybody on set. What a performance!

Seen 17/18
Ballot 1/25

5. A Few Good Men (1992)

[Allaby]

Dumb and Dumber is stupid fun. I liked it, but didn't consider it for my ballot. A Few Good Men is entertaining and has a great cast. I rated it an 8/10, but it didn't make my ballot.

Seen: 18/18

[MovieGal]

I saw Dumb and Dumber in the cinema when it first came out.

I have seen A Few Good Men years ago.

[ueno_station54]

haven't seen either.

[Omnizoa]

Didn't think to rewatch A Few Good Men.

Didn't expect Dumb & Dumber, but looking back at the 90s Countdown it's slid far down the ladder from it's position in the 50s.

[Holden Pike]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfZrnoo1GPM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYmatQYhZpE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DLt8WNYN2I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQnp9WeBz5s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoCQPEh3MyI

[Miss Vicky]

I’ve seen both of these and neither is my kind of movie.

Seen: 15/18
My Balllot:
12. True Romance (#94)
24. Interview With the Vampire (#92)
25. Untamed Heart (One Pointer)

[Thief]

It can't get more 90s than these two. Here's what I wrote about Dumb and Dumber in the recent Comedy countdown:


I always like to share this story about Dumb and Dumber. The film was released in December 1994. That's when I finished my first semester in college. My very last day of class, projects, tests, etc. I got home shortly after noon and collapsed in bed. Fell asleep, until at around 3pm, I heard someone calling me outside. It was two of my best friends from college, came to pick me up so we could go out and do something, vent the stress of the final day. We hung around for a while but eventually we ended up going to the movies and watching this, and I have to say it was one of the most memorable movie-going experiences for me. We laughed our asses off. It was the perfect film for the perfect moment. Still, as memorable as that moment is for me, I really haven't seen the film in a good while. I'm really not sure how it would fare now, so it was one of my very last cuts.

So, as memorable as it was then for me, if it barely had a chance in a Comedy countdown, it really didn't have much of a chance in an overall 90s countdown.

A Few Good Men, on the other hand, is my second to show up. I think it is one of the best examples of Hollywood successfully "manufacturing" a blockbuster. Star-studded cast, Aaron Sorkin's memorable dialogue, iconic moments, a banger of an ending; it's all in here capping an incredible run for director Rob Reiner. It's all on the verge of being over-produced, but damn it if it doesn't work. Sure, I have issues with the script's insistence on the Demi Moore/Tom Cruise love angle (which wasn't necessary), and the two accused soldiers could've been more fleshed out, but this is one of those defining films for me; one of those that if it's on TV, I'll probably end up watching the whole thing, and I've watched it tons of times. I had it at #19.



SEEN: 9/18
MY BALLOT: 2/25


1.
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4.
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6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. Interview with the Vampire (1994, #92)
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19. A Few Good Men (1992, #84)
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

[Wigram]

5. A Few Good Men (1992) (#84)

25. Beautiful Dreamers (1990) (1 pointer)

[seanc]

Like Office Space, Dumb And Dumber is one of my all time favorite laugh a minute comedies but I just didn’t have room for it here. Super pumped it showed though. Maybe the movie I quote, or at least think about quoting, the most in real life. “That John Denver is full of shit man” may be my favorite line in a comedy ever.

A Few Good Men was my 22. It’s one of a handful of movies that seems to have fallout of favor broadly, so in my mind it kind of shrinks, till I watch it again. Then, it hits all my pleasure points. Tremendous script, tremendous performances. I really love it. That finale still hits hard. I think Demi Moore is underrated in this. Playing against type quite a bit in my opinion. I really like her and Cruise’s dynamic.

Well done Mofo. Wasn’t expecting A Few Good Men

[kgaard]

A Few Good Men is a fine movie, a solid legal procedural with a satsfying--if pure Hollywood--ending. But this is the '90s! And there are a few better films. Not on my list.

I've seen three Farrelly brothers movies, and I haven't liked a single one. Clearly, they are not for me. So no vote from me for Dumb and Dumber.

[TheManBehindTheCurtain]

A Few Good Men: Have seen it. Excellent script and performances. Just not on my list.

Dumb and Dumber: Haven't seen it. Won't see it. Belongs to that class of comedy that just grates on my nerves and raises my blood pressure.

Seen: 11/18
Ballot: 2/25
Sleepless in Seattle: #91 / My #3
Office Space: #95 / My #23

[KeyserCorleone]

A twofer!

A Few Good Men was a movie I used to touch up Rob Reiner's slot on my chart. A part of me loves legal dramas, and Cruise rocked his role as easily as the movie, although a little overlong, rocked the script. Although many of the points have been said before, the way in which they handled the legal proceedings made it feel original. 92

Dumb and Dumber was one of the first movies I watched when my family first got Netflix. "Stupidity" humor usually gets tired for me. It takes a special breed, like Patrick Star, and these two knuckleheads came so close to that. The movie practically wrote the book on stupidity in entertainment, all the way to that hilariously infuriating ending. 86.

Seen 11/18

[stillmellow]

Dumb and Dumber is great 'slightly shameful fun'. Infinitely quotable and completely juvenile, in the best/worst ways. I preferred the Mask, and it's sad to me that Dumb placed higher on the list than Interview with the Vampire, but I enjoyed it. It was far too dumb to make my list though.

A Few Good Men is one of those movies that's "just okay"; but is remembered for one particular scene. Jack Nicholson leaves absolutely nothing back when revealing his character's twisted world views. It proves once again that the best villains are ones who care deeply about things. They can be terrible things, but they have to care.

Didn't make my list either.

Seen: 13/18
List: 1/25

[ApexPredator]

Catching Up with all the entries:

Fallen Angels: Haven't Seen It
Office Space: Liked it, not on my list
True Romance: Thought it was decent, not on the list
Porco Rosso: Haven't Seen It
Interview with the Vampire: Haven't Seen It
Sleepless in Seattle: Haven't Seen It
Three Colors: Red: Haven't Seen It
The Crow: Thought it was decent, not on list
My Cousin Vinny: Very good film, not on list
Total Recall: Very good film, not on list
Gattaca: Very good film, not on list
Dead Man: Haven't Seen It
A Few Good Men: Very good film, not on list
Dumb and Dumber: Liked It, not on list

So Far:

Seen: 9/18

On List:

25. Hurricane Streets (1997)

[Holden Pike]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-iPX-xfnSI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxMC7g_sKjw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWsyO9akx8Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFsazlcDlpk

[Little Ash]

A Few Good Men - I haven't watched it in probably decades. I remember it as a highly entertaining courtroom procedural. It is the movie that comes to mind when I think Sorkin, which is both a good thing and bad thing. Leaves it at that level of entertaining that wasn't in consideration for my list.


Dumb and Dumber - high school, teenage me thought this movie was really funny. But even high school, teenage me preferred Kingpin (also from the Farrelly brothers?). I don't remember when I lost interest in these type of comedies, but I did. Not on my ballot. The one (partial) line that seems to have lived on in my mind was, "Samsonite! I was way off." More-so for whenever I struggle to remember anything, rather than for the actual joke of the line.

[Robert the List]

A Few Good Men's a good shout.
Somehow missed that one, might have been a contender.

[Citizen Rules]

I haven't seen A Few Good Men but after reading about it here I think I should catch it.

Glad to see Dumb and Dumber made the countdown!
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcdni.fancaps.net%2Ffile%2Ffancaps-movieimages%2F3843828.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=8fba880d417e5387347fd4392caa2e68371d4d6339ea6220480d220359a62738&ipo=imagesDumb and Dumber


I had seen this only one time way back in the early 2000s. I liked it then but as time went by my taste in movies has definitely changed, so I wasn't sure if I even wanted to rewatch this again, let alone would I still like it. But I did like it alot:p I laughed out loud. I liked the characters blind ambition and confidence and how they were so stupid they misinterpreted just about everything said to them. I mean it's always good to be smarter than the dumb guys in the movie:D

[Deschain]

A Few Food Men is another of those types of movies we don’t get too much any more. A well done military legal thriller where everyone is just acting the shit out of the script.

Dumb and Dumber still holds up thanks to ironically very smartly written dialogue where the two characters constantly one up each other on their dumbness. Like:

“What happened, some little philly break your heart?”
“No it was a girl.”
“Ahhh.”

[Thief]

I haven't seen A Few Good Men but after reading about it here I think I should catch it.



Surprised that you haven't seen it. I'm sure you'll like it.

[mattiasflgrtll6]

This is the first reveal where I've seen both entries.

A Few Good Men is a classic, and it's nice to see something with Jack Nicholson pop up. His performance is the first one that comes to mind when most people think about the film, which is for good reason. The pure remorseless hatred and intense cold stare as he defends himself until the absolute limit is reaches makes it impossible for you to take your eyes off him
My other favorite Kiefer Sutherland plays it more subtly, though he still conveys that uneasy feeling that he's definitely hiding something.
Pretty much everybody are superb, although Tom Cruise does falter a bit by comparison. He gives a good performance, but it feels a bit rehearsed at times. Nicholson's anger comes across more naturally.

Dumb And Dumber is often cited as the quintessential Jim Carrey comedy. While personally this isn't my favorite he's been in (The Cable Guy and Liar, Liar tickle my funnybone more), what makes it work is the effortlessly charming chemistry he has with Jeff Daniels. Given this was the only thing I knew Jeff from for a long time it surprised me to learn he's more accquinted with dramatic roles, given how natural his comedic timing is. They elevate it from being a movie about a pair of loudmouthed buffoons to something that's kinda heartwarming. No matter how questionable their behavior is at times, there's a very genuine friendship that is able to stand against whatever the world might throw at them.

Although the fact that they just BLATANTLY missed how badly those women wanted them... :facepalm::bea::bashful::rolleyes::modest:

I loved Gattaca, but don't remember it in enough detail to comment on it.

[Holden Pike]

Surprised that you haven't seen it. I'm sure you'll like it.
I am surprised anybody over the age of six hasn't seen A Few Good Men. It is literally on some cable channel or another every single week. It is so omnipresent, full of movie stars, and many elements have long ago entered pop culture ("You want me on that wall, you need me on that wall"/"You can't handle the truth"/etc). It's like you'd almost have to go out of your way to avoid seeing it.

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107143
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzutYSwZcdU

[rauldc14]

I have seen neither of these. Crazy I know.

[Robert the List]

I have seen neither of these. Crazy I know.
Come to think of it I've not started, I mean seen, Dumb and Dumber either.
Not going to count the GIF.

[Deschain]

Dumb And Dumber is often cited as the quintessential Jim Carrey comedy. While personally this isn't my favorite he's been in (The Cable Guy and Liar, Liar tickle my funnybone more), what makes it work is the effortlessly charming chemistry he has with Jeff Daniels. Given this was the only thing I knew Jeff from for a long time it surprised me to learn he's more accquinted with dramatic roles, given how natural his comedic timing is. They elevate it from being a movie about a pair of loudmouthed buffoons to something that's kinda heartwarming. No matter how questionable their behavior is at times, there's a very genuine friendship that is able to stand against whatever the world might throw at them.

Although the fact that they just BLATANTLY missed how badly those women wanted them... :facepalm::bea::bashful::rolleyes::modest:


Same! This was the first thing I saw Jeff Daniels in and thought he must be a comedic powerhouse equal to Jim Carrey. I remember catching No Place Like Home on TV one random morning when I was a little kid thinking it was going to be hilarious because Jeff Daniels was in it. It wasn’t until the movie was over did I realize that it’s definitely NOT a comedy.

[Robert the List]

Would I be accurate in thinking that MoFo hasn't done the 2010s yet?

I can see a millenium countdown, but it was done in 2012.

[KeyserCorleone]

Would I be accurate in thinking that MoFo hasn't done the 2010s yet?

I can see a millenium countdown, but it was done in 2012.

I have the 2010's one near the top of my list of lists. You missed it.

[Citizen Rules]

Would I be accurate in thinking that MoFo hasn't done the 2010s yet?

I can see a millenium countdown, but it was done in 2012.https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2179163#post2179163


The most recent countdowns are at the top of the page, on down to the 1st countdown done at the bottom of the page. Take a look again, you'll see it.

[Captain Quint]

Just a heads up - I have a doctor's appointment in the morning, so I'll have to sleep instead of being my usual night owl self, I thought about posting before I left, but I'm always hurrying about when I have these appointments, so I don't want to add another thing to my plate.

I'm thinking I'll post tomorrows entries later tonight, that'll still give you some room to discuss today's movies, while freeing up my morn to do what I need to do. So around 9 pm pacific/12 eastern?

[Harry Lime]

Of course I've seen A Few Good Men. Who hasn't? That's crazy. But to be fair i probably haven't seen it in 2+ decades. I remember thinking it was decent. But hey like people have mentioned I can remember a lot about it thanks to it's moment in pop culture and always being on TV. Dumb and Dumber...we watched the ***** out of this, Kingpin, and There's Something About Mary back in the day. This was the top though and I did rewatch it recently and it did make laugh out loud...and I wasn't even stoned because I don't do that anymore. Life can't always be so serious and you need these smart-dumb comedies. At least I think so.

[Harry Lime]

Just a heads up - I have a doctor's appointment in the morning, so I'll have to sleep instead of being my usual night owl self, I thought about posting before I left, but I'm always hurrying about when I have these appointments, so I don't want to add another thing to my plate.

I'm thinking I'll post tomorrows entries later tonight, that'll still give you some room to discuss today's movies, while freeing up my morn to do what I need to do. So around 9 pm pacific/12 eastern?
We can go a few hours or a day without a post. Focus on you and your health and don't stress.

But if it's two days we may have a problem. This forum can turn very fast. It's a thin line between order and countdowns and chaos.

[I_Wear_Pants]

I've seen A Few Good Men. It is pretty good. I didn't include it on my list though.

Never saw Dumb and Dumber. It didn't really appeal to me.

[Robert the List]

Just a heads up - I have a doctor's appointment in the morning, so I'll have to sleep instead of being my usual night owl self, I thought about posting before I left, but I'm always hurrying about when I have these appointments, so I don't want to add another thing to my plate.

I'm thinking I'll post tomorrows entries later tonight, that'll still give you some room to discuss today's movies, while freeing up my morn to do what I need to do. So around 9 pm pacific/12 eastern?
Hope all goes well at the quacks.

My suggestion would be just do whatever suits you. It's hardly the be all and end all.

[SpelingError]

I haven't seen A Few Good Men.

Dumb and Dumber was one of my favorite comedies growing up. Not sure how well it would hold up if I were to rewatch it.

[Citizen Rules]

I haven't seen A Few Good Men.
Welcome to my world!
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwp.disruptiveadvertising.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F02%2Fhigh-five.gif&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=b21297f66ee882157c04fb8c7ac9f476b03b04a21f5a6c7b87ee7b3f76a9f770

[TheManBehindTheCurtain]

But if it's two days we may have a problem. This forum can turn very fast. It's a thin line between order and countdowns and chaos.

It's posts like these that make me wish we could give a smilie in addition to thumbs-up. But I suppose it's a slippery slope, one of those "give a mouse a cookie and next he'll want a glass of milk" things. Next a thumbs-down, then ... yeah, real chaos. I guess the child gates Yoda has erected all over the forum are really handy!

[cricket]

Two awesome fun movies that I've seen multiple times, will probably watch again, and didn't come close to my ballot.

[Raven73]

I've watched Dumb & dumber at least a dozen times. I watched it a couple of weeks ago and I still find it hilarious. Some moments are laugh out loud funny. One of Jim Carrey's best.https://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/thumbor/O08dwF99hglNeyqXJwtx_CEu2-4=/fit-in/500x271/top/filters:format_auto():upscale()/2014/11/12/064/n/1922283/6d57843d96f2ea2d_giphy.gif

[iluv2viddyfilms]

Dumb and Dumber and the Farrelly Brothers are not among my favorites, but something about their work and the film Dumb and Dumber is entirely rewatchable. I have never had the urge to watch Dumb and Dumber, however if it was on TV or playing at someone's house in the background, it's one of those films that you know is incredibly dumb and cheap humor, but something about it all clicks and works so well. It's definitely sophomoric gross-out humor, but I think what makes it work so well is that the characters themselves aren't in on the joke. It's why There's Something About Mary (which we'll perhaps see later on this list) also works so well.

If the characters knew they were being jerks or were mean spirited or cruel coupled with the same body and gross-out humor, it might not work so well. But because these characters despite the mean things they do, they are so naïve and out of touch about their stupid little cruelties (selling a boy a dead bird, physically harming one another, insulting the mentally retarded, elderly, etc, etc) that it becomes endearing, as they genuinely believe they are doing good or adding something positive in the world. In word, these characters are sweet AND cruel simultaneously. The fact that the audience is 100-percent clued in, while the characters are not, makes it all click, where otherwise this material would not work... AT ALL.

A Few Good Men on the other hand and A-Aron Sorkin...

[iluv2viddyfilms]

We can go a few hours or a day without a post. Focus on you and your health and don't stress.

But if it's two days we may have a problem. This forum can turn very fast. It's a thin line between order and countdowns and chaos.



Speak for yourself. I'm going to riot! This is no time for a person to selfishly think about their own health in a time where the internets is calling. Life IS the internet, it doesn't exist outside of the internet and we are ONLY our online presence. Duh! What do you think this is, 2005? It's 2025!

[LeBoyWondeur]

Dumb & Dumber is one of those films I always expect to like a little less every time I watch it, but that never happens.
It stays on the right side of Jim Carrey humour, unlike, say, Ace Ventura, which is waaayy too hyper for me.
Had the ballot allowed us 30 choices I might have voted on it.

I've seen A Few Good Men because I never say "no" to a good piece of courtroom drama, but I think of it as a pompous guilty pleasure, a film that may as well have been a late night TV movie. Wouldn't even make my nineties top 100 (if I could make a list of 100 super-favourite nineties films).

[Citizen Rules]

...I've seen A Few Good Men because I never say "no" to a good piece of courtroom drama, but I think of it as a pompous guilty pleasure, a film that may as well have been a late night TV movie. Wouldn't even make my nineties top 100 (if I could make a list of 100 super-favourite nineties films).I don't think anyone here could make a Top 100 90s favorite movie list.

[Harry Lime]

Next a thumbs-down, then ... yeah, real chaos.
I do wish that Yoda would bring back negative rep...for one day a year. Let's call it the Mofo Purge.

[MovieMeditation]

I do wish that Yoda would bring back negative rep...for one day a year. Let's call it the Mofo Purge.
Hell yes! Pure chaos!

And all swear words would be uncensored, politics can be discussed and Yoda can be overruled!

[beelzebubble]

1.
2.
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4.
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6.
7. Dumb and Dumber (1994) - 83rd
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
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24.
25.


First from my list :D

I think what makes Dumb And Dumber so special is that almost every line of dialogue is something that the characters have misheard or misunderstood.
It's just a ton of fun, rewatched it a couple days ago too and it holds up extremely well after 30 years.
Sexy Celebrity would be proud. I wonder if he's skulking around here.
Neither of these is on my list. I did see A Few Good Men. I know Citizen Rules you were other wise engaged at the time. Nudge..Nudge..Wink.. Wink. But know, you need to see A Few Good Men.
I was too snooty back in the nineties to see Dumb and Dumber. Maybe I;ll give it a watch this weekend.

[LeBoyWondeur]

I don't think anyone here could make a Top 100 90s favorite movie list.
paging Robert The List...:D

[iluv2viddyfilms]

Are A Few Good Men and A-Aron Sorkin really... that good... are they really that good?


C'mon, be honest...


Just tell me!!!



I WANT THE TRUTH!!!!!!


(and yeah, I can handle it... maybe)


Regarding A Few Good Men...

I know so many people worship at the screenwriting of A-Aron Sorkin, and why not, the man does like to talk about himself, his writing, and his works, and gives interviews and does masterclasses and you can find a million videos on youtube about him talking about his writing process which is very mechanical and academic... and NO, those are not good things.

His writing is very polished and structured... and fast, very fast, but it comes across as very contrived and cinematic that doesn't always reflect what we know to be reality or the real world. His writing reminds me of a darker and grittier Frank Capra where tragedies and injustice can be solved with great poetic writing from characters who give these big grand monumental speeches or speak in excellent quippy patterns of brilliance... EVEN if it does not suit that character at all. If the gas station attendant starts to quote Shakespeare and breaks out into a soliloquy... OK, cool and all, but I'm wondering... has this dude been around gas station attendants?

I was listening to a story of "Our American Stories" and Rod Serling was talking about his writing and in it he explained that while he was great at coming up with scenarios, stories, and pacing and yes, dialogue, he didn't consider himself a great writing because he said all his character sound the same. That's in part how I feel about A-Aron Sorkin.

I get that people love A-aron Sorkin and he's the creme du la creme of the snooty University academic types who teach screenwriting to 18-22 year olds from well-to-do families that can afford to send their kids to a $50,000/year university to get non-real world applicable degrees, but c'mon... he's not as great as people make him out to be... not near as much.

He doesn't understand nuance, quiet moments, or even real character development as his characters constantly talk and churn out biting and clever dialogue and deliver huge speeches, but life... just ain't like that. He's the type of writer to me that would rather be flashy and show off with how he can weaves words together into a tapestry of biting character interplay, than be reserved and ask is this appropriate for the situation, the characters, and the story. Take writers such as Billy Wilder, Howard Hawks (director, yes I know, but he did work on screenplays), Ernst Lubitsch, and even Sam Peckinpah (a great writer as well as director). They know when to flex and they know when to back down.

I recently re-watch The Wild Bunch and I was in awe of how great and how infrequent the dialogue in a film like that is. "Let's go." .... "Why not." holds more power in those few words that in an entire Sorkin screenplay. The interplay between Jack Lemmon and Shirly McLain in The Apartment is so powerful and they are building their relationship up through brilliantly written story and scenarios, not through clever one-up-manships in dialogue. When Gloria Graham in Nic Ray's In a Lonely Place says how she likes the love scene and how good it is, Bogart explains of course it's good, they're not busy telling each other how much they love one another. In Red River there's so much that's said in so few words... "You think I'm to blame for that..." or understatement in Rio Bravo when Dean Martin is observing how he didn't spill a drop of whisky when pouring it back into the bottle from the whisky glass. We don't get stuff like that from Sorkin, yet Hawks can and does use quippy dialogue when its called for in a film like His Girl Friday.

Take the climatic scene in A Few Good Men, the whole "I want the truth!" "You can't handle the truth!" bit. This whole scene doesn't work and the dialogue undermines itself because it comes at a point the film has created that so hackneyed and contrived that otherwise what could have been great dialogue undermines itself. The judge has ordered the lawyer (Cruise) to be silent, but he continues anyway and ignores the judge in contempt of court, only to be allowed to continue to bait Nicholson's character into delivering a huge self incriminating speech in front of a judge, lawyers, the military, and a room full of witnesses??? WHAT!?!?

If Sorkin had this idea for a confrontation it would be much better served in a quiet moment when the two characters were in passing and delivered in a much more calm and matter of fact approach, rather than grandstanding for some huge climatic quotable YELLING GLORY!!! to the Heavens nonsense. A-Aron missed the whole "less is more" concept.

I know we get these types of things in Capra films and moments that can be solved by a big speech that guilts everyone into doing the right thing and holding a mirror up to their crooked selves, but you can only Mr. Washington-up your dialogue so much.

That's part of why Sorkin and A Few Good Men just don't work for me. And I get he was huge with "The West Wing" and what not, and his work and walk-and-talk dialogue even inspired one of my all time favorite shows, "House M.D." but I just don't find him to be the great word-flingin' wizard that all the university and critics and elites and the Intelliktuuhulls tout him out to be. Not even close.

Also, Jack Nicholson isn't the only one who has "Neither the time, nor the inclination." John Wayne had "neither the time, nor the inclination" 50 years prior in Red River.

[iluv2viddyfilms]

I don't think anyone here could make a Top 100 90s favorite movie list.

You'll have at least half a dozen before midnight now just because of that.

[iluv2viddyfilms]

I have a strange feeling my 4th film will drop in the next pairings.

[Harry Lime]

You want a personal top 100 90s list from me? You can't handle a personal top 100 90s list from me!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmNopAo0PRc
I could make one like that! Also I agree with a lot of what viddy says about Sorkin.

[Holden Pike]

I don't think anyone here could make a Top 100 90s favorite movie list.

This is mine (https://www.movieforums.com/lists/custom/219). I did alter order and choices for my ballot, I did not just replicate the top twenty-five.

[KeyserCorleone]

I don't think anyone here could make a Top 100 90s favorite movie list.


I'd do a "subjective best" list, not a "favorites" list. My #100 for the 90's is Ghost in the Shell, scored at 91.

[Harry Lime]

This is mine (https://www.movieforums.com/lists/custom/219). I did alter order and choices for my ballot, I did not just replicate the top twenty-five.
That's a Holden 90s List if I ever did see one. A lot of my Top 25 are on that. Just going to call out one small, indie, excellent, Canadian, apocalypse film from your list: Last Night. Check it out, Mofo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0skcGu6A01w
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156729/
See Toronto in the late 90s if the world was ending!

[Robert the List]

paging Robert The List...:D
ha!

Although actually, there are people here who know a LOT more films (in most if not all decades) than me.

Captain Quint for example has seen probably multiples more than me!

[Robert the List]

This is mine (https://www.movieforums.com/lists/custom/219). I did alter order and choices for my ballot, I did not just replicate the top twenty-five.
23 Beau Travail


I see what you've done here.

[Harry Lime]

Captain Quint for example has seen probably multiples more than me!
What's multiples? Like Multiplicity? The Harold Ramis directed, Michael Keaton starring, zany clone classic from 1996?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I19IuJYbuyg

[dadgumblah]

It's been forever and a day since I've seen A Few Good Men but I liked it quite a bit. I need to see it again.

Dumb and Dumber is my favorite from the Farrelly Brothers and I saw it when it was first released. I was already a fan of Jim Carrey, but I liked Jeff Daniels quite a bit, so he was the real revelation for me with his comedic flair. An all-time favorite comedy yet I did not include it. I do have comedies on my list, just comedies with dramatic moments or comedy/dramas. Dumb and Dumber is flat-out comedy and doesn't apologize for it one bit. Glad to see it made it.

One of these days I'll make the countdown. One of these. One of. One. :|

[Wooley]

Are A Few Good Men and A-Aron Sorkin really... that good... are they really that good?


C'mon, be honest...


Just tell me!!!



I WANT THE TRUTH!!!!!!


(and yeah, I can handle it... maybe)


Regarding A Few Good Men...

I know so many people worship at the screenwriting of A-Aron Sorkin, and why not, the man does like to talk about himself, his writing, and his works, and gives interviews and does masterclasses and you can find a million videos on youtube about him talking about his writing process which is very mechanical and academic... and NO, those are not good things.

His writing is very polished and structured... and fast, very fast, but it comes across as very contrived and cinematic that doesn't always reflect what we know to be reality or the real world. His writing reminds me of a darker and grittier Frank Capra where tragedies and injustice can be solved with great poetic writing from characters who give these big grand monumental speeches or speak in excellent quippy patterns of brilliance... EVEN if it does not suit that character at all. If the gas station attendant starts to quote Shakespeare and breaks out into a soliloquy... OK, cool and all, but I'm wondering... has this dude been around gas station attendants?

I was listening to a story of "Our American Stories" and Rod Serling was talking about his writing and in it he explained that while he was great at coming up with scenarios, stories, and pacing and yes, dialogue, he didn't consider himself a great writing because he said all his character sound the same. That's in part how I feel about A-Aron Sorkin.

I get that people love A-aron Sorkin and he's the creme du la creme of the snooty University academic types who teach screenwriting to 18-22 year olds from well-to-do families that can afford to send their kids to a $50,000/year university to get non-real world applicable degrees, but c'mon... he's not as great as people make him out to be... not near as much.

He doesn't understand nuance, quiet moments, or even real character development as his characters constantly talk and churn out biting and clever dialogue and deliver huge speeches, but life... just ain't like that. He's the type of writer to me that would rather be flashy and show off with how he can weaves words together into a tapestry of biting character interplay, than be reserved and ask is this appropriate for the situation, the characters, and the story. Take writers such as Billy Wilder, Howard Hawks (director, yes I know, but he did work on screenplays), Ernst Lubitsch, and even Sam Peckinpah (a great writer as well as director). They know when to flex and they know when to back down.

I recently re-watch The Wild Bunch and I was in awe of how great and how infrequent the dialogue in a film like that is. "Let's go." .... "Why not." holds more power in those few words that in an entire Sorkin screenplay. The interplay between Jack Lemmon and Shirly McLain in The Apartment is so powerful and they are building their relationship up through brilliantly written story and scenarios, not through clever one-up-manships in dialogue. When Gloria Graham in Nic Ray's In a Lonely Place says how she likes the love scene and how good it is, Bogart explains of course it's good, they're not busy telling each other how much they love one another. In Red River there's so much that's said in so few words... "You think I'm to blame for that..." or understatement in Rio Bravo when Dean Martin is observing how he didn't spill a drop of whisky when pouring it back into the bottle from the whisky glass. We don't get stuff like that from Sorkin, yet Hawks can and does use quippy dialogue when its called for in a film like His Girl Friday.

Take the climatic scene in A Few Good Men, the whole "I want the truth!" "You can't handle the truth!" bit. This whole scene doesn't work and the dialogue undermines itself because it comes at a point the film has created that so hackneyed and contrived that otherwise what could have been great dialogue undermines itself. The judge has ordered the lawyer (Cruise) to be silent, but he continues anyway and ignores the judge in contempt of court, only to be allowed to continue to bait Nicholson's character into delivering a huge self incriminating speech in front of a judge, lawyers, the military, and a room full of witnesses??? WHAT!?!?

If Sorkin had this idea for a confrontation it would be much better served in a quiet moment when the two characters were in passing and delivered in a much more calm and matter of fact approach, rather than grandstanding for some huge climatic quotable YELLING GLORY!!! to the Heavens nonsense. A-Aron missed the whole "less is more" concept.

I know we get these types of things in Capra films and moments that can be solved by a big speech that guilts everyone into doing the right thing and holding a mirror up to their crooked selves, but you can only Mr. Washington-up your dialogue so much.

That's part of why Sorkin and A Few Good Men just don't work for me. And I get he was huge with "The West Wing" and what not, and his work and walk-and-talk dialogue even inspired one of my all time favorite shows, "House M.D." but I just don't find him to be the great word-flingin' wizard that all the university and critics and elites and the Intelliktuuhulls tout him out to be. Not even close.

Also, Jack Nicholson isn't the only one who has "Neither the time, nor the inclination." John Wayne had "neither the time, nor the inclination" 50 years prior in Red River.

I hear what you're saying.
It's pretty by-the-numbers and it's hardly cinematically inspiring (though I consider a significant chunk of that to be on Reiner). It's corny as f^ck at times.
I've never thought of it as being a great film but it is a very watchable film and it is kinda fun.
Except when Corporal Dawson delivers the awful, excrutiating, "Ten-HUT! There's an officer on deck."
That bit is inexcusable and everyone from Sorkin to Reiner to Bodinson should be publicly flayed for it.

[Holden Pike]

Are A Few Good Men and A-Aron Sorkin really... that good... are they really that good?

I know so many people worship at the screenwriting of A-Aron Sorkin, and why not, the man does like to talk about himself, his writing, and his works, and gives interviews and does masterclasses and you can find a million videos on youtube about him talking about his writing process which is very mechanical and academic... and NO, those are not good things.

I love Sorkin. Not going to try to talk you into liking him. I don't care if you like him or not. But your points aren't very cogent. Like many writers - David Mamet, Woody Allen, Paddy Chayefsky, and Preston Sturges, to name but four - Sorkin has a very identifiable dialogue style and meter. Absolutely. That is not a bad thing, in and of itself. If you don't groove to it, you don't groove to it, but to pretend he is alone in this or that a readily identifiable style makes one a bad or lesser writer is just plain silly.

Monologues from Woody Allen or Mamet or Chayefsky are all identifiable, doesn't matter the project or the profession of the characters or usually even which actors are in the roles, they wind up sounding like the author. Sorkin is clearly that kind of writer. I delight in his reusing not only meter and attitude but actual phrases over and over. Same way I love Preston Sturges and Paddy Chayefsky.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S78RzZr3IwI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jeuV3xXxUc

That's part of why Sorkin and A Few Good Men just don't work for me. And I get he was huge with "The West Wing" and what not, and his work and walk-and-talk dialogue even inspired one of my all time favorite shows, "House M.D." but I just don't find him to be the great word-flingin' wizard that all the university and critics and elites and the Intelliktuuhulls tout him out to be. Not even close.

Your championing of the common man by misspelling intellectual is duly noted. And that you find "The West Wing" overly stylized for posh elites but think "House, M.D." is not just gives away the flimsiness of your rage.

I get that people love A-aron Sorkin and he's the creme du la creme of the snooty University academic types who teach screenwriting to 18-22 year olds from well-to-do families that can afford to send their kids to a $50,000/year university to get non-real world applicable degrees, but c'mon... he's not as great as people make him out to be... not near as much.

I did not go to a $50,000 per year university - not even close - and my English degree wound up getting me a decent career, but I love his stuff all the same. Totes OK that you don't.

Take the climatic scene in A Few Good Men, the whole "I want the truth!" "You can't handle the truth!" bit. This whole scene doesn't work and the dialogue undermines itself because it comes at a point the film has created that so hackneyed and contrived that otherwise what could have been great dialogue undermines itself. The judge has ordered the lawyer (Cruise) to be silent, but he continues anyway and ignores the judge in contempt of court, only to be allowed to continue to bait Nicholson's character into delivering a huge self incriminating speech in front of a judge, lawyers, the military, and a room full of witnesses??? WHAT!?!?

If Sorkin had this idea for a confrontation it would be much better served in a quiet moment when the two characters were in passing and delivered in a much more calm and matter of fact approach, rather than grandstanding for some huge climatic quotable YELLING GLORY!!! to the Heavens nonsense. A-Aron missed the whole "less is more" concept.

Aaron definitely wasn't telling a story in a "less is more" style or tone. But so what? That the whole film builds to the cross examination of Jessup is the point. A beautiful, wonderful, fun, operatic crescendo. It could have been done in whispers in a completely different setting, sure...and it could have been done in a flying saucer by two aliens using telepathy. Again, so what? As William Goldman once noted, you could put on a stage production of Gone with the Wind that is nothing but two characters telling a story in an unfurnished basement and relay the exact same plot points. Or you can mount a four-hour epic. It's all about how you present the material. No right or wrong way, just different styles and approaches.

If you want a quiet courtroom drama...well, I can't really think of any off the top of my head. They all build to a crescendo of one pitch or another. That's the genre. You want to subvert the genre, go right ahead. Sorkin did not aim to do so with A Few Good Men, he played it to the hilt, and joyously so. Very satisfying. For most of the world, anyway.

I'm sorry Ozu, Antonioni, or Tarkovsky didn't take a pass at the courtroom drama to suit the quieter itch I guess you want scratched?

[Captain Quint]

6lists77pointsStrange Days (https://www.movieforums.com/movies/281-strange-days.html)Director
Kathryn Bigelow, 1995

Starring
Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore

[Captain Quint]

7lists77pointsBefore Sunrise (https://www.movieforums.com/movies/76-before-sunrise.html)Director
Richard Linklater, 1995

Starring
Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Andrea Eckert, Hanno Pöschl

[Captain Quint]

Tie broken up by most ballots (7 to 6)

Today we have two from 1995

107163

* We saw Ethan Hawke earlier in Gattaca, and Julie Delpy in Three Colors: Red, today we get them together in the first of a trilogy. While one of the 90s quintessential, indie movies, Sunrise was another that struggled to find its footing on the poll. With the support of 2 second place rankings in the ballots, it managed to make its way into the opening 4th of the countdown. I own the Criterion "Before Trilogy" box set and ranked this one 15th on my list.

* Strange Days - Speaking of folks we've seen before, this is the 2nd time Juliette Lewis has entered the ring (Gilbert Grape was the first with her), and look, there's that Michael Wincott fellow again.

BTW, Juliette is the daughter of actor Geoffrey Lewis, and the first time I saw her was in a bit part in Eastwood's Bronco Billy (with her father), a couple of Clint's kids can be seen there as well (Alison and Kyle)

So, the POV shots were achieved using a lightweight camera they took a year to create in an attempt to try and capture how certain scenes would look to the human eye.

Sunrise was #70 on the previous list, while Strange was unranked.

[Miss Vicky]

Seen both, voted for neither.

I watched Before Sunrise for the 7th Hall of Fame in 2015. Looking at what I wrote, I rated it higher than my memory of it would justify. I'm not sure if that's faulty memory or if I was just feeling overly generous at the time but Linklater's films just don't really work for me. Either way, it didn't leave a lasting impression and was never in consideration for my ballot.

I watched Strange Days on Cricket's recommendation for the Sci Fi Countdown in 2016. I gave it a pretty high rating, but also said I respected it more than I actually liked it. I don't remember if I ended up voting for it for that countdown. Sci Fi isn't really my cup of tea, at least not when it takes itself seriously, and this movie also didn't leave a lasting impression so it was never in contention for my ballot. I did have another Kathryn Bigelow movie ranked quite high on it though.

Seen: 17/20
My Balllot:
12. True Romance (#94)
24. Interview With the Vampire (#92)
25. Untamed Heart (One Pointer)

[Captain Quint]

Teaser for the Next Entry!
107166
The first director with two films on the list just might appear on Friday morn - I think, maybe, it's possible - Who could it be? (time will tell)

[The Rodent]

Teaser for the Next Entry!
107166
The first director with two films on the list just might appear on Friday morn - I think, maybe, it's possible - Who could it be? (time will tell)

I reckon then it'll be a double movie feature with both movies from the same director :D

Gonna go with... Jurassic... and Shindler's... also both from 1993 :p

Now wouldn't that be amazeballs...

[Captain Quint]

I'm sorry Ozu, Antonioni, or Tarkovsky didn't take a pass at the courtroom drama...

Ha, the very thought of Ozu, and a Chishū Ryū pillow shot, for that scene, tickles me to no end

107170

[Miss Vicky]

I reckon then it'll be a double movie feature with both movies from the same director :D

Gonna go with... Jurassic... and Shindler's... also both from 1993 :p

Now wouldn't that be amazeballs...

I would be shocked if either of those movies appeared so soon. 79 and 80? Way too low.

[TheManBehindTheCurtain]

Strange Days: Beginning to strike out a lot. Haven't seen this one, though I know the title. Another to add to the watch list, as I'm a fan of Kathryn Bigelow and the main cast members.

Before Sunrise: Based on its reputation among cinephiles, I would have expected this to place MUCH higher. One of those titles I always feel obligated to apologize for not having seen. But the synopsis just doesn't compel me to invest the time; sounds too much like what fourth-year students would be assigned to create in film school.

Seen: 11/20
Ballot: 2/25
Sleepless in Seattle: #91 / My #3
Office Space: #95 / My #23

[Robert the List]

Teaser for the Next Entry!
107166
The first director with two films on the list just might appear on Friday morn - I think, maybe, it's possible - Who could it be? (time will tell)
Days of Being Wild not making the list is just odd.

As is MoFo not thinking it's Wong Kar Wai's best film of the 90s.

And no The Double Life of Veronique??? **** you MoFos.

Edit: assumes "two films" means more than one film.

[Robert the List]

Heard of: 15/20
Started: 13/20
Finished: 3/20
In my ballot: 0/20
Maximum films from my ballot that can still make the list: 23/25*

*assumes that two films means two or more films

[Robert the List]

Also Captain Quint, that must be the first director with 2 films in the list which he/she directed, because Tarantino.

[TheManBehindTheCurtain]

Are A Few Good Men and A-Aron Sorkin really... that good... are they really that good?

(A lot of excellent analysis, omitted to save space ...)



Ah ... well done!

So, it's posts like this that I really look forward to here. Well, no, I don't agree with everything here, but the point is I can't agree or disagree without spending some time ... thinking.

The key point that I sync with: the "you can't handle the truth" scene is so reverred and quoted, and yet when I first watched it decades ago and then rewatched it later ... I didn't buy it. Throughout the movie, Jessup presents as a sharp, cagey and, most important, cool character. So I didn't see him getting goaded into a confession. He'd have clammed up on the stand then sent someone to pound on Kaffee later. So it felt like Sorkin had that big moment in mind from the start and painted himself into a corner with the characterizations and had to pull an outsized moment out of his hat and hope no one noticed it was just hot air.

On the other hand, I found plenty to admire in Molly's Game, The Social Network, and Moneyball, all of which were set in circumstances where cool, slick, dialog would be something you'd expect. For this English major, plenty of "gosh, I wish I could write like that" moments.

[Allaby]

Strange Days is a 6/10 for me. A couple good moments, but much of it doesn't work for me. Performances are hit and miss. It also felt longer than it needed to be. Before Sunrise is an 8/10. It didn’t make my ballot, but I enjoyed it.

Seen: 20/20

[Allaby]

Teaser for the Next Entry!
107166
The first director with two films on the list just might appear on Friday morn - I think, maybe, it's possible - Who could it be? (time will tell)

My guess is Robert Altman. Short Cuts will show up first and then The Player. It feels too early for Spielberg or Tarantino to show up.

[gbgoodies]

I've seen A Few Good Men several times because it happened to be on TV while I was looking for something to watch, and it's a great movie, but it's a movie that I rarely have a desire to watch, so it didn't make my list. However if I had made my list based on best movies instead of favorite movies, it probably would have made my list.

I've seen the trailer for Dumb and Dumber and it looks like a movie that I would hate, so I haven't seen it. However I like Jim Carrey, and a lot of people here seem to love it, so I might decide to give it a chance someday, but probably not in the near future.


I saw Strange Days several years ago for either a movie tournament or a HoF here, and while I don't remember much about the movie itself, I do remember liking it more than I expected to, but I also remember that it was a bit too violent for my taste.

I've seen Before Sunrise several times, and I think it's one of the most romantic movies ever made. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy have wonderful chemistry together. I wanted to include this movie on my list, but I just couldn't find room for it, and it was one of the last movies that was cut from my list. I'm very happy to see that it made the list without my help.

[ueno_station54]

strange days is the first movie to show up that i haven't even heard of and despite seeing a handful of linklater films none of them were in the before trilogy.

[dadgumblah]

I wanted to see Strange Days when it came out but I missed out. I generally like Kathryn Bigelow films so I will see it someday. I will see it. I will see. I will. I. ;)

I've seen Before Sunrise but it's been a long time. I remember liking it quite a bit. I've also seen the next film in the trilogy and liked it, but for some reason I didn't finish out with the last one. I need to watch them all in one fell swoop.

Still nill for me, but soon. I can feel it. Soon!

[John-Connor]

Teaser for the Next Entry!
107166
The first director with two films on the list just might appear on Friday morn - I think, maybe, it's possible - Who could it be? (time will tell)

https://i.gifer.com/ZShv.gif

[Holden Pike]

107171

Strange Days was #81 on the MoFo Top 100 Sci-Fi Films and #65 on the MoFo Top 100 Neo-Noirs. Before Sunrise was #70 on the initital MoFo Top 100 of the 1990s. In fact the whole trilogy placed, with Before Sunset at #42 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 2000s and Before Midnight #66 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 2010s.

[John-Connor]

https://i.imgur.com/kgVuESC.gif

Actor Stats Pit Stop

107173

3
Michael Wincott
(The Crow, Dead Man, Strange Days)

2
Juliette Lewis
(What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Strange Days)

Johnny Depp
(What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Dead Man)

Brad Pitt
(True Romance, Interview with the Vampire)

Christian Slater
(Interview with the Vampire, True Romance)

Ethan Hawke
(Gattaca, Before Sunset)

Tom Cruise
(A Few Good Men, Interview with the Vampire)

Tom Sizemore
(True Romance, Strange Days)

Crispin Glover
(What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Dead Man)

[pls let me know if I've missed anyone and I will edit them in]

[Holden Pike]

The first director with two films on the list just might appear on Friday morn - I think, maybe, it's possible - Who could it be? (time will tell)
Already lots of possibilities.

The graph on page two states there are seventy-nine different directors making up our list. I am lousy at math, but I think that means at the very most there can only be as many as twenty-one with at least a pair of films. But there must be at least a few directors who have three or maybe even more (Spielberg, Tarantino, Joel Coen?), so really it's probably more like sixteen or seventeen with a pair of titles, each. Of the twenty titles revealed so far, these are the filmmakers I suspect to have multiple films:
Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break to join Strange Days)
Neil Jordan (The Crying Game to join Interview with the Vampire)
Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused to join Before Sunrise)
Krzysztof Kieslowski (Three Colours: Blue and The Double Life of Veronique
to join Three Colours: Red)
Takeshi Kitano (Hana-Bi to join Sonatine)
Hayao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke to join Porco Rosso)
Alex Proyas (Dark City to join The Crow)
Rob Reiner (Misery to join A Few Good Men)
Paul Verhoeven (Starship Troopers or Basic Instinct to join Total Recall)
Wong Kar-Wai (Chungking Expresss to join Fallen Angels)

As stated earlier, I do not expect another Tony Scott film. I think Dead Man has got to be Jarmusch's most popular title. I don't see Julien Donkey-Boy placing over Gummo for Harmony Korine. Lasse Hallström's others won't place. Jonathan Lynn, Nora Ephron, and Mike Judge must be one-offs. Thomas Vinterberg, too. Andrew Niccol only had the one movie in the decade. There's Something About Mary didn't even make the Comedies list, it certainly isn't going higher than Dumb and Dumber for Farrelly.

So which of those likely repeat offenders is coming first? I'll go with Dark City, though I don't think Three Colours: Blue is going to be too far away from Red, so it must be coming soon, too.

[PHOENIX74]

Four to catch up with and I've seen them all - keeping that 100% streak going. The further we go, the better chance I have that I'll go the whole journey.

84. A Few Good Men (1992) - Good one. I've seen this numerous times - last time around 2 years ago. I wrote this on letterboxd : "What a scene. Tom Cruise's brash young military lawyer, Daniel Kaffee, out of chances and his career all but over. Jack Nicholson's hard as steel, contemptable Colonel is on the stand, and unless Kaffee can get an unlikely admission of guilt all is lost. The clash is so memorable that "You can't handle the truth!" entered the vernacular, but I get a kick from all of A Few Good Men, despite it's mainstream credentials and courtroom drama plays. Jack Nicholson absolutely dominates despite only being onscreen for around 10 to 15 minutes total. Nobody else but Cruise could have been as cocky and smug as your typical deal-seeking, ambulance chasing - but ultimately redeemed - character. Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland, J. T. Walsh and Kevin Pollak round out a fine group of players. I still don't know why a perfectly ordinary film of this nature rises so high above the pack, but it does and I always enjoy it a lot." Love it. Definitely would make my Top 100.

83. Dumb and Dumber (1994) - I've seen this many a time as well. Last time just late last year. I wrote this on letterboxd : "I guess you have to give a movie a few points if it brings the laughs - and Dumb and Dumber certainly does, thanks mainly to a surprise chemistry Jeff Daniels shares with Jim Carrey - the latter of whom I may have expected to have wanted to dominate proceedings and nudge the former to the sidelines. Daniels has a shaggy dog goofy, cuddly kind of cuteness that does a lot to endear us to his character (Harry) and every time his child-like laugh comes into play I smile. Making a movie with two characters who are drop-dead stupid has the risk of alienating us from it's protagonists, but when they make us laugh as often as they do there's no problem. This is all packaged in a familiar way, but the Farrelly brothers (with Peter directing) were pushing boundaries already, and a few experiments produce the unexpected - everyone else plays dead straight, so the source of all the fun and mischief are our two memorable characters. There's not much more you can say about Dumb and Dumber - it's not a cinematic masterpiece or brain-teaser, just a collection of jokes regarding misinterpretation, mistaken analysis, fouled up computation and cerebral discombobulation. Funny enough to have been a massive hit - and enough to be quite watchable every once in a while." I like it a lot!

82. Strange Days (1995) - This came up in a Hall of Fame I think, a while ago (not sure if it was personal recommendation or not). Those reviews I write are too lengthy to reproduce here, but to selectively choose a quote I said "Strange Days is a little too action-heavy to take really seriously as an artistic statement, but musically and visually it's a fine piece of work and I really like it. I like it's cast (except for Sizemore - who I have to admit I don't really like at all) and I like it's style. It was gripping enough to really have me in the palm of it's hand come the climax, and this climax takes much more than 2 hours to reach - so for a film to do that it has to work especially well." It scored a 3.5/5 from me, and I now have it on DVD. I do remember that the technological advance in it was too impressive for 1999 (it's still too impressive for 2025!) Popular one - might not make my personal Top 100, but I enjoyed watching it when I did.

81. Before Sunrise (1995) - One from my ballot! I watched the whole Before trilogy for the first time around 3 years ago, and have it on Criterion. I ended up giving Before Sunrise a 4.5/5 rating and briefly said on letterboxd : "Such a simple concept, delivered in such a sincere way, that takes you back to falling in love when you were young and life seemed eternal. This film wears it's heart on it's sleeve and is delivered by it's two fine actors in a beautiful fashion." Nice. Vies with Before Midnight as far as being my favourite of the three. Before Sunrise ended up snagging the #22 spot on my list, and I'm delighted it made this countdown (because although I love it, it didn't get all that much help from me.) Hoorah!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seen : 20/20
I'd never even heard of : 0/20
Movies that had been on my radar, but I haven't seen yet : 0/20
Films from my list : 2 + 1 pointer

#81 - My #22 - Before Sunrise (1995)
#96 - My #15 - Fallen Angels (1995)
1-pointer - Deep Crimson (1996)

[PHOENIX74]

Speaking of Tom Sizemore, since he's scored twice with True Romance and Strange Days already, he's probably set to make 5 appearances actor-wise. I had no idea he'd passed away.

[Robert the List]

https://i.imgur.com/kgVuESC.gif

Actor Stats Pit Stop

107173

3
Michael Wincott
(The Crow, Dead Man, Strange Days)

2
Juliette Lewis
(What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Strange Days)

Johnny Depp
(What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Dead Man)

Brad Pitt
(True Romance, Interview with the Vampire)

Christian Slater
(Interview with the Vampire, True Romance)

Ethan Hawke
(Gattaca, Before Sunset)

Tom Cruise
(A Few Good Men, Interview with the Vampire)

Tom Sizemore
(True Romance, Strange Days)

Crispin Glover
(What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Dead Man)

[pls let me know if I've missed anyone and I will edit them in]
Great effort JC.

[Robert the List]

OHHHHH

So he's not saying that none of the directors who have appeared so far have more than 1 film on the list?

He's saying that the next director has already appeared?????

There's an important difference you know.

[MovieGal]

Heard of both, haven't seen either.

[Holden Pike]

Speaking of Tom Sizemore, since he's scored twice with True Romance and Strange Days already, he's probably set to make 5 appearances actor-wise.
Could be six. Obviously Saving Private Ryan and Heat are both locks, but I suspect Point Break and Natural Born Killers will both make the cut, too. I do not think Bringing Out the Dead, Devil in a Blue Dress, or Enemy of the State will make it on that next tier. He was in twenty-four feature films in the 1990s, plus television projects, a very busy fella. Just ask Heidi Fleiss.

I had no idea he'd passed away.
Indeed. (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?t=67690&highlight=sizemore)

107174

[Holden Pike]

There's an important difference you know.
It surely is.

[seanc]

Rauldc and I were just talking about Strange Days the other day. One of the Bigelow’s I haven’t watched yet, and hard to stream for some reason. It’s coming to Criterion Channel in May, so I will definitely check it out then.


I really need to rewatch Before Sunrise. I saw it for the first time ten years ago or so and absolutely fell for it. I believe I even put it on my first 100 I did around here. Such a simple idea executed beautifully. The pace and dialogue is right in my wheelhouse. Somewhere along the line I stopped thinking about it, so it didn’t make my list. Confident it would get back in the mix of my favorites when/if I check it out again, so really pleased to see it here.

[Omnizoa]

That's a hit on my list, Strange Days was my #13:

1. ???
...
13. Strange Days (1995)
...
22. The Crow (1994)
...
25. ???

Only TheUsualSuspect and I have reviewed this movie and my review is very long (https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/1487001-strange_days.html).

Basically, it's a retro-futuristic drama set at the turn of the millennium with the only technological advancement being the ability to record memories and trade them around like drugs. The city is nearly on the brink of total anarchy when a police officer murders a rapper, and the witness's recorded memories become the all-important piece of evidence to arrest them and avert a race war.

I liked this movie the first time I saw it, and it's aged disturbingly well considering the turmoil of the 2020s. I honestly hate how true-to-life it is, it's verged into that annoying space where "I don't have to suspend my belief to imagine a viral video pitching the world into total batshit chaos."

Fortunately, I think the movie's priorities are very much in order; it is not condescending to make grandiose statements about the world or social justice, but the characters of Lenny and Mace give you two different sympathetic angles into the world and honestly, they are on the very very short list of romantic couples I actually like.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=24758&stc=1&d=1459470551


Strange Days also kinda falls into that annoying pocket of movies where it's just good enough that I keep rewatching it, but never quite good enough that I'd consider it an all-time favorite. In fact, if I'd have rewatched it for this Countdown, it probably would have dropped down my list a bit.

Some excerpts from my review:

I'm really at a loss with this movie. Mostly because it's one of those that I really struggle to criticize. It's paced great, the story makes sense, and it manages to be really absorbing all throughout.Juliette Lewis and Michael Wincott turn in weak performances (Lewis seems stupid bored and Wincott is like if Top Dollar from The Crow smoked a cigarette factory).Honestly, my biggest praise for the movie has got to land squarely on it's two lead characters, Lenny and Mace, played by Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett respectively.She puts Rose from Titanic to shame easily, and the best parallel I can make to her is Deunan from Appleseed.

...or maybe Briareos...

Yes, imagine Angela Bassett as a cyborg supersoldier,
carrying around a little Ralph Fiennes. It's exactly like that.it's very hard to imagine that this would be made today without current politics taking it from a position of pre-2000s egalitarian idealism and turning it into something frankly putrid and disgusting.Jericho One apparently can't "drive a Jeep while black", yet Mace can drive a limo without any problems at all.the one scene at the end in which Mace is attacked by police, she is explicitly resisting arrest [...] Obviously she's in the right because these two are the cops responsible for the street execution that sets up the main conflict of the movie, but cut me a ****ing break, she's like "yeah I'll comply, but only after you let me tell you the story of my people"I appreciate that they make a point of showing that not all police are bad guys, and the main characters ultimately decide that discretely releasing the evidence of the execution to authorities is safer than RELEASING IT TO THE MEDIA.

WE SAW HOW THAT ****ING WENT DIDN'T WE!?I will resist the temptation to share some of my more sizzling opinions due to the unfortunate new "No Politics" rule.

[Torgo]

A Few Good Men? Why watch that when you can watch...

https://youtu.be/PKjr3S6NxPo?si=xNteAW1DSbz3Ii2C

[Thief]

I've been hovering over Strange Days ever since the days of video rental stores. Not sure why I've never followed through with actually renting/watching it since it seems like very much my kind of film. Maybe I'll check it out today, who knows.

Before Sunrise is great. As far as the trilogy goes, I prefer Before Sunset, but the first one is no dud and is my second favorite. It still didn't make my list, but I will probably share something I wrote about it in a while.



SEEN: 10/20
MY BALLOT: 2/25


1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. Interview with the Vampire (1994, #92)
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19. A Few Good Men (1992, #84)
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

[seanc]

Are A Few Good Men and A-Aron Sorkin really... that good... are they really that good?


C'mon, be honest...


Just tell me!!!



I WANT THE TRUTH!!!!!!


(and yeah, I can handle it... maybe)


Regarding A Few Good Men...

I know so many people worship at the screenwriting of A-Aron Sorkin, and why not, the man does like to talk about himself, his writing, and his works, and gives interviews and does masterclasses and you can find a million videos on youtube about him talking about his writing process which is very mechanical and academic... and NO, those are not good things.

His writing is very polished and structured... and fast, very fast, but it comes across as very contrived and cinematic that doesn't always reflect what we know to be reality or the real world. His writing reminds me of a darker and grittier Frank Capra where tragedies and injustice can be solved with great poetic writing from characters who give these big grand monumental speeches or speak in excellent quippy patterns of brilliance... EVEN if it does not suit that character at all. If the gas station attendant starts to quote Shakespeare and breaks out into a soliloquy... OK, cool and all, but I'm wondering... has this dude been around gas station attendants?

I was listening to a story of "Our American Stories" and Rod Serling was talking about his writing and in it he explained that while he was great at coming up with scenarios, stories, and pacing and yes, dialogue, he didn't consider himself a great writing because he said all his character sound the same. That's in part how I feel about A-Aron Sorkin.

I get that people love A-aron Sorkin and he's the creme du la creme of the snooty University academic types who teach screenwriting to 18-22 year olds from well-to-do families that can afford to send their kids to a $50,000/year university to get non-real world applicable degrees, but c'mon... he's not as great as people make him out to be... not near as much.

He doesn't understand nuance, quiet moments, or even real character development as his characters constantly talk and churn out biting and clever dialogue and deliver huge speeches, but life... just ain't like that. He's the type of writer to me that would rather be flashy and show off with how he can weaves words together into a tapestry of biting character interplay, than be reserved and ask is this appropriate for the situation, the characters, and the story. Take writers such as Billy Wilder, Howard Hawks (director, yes I know, but he did work on screenplays), Ernst Lubitsch, and even Sam Peckinpah (a great writer as well as director). They know when to flex and they know when to back down.

I recently re-watch The Wild Bunch and I was in awe of how great and how infrequent the dialogue in a film like that is. "Let's go." .... "Why not." holds more power in those few words that in an entire Sorkin screenplay. The interplay between Jack Lemmon and Shirly McLain in The Apartment is so powerful and they are building their relationship up through brilliantly written story and scenarios, not through clever one-up-manships in dialogue. When Gloria Graham in Nic Ray's In a Lonely Place says how she likes the love scene and how good it is, Bogart explains of course it's good, they're not busy telling each other how much they love one another. In Red River there's so much that's said in so few words... "You think I'm to blame for that..." or understatement in Rio Bravo when Dean Martin is observing how he didn't spill a drop of whisky when pouring it back into the bottle from the whisky glass. We don't get stuff like that from Sorkin, yet Hawks can and does use quippy dialogue when its called for in a film like His Girl Friday.

Take the climatic scene in A Few Good Men, the whole "I want the truth!" "You can't handle the truth!" bit. This whole scene doesn't work and the dialogue undermines itself because it comes at a point the film has created that so hackneyed and contrived that otherwise what could have been great dialogue undermines itself. The judge has ordered the lawyer (Cruise) to be silent, but he continues anyway and ignores the judge in contempt of court, only to be allowed to continue to bait Nicholson's character into delivering a huge self incriminating speech in front of a judge, lawyers, the military, and a room full of witnesses??? WHAT!?!?

If Sorkin had this idea for a confrontation it would be much better served in a quiet moment when the two characters were in passing and delivered in a much more calm and matter of fact approach, rather than grandstanding for some huge climatic quotable YELLING GLORY!!! to the Heavens nonsense. A-Aron missed the whole "less is more" concept.

I know we get these types of things in Capra films and moments that can be solved by a big speech that guilts everyone into doing the right thing and holding a mirror up to their crooked selves, but you can only Mr. Washington-up your dialogue so much.

That's part of why Sorkin and A Few Good Men just don't work for me. And I get he was huge with "The West Wing" and what not, and his work and walk-and-talk dialogue even inspired one of my all time favorite shows, "House M.D." but I just don't find him to be the great word-flingin' wizard that all the university and critics and elites and the Intelliktuuhulls tout him out to be. Not even close.

Also, Jack Nicholson isn't the only one who has "Neither the time, nor the inclination." John Wayne had "neither the time, nor the inclination" 50 years prior in Red River.


You are of course free to like whatever screenwriters you want but criticising Sorkin’s dialogue for not being realistic when he’s not trying to be seems very strange to me. That’s just a case of you not liking his style, not him trying to accomplish something he isn’t.

Just for the record, I don’t believe I have ever watched a Sorkin interview, although I have heard he’s pretty egotistical. Those type of things just don’t effect how I feel about movies themselves. Hell, I had no clue who Sorkin was the first half a dozen times I watched A Few Good Men.

Also didn’t go to a $50,000 University, and if you have read any of my posts you know I’m not an academic type. Don’t even have a college degree unfortunately. I wish I went to a $50,000 University.

Again, like what you like, but your criticisms seem more like an axe to grind then they do an actual critique of the movie.

[Holden Pike]

Again, like what you like, but your criticisms seem more like an axe to grind then they do an actual critique of the movie.
https://media.tenor.com/9OuHnAdW3dMAAAAC/facts-few.gif

[Citizen Rules]

Strange Days...seen it long ago and was impressed enough to have it as #7 on my Neo Noir countdown ballot. I didn't have room for in on my 90s ballot and haven't ever rewatch it, so I don't know how I'd feel about it today. But glad it made the countdown.

[Citizen Rules]

Before Sunrise, should have been a movie I loved...But I disliked it. I thought the conversation seemed canned like it came out of a writer's pen and not the actor's feelings. The actors weren't intuitive to each other...instead they spoke at each other. Often they seemed to be focused on their own lines...and not playing off the other person. Especially in the dialogue intense scene in the train during their first meeting it played like a rehearsal.

[kgaard]

Haven't seen Strange Days.

I said before that Ethan Hawke is my Hollywood doppelganger--it's not just the physical resemblance (to be clear, Hawke is a better-looking version of me; there's a reason he is a film star and I am not. Well, there's also the talent and years of training and effort), it's specifically thinking of Before Sunrise and the other Before films and how exactly they track the emotional arc of my relationships over the years (not incidentally, Hawke is just over a year older than me). Not in the details, but in the earnest romanticism of that time of life, the foolish bravery. I didn't fall in love with a foreigner on an overnight train in Europe, but I did fall in love and make grand, absurd romantic gestures. So when I saw this movie when it came out, with the first great love of my life, in what turned out to be the twilight of that relationship, it went straight to my heart. It has lived there, along with its sequels, ever since. Obviously, I was one of the two voters who put it at #2.

[Harry Lime]

The Captain pulled it off after all and posted the next two!
https://www.themoviebuff.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/a-few-good-men-movie-stills_5369664-400x305.jpeg


I'm always happy to see Strange Days show up on a list or in conversation, internet or otherwise, and I've been meaning to watch it again but never get around to it. Good movie. I like the Before series well enough, and would probably pick this first one as a favourite just because I tend to like the more rawness of it than the others, but I've never thought they were great. Others do though so that's cool.

[ScarletLion]

Before Trilogy is great. I only found this out the other day:

Richard Linklater's "Before Sunrise" was inspired by a young lady he just met, named Amy Lehrhaupt. He tried to contact her for years, but she never appeared, Later he discovered she died before the 1st movie came out. At the end of the 3rd movie, on the credits, we can read "Dedicated to to Amy"

[Thief]

BEFORE SUNRISE
(1995, Linklater)

https://i.imgur.com/4fSaNUa.jpeg


"If there's any kind of magic in this world... it must be in the attempt of understanding someone, sharing something. I know it's almost impossible to succeed... but who cares, really? The answer must be in the attempt."



Human relationships are complicated; whether you're rebuking your parents, dealing with your siblings, or trying to understand your partner. A lot of people go through their lives never understanding their loved ones, or what's worse, never making the effort to listen, to understand, to try to connect with the other person. That's the focus of this romantic drama from Richard Linklater where two strangers try to make the best of the little time they have together, and try to share their secrets, and understand the other.

Before Sunrise follows Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy), two complete strangers that meet on a train in Europe. After a brief conversation where they develop a connection, Jesse convinces Celine to get off the train with him in Vienna, and they spend the night walking around the streets getting to know each other, talking about a variety of topics, while also sharing stories about their lives.

This is only the third Linklater film I've seen (the others being Dazed and Confused and School of Rock), but like with those two, he excels in creating a casual and organic environment where actors feel like real persons. Kudos also to Hawke and Delpy, who completely inhabit their characters, pretty much improvising most of the dialogue. It is on their shoulders that the strength of the film lies. If you can't connect with Jesse and Celine, the film would probably be worthless.

Through their conversations, you see Jesse and Celine's longing for understanding. As they open up to each other, they end up revealing many secrets and emotions, and you end up believing that relationships shouldn't be that complicated, if we are open with each other. By the end, even if they don't end up together, you believe this "adventure" was worth the "attempt". Just like them, Linklater took a bold step with a film that consists mostly of two people talking with each other. It's up to you to decide if it was worth the "attempt". It was for me.

Grade: 4

[Thief]

^This is the review I wrote back in 2018 when I first saw the film. After that, I've gone and watched the other two and Boyhood, as far as Linklater films go.

[SpelingError]

Both films are really good, but I voted for neither.

[mrblond]

84. A Few Good Men (1992)
83. Dumb and Dumber (1994)

Once again, Saw these two in theatre when they came out and forgot about them the next day.
Couple of worthy scenes with Jack Nicholson and that's all to remember for the former. Awful shame for Jeff Daniels in an unbelievable mediocre part of cinema, that's for the later.

[mrblond]

I've examined the Before trilogy not before the mid 2010's. I was caught by the inexplicable magic of Before Sunrise and I kept some warm feeling for this film. Ethan Hawke is superb and the directing is very good and so on... and not the last - a year or two before watching it, me and my fiancée spent a week in Vienna, so it was magical while seeing Hawke and Delpy walking in this city like us.

No vote from me here but this title would definitely be in my top 50 of that decade.

107191

[Captain Quint]

107192
I revisited this trilogy several years ago - the first 2 were magic, indeed, just as I remembered them, romantic and philosophical, the 3rd was painfully real, and while it had some pacing issues for me, it was still a winner. After the revisit, I'd say my favorite of the trilogy is Sunset.

BTW - the Criterion extras were plentiful and lengthy, and the thick booklet made for a good read, so I definitely got my money’s worth (a real bargain too as I picked it up during the 50% off sale). My ratings...

Before Sunrise 4.5
Before Sunset 5
Before Midnight 4

[Robert the List]

It feels a bit weird that I have no prior knowledge of the existence of the film Strange Days.

Like one of those moments where you wonder if you've just switched to some very near parallel universe, like Coherence (which incidentally I don't recall seeing in the 2010s list either?).

[Thursday Next]

Before Sunrise was on my long list. I think I prefer Sunset but I'd have to watch them again to be sure. I didn't like Before Midnight as much.


Strange Days was my #20. I was a bit unsure where to place it. I certainly remember it with affection but if I rewatched it now would I really rank it higher than some of the other contenders? Impossible to say, so it gets a few points from me for being a fondly remembered fin-de-siecle sci-fi thriller with strong lead characters.



I must have seen A Few Good Men but I'd quite like to watch it again to see how it holds up. If anything I think I'd probably appreciate it more now. Dumb and Dumber was never a favorite of mine.

Seen: 19/20
My list: 5/25

[stillmellow]

I've never heard of BeforeSunrise. I've heard of Strange Days, but have never seen it.


Seen: 13/20
List: 1/25

[iluv2viddyfilms]

You are of course free to like whatever screenwriters you want but criticising Sorkin’s dialogue for not being realistic when he’s not trying to be seems very strange to me. That’s just a case of you not liking his style, not him trying to accomplish something he isn’t.

Again, like what you like, but your criticisms seem more like an axe to grind then they do an actual critique of the movie.



Yes and... yes?

Sure, it's possible to not have a personal preference for someone's style, while recognizing it as good. It's also possible to not like a person's style and recognize it as being not good because it isn't quality or doesn't fit the premise, world, or tone of the piece of art. I don't think Michael Bay goes for realism in his action, but that doesn't stop anyone from criticizing his movies for being ridiculous, just as a lot of the big speeches in Sorkin’s work are ridiculous and out of step with the stories and films. But it's their style right? OK, so is the claim that having a style make something pass as inherently quality work? OK....

I think A Few Good Men while not presenting itself as a full fledged courtroom procedural, does try to work within the realm of being grounded somewhat in reality, so when we have big pompous scenes like the Can't Handle the Truth! speech, it's just not appropriate and is a writer grandstanding.

Also I don't have time at the moment to address each item of fallout that I apparently laid out a landmine for in criticising Sorkin and A Few Good Men and the triggering effect it created.

It is interesting however when I observed that Sorkin does appeal to academic circles how triggering that was that several deemed it urgent to report their tuitions and college degrees. Geesh. Is it OK for me to still find Nolan a bad director because he can't hold his camera still or frame shots? Is it OK also to critique how he has unjustly gained such a huge following too which gives the illusion that there's more there than what I believe there truly is.

I also don't like Lord of the Rings either for what it's worth nor find those films to be good. . And Sorkin is still an over evaluated writer... even if a person only paid $10,000/year in tuition and has a philosophy, English, or journalism degree.

[KeyserCorleone]

Strange Days is my second favorite Bigelow. It proves that she's capable of real depth and intrigue while introducing a new and successful stylistic ability. 97

Before Sunrise didn't quite make my ballot, but it's still flawless to me. It's like a Sleuth or Autumn Sonata chamber film dissecting romance in all its forms, but then you stick them out in public where the world affects them, and it becomes something new. 100

Seen 13/20

[iluv2viddyfilms]

Before Sunrise didn't connect with me, however Strange Days is wonderful and was on my long list, but I didn't vote for it.

[Thief]

Stats: Pit Stop #2

https://i.imgur.com/z2DcX6E.jpeg

-

Now that we've hit the second pit stop (80), we can reminisce for a while about that time... in Gordon Street, while we read some stats:

Decade Breakdown


1990 = 1
1991 = 0
1992 = 3
1993 = 4
1994 = 4
1995 = 4
1996 = 0
1997 = 2
1998 = 1
1999 = 1



1993 got stuck in a rut, while 1994 and 1995 went up and tied with it, all with four (4) entries now. The rest remains somewhat evenly split.

No repeating directors yet, which will probably change soon. We do have one (1) additional foreign film, for a total of five (5), but no more animated films so we sit with just the one (1)

[I_Wear_Pants]

I'm pretty sure I'm at 4/20 seen. I've enjoyed following the proceedings all the same. I don't think I've heard of Strange Days. Before Sunrise sounds familiar but I know I haven't seen it.

Addendum; I didn't realize Captain Quint put a list of the entries on the first post until now. I checked the list, and I'm at four in full, and one partial. I've seen pieces of What's Eating Gilbert Grape? but I don't think I've ever sat down to watch the whole movie. I've never felt enticed to watch the whole thing. I think my mom owns a copy though.

[cricket]

Strange Days was my #15, a few spots lower than the last 90's countdown since I don't watch it as much anymore. Love the concept, characters, and how it successfully blends in real life social issues. It's dark and fun.

Before Sunrise is the 2nd film to show that I can't friggin stand after Dead Man.

[seanc]

Yes and... yes?

Sure, it's possible to not have a personal preference for someone's style, while recognizing it as good. It's also possible to not like a person's style and recognize it as being not good because it isn't quality or doesn't fit the premise, world, or tone of the piece of art. I don't think Michael Bay goes for realism in his action, but that doesn't stop anyone from criticizing his movies for being ridiculous, just as a lot of the big speeches in Sorkin’s work are ridiculous and out of step with the stories and films. But it's their style right? OK, so is the claim that having a style make something pass as inherently quality work? OK....

I think A Few Good Men while not presenting itself as a full fledged courtroom procedural, does try to work within the realm of being grounded somewhat in reality, so when we have big pompous scenes like the Can't Handle the Truth! speech, it's just not appropriate and is a writer grandstanding.

Also I don't have time at the moment to address each item of fallout that I apparently laid out a landmine for in criticising Sorkin and A Few Good Men and the triggering effect it created.

It is interesting however when I observed that Sorkin does appeal to academic circles how triggering that was that several deemed it urgent to report their tuitions and college degrees. Geesh. Is it OK for me to still find Nolan a bad director because he can't hold his camera still or frame shots? Is it OK also to critique how he has unjustly gained such a huge following too which gives the illusion that there's more there than what I believe there truly is.

I also don't like Lord of the Rings either for what it's worth nor find those films to be good. . And Sorkin is still an over evaluated writer... even if a person only paid $10,000/year in tuition and has a philosophy, English, or journalism degree.

Let’s put aside the fact that you want the argument both ways. Making broad generalities and then getting upset when people respond to them because they really aren’t about them. Your Nolan example is perfect because in this scenario you are criticising Nolan for not being able to keep his camera still, as if the movement isn’t purposeful,

If you had said, “I don’t like Sorkin’s flowery, dense dialogue therefore I don’t like A Few Good Men”, more than likely no one had responded. You however are acting as if that flowery, dense dialogue is meant to be stripped down and realistic. It creates a bit of confrontation because it’s just not the case.

[iluv2viddyfilms]

No, I said in my original post that the dialogue isn't appropriate for the specific scene and that he's using big speeches in a way as to cover for not having his stories resolve themselves naturally. That's what I mean when I said he's "Mr Smith Goes to Washington-upping" his stories.

For a character (Nicholson's) to be goaded into confessing to a crime and answering a question that the judge has already dismissed as contempt in one's own story is just a cheap crowd pop equivalent of screenwriting. And yeah, I don't like Sorkin in part because he himself will tell you how great he is... multiple times across multiple interviews and he's not great and A Few Good Men is contrived silliness where you can just write a big speech instead of coming up with a creative way to end your story.

[mrblond]

So far, the bottom 20 reveals are flooded with new entries, which is normal. At the same time, most of the eight films that keep top 100 status are considerably downranked.
I think that the new entries trend gonna decrease from this point onward. Curious if a new title gonna reach the upper half of the list.

100. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
99. Sonatine (1993) [-56]
98. The Celebration (1998)
97. Gummo (1997)
96. Fallen Angels (1995) [-18]
95. Office Space (1999)
94. True Romance (1993) [-47]
93. Porco Rosso (1992)
92. Interview with the Vampire (1994)
91. Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
90. Three Colors: Red (1994) [-36]
89. The Crow (1994)
88. My Cousin Vinny (1992)
87. Total Recall (1990) [-37]
86. Gattaca (1997)
85. Dead Man (1995) [-50]
84. A Few Good Men (1992)
83. Dumb and Dumber (1994) [-24]
82. Strange Days (1995)
81. Before Sunrise (1995) [-11]

[Thief]

No, I said in my original post that the dialogue isn't appropriate for the specific scene and that he's using big speeches in a way as to cover for not having his stories resolve themselves naturally. That what I mean when he's "Mr Smith Goes to Washington-upping" his stories.

For a character to be goaded into confessing to a crime and answering a question that the judge has already dismissed as contempt in one's own story is just a cheap crowd pop equivalent of screenwriting. And yeah, I don't like Sorkin in part because he himself will tell you how great he is... multiple times across multiple interviews and he's not great and A Few Good Men is contrived silliness where you can just write a big speech instead of coming up with a creative way to end your story.

You just... can't handle the truth

https://25.media.tumblr.com/0c30920b44bb8bff9ae5872ec397adb9/tumblr_mpy3ha4E551rly3n3o1_500.gif

[Little Ash]

Strange Days - saw bits of this channel surfing or something, back in high school, in the mid 90s. It looked interesting. I didn't know who Bigelow was back then. Given how it became difficult to see when I heard it coming back up in film conversation in the late 2010's, it made me regret I didn't make the effort to watch the entire thing as a teen. Glad to hear it's coming to the criterionchannel soon-ish.



Before Sunrise - I didn't see this when it came out, nor 10 years after it came out, which probably would have been the age range when it might have connected hard with me. Instead, I only watched the trilogy a couple of years ago, didn't feel much of a connection, hoped maybe the later, older aged ones would connect more, saw crumbsroom mention how he felt the artificiality of their patter, and then couldn't help but notice it as well in the sequels. As CitizenRules said, it feels like they're talking at each other, which actually probably made more sense in the first when they were young and it could be read as peacocking and trying to sound smart, but it really felt off in the later ones.



Somewhat surprised other people haven't heard of the Before trilogy though. It feels like I've constantly heard about it for the past 15 years. Especially around when Boyhood came out.

[Robert the List]

No, I said in my original post that the dialogue isn't appropriate for the specific scene and that he's using big speeches in a way as to cover for not having his stories resolve themselves naturally. That what I mean when he's "Mr Smith Goes to Washington-upping" his stories.

For a character to be goaded into confessing to a crime and answering a question that the judge has already dismissed as contempt in one's own story is just a cheap crowd pop equivalent of screenwriting. And yeah, I don't like Sorkin in part because he himself will tell you how great he is... multiple times across multiple interviews and he's not great and A Few Good Men is contrived silliness where you can just write a big speech instead of coming up with a creative way to end your story.
Filibuster?

[iluv2viddyfilms]

You just... can't handle the truth

https://25.media.tumblr.com/0c30920b44bb8bff9ae5872ec397adb9/tumblr_mpy3ha4E551rly3n3o1_500.gif

Before I write a response to this and give you a huge speech on how and why I CAN handle the truth, I'm going to watch one of the million videos on youtube with Aaron Sorkin telling me how I can be great like him too and write a great speech...

So give me about 20 minutes to listen to Sorkin go through his career before I write a HUGE HUGE speech that will win me all sorts of MoFo awards!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExmU0Uy_kgQ

[CosmicRunaway]

Strange Days is a criminally underseen film, and the fact that it's been unavailable on streaming platforms for a ridiculously long period of time certainly hasn't helped in that regard. Perhaps that'll change someday soon?

The film blends some light science fiction elements with noir, which is a combination that definitely appeals to me. The story is engaging, and there is something especially charismatic about Ralph Fiennes in this film, though I can't quite put my finger on what that is. I guess his sad eyes and kicked puppy dog demeanour have charmed me, or however the meme goes.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/d64fda5db3cdd7da5f4cefb030581eff/187b4f72ecf92063-d5/s540x810/1aa4a11be277470dc1c86353aaf20721ced8d6c2.gifv

Strange Days was quite high on my list at #7. At this point, it may seem like I only voted for science fiction films, but I do have some other genres on there, I promise haha.

As for the other reveals, Dumb and Dumber is a film I haven't rewatched in a very, very long time, but seeing people talk about it in this thread makes me want to go back and revisit it. I haven't seen Before Sunrise, or any of the films in that trilogy.

For the longest time, I wasn't sure if I'd actually seen A Few Good Men from start to finish. But I caught it on tv while I was home over the holidays last year, and it turned out that I had indeed seen the entire thing, and not just the odd scene, and countless references to it over the years like I had suspected. It was not on my list, however.

Seen: 12/20

My List: 3

07. Strange Days (1995) - #82
11. Gattaca (1997) - #86
18. Total Recall (1990) - #87

[beelzebubble]

My guess is Robert Altman. Short Cuts will show up first and then The Player. It feels too early for Spielberg or Tarantino to show up.
See, I was going to go with Tarantino myself. As to the list neither or Strange Days nor Before Sunrise is on my list. I haven’t seen Strange Days but I like the concept. I did see Before Sunrise and enjoyed it very much.

[Omnizoa]

100. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
99. Sonatine (1993) [-56]
98. The Celebration (1998)
97. Gummo (1997)
96. Fallen Angels (1995) [-18]
95. Office Space (1999)
94. True Romance (1993) [-47]
93. Porco Rosso (1992)
92. Interview with the Vampire (1994)
91. Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
90. Three Colors: Red (1994) [-36]
89. The Crow (1994)
88. My Cousin Vinny (1992)
87. Total Recall (1990) [-37]
86. Gattaca (1997)
85. Dead Man (1995) [-50]
84. A Few Good Men (1992)
83. Dumb and Dumber (1994) [-24]
82. Strange Days (1995)
81. Before Sunrise (1995) [-11]
Those are some BIG drops.

[Omnizoa]

Strange Days is a criminally underseen filmUgh, I like your Top 10. I wish I hadn't seen all of them already.

[Holden Pike]

See, I was going to go with Tarantino myself.
You all totes missed the point. Tomorrow's reveal will be the first director, counting backward from 100, who has a second film show up in the countdown. Not that tomorrow's reveal will be two titles from a single director nor the first director revealed who has more than one film on the entire countdown.

Geesh.

[iluv2viddyfilms]

It will be Chungking Express; that's where my money is at for the reveal. Also my number four pick should be showing soon or not at all.

[Little Ash]

You all totes missed the point. Tomorrow's reveal will be the first director, counting backward from 100, who has a second film show up in the countdown. Not that tomorrow's reveal will be two titles from a single director nor the first director revealed who has more than one film on the entire countdown.

Geesh.


It is odd seeing people interpret a hint as saying something about the rest of the entire unrevealed countdown and not in reference to what's already been revealed.


Especially since interpreting it that way would also logically mean we got a countdown in which Fallen Angels, Porco Rosso, and Three Colors: Red all make the countdown, but none of the following do: Chungking Express, Mononoke Hime, or Three Colors: Blue.


And that's not me making a comment about the relative quality of them, but rather just an acknowledgement of which ones are known to be more popular, well known, and well seen.

[ApexPredator]

Teaser for the Next Entry!
107166
The first director with two films on the list just might appear on Friday morn - I think, maybe, it's possible - Who could it be? (time will tell)

You all are crazy! The one time I don't pick The Avengers...you end up placing it in the Top 100!:D

[Captain Quint]

You all totes missed the point. Tomorrow's reveal will be the first director, counting backward from 100, who has a second film show up in the countdown. Not that tomorrow's reveal will be two titles from a single director nor the first director revealed who has more than one film on the entire countdown.

Geesh.


Thank you.

I just said to myself, it's a tease, let 'em suss it out on their own - we'll see who the Columbo's of the forum are.

[Harry Lime]

It will be Chungking Express; that's where my money is at for the reveal
Nah Chungking Express is higher. It will be a Kieslowski film. Which one who knows....

[Robert the List]

Wong Kar Wai's best 90s film is Days of Being Wild.
The Polish dude's is Double Life.

Furthermore, it's not our fault if some announcements are vague!

[Captain Quint]

It was only vague to the vague

and why do you keep repeating yourself on the Kar Wai and Kieślowski films? Campaigning time is over.

[mrblond]

I'm afraid that Paul Verhoeven will be the first filmmaker with two entries though I really hope Total Recall to be the only of his for this countdown.

[stillmellow]

So far, the bottom 20 reveals are flooded with new entries, which is normal. At the same time, most of the eight films that keep top 100 status are considerably downranked.
I think that the new entries trend gonna decrease from this point onward. Curious if a new title gonna reach the upper half of the list.

100. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
99. Sonatine (1993) [-56]
98. The Celebration (1998)
97. Gummo (1997)
96. Fallen Angels (1995) [-18]
95. Office Space (1999)
94. True Romance (1993) [-47]
93. Porco Rosso (1992)
92. Interview with the Vampire (1994)
91. Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
90. Three Colors: Red (1994) [-36]
89. The Crow (1994)
88. My Cousin Vinny (1992)
87. Total Recall (1990) [-37]
86. Gattaca (1997)
85. Dead Man (1995) [-50]
84. A Few Good Men (1992)
83. Dumb and Dumber (1994) [-24]
82. Strange Days (1995)
81. Before Sunrise (1995) [-11]



I have a feeling that 2-3 of the big drops are because the actors in them have become less relevant.


Schwarzenegger's fame has trended downward since the divorce. Hollywood has Fallen out of love with Johnny Depp in a big way. And although Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette have both made comebacks in TV, they're hardly A-list stars.

[Holden Pike]

I have a feeling that 2-3 of the big drops are because the actors in them have become less relevant.

Schwarzenegger's fame has trended downward since the divorce. Hollywood has Fallen out of love with Johnny Depp in a big way. And although Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette have both made comebacks in TV, they're hardly A-list stars.
So by this logic when we get around to the MoFo Top 100 of the 2020s it is going to have seven films starring Zendaya, because she is currently "popular"?

As for Depp, you explain Dead Man dropping because "Hollywood" (whom I wasn't aware is voting, here at MoFo) has fallen out of love with him...but then don't acknowledge another Depp title has already made the countdown that was not on that first one, you know back when he was still beloved.

107221

Terrific speculation. You should work for TMZ.

[Thursday Next]

I have a feeling that 2-3 of the big drops are because the actors in them have become less relevant.


Schwarzenegger's fame has trended downward since the divorce. Hollywood has Fallen out of love with Johnny Depp in a big way. And although Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette have both made comebacks in TV, they're hardly A-list stars.


But there are also Johnny Depp and Christian Slater movies that have climbed into the top 100.


I seem to recall that for one list, probably the last 90s one, there was a kind of agreement among some members to vote for just one of the Three Colours films to make sure the vote wasn't split, and Red was the one picked. Which could account for the slip in points if the vote was more split between Red and Blue this time.


No accounting for the drop in Sonatine's standing, beyond the general fewer people voted for it this time around because it's a different line up of people voting, which is the answer to all these questions really.

[Thursday Next]

So by this logic when we get around to the MoFo Top 100 of the 2020s it is going to have seven films starring Zendaya, because she is currently "popular".


If she's in seven Dune movies, she might have a shot...

[Holden Pike]

No accounting for the drop in Sonatine's standing, beyond the general fewer people voted for it this time around because it's a different line up of people voting, which is the answer to all these questions really.
The big thing to remember about the initial MoFo '90s list is that it was only the fourth of these exercises we had tried, the first decade list, and that only fifty-four folks took part. That's only two more than voted on the MoFo Top 100 Musicals.

[Robert the List]

It was only vague to the vague

and why do you keep repeating yourself on the Kar Wai and Kieślowski films? Campaigning time is over.

Sorry, what I meant to say was that Captain Quint is perfect and completely infallible, and that everything that he says and writes is crystal clear and without ambiguity, and if anybody thinks that there is uncertainty about what he has said, or draws a different inference than was his intention, then it is because they are complete idiots, and not because Captain Quint has been unclear.

Also, it wasn't my intention to discuss the best films from the 1990s in a thread about the best films from the 1990s.

[Robert the List]

Nah Chungking Express is higher. It will be a Kieslowski film. Which one who knows....
DON'T TALK ABOUT FILMS FROM THE 1990s FFS :mad:

[Captain Quint]

Sorry, what I meant to say was that Captain Quint is perfect and completely infallible, and that everything that he says and writes is crystal clear and without ambiguity, and if anybody thinks that there is uncertainty about what he has said, or draws a different inference than was his intention, then it is because they are complete idiots, and not because Captain Quint has been unclear.

Also, it wasn't my intention to discuss the best films from the 1990s in a thread about the best films from the 1990s.

Now you got it, see it was a teaser, a "teaser", it's not supposed to be clear, you just need to do this and work it out.

107223

Also, that wasn't discussing, that's just repeating. Christ O'Malley give me patience.

[Captain Quint]

5lists79pointsLost Highway (https://www.movieforums.com/movies/638-lost-highway.html)Director
David Lynch, 1997

Starring
Patricia Arquette, Bill Pullman, Balthazar Getty, Robert Blake

[Captain Quint]

6lists79pointsPoint Break (https://www.movieforums.com/movies/1089-point-break.html)Director
Kathryn Bigelow, 1991

Starring
Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, Lori Petty, Gary Busey

[Captain Quint]

Tie broken up by most ballots (6 to 5)

Lost Highway - The “Dick Laurent is dead” scene was based on an actual incident, according to the director a stranger once rang his doorbell and spoke that same message through the intercom, Lynch looked out the window but saw no one. Freaky.

Lynch has described the picture as a "psychogenic fugue"

Point Break - Originally titled Johnny Utah, this, from a retrospective at CinemaAxis (https://cinemaaxis.com/2014/01/22/the-auteurs-kathryn-bigelow/)

The project had been in limbo for a while after being a rather hot commodity within the industry. At one point Ridley Scott was set to direct the film with actors like Matthew Broderick, Johnny Depp, Val Kilmer, and Charlie Sheen all vying for the titular role.

Some movies on the countdown just kind of snuck up on me, that was the case with the Katheryn BIgelow pictures, at the end I was like, "Oh, when did those get in here?"

So, for those sharp Columbos who worked it out, congrats. She was not only the first woman to win a Best Director Oscar, she's also our first director to show up on the countdown a second time.

107224
Kathryn Bigelow
Film director, painter (that's what she went to school for, graduated as, composer Philip Glass turned her onto filmmaking, according to that article I posted above)
Born: November 27, 1951, San Carlos, California, USA
90s Features to Make the 100: Stranger Things, Point Break

Highway was unranked in the previous 90s countdown, while Break placed 83rd

[Holden Pike]

107225

Lost Highway was #55 on the MoFo Top 100 Neo-Noirs. Point Break was #83 on the original MoFo '90s list.

[Holden Pike]

https://i.gifer.com/ZShv.gif
Cowabunga, Dude!

[Miss Vicky]

Point Break has been one of my favorite movies since I was a kid. Beautiful scenery, beautiful people (not Gary Busey), great action sequences (that foot chase!). Just a lot of fun all around. I had it on my ballot at #9.

http://www.angelfire.com/music6/walteregan/MoFoTop100/pointbreak.gif

I haven’t seen Lost Highway, but - given my past experiences with David Lynch movies - I very much doubt that I would like it.

Seen: 18/22
My Balllot:
9. Point Break (#79)
12. True Romance (#94)
24. Interview With the Vampire (#92)
25. Untamed Heart (One Pointer)

[Captain Quint]

Cowabunga indeed - John-Connor called it from the first. :up:

And Holden worked out the other possibles pretty early.

[The Rodent]

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. Dumb and Dumber (1994) - 83rd
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13. Point Break (1991) - 79th
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.


My #13 :)
I was surprised when I first saw it back in around 1993-4 how much fun it is.
I think I had the misconception that it was a chick-flick designed to have muscly surfers with floppy hair for the teeny-boppers to swoon over.
I had no idea it was an action crime-caper with bank robberies and guns and stuff.

I think it might be the inclusion of Reeves and Swayze, as at the time they were becoming a firm favourite of the teen girls of the time, so I skipped it until I caught it on telly one night because there was nothing on and instantly loved it.
Been a firm fave since then.

[Allaby]

Seen and liked both Lost Highway and Point Break, but neither made my ballot. Both are 7/10 movies for me. Lost Highway has some fantastic, interesting moments, but overall only partly worked for me. Point Break is entertaining and fun, but not a personal favourite.

Seen: 22/22

[Thursday Next]

I had no idea Lost Highway was so popular.

[cricket]

Seen Lost Highway and Point Break once each and thought they were ok. I think I should like Point Break more so I'd like to watch it again.

[Holden Pike]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHUsPCkaQqM
107227
107229

[iluv2viddyfilms]

https://youtu.be/ph8vk1QGspI?si=pjzFKQfK0a-MZwfc

[John-Connor]

https://i.gifer.com/CTs5.gif

107228



https://i.makeagif.com/media/1-18-2016/5dhmSu.gif

G.O.A.T. On-foot chase scene, only to be matched years later by District B13 (2004) and Casino Royale (2006).
Swayze threw a full grown Bulldog at him, mid chase, just sayin'..


https://i.gifer.com/7f09.gif
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” —Oscar Wilde
https://i.imgur.com/Y3DsxUV.gif

Seen 19/22
Ballot 2/25

5. A Few Good Men (1992)
12. Point Break (1991)

https://i.redd.it/zv3t7b4ypid91.gif

[Omnizoa]

I did not vote for Point Break, in fact I gave it the lowest review of anyone on the site (https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/1553329-point_break.html).

This is a very "ehhh..." movie, the characters are only slightly interesting, the dialog is only slightly interesting, the acting is only... OKAY (Keanu Reeves) and the story is a bizarre attempt to blend crime drama with surf culture where it seems half-baked in both departments.I gave it a 3/5.


By the way, TylerDurden99's 4/5 review (https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/754310-point_break.html) is borked and appears as "NO RATING". I've forgotten how to @ people on here.

[Captain Quint]

Speaking of Bigelow's directorial Oscar, here are a couple of pieces for those who are interested in the history of things in cinema.

ABC News: All the women who have been nominated or won the Oscar for best directing (https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/women-nominated-won-oscar-best-directing/story?id=118943429)

Variety: All 23 Best Picture Nominees Directed by Women in Oscars History (https://variety.com/lists/best-picture-women-directed-movies-listed/children-of-a-lesser-god-1986/)

Jane Campion is the first to receive 2 nominations in that category, curious and odd that Bigelow didn't get a 2nd nod for Zero Dark Thirty.

The first women to direct a Best Pic Nominee was Randa Haines for Children of a Lesser God (1986) though no directing nom came her way.

107230

The first woman to receive a best director nom was Lina Wertmüller for 'Seven Beauties' in 1979 (pictured above, in her famous white rimmed glasses)

She was followed by...

1994: Jane Campion for 'The Piano'
2004: Sofia Coppola for 'Lost in Translation'
2010: Kathryn Bigelow, who also wins for 'The Hurt Locker'
2018: Greta Gerwig for 'Lady Bird'
2021: Emerald Fennell for 'Promising Young Woman'
2021: Chloé Zhao who also wins for 'Nomadland'
2022: Jane Campion who also wins for 'The Power of the Dog'
2024: Justine Triet for 'Anatomy of a Fall'
2025: Coralie Fargeat for 'The Substance'

[Robert the List]

Heard of: 17/22
Started: 15/22
Finished: 5/22
In my ballot: 0/22
Maximum films from my ballot that can still make the list: 25/25

[Harry Lime]

Kathryn Bigelow has made some cool movies and we get a couple of 90s classics back to back. Like Strange Days it's been a while since I watched Point Break...I feel like a double feature might just be what the doctor ordered. I'm tempted. RIP David Lynch you were a one of a kind filmmaker. I wonder if anything else of his will make the cut...Lost Highway was in the 250ish range last time so it made big gains. Straight Story was #45, and Wild at Heart and Fire Walk with Me around 110 and 130.

[Harry Lime]

On an unrelated (from today's movies) note I saw there was a 4k release of Sneakers recently. Remember Sneakers? I watched that one a lot...another I think we had taped off of Super Channel. Here is a low quality trailer to give more of a 90s feel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_XRqJV2zdk

[Harry Lime]

Speaking of 90s feel, here you go: https://90s.myretrotvs.com/

[seanc]

Point Break is one of those movies I maybe should have kept it the way it was in my mind 30 years ago. I finally rewatched it fairly recently, and it just didn’t live up to the nostalgia. Still feel it is one of the better conceived action flicks, so I will give it a third look at some point.

Lost Highway was a Lynch blind spot I filled in within the last couple of years. I have come around on Lynch a good bit, but I am a long way from holding him in the same regard as most film folk. This one was just okay for me, gave it a 3. Long way from making my list.

[kgaard]

Lost Highway is one of two (I think? the other being Inland Empire) Lynch films that I haven't seen. I'm a little reluctant now that we know there won't be any more. But I probably will watch it sometime later this year.

Point Break is definitely good fun, very '90s. Not surprised to see it (and it looks to be the first film to appear that has risen in the rankings), but not on my ballot.

[KeyserCorleone]

My third twofer in a row!

Lost Highway does in fact suffer for the story change, but both stories are still very intriguing, and we get the Lynchian directorial style in spades. 86

I didn't vote for Point Break, but I feel that it's Bigelow's best movie. Not only was this the perfect role for Keanu, but the movie does a good job comparing moviegoers to sportsman by comparing all the thrills we seek. 100.

Seen 15/22

[TheManBehindTheCurtain]

Lost Highway: Yikes ... yet another one I've not heard of. Lynch ... an acquired taste for me that I've had trouble acquiring. Will put on my watchlist, but the list is very long and not sure when/if I'll get to it.

Point Break: Given what I thought about Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves in the early 90s, I didn't expect much from this. Remember being surprisingly entertained; funny, tense, watchable. But not on my list either.

Seen: 12/22
Ballot: 2/25
Sleepless in Seattle: #91 / My #3
Office Space: #95 / My #23

[Sedai]

Many MoFos will probably assume Lost Highway got some points from me, but I must admit it did not. I like the film, but I place it somewhere in the middle of Lynch's filmography behind quite a few other titles. I did have Lynch picture on my ballot, but I doubt it will show.

I had seen Point Break when it first released, and I recalled liking it quite a bit, but never really thought of it as top tier cinema. I watched it again over the past year and was surprised at how well it held up. It didn't make my ballot, but it is a fine film.

[Deschain]

Two movies I owe a rewatch. I haven’t seen Lost Highway since college and don’t remember much about it. Point Break is a lot of fun but in my one viewing I failed to sense the greatness in it a lot of other folks see.

[MovieGal]

I have seen both Lost Highway and Point Break multiple times. They did not make my list.

[MovieMeditation]

Okay, I've been busy for a quite some time so I'll try and catch up with a walk-through of all the reveals I haven't commented on yet...

94. True Romance (1993)
I've only seen this once and it was a very long time ago. I remember liking it but I didn't love it. I definitely prefer when it's Taraninto directing his own scripts.

93. Porco Rosso (1992)
I enjoyed this more than I expected to, but didn't love it. I also think I'm one who appreciates and admires Miyazaki more than I love him and his work. That said, there's some that I do really like. This was above average though definitely.

92. Interview with the Vampire (1994)
Yeah I enjoyed this. Really fun little 90s horror drama. I remember digging the vibe and the look, but it's been a long time since I've seen it.

91. Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
Never seen this but I expect to see it some time.

90. Three Colors: Red (1994)
Only seen Blue unfortunately, which I really like, and I've been meaning to finish the trilogy in forever. I heard Red is the best one so I probably should in the near future.

89. The Crow (1994)
Awesome movie! Almost an 80s kind of vibe. Filled with atmosphere and great genre mixes. I had a lot of fun with this!

88. My Cousin Vinny (1992)
Not seen this one but I want to.

87. Total Recall (1990)
Classic Arnold! A fun, entertaining sci-fi cyberpunk flick! A lot of Paul Verhoevenism, which I like. I want to revisit this again actually.

86. Gattaca (1997)
I remember thinking this one was good but at the moment I remember barely anything about it.

85. Dead Man (1995)
This one always seemed interesting to me. Haven't seen much Jim Jarmusch but I really want to see more by him.

84. A Few Good Men (1992)
One of those "classic films" in cinema. It's loved by a wide audience for a reason and it does a good job entertaining you. It's a favorite of mine or anything, but I do understand its reputation.

83. Dumb and Dumber (1994)
Well... I've always enjoyed British humor more (or Danish for that matter). American comedies are hit or miss for me and this kind of humor is just a bit too, well, dumb for me.I usually like my humor smarter and faster, but at least it's very honest and comfortable with what kind of movie it wants to be. I'm just not really a fan.

82. Strange Days (1995)
Another movie that has always had my interest but which I have yet to see...

81. Before Sunrise (1995)
I'm a huge fan of this trilogy and I also love the first one more than the second, which usually seems to be opposite among fans. This film really created something unique within romance flicks, which I really liked. Great film.

80. Lost Highway (1997)
Not too long since I've seen this. Didn't outright love it but a good Lynch. The first 30-40 minutes I thought it could be a favorite, but then it took a turn. The film has some of the most effetive eerie stuff in a Lynch though. That creepy man is CREEPY.

79. Point Break (1991)
I really didn't like this as much as I expected too. The foot chase is great though and a few other scenes. But it had an 80s vibe but in a negative way for me. Maybe I should rewatch it though.

Damn... that was a lot. But now I'm caught up!

[Little Ash]

I'll be away from the computer for the next couple of days, so I'll only have brief check-ins with the phone, but...


Point Break - yeah, still have never seen. One of those, no strong inclination nor necessarily aversion, other than action often isn't my genre. I think a lot of Bigelow's filmography is a blindspot for me and kind of in the same category.



Lost Highway - this was my #2, so a little disappointed it didn't land higher. I know it didn't connect with audiences the way Mulholland Drive did on release, but I thought enough time had passed for people to come back around and re-evaluate and appreciate it. It's got some really beautiful and haunting imagery. Lynch has said it grew out of his obsession with the OJ Simpson trial at the time of, here is a guy who, to Lynch's belief, murdered two people, and then went on to just live his normal life the next day as if nothing happened, and what type of thoughts must be going through his head in order to do something like that.

It might actually be my second favorite Lynch. A number of Lynch films might be my second favorite Lynch film, though.

[stillmellow]

So by this logic when we get around to the MoFo Top 100 of the 2020s it is going to have seven films starring Zendaya, because she is currently "popular"?

As for Depp, you explain Dead Man dropping because "Hollywood" (whom I wasn't aware is voting, here at MoFo) has fallen out of love with him...but then don't acknowledge another Depp title has already made the countdown that was not on that first one, you know back when he was still beloved.

107221

Terrific speculation. You should work for TMZ.



Classy.

[stillmellow]

Another one from my list! #21


Lost Highway is the first David Lynch movie I saw, knowing him only from Twin Peaks. It didn't click with me at first. Only later did I begin to appreciate its Nightmare logic. Layered realities is a running theme in many Lynch films, The truth is not something set in stone, and it can be different for each person. A man can be in two places at once. A woman can be two people.


Point Break is indeed very fun, and extremely 90's. It didn't make my list, but it's nice to see it here.


Seen: 15/22
List: 2/25

[stillmellow]

But there are also Johnny Depp and Christian Slater movies that have climbed into the top 100.<br />
<br />
<br />
I seem to recall that for one list, probably the last 90s one, there was a kind of agreement among some members to vote for just one of the Three Colours films to make sure the vote wasn't split, and Red was the one picked. Which could account for the slip in points if the vote was more split between Red and Blue this time.<br />
<br />
<br />
No accounting for the drop in Sonatine's standing, beyond the general fewer people voted for it this time around because it's a different line up of people voting, which is the answer to all these questions really.

Very true. I don't know, it was just a thought. It's also possible that the movies have simply fallen a bit out of the Zeitgeist, and aren't brought up as much any more.

It's fascinating when a movie/actor/band is huge in its time, but is forgotten later.

The earlier mentions of Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey reminded me of the band Faith No More. They were HUGE for a time. But I can't remember anyone talking about them or hearing one of their songs in 25+ years. Except of course when I watch or think about that movie.

[Citizen Rules]

Lost Highway...eh, not really a fan of Lynch's trippy stuff, not seen it.

Point Break...assuming this is some action flick, no thanks.

[LeBoyWondeur]

I loved Lost Highway the first time I watched it, the second time I noticed that the lead actors aren't very strong and it made me feel a little underwhelmed.
But there's also lots of good stuff in it and I'll probably watch it again.

Never seen Point Break and I'm not in a hurry to fix that.

[Wooley]

I had no idea Lost Highway was so popular.

No kidding? I feel like I hear about it a lot around here. I'm surprised it wasn't way higher.

[Wooley]

On an unrelated (from today's movies) note I saw there was a 4k release of Sneakers recently. Remember Sneakers? I watched that one a lot...another I think we had taped off of Super Channel. Here is a low quality trailer to give more of a 90s feel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_XRqJV2zdk

I've watched it twice in the last six months. I've seen it... hmmm... maybe 15 times?
Everyone I know knows that movie well.

[ueno_station54]

was planning on seeing lost highway on the big screen the night before ballots were due but then my wife and i caught the flu lol. i had seen it once in high school and loved it tho and expect to love it when i do eventually rewatch it. never seen point break but always thought it looked pretty good.

[MovieGal]

Lost Highway, like The Crow, has an awesome soundtrack.

https://youtu.be/paptCXJKJLw?si=4A8OQbGVWv6M9cwi

[Thief]

Point Break is a lot of fun, but I'm not as much in love with it as most people. I have a review written somewhere that I might pull over to MoFo later. Needless to say, it didn't make my list.

I still haven't seen Lost Highway, although I've been meaning to for a while.



SEEN: 11/22
MY BALLOT: 2/25


1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. Interview with the Vampire (1994, #92)
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19. A Few Good Men (1992, #84)
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

[Thief]

POINT BREAK
(1991, Bigelow)

https://i.imgur.com/OTbeL9D.jpeg


"If you want the ultimate rush, you've got to be willing to pay the ultimate price. It's not tragic to die doing what you love."



I hadn't seen this film since the 1990's, but for some reason, I thought today might be a nice day to revisit it. The only things that were in my memory were bank-robbers with Presidents masks, Gary Busey joke-surfing on top a desk, Angry Keanu shooting to the sky, and the ending.

Point Break indeed follows a group of bank-robbers that use the money to fund their extreme surfing and parachuting escapades. So when the FBI decides to track them, they put a rookie agent with no knowledge of surfing on the job. So he goes out to learn how to surf, and the first beach he goes, he almost drowns; and the first person that rescues him? the ex-girlfriend of the leader of the bank-robbers (Patrick Swayze), who goes on to teach him how to surf while he befriends Swayze and Co.

I could go on and on with all the plot contrivances and ludicrousness of the story, not to mention Keanu Reeves' awful performance... but somehow, it kinda works. Sometimes the dialogue is cringe-worthy, but, Keanu aside, most of the cast goes from serviceable and competent to pretty good (most notably Swayze). IMO, what holds it together is Kathryn Bigelow's direction, who manages to keep the pace brisk.

At the end of the day, Point Break is as uneven and as choppy as the waves these dudes surf in, but it's still a pretty cool ride.

Grade: 3

[Thief]

^That's what I wrote when I last rewatched the film in 2016. Haven't seen it since.

[iluv2viddyfilms]

I'm really REALLY liking this list so far with the exceptions of Sleepful in Sea...tt..zzzzz and A Few "Good" Speeches.

Point Break and Lost Highway are both very very solid films and I considered Lost Highway for my list, but did not vote for it.

22 films in and Dead Man is the only one to show so far from my ballot.

[I_Wear_Pants]

The most I know about Point Break, I learned from Hot Fuzz. I know naught about Lost Highway than it's David Lynch and weird. We're at 22 films, then? I've still only seen 4 of them. I swear I've watched films from the 1990s. I guess I watched obscure ones?

[Harry Lime]

Sonatine is the only one from my list to make it and that was way back on the first day, but I'm guessing it will be 19 or 20 by the end. I've also seen every movie so far and if I'm not 100/100 when we're done I will eat my shoe.

[rauldc14]

It surprised me how much I liked Lost Highway, although it didn't make my list.

Haven't seen Point Break though.

[Citizen Rules]

I'm really REALLY liking this list so far with the exceptions of Sleepful in Sea...tt..zzzzz and A Few "Good" Speeches.

Point Break and Lost Highway are both very very solid films and I considered Lost Highway for my list, but did not vote for it.

22 films in and Dead Man is the only one to show so far from my ballot.I'm really enjoying the countdown and everyone's comments.
I've seen 11 of the 22 films and liked 7 of them.
Only 1 is from my ballot, What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

[honeykid]

I wanted to see Strange Days when it came out but I missed out. I generally like Kathryn Bigelow films so I will see it someday. I will see it. I will see. I will. I. ;)
This is my feeling/thoughts too. I've even bought a copy, but it didn't have the tape in it (yes it was that long ago), so I took it back but they couldn't find the tape, so I just had a refund. :D I've recorded it a few times and always ended up deleting it before getting to see it. One day it will happen. I just hope I like it.


Is it OK for me to still find Nolan a bad director because he can't hold his camera still or frame shots? Is it OK also to critique how he has unjustly gained such a huge following too which gives the illusion that there's more there than what I believe there truly is.
It is, becuase I feel the same way about De Palma. :D

I also don't like Lord of the Rings either for what it's worth nor find those films to be good.
Yeah, but TBF, that's just common sense. ;) :D

Before Sunrise is the 2nd film to show that I can't friggin stand ....
More proof, were it needed, that nobody's perfect. :D

The earlier mentions of Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey reminded me of the band Faith No More. They were HUGE for a time. But I can't remember anyone talking about them or hearing one of their songs in 25+ years. Except of course when I watch or think about that movie.
I literally started listening to a few of their tracks again last week. :eek:


A second and third from my list appear. Before Sunrise is the most romantic movie every made. That's just true and it doens't matter what you think. :p :D It's so wonderful that I was pretty crushed by the sequel which, well, just wasn't. There's no magic there. I was so disappointed that I've yet to see the final one, though I do own it. One day I'll rewatch Sunset and then watch Midnight, but not anytime soon. I had Before Sunrise at #24 but, as I said before, the last third or so of my list could be in almost any order, including #14, which is where you'll find Point Break on my list. I've seen Point Break many, many times and it always delivers. It's just so damn good and is there anyone who loves that film which doesn't deliver the line "I am an FBI AGENT!" along with Utah?

As for the others which have appeared since my last appearance, I've not seen Lost Highway, but I have owned it for about 25 years. One day, I promise.

I don't care much for comedies as you may know. It's not that I really dislike them, sometimes I like them quite a lot, but I rarely actually find them funny. I don't care for physical/gross out comedy either - so why have I both seen and loved this film? It's the script. That, and it just works. For any older wrestling fans (or fans of 80's wrestling) it's like Randy Savage. He treated Miss Elizabeth terribly and you hated him, but he was just so damn good at what he did and did it so well, you started to 'like' him, but if anyone else had done it, you'd hate them. It's a great comedy, despite being so much of what I hate but that script (when not being gross) is doing a lot of the heavy lifting. The supportiing performances are also very good and it's all played so straight that you have to believe the characters are as they're presented.

I've not seen A Few Good Men since a year or so since it was released, but I've seen it a couple of times and liked it.

I think 6 or 7 from my list won't make it, but of those, there's only one I'd be really surprised to see turn up.

[I_Wear_Pants]

I'm really enjoying the countdown and everyone's comments.
I've seen 11 of the 22 films and liked 7 of them.
Only 1 is from my ballot, What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

Yeah I've only seen four of the films and I've enjoyed following the proceedings. I know some people have stated they've seen every film so far, which isn't a surprise. It's pretty impressive though. Do you wonder how many of your ballot will make it?

[stillmellow]

I loved Lost Highway the first time I watched it, the second time I noticed that the lead actors aren't very strong and it made me feel a little underwhelmed.
But there's also lots of good stuff in it and I'll probably watch it again.

Never seen Point Break and I'm not in a hurry to fix that.



That is a point for Lost Highway. I think there are many amazing performances in it, but Bill Pullman's wasn't one of them. His performance is so understated he almost seems drugged, especially in the first half. This is likely intentional, given what Lynch has said about the film, but it wouldn't have hurt to put a bit more life into the role.


Balthazar Getty, the second protagonist, is a bit more lively, but (no offense to him) isn't as strong as an actor as Pullman.

[mrblond]

Point Break, saw it in the theatre back in the day. Caught it several more times on the TV since then (last time about three years ago). An youth entertaining movie which introduced Keanu Reeves to the world and hardened Patrick Swayze's stardom.
It would probably be in my top 100 (range #80-90) of the 90's.

[Robert the List]

European films would be a good one. Mainland Europe.

[ApexPredator]

Still haven't gone through the One Pointers yet...

Strange Days: I don't think I cared for it. It was more of an interesting failure than a bad film...I didn't see the chemistry between Fiennes and Angela Bassett, although she definitely handled her role as a bodyguard pretty well...some interesting things it had to say about the future.

Before Sunrise: Would have made my top 5 for 1995. But it didn't make my list. I thought the romance between Delpy and Ethan Hawke was well done. Linklater had a nice ear for dialogue.

Lost Highway: Haven't seen it.

Point Break: The script may be more than a little illogical at times, but two good performances from Patrick Swayze as the lead robber and Keanu Reeves as a man trying to do his job but at the same time finds himself torn by the guy he's bonded with keep this one from falling off the waves. Bigelow has a good sense for action and the choice of disguise is kind of clever as well.

Seen: 12/22

On List: 25. Hurricane Streets (1 pointer)

[Citizen Rules]

Yeah I've only seen four of the films and I've enjoyed following the proceedings. I know some people have stated they've seen every film so far, which isn't a surprise. It's pretty impressive though. Yup some people are very well watched here, that's for sure. Me, I only have evening time during and after dinner to watch a movie and relax a little...and I eat dinner like around 7pm so I don't have time to do more than one movie per day.

Do you wonder how many of your ballot will make it?I'm guessing about half will make it.

[mattiasflgrtll6]

During previous countdowns either 7 or 8 of my picks have made it, so I'm expecting the same kind of result this time too.

[stillmellow]

Being a teen in the 90's, my favorites are pretty mainstream. I may be overly optimistic here, but I think at least 20-22 will make it.

[MovieGal]

During previous countdowns either 7 or 8 of my picks have made it, so I'm expecting the same kind of result this time too.

Im like you, I dont think many of mine will make it.

[SpelingError]

Lost Highway is good, but I'd rank it near the bottom of Lynch's filmography.

Point Break is a tough film to talk about. Its plot is stupid by every metric and the acting is terrible, but in a strange way, everything somehow works really well. I don't know if I can put my finger on it, but I was strangely moved by all the plot contrivances once I embraced its silliness - I don't think the film is trying to take itself seriously. It didn't make my ballot, but it's still really good.

[KeyserCorleone]

Lost Highway is good, but I'd rank it near the bottom of Lynch's filmography.

Point Break is a tough film to talk about. Its plot is stupid by every metric and the acting is terrible, but in a strange way, everything somehow works really well. I don't know if I can put my finger on it, but I was strangely moved by all the plot contrivances once I embraced its silliness - I don't think the film is trying to take itself seriously. It didn't make my ballot, but it's still really good.


Not sure what you meant by plot contrivances, because it was intended to be a philosophical action movie. But this comment DID get me to check the goofs section and I came across one I can't forgive and that I'm ashamed at myself doe missing: a man tackled in the water appears dry in the same fight scene. So I'm very sorry Kathryn, but I'm lowering this from a 100 to a 99.

[beelzebubble]

You all totes missed the point. Tomorrow's reveal will be the first director, counting backward from 100, who has a second film show up in the countdown. Not that tomorrow's reveal will be two titles from a single director nor the first director revealed who has more than one film on the entire countdown.

Geesh.
Whatevs Dad. :rolleyes:


Are either of these on my list? No. Have I seen either of them? No.
Lost Highway must have come after a Lynch film I did not like. That is the only explanation I have for not seeing it. I wasn't much of an action fan in the 90s, but The Rodent I do approve of muscly surfers.
So far nothing I picked has made it on the board. I wonder if I can go the distance. :D

[KeyserCorleone]

You all totes missed the point. Tomorrow's reveal will be the first director, counting backward from 100, who has a second film show up in the countdown. Not that tomorrow's reveal will be two titles from a single director nor the first director revealed who has more than one film on the entire countdown.

Geesh.


Just make sure it's 100% accurate. We don't need those lawyers pulling loopholes out of their sleeves. :D

[SpelingError]

Not sure what you meant by plot contrivances, because it was intended to be a philosophical action movie. But this comment DID get me to check the goofs section and I came across one I can't forgive and that I'm ashamed at myself doe missing: a man tackled in the water appears dry in the same fight scene. So I'm very sorry Kathryn, but I'm lowering this from a 100 to a 99.
Mainly the whole plotline of a FBI agent infiltrating a group of surfers who happen to be bank robbers. It's a ridiculous plot, yet it works in a strange way if you don't take the film seriously. I don't know if I can explain it well, but I found myself strangely moved throughout the film.

[KeyserCorleone]

Mainly the whole plotline of a FBI agent infiltrating a group of surfers who happen to be bank robbers. It's a ridiculous plot, yet it works in a strange way if you don't take the film seriously. I don't know if I can explain it well, but I found myself strangely moved throughout the film.

Eh, I guess for some reason it could happen, especially if they're giving a new guy his first assignment, but that's all I can really say as far as that goes. But I think the moving moments were all a part of the philosophy that we all seek thrills in one way or another. Swayze translated that very well.

[Omnizoa]

Never heard of Lost Highway.

Now that I know it's directed by David Lynch I'll be sure to make all reasonable efforts to avoid it.

[SpelingError]

Eh, I guess for some reason it could happen, especially if they're giving a new guy his first assignment, but that's all I can really say as far as that goes. But I think the moving moments were all a part of the philosophy that we all seek thrills in one way or another. Swayze translated that very well.
I'm sure it could happen in real life, in the same way that anybody with any job or hobby could be a criminal. It's just an absurd set up. As for the second part of your post though, I agree with it, which is why I said I wasn't bothered by the film's premise. The point I was making was not that the film doesn't work.

[KeyserCorleone]

I'm sure it could happen in real life, in the same way that anybody with any job or hobby could be a criminal. It's just an absurd set up. As for the second part of your post though, I agree with it, which is why I said I wasn't bothered by the film's premise. The point I was making was not that the film doesn't work.


I know. I just feel like a new guy being given a smaller assignment that doesn't warrant pro-FBI attention feels like a good enough set up for the action movie we got. But the movie is aura if nothing else.

[SpelingError]

I know. I just feel like a new guy being given a smaller assignment that doesn't warrant pro-FBI attention feels like a good enough set up for the action movie we got. But the movie is aura if nothing else.
That's a fine set up on paper. With me, it's more the reality of who the criminals are and what they do for a living, as opposed to the agent being given a small assignment. That was what stood out to me as contrived on the surface level.

[KeyserCorleone]

That's a fine set up on paper. With me, it's more the reality of who the criminals are and what they do for a living, as opposed to the agent being given a small assignment. That was what stood out to me as contrived on the surface level.

I think it's more unique. The thrill of sports wasn't enough for them, so they had to go for something bigger.

You could lose yourself in pleasure til your body's going numb, but will it ever be enough? - Pandora's Box, "Original Sin."

[SpelingError]

I think it's more unique. The thrill of sports wasn't enough for them, so they had to go for something bigger.

You could lose yourself in pleasure til your body's going numb, but will it ever be enough? - Pandora's Box, "Original Sin."

I would say it's unique due to the absurdity and contrivances.

And to clarify, I'm not saying the setup makes the film bad or that it's even a flaw with the film. As you mentioned, it works really well once you delve into the nature of the characters seeking thrills. There's just a strong element of absurdity to the group of people it uses for this commentary. Not bad absurdity by any means. But absurdity nonetheless.

[PHOENIX74]

80. Lost Highway (1997) - Lost Highway was the first reveal that I definitely had never seen before - and I say was because after I saw it revealed last night I decided I'd finally watch Lost Highway as I'd been meaning to for so long. It made for a very excellent night's movie-watching (one of those where I was simply excited all the way through because of how much enjoyment I was getting from the movie.) It was stuffed full of David Lynch's idiosyncratic, mind-bending, dream-like surrealism. I don't understand all of it yet, but while I'm usually frustrated by that with this it's a bonus - I watch this guy's movies for the impenetrable mystery. I intend to spend a small portion of my day today watching videos that try to explain what it all means - and thus relive some of Lost Highway's great moments. I loved this, and it seems absurd that it took me this long to finally see it.

79. Point Break (1991) - The last time I watched Point Break I wrote this on letterboxd : "An action film with a philosophy - a classic. Two roles Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze were born to play, and I get the added benefit of Lori Petty and Gary Busey - two favourites (with an extra John C. McGinley helping of crazy.) This is the epitome of the action genre, and is flawless in giving us a strangely authentic masculine vibe - all from a female director. I can't fault it - from a cultural standpoint, or all-round watchability. It's a smart action movie, without any less adrenaline fueled mayhem to show for it. It's the vibe, the beats and the thrill - and that attitude.

PS - After having a moment to think it over, I think Bigelow shows us what masculinity should be, and what an idealised version would be. Real masculinity would probably involve more boobs, booze and idiocy than Swayze's Zen, contemplative, stick-it-to-the-man daredevil persona ultimately serves up." Pretty much sums up what I think the film is about - I ended up rating it 4/5 at the time, so I approve it's inclusion here in 79th spot.

Seen : 22/22

[Captain Quint]

As to the list so far...

There's a few here I've disliked or were m'eh over; plus, I can see what didn't make it, so I get to silently fume over a few of those, but I figure someone's excited to see a favorite make it, so I'm trying to not turn on the hate machine... though I could gently vent when it's all said and done. Just go :nope:

[Frightened Inmate No. 2]

it seems we’ve entered the portion of the list specifically geared towards me. 3 out of the last 4 films were on my list, and the one that wasn’t, point break, is also a great film and would fit comfortably in my top 40.

before sunrise was my #2. at age 13 it totally reshaped my conception of what cinema could be. i had never seen anything that felt so natural, with characters that felt like real people you could just meet somewhere. of course, at that time i had little to no life experience and was merely imagining what it must be like to have adult feelings. now i’m two years older than the characters in the movie and my perspective has shifted somewhat, yet having seen it several times i still find it to be basically the most intoxicatingly romantic movie ever made. the scene in the listening booth is the purest expression of longing i can think of. both hawke and delpy should’ve won oscars. not to mention linklater, whose visual language in the film impresses me more each time i watch it.

lost highway was my #14. robert blake is the scariest dude i’ve ever seen.

strange days is my #19. it’s so grimy and perverted and disgusting, i love it. tom sizemore is the scariest dude i’ve ever seen.

[KeyserCorleone]

before sunrise was my #2. at age 13 it totally reshaped my conception of what cinema could be. i had never seen anything that felt so natural, with characters that felt like real people you could just meet somewhere. of course, at that time i had little to no life experience and was merely imagining what it must be like to have adult feelings. now i’m two years older than the characters in the movie and my perspective has shifted somewhat, yet having seen it several times i still find it to be basically the most intoxicatingly romantic movie ever made. the scene in the listening booth is the purest expression of longing i can think of. both hawke and delpy should’ve won oscars. not to mention linklater, whose visual language in the film impresses me more each time i watch it.




The movie that reshapes your world always has a special place in you. I started really "getting into cinema" with Chinatown, but it was Sunset Boulevard that really kept me digging.

[I_Wear_Pants]

Yup some people are very well watched here, that's for sure. Me, I only have evening time during and after dinner to watch a movie and relax a little...and I eat dinner like around 7pm so I don't have time to do more than one movie per day.

I'm guessing about half will make it.

For me the frequency has dwindled for a few reasons, all pertaining to the drain pipe of a marriage. I watch more now than I had from August of 2023 until October of 2024 because I decided to make some changes, which August is when I left the marriage, and my focus changed. I regret nothing.

[gbgoodies]

I haven't heard of Lost Highway, but I'm not much of a David Lynch fan.

I rewatched Point Break for this countdown, and I enjoyed it, but it didn't make my list.

[dadgumblah]

I have only seen a few scenes of Lost Highway and it looks intriguing but I haven't sought it out again.

Point Break is one I saw at the cinema and boy did I get my popcorn's worth of fun! That's what it is, young, dumb, and full of...fun! Yeah, that's it! Seriously, it's pure entertainment and that's all I require of a film when all is said and done.

Still no luck on the list, but that will change. But that will. But that. But. :(

[Captain Quint]

6lists80pointsThe Blair Witch Project (https://www.movieforums.com/movies/2667-the-blair-witch-project.html)Director
Eduardo Sánchez, 1999

Starring
Rei Hance, Joshua Leonard, Michael C. Williams, Bob Griffin

[Captain Quint]

9lists83pointsBeauty and the Beast (https://www.movieforums.com/movies/10020-beauty-and-the-beast.html)Director
Kirk Wise, 1991

Starring
Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach

[Captain Quint]

Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and the first to receive a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Picture (1 of 6 noms - it won Oscars for Score and Song).

Walt Disney unsuccessfully attempted to adapt the story into an animated film during the 1930s and 1950s.

107256

While Blair Witch was not the first "found footage" film, the indie hit took it to a whole new level and inspired a host of imitators - it had a great marketing campaign, effectively using the internet, listing its actors as either dead or missing, posting faux police reports... they went all the way on selling this as the real deal.

B&B was #97, while Blair was unranked on the previous 90s countdown

[LeBoyWondeur]

I have a feeling that Blair Witch gets the biggest part of the discussion :laugh:

[MovieGal]

Saw both in theatre, neither made my list.

[LeBoyWondeur]

Walt Disney unsuccessfully attempted to adapt the story into an animated film during the 1930s and 1950s.
Interesting, I had never heard of those original plans before. Sure makes me wonder what it would have looked like.

[The Rodent]

Blair Witch came so close to making my list... I think the influence it had on the industry is undeniable.
Every movie afterward wanted to be Blair Witch... even Romero got in on it with Diary Of The Dead.

Beauty and the Beast, never really got into Disney animation, even as a young kid so not much I can say on it.
I've seen it... and the early CGI was a nice touch, but, not my bag.

[Allaby]

Beauty and the Beast is wonderful, but I didn't have room on my list for it. Surprisingly, I have no animated films on my ballot. Blair Witch is overrated and not very good, in my opinion.

Seen: 24/24

[Robert the List]

Blair Witch was massively hyped at the time haha.
It was like someone had invented a whole new artform, aside from making the scariest movie ever.

[Holden Pike]

107257

The Blair Witch Project was #65 on the initial MoFo Top 100 Horror Films, then moved up to #34 on the reboot of that list. Beauty and the Beast was #97 on the original MoFo '90s list as well as #12 on both the MoFo Top 100 Aninated Films and the MoFo Top 100 Musicals.

[ApexPredator]

Both Blair Witch Project and Beauty and the Beast were good films. Neither one made the cut on my list.

Seen: 14/24

[MovieGal]

Beauty and the Beast has been my favorite fairy tale for the longest time. I used to watch the Disney animated version every Sunday morning with my daughter. She eventually hated it. We would watch whatever she wanted, then it. Then Disney came out with the god aweful live version. By then I had found Cocteau's version. A friend introduced me to Gans version in 2016. I have stayed away from Disney's completely after that. I have seen other animated and live version since then.

Mr Minio introduced me to the Russian The Scarlet Flower.

https://youtu.be/GqSyfN5bOh0?si=K-lWim8B_mpG5zET

[Harry Lime]

Ah 1999 certainly was a moment. That marketing campaign for Blair Witch was something and then I watched it as like meh. Same thing for Y2K - great marketing campaign about the end of the world and then nothing happened meh. Still it was a cool idea and well executed. Beauty and the Beast is pretty good for a movie where people (and animals or candlesticks) randomly burst into song. Disney produced some quality and very popular animated films in the 90s - How many more are going to make it? Maybe only The Lion King?

[KeyserCorleone]

Cesare: ONE MORE TWOFER! ... TO GIVE YOU!

Blair Witch, only saw it once, and once was all I really needed. It's a beautifully uncomfortable example of the potential of low budget indie films, a very "less is more" film. They kept ithe mystery intriguing and the dialogue believable throughout. 100.

And Beauty and the Beast... WAS MY NUMBER 13! Beauty and the Beast is IMO the ideal example of what a Disney movie is all about. Not only does it bring back the fairy tale tropes of the classic age with some of the best music and direction so far, but It reinvents these tropes just by including the Beast in general. 100.

Seen 17/24

Ballot

#13. Beauty and the Beast
#15. Total Recall

[seanc]

Blair Witch, along with maybe a slasher like Halloween, can be held up as an example of why I’m not really a horror person. The hype around this was massive, so off I go to the cineplex. The atmosphere is garbage, I don’t remember a single character, and the ending just feels so dumb to me. Yeah, I hate it.

Beauty And The Beast was high on my animated list, but I just didn’t have enough room for it. I put one animation on my list. This movie is gorgeous though, and the music is beautiful. Glad it’s here.

[Miss Vicky]

I can't quite remember if I've ever actually seen The Blair Witch Project. I remember some of my high school friends raving about it when it came out and I think I might have seen it later at someone's house, but I'm not sure. I see that it's got a pretty short run time, so I may give it a shot sometime this weekend just for shits and giggles - or snot and screams, I guess? Whatever.

As much as I love animation, Disney's Beauty and the Beast has never been my kind of movie. I've never been one for fairy tales and princesses and instead prefer animated movies with animal protagonists. That the movie is a musical doesn't help either. Despite that, I've given it a few chances over the years and it just isn't my cup of tea.

Seen: 19/24
My Balllot:
9. Point Break (#79)
12. True Romance (#94)
24. Interview With the Vampire (#92)
25. Untamed Heart (One Pointer)

[The Rodent]

Same thing for Y2K - great marketing campaign about the end of the world and then nothing happened meh.

Here's the funny thing, the new millennium didn't begin until Jan 1st, 2001.
There was no year 0.
It was Jan 1st 0001... to Dec 31st 0010.
So the next decade, started Jan 1st, 0011.

Decades and Millennia being with a year that has a 1 at the end, not a 0.

Jan 1st, 1971, is the start of the 70s... 1980 is the last year of the 70s.
The 80s don't start until Jan 1st 1981.

Jan 1st, 1991 is the first year of the 90s, the year 2000 is the last year of the 90s.

The new millennium that everyone was panicking about, started a year later than everyone thought.
It also means the Millennium Dome that the UK Gov spent billions of taxpayer money on, and then sold to 02 for £1... was built, used, and sold, 365 days too early.