Top 10 films of the 90's

Maborosi (Kore-eda, 1995)
Abraham Valley (Oliveira, 1992)
The Age of Innocence (Scorsese, 1993)
Eternity and a Day (Angelopoulos, 1993)
The Double Life of Veronique (Kieslowski, 1991)
Chungking Express (Wong Kar-Wai, 1994)
Rosetta (Dardenne bros, 1999)
Ulysses' Gaze (Angelopoulos, 1995)
Miller's Crossing (Coen, 1990)
Raise the Red Lantern (Zhang Yimou, 1991)

also; Schindler's List, Close Up, The White Balloon, Groundhog Day, The English Patient, The Wrong Trousers.

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In Spring it is the dawn that is most beautiful (Sei Shonagon)

I need to see some of those. I've seen Miller's Crossing, The Age of Innocence and Ulysses' Gaze, but only part of most of the others. Here's my list, which is much more Hollywoodish than yours (and probably everyone elses here).

1. Instinct
2. Se7en
3. Crimson Tide
4. American Beauty
5. A Few Good Men
6. Braveheart
7. The Matrix
8. Men in Black
9. Pretty Woman
10. Mission: Impossible

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One of the biggest myths told is that being intelligent is the absence of the ability to do stupid things.

There are at least a couple existing threads on this topic, but they're fairly old, and it may be a good time to let all the new blood get their lists up, plus let the old timers reevaluate their lists if'n they see fit.

My picks for top flicks of the '90s are...


1. GoodFellas (1990 - Martin Scorsese)
"One day, the kids from the neighborhood carried my mother's groceries
all the way home. You know why? It was outta respect."

2. Unforgiven (1992 - Clint Eastwood)
"We've all got it comin', Kid."

3. Miller's Crossing (1990 - The Coen Brothers)
"That's you all over, Tom: a lie and no heart."

4. Fearless (1993 - Peter Weir)
"I thought I was dead."

5. A Perfect World (1993 - Clint Eastwood)
"Hell no, Phillip. That's a good size for a boy your age."

6. Rushmore (1998 - Wes Anderson)
"War does strange things to men."

7. Eyes Wide Shut (1999 - Stanley Kubrick)
"If you men only knew..."

8. Hamlet (1996 - Kenneth Branagh)
"For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

9. SE7EN (1995 - David Fincher)
"He's a nutbag. Just because the fu*ker's got a library card, doesn't make him Yoda."

10. Shallow Grave (1994 - Danny Boyle)
"But Juliet, you're a doctor. You kill people every day."




BTW, nice list, Miyazawa, and welcome to the board!

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

Thank you kindly. I looked back at a few pages of past threads, had thought there might be something similar. As Sight and Sound's poll of the best films of the last 25 years came up with mainly older, already well established, Hollywood classics in the period, and not much recent stuff, i'm interested in seeing what the consensus is for the past decade. I didn't do up to this year cos i'm a bit behind with the latest films! I too think Eyes Wide Shut was unfairly slated on release- it's surprising how often it seems to crop up in lists now.

What? The critical consensus?

Uh, we're just fans and movie lovers/watchers here. We don't vote in Sight and Sound polls because we're not invited to. Maybe the consensus you're after ain't ours...

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Like, the consensus of any Movie Forums board memebers who wish to post their lists/thoughts, I reckon. Was that comment really loaded, SB? I didn't think so.


Anywho, here's a more detailed look at my tops of the '90s, on a year-by-year basis...

1990
1) GoodFellas, 2) Miller's Crossing, 3) Jacob's Ladder, 4) The Grifters, 5) la femme Nikita 6) White Hunter, Black Heart, 7) Joe versus the Volcano, 8) The Freshman, 9) After Dark, My Sweet, 10) Avalon, 11) The Two Jakes, 12) Cyrano de Bergerac, 13) The Hot Spot, 14) Quick Change, 15) Akira Kurosawa's Dreams

1991
1) The Fisher King, 2) Barton Fink, 3) The Silence of the Lambs, 4) L.A. Story, 5) Cape Fear, 6) Defending Your Life, 7) Delicatessen, 8) Thelma & Louise, 9) Truly, Madly, Deeply, 10) Bugsy, 11) The Rapture, 12) The Commitments, 13) Dead Again, 14) Hear My Song, 15) Blood & Concrete: a love story

1992
1) Unforgiven, 2) The Player, 3) The Waterdance, 4) One False Move, 5) Glengarry Glen Ross, 6) Reservoir Dogs, 7) Hero, 8) The Crying Game, 9) Bad Lieutenant, 10) Night & the City, 11) Baraka, 12) White Men Can't Jump, 13) Man Bites Dog, 14) Un Coeur en Hiver, 15) Light Sleeper

1993
1) Fearless, 2) A Perfect World, 3) Short Cuts, 4) The Age of Innocence, 5) The Music of Chance, 6) Schindler's List, 7) Carlito's Way 8) Groundhog Day, 9) Three Colors: Blue, 10) Philadelphia, 11) Much Ado About Nothing, 12) Faraway, So Close, 13) Searching for Bobby Fischer, 14) King of the Hill, 15) Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould

1994
1) Shallow Grave, 2) Leon: The Professional, 3) The Hudsucker Proxy, 4) Ed Wood, 5) Fresh, 6) Pulp Fiction, 7) Death & the Maiden, 8) Nattavegen, 9) Hoop Dreams, 10) Barcelona, 11) The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, 12) Heavenly Creatures, 13) Exotica, 14) Four Weddings & A Funeral, 15) The Underneath

1995
1) SE7EN, 2) 12 Monkeys, 3) The Usual Suspects, 4) Casino 5) The City of Lost Children, 6) To Die For, 7) Smoke & Blue in the Face, 8) Dead Man, 9) Heat, 10) Get Shorty, 11) The Bridges of Madison County, 12) Toy Story, 13) The Crossing Guard, 14) Safe, 15) Angels & Insects

1996
1) Hamlet, 2) Fargo, 3) Bottle Rocket, 4) Waiting for Guffman, 5) Schizopolis, 6) Box of Moonlight, 7) Lone Star, 8) Sling Blade, 9) ]Welcome to the Dollhouse, 10) Gray's Anatomy

1997
1) L.A. Confidential, 2) As Good As It Gets, 3) Insomnia, 4) In the Company of Men, 5) Grosse Pointe Blank, 6) Wag the Dog, 7) Men with Guns, 8) Touch, 9) The Sweet Hereafter, 10) Kundun, 11) The Man Who Knew Too Little, 12) Jackie Brown, 13) The Ice Storm 14) CopLand, 15) Eve's Bayou

1998
1) Rushmore, 2) The Big Lebowski, 3) Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, 4) Out of Sight, 5) The Thin Red Line, 6) Chinese Box, 7) Your Friends & Nieghbors, 8) The Spanish Prisoner, 9) A Simple Plan, 10) Taxi, 11) The Red Violin 12) Happiness, 13) The Impostors, 14) Affliction, 15) Hurlyburly

1999
1) Eyes Wide Shut, 2) Fight Club, 3) Being John Malkovich, 4) The Limey, 5) Run Lola Run, 6) Bringing Out the Dead, 7) The Straight Story, 8) Election, 9) Snow Falling on Cedars, 10) The Beuna Vista Social Club, 11) All About My Mother, 12) Last Night, 13) Mansfield Park, 14) The Stir of Echoes, 15) Limbo


Tah-dah!

i think all he meant was that maybe some of us might have some criticism behind our tastes in movies, which is something the people who vote in sights/sounds dont have a monopoly on...or at least i hope so . or maybe he was just being ironic...

anyway, lists are fun, so lets go:

1. tokyo fist (tsukamoto '95)
2. men with guns (sayles '97)
3. romper stomper (wright '92)
4. metropolitan (stillman '90)
5. to live (yimou '94)
6. mo' better blues (spike lee '90)
7. faust (svankmajer '94)
8. the eel (imamura '97)
9. whispers of the heart (kondo '95)
10. iron monkey ('93)

here's my top tens by year so far, as well:
1999:
1. Mr. Death;
2. Road Home;
3. Straight Story;
4. Not One Less;
5. Limbo;
6. Minus Man;
7. The Limey;
8. Fight Club;
9. Bicentennial Man;
10. Ghost Dog.
1998:
1. Jin Roh;
2. Thin Red Line;
3. Happiness;
4. Last Days of Disco;
5. Gods and Monsters;
6. Dr. Akagi;
7. Pi;
8. Wild Things;
9. Rushmore;
10. Big Lewbowski;
1997: a competative year.
1. Men With guns;
2. The Eel;
3. Princess Mononoke;
4. My Son the Fanatic;
5. Perfect Blue;
6. In the Company of Men;
7. End of Evangelion;
8. Fireworks;
9. Jackie Brown;
10. Starship Troopers.
1996:
1. Memories;
2. Lonestar;
3. Trainspotting;
4. Girl 6;
5. Fargo;
6. X; (this definately fits in the 'so bad it's good' category)
7. Spring and Chaos;
8. Mother Night;
9. Schitzopolis;
10. Sling Blade;
1995: a competative year.
1. Tokyo Fist;
2. Whispers of the Heart;
3. Clockers;
4. Hate;
5. Shanghai Triad;
6. Usual Suspects;
7. Welcome to the Dollhouse;
8. Living in Oblivion;
9. Ghost in the Shell;
10. Cyclo.
1994:
1. To Live;
2. Faust;
3. Pompoko;
4. Eat Drink Man Woman;
5. Death and the Maiden;
6. Chungking Express;
7. Undo;
8. Dellamorte Dellamore;
9. Pulp Fiction;
10. Last Seduction.
11. Clerks.
1993:
1. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm;
2. Blue Kite;
3. Wedding Banquet;
4. Scent of Green Papaya;
5. Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb;
6. Farewell My Concubine;
7. Wrong Trowsers;
8. Sonatine;
9. Army of Darkness;
10. Patlabor 2.
1992:
1. Romper Stomper;
2. Story of Qui Ju;
3. Unforgiven;
4. Minbo;
5. Reservoir Dogs;
(Tetsuo 2)
(Bad Lieutenant)
1991:
1. Raise the Red Lantern;
2. Only Yesterday;
3. City of Hope;
4. Jungle Fever;
5. Barton Fink;
6. Kafka;
7. Roujin Z;
8. Night on Earth;
9. Delicatessen;
10. Naked Lunch;
1990:
1. Mo' Better Blues;
2. Metropolitan;
3. Dreams;
4. Death of Stalinism in Bohemia;
5. Boiling Point;
6. Grifters;
7. Wild at Heart;
8. Darkman;
9. Ju Dou;
10. Reflecting Skin;

Wow. It really surprises me that two people have given rather large lists of what they think were the best movies of 1991 and neither one mentioned T2. Holden, do you really think Blood & Concrete is better? And Linespalsy, Rôjin Z? Same question. I'm not claiming that either one of you are wrong (I don't claim that these kinds of lists are ever right or wrong); I'm just surprised is all.

Here is mine at the present. It will change over time no doubt. I'm a wishy-washy-personal-flavor-of-the-month-what-is-your-obsession-this-week? type of cat.

01. Magnolia (1999)
02. Pulp Fiction (1994)
03. GoodFellas (1990)
04. Boogie Nights (1997)
05. Being John Malkovich (1999)
06. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
07. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1998)
08. Run Lola Run (1999)
09. Schindler's List (1993)
10. American Beauty (1999)

Yes, Firegod, I do like Blood & Concrete more than T2. For those unfamiliar with Blood & Concrete, it's a smart little dark comedy on a twisted Noir plot, with a funny lead performance by Billy Zane and perfect supporting character work by the likes of James LeGros, Harry Shearer and especially Darren McGavin. It's over-the-top to be sure, but tickles me a bunch. I scooped it up on LaserDisc years ago and I still spin it at least a couple times a year. I play the soundtrack CD often as well - I ADORE Jennifer Beals crooning "One Girl in a Million".

I also happen to like Blood & Conceret more than Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Highlander II: The Quickening, Beastmaster 2, Mannequin 2, F/X 2, Child's Paly 3, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, Star Trek VI, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, City Slickers, JFK, The Doors, Boyz N the Hood, Father of the Bride, Grand Canyon, Regarding Henry, Jungle Fever, New Jack City, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Last Boy Scout, Sleeping with the Enemy, Hook, Point Break or any other feature fiilm released theatrically in the U.S. between January 1st and December 31st of the year 1991, other than the fourteen I listed before it in my above post.

If I expanded my list to a top twenty-five of 1991, the rest would be 16) Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse, 17) My Own Private Idaho, 18) Naked Lunch, 19) Night on Earth, 20) What About Bob?, 21) Kafka, 22) Rush, 23) Raise the Red Lantern, 24) Men of Respect and 25) The Rocketeer. So indeed, turns out there's at least another ten 1991 movies I admire more than T2: Judgement Day. I would very likely put it at number twenty-seven, just behind Boyz N the Hood.

I hope that makes things clear on how I personally feel about Jim Cameron's movie in relation to other movies from that year. Like everyone else I suppose, I was rightly floored by some of the visual effects work, but other than that I found it a standard actioner with some of the worst dialogue ever penned in a major motion picture, a simplistic message annoyingly worn on its sleeve, some downright horrible acting by Linda Hamilton and Eddie Furlong, and overall a major disappoinment compared to the fun low-budget original Terminator.


That seems like an awful lot of explaining to do to someone who obviously thinks more of Pretty Woman than GoodFellas and who consistently insists Instinct is his favorite film - something I'd bet even Jon Turtletaub's mother doesn't claim. Talk about surprising!

I was hoping you'd explain yourself a LITTLE... Sheesh!

bah, terminator 2 probably wouldnt even make my top ten schwarzenneger films of all time, let alone my top ten of 91. yeah yeah, i was wowed by some "explosive" action and special effects, but, well sir, that's about it, and in the grand scheme of things, it aint much. all the more so, when i consider that '91 is one of the weaker years on that list, so bah, i say, to t2. hasta la vista, baby? what the heck is that?! where's the "let off a little steam" of 'commando'? or the "screw you" of total recall? or even the "chill out, bird boy" of batman and robin (eugh!)!? bad dialogue, holden says, and yeah, what would you expect from a schwarzenegger movie? but in fact, i dont think it was bad enough; or alternately, it's a sad day indeed when arnold can out-talk his supporting cast. a sad, sad day.

as for roujin z, well, it had really neato mechanical designs by otomo . less massive and mindboggling than akira, for sure, but similarly unpredictable, with plenty new tricks and some great gags, an unexpected treat all three times i saw it...which in turn makes t2 look all the more pedestrian.

My pics for the 1990's:

Schindler's List
The Silence of the Lambs
Dead Again
Lone Star
Goodfellas
Unforgiven
Hamlet
The Big Lebowski
Se7en
The Usual Suspects
The Fugetive


I added one and some of my pics are more based on personal matters than the greatness of the film, but oh well.

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"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" - Howard Beale

As Holden Pike says, my use of the word "consensus" wasn't loaded. I'm just interested in seeing if the lists here come to any common agreement (the critics don't really seem to have done so for the last decade) and also in what people here like, hopefully for some new ideas. And i like lists.

A couple of other movies to check out that haven't been listed are:

Natural Born Killers (1994)
Titus (1999)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Immortal Beloved (1994)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
The Player (1992)
Babe (1995)
Gods and Monsters (1998)
Scream (1996)
Nightwatch (1994)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Richard III (1996)
Life is Beautiful (1997)
Donnie Brasco (1997)

Yeah......so thats my secord list for the 1990's......going back to bed.

Edward Scissorhands
Braveheart
Shawshank Redemption.
Silence of the Lambs
Fried Green Tomatoes
Leon - The Professional
Pulp Fiction
Much Ado About Nothing
Hamlet
The Last of the Mohicans

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May God have mercy on your Soul.

My list'll be-a-comin'.

Here's my list, in no order:

Safe (Todd Haynes, 1995)
The Puppetmaster (Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 1993)
The Sweet Hereafter (Atom Egoyan, 1997)
Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
To Sleep With Anger (Charles Burnett, 1990)
Fallen Angels (Wong Kar-Wai, 1995)
Close-up (Abbas Kiarostami, 1990)
Beau Travail (Claire Denis, 1999)
Hoop Dreams (Steve James. 1994)
Mother and Son (Alexander Sokurov, 1997)


miyazawa, you're a fan of those Theo Angelopolous movies, aren't ya?

...WHY??????

Silver Bullet's list kicks ass because 6 of his 10 are from 1999. Props to linespalsy, because Iron Monkey is on his list. That's gangsta.

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Well, i must admit Angelopoulos films aren't for everyone, that's for sure! Stately and majestic long takes, with superb choreography (not drawing attention to itself), camerawork and beautiful photography by Arvanitis, but some might fall asleep, especially in a film like Ulysses' Gaze! Not exactly the tourist image of Greece in his films. Bleak and snowswept! Eternity and a Day i found intensely moving.

I admire Kiarostami, too, and Hou's earlier The Time to Live.., and City of Sadness, but i've not seen Puppetmaster, which seems to feature in quite a few lists. Goodfellas and Mother and Son excellent, too.

Have you seen Maborosi, which i think is exquisite?

In no particular order......

1. The Joy Luck Club (1993)
2. Scent of a Woman (1992)
3. A Few Good Men (1992)
4. Sense and Sensibilty (1995)
5. Persuasion (1995)
6. Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
7. Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
8. Jerry Maguire (1996)
9. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
10. Bowfinger (1999)