Top Films of the Decade - The 1990s - Voting Thread

[LMP]

Hey all, welcome to the Films of the Decade voting thread. You'll submit your Top 15 picks of what in your opinion were the best movies of said decade, instead of strictly favorites (personally, I do a composite of favorites and best, so a good share of films get listed). You're more than welcome to revise your list as many times as you want as long as you tell me which one you want me to count; you can also put more than 15 movies on your list, I'll only count the Top 15. The films will be assigned a point value according to their placement on the list (15 points for #1, 14 points for #2, etc...). Films have to be on at least 2 lists to be considered for the final list.

The main purpose of this thread is to provoke discussion about these films and each others' tastes... and most importantly for fun. The more lists submitted, the better the overall list becomes, so please submit when you can.

Please submit your list in the format provided below, it makes compiling and adding up votes 100x easier, trust me. No awkward spaces or reverse order lists, please. I cannot stress this enough:

1. Pulp Fiction
2. Rushmore
3. American Beauty
4. Barton Fink
5. Boogie Nights
6. Schindler’s List
8. The Shawshank Redemption
8. The Big Lebowski
9. Ed Wood
10. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
11. Reservoir Dogs
12. Fight Club
13. The Matrix
14. Waiting for Guffman
15. The Silence of the Lambs

The deadline for votes will be Saturday, October 20th at 11:59 PM EST, hope you all submit.

The 2000s list will be shown in the final thread.

 

[Lancemc]

I fucking love the 90's.

But damn, I'm having a ridiculously hard time putting together a list I'm satisfied with.

 

[LMP]

Yeah, it was a lot harder for me this time around, too. You can put together a 25-30 deep list if you want, but the first 15 will be counted.

 

[WinnieThePoo]

1. i Stand Alone
2.Magnolia
3.Fight Club
4.Buffalo 66
5.Trainspotting
6.Ed Wood
7.Aladdin
8.The Fisher King
9.Leaving Las Vegas
10.Reservoir Dogs
12 Monkeys
11.fear And Loathing in Las Vegas
12.Falling Down
13.King Of New York
14.Nikita
15.Jackie Brown


tough choice

 

[LMP]

You put 16 movies on there, 12 Monkeys must've thrown you off.

 

[No spoken words]

I should get in on this shit.

 

[SeattleVertigo]

OK, let's try this:

1. Groundhog Day
2. Dances With Wolves
3. Shawshank Redemption
4. Contact
5. Fargo
6. Fight Club
7. Life Is Beautiful
8. Before Sunrise
9. Smoke Signals
10. The Red Violin
11. Being John Malkovich
12. Schindler's List
13. L.A. Confidential
14. Patriot Games
15. Rushmore

Honorable mentions:

The Fugitive
Magnolia
American Beauty
Forrest Gump
Dead Man Walking
Election
Enemy of the State
Office Space
Philadelphia
Pleasantville
Primary Colors
Saving Private Ryan
Shakespeare In Love
The Sixth Sense

 

[lazarus]

1. The English Patient (Minghella, '96)
2. Fight Club (Fincher, '99)
3. Eyes Wide Shut (Kubrick, '99)
4. The Age of Innocence (Scorsese, '93)
5. Three Colors: Red (Kieslowski, '94)
6. Barton Fink (Coen Bros, '91)
7. The Thin Red Line (Malick, '98)
8. Magnolia (Anderson, '99)
9. The Talented Mr. Ripley (Minghella, '99)
10. Malcolm X (Lee, '92)
11. 12 Monkeys (Gilliam, '95)
12. Rushmore (Anderson, '98)
13. Days of Being Wild (Wong, '91)
14. GoodFellas (Scorsese, '90)
15. Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, '94)


wish I had room for: Heat, Snow Falling on Cedars, JFK, The Hudsucker Proxy, Chungking Express, Kundun.

 

[hardyharhar]

You do have room for JFK, just get Eyes Wide Shut outta there


Yeah, didn't care for that one at all and I love Kubrick

 

[God Part III]

^^

Lazarus, remove Pulp Fiction for Chungking Express, or it will never get a chance.

1. Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999)
2. Chungking Express (Wong Kar Wai, 1994)
3. La double vie de Véronique (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1991)
4. Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
5. Lost Highway (David Lynch, 1997)
6. Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999)
7. Fargo (Joel Coen, 1996)
8. Smoke (Wayne Wang, 1995)
9. Breaking The Waves (Lars Von Trier, 1996)
10. The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer, 1995)
11. Les amants du Pont-Neuf (Leos Carax, 1991)
12. Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater, 1995)
13. American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999)
14. Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995)
15. Schindler's List (Steven Spielberg, 1993)

I will not have either Pulp Fiction or Shawshank Redemption win this poll.

get Eyes Wide Shut outta there
Yeah, didn't care for that one at all and I love Kubrick

Watch it again then.

Christ, I missed the first poll. Please include mine if you haven't finished.

My top 15 of the 2000's:

1. 2046 (Wong Kar Wai, 2004)
2. Kill Bill, Vol. 2 (Quentin Tarantino, 2004)
3. Irréversible (Gaspar Noë, 2001)
4. Inland Empire (David Lynch, 2006)
5. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring (Kim Ki-duk, 2003)
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2003)
7. I Don't Want To Sleep Alone (Tsai Ming-Liang, 2006)
8. 3-Iron (Kim Ki-duk, 2004)
9. Das Leben Der Anderen (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006)
10. Oldboy (Chan-wook Park, 2003)
11. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)
12. The Dreamers (Bernardo Bertolucci, 2003)
13. La mala educación (Pedro Almodóvar, 2004)
14. Babel (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2006)
15. Gangs of New York (Martin Scorsese, 2003)

 

[LMP]

I will not have either Pulp Fiction or Shawshank Redemption win this poll.

Why? They're not Forrest Gump. For shits and giggles:

16. Leon: The Professional
17. Jackie Brown
18. Bottle Rocket
19. 12 Monkeys
20. The Sixth Sense
21. Edward Scissorhands
22. Miller's Crossing
23. Quiz Show
24. Office Space
25. Se7en

 

[God Part III]

Why? They're not Forrest Gump.

Pulp Fiction is heavily overrated. Unlike Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction rehashes old movies without really adding something completely new. Don't get me wrong, it's a great movie, but it's nowhere near the greatest movie of the 90's.
9/10.

And Shawshank is, in my humble opinion, a travesty of a film. Between it and Forrest Gump, I'd prefer Forrest Gump any day. And that's saying something. It's just not special in any way, it shows no will to experiment or challenge the medium, and it's insanely predictable.
4/10.

I hope my 2000's list makes it

 

[LMP]

Pulp Fiction is heavily overrated. Unlike Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction rehashes old movies without really adding something completely new. Don't get me wrong, it's a great movie, but it's nowhere near the greatest movie of the 90's.
9/10.

And Shawshank is, in my humble opinion, a travesty of a film. Between it and Forrest Gump, I'd prefer Forrest Gump any day. And that's saying something. It's just not special in any way, it shows no will to experiment or challenge the medium, and it's insanely predictable.
4/10.

I hope my 2000's list makes it

Pulp's one of my favorite films of all-time, mainly because it has the best dialogue of any film I've seen. I could quote that shit all day. I'm the fuckin' foot master.

With Shawshank, it may not be the most unconventional film by any means, but it achieves what it sets out to do and does it well. Plus, any movie that makes me like Tim Robbins has to get some credit.

The 2000s voting is already done, sorry.

 

[God Part III]

Pulp's one of my favorite films of all-time, mainly because it has the best dialogue of any film I've seen. I could quote that shit all day. I'm the fuckin' foot master.

The 2000s voting is already done, sorry.

Spoken like a true prodigy.

Ah, but I agree, it's one of my favourites as well, but we're voting based on originality and execution, right?

I fear there will not be enough Asian love in the 2000's poll

 

[LMP]

Personally, I'm voting based on quality and how much I like it, which really helps comedies and action flicks enter the equation.

There is some Asian love in the 2000s poll, you'd be surprised.

 

[God Part III]

^^

Sounds good.
The evil concept of time difference will now drag me away from this fine discussion on cinema.
Take care, I anticipate the 60's poll! (greatest decade in cinema)

I forgot to add In the Mood for Love to my 2000's list, but since it doesn't count, I won't bother to edit.

 

[LMP]

If you want to participate in the '70s and '80s polls but you can't, you can email your lists to me at:

islagia@aol.com

 

[No spoken words]

There is some Asian love in the 2000s poll, you'd be surprised.

I'm dying to make a Woody Allen joke here, but I've got too much class to do so.

 

[lazarus]

^^

Lazarus, remove Pulp Fiction for Chungking Express, or it will never get a chance.

1. Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999)
2. Chungking Express (Wong Kar Wai, 1994)
3. La double vie de Véronique (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1991)
4. Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
5. Lost Highway (David Lynch, 1997)
6. Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999)
7. Fargo (Joel Coen, 1996)
8. Smoke (Wayne Wang, 1995)
9. Breaking The Waves (Lars Von Trier, 1996)
10. The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer, 1995)
11. Les amants du Pont-Neuf (Leos Carax, 1991)
12. Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater, 1995)
13. American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999)
14. Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995)
15. Schindler's List (Steven Spielberg, 1993)

I will not have either Pulp Fiction or Shawshank Redemption win this poll.

Lovers on the Bridge! Totally forgot about that one.
I'm surprised that someone with such great taste would let the manipulative Schindler's near their List, but you're certainly not the first.

Watch it again then.

Re: Eyes Wide Shut. Ha, I was going to say the same thing but I thought I'd sound like a jerk. Watch it 5 more times is more like it. One of these days this film will be judged on its own merits and not as "Kubrick's last film!" or "Tom & Nicole together with Kubrick!"

Your 00's list is great as well. I think I forgot to put Bad Education on mine, and I don't know why it's not as admired by others. While it's not typical Almodovar, I think it's his masterpiece.

 

[Lila64]

My 2 cents...

I've seen Eyes Wide Shut several times, and I just don't care for it. Don't understand why anyone would have it as #1. And no, I am not watching it yet again

 

[namkcuR]

1.American History X
2.Forrest Gump
3.The Silence Of The Lambs
4.Titanic
5.Terminator 2
6.What About Bob
7.Home Alone
8.The Big Lebowski
9.Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
10.Something About Mary
11.Office Space
12.Forget Paris
13.Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
14.Jurassic Park
15.The Usual Suspects
16.The Truman Show
17.Fight Club
18.Sleepless In Seattle
19.Dumb And Dumber
20.Being John Malkovich
21.The Big Kahuna
22.The American President
23.Philadelphia
24.Die Hard With A Vengeance
25.Armageddon(guilty pleasure, nostaliga, etc)
26.Rush Hour

NOTES:

1.I am disheartened to see that no one has even put American History X on their list yet. Incredible, incredible film.

2.I have not seen American Beauty or Schindler's List yet. If/when I do see them, chances are at least one of them gets into the top 15.

3.I will not apologize for putting Titanic that high. I think it was an extraordinarily well-done film, despite the chick-flick-y aspects of it.

 

[namkcuR]

I think this decade will fare better than any other in comedy.

Lebowski?

Office Space?

Something About Mary?

Ace Ventura?

What About Bob?

Even the PG slapstick of Home Alone?

The underrated Forget Paris?

Clerks(which didn't even make it onto my list)?

I mean, come on.

 

[WinnieThePoo]

1.American History X


1.I am disheartened to see that no one has even put American History X on their list yet. Incredible, incredible film.

.

it's a bit too political , besides it's only top 15 ,

 

[God Part III]

Lovers on the Bridge! Totally forgot about that one.
I'm surprised that someone with such great taste would let the manipulative Schindler's near their List, but you're certainly not the first.

I see what you did there. I put it in because I think it's a great achievement. Personally I don't really care for the film.

Re: Eyes Wide Shut. Ha, I was going to say the same thing but I thought I'd sound like a jerk. Watch it 5 more times is more like it. One of these days this film will be judged on its own merits and not as "Kubrick's last film!" or "Tom & Nicole together with Kubrick!"

I love it. Its impressive way of slightly twisting the narrative and brilliant story gets me every time. Top 3 Kubrick for me.

Your 00's list is great as well. I think I forgot to put Bad Education on mine, and I don't know why it's not as admired by others. While it's not typical Almodovar, I think it's his masterpiece.

It's funny, I don't care much for Almodóvar - he's great, but just not my type of director. But I needed one film in there, because his work in the last 10 years or so is indisputably impeccable. So I put the only one I ever wanted to watch more than twice.

Link me yours!

 

[God Part III]

3.I will not apologize for putting Titanic that high. I think it was an extraordinarily well-done film, despite the chick-flick-y aspects of it.

Instead, apologize for this:

7.Home Alone

Truman Show I overlooked though, such a f'cking amazing film. I may edit my list now. I personally love Jim Carrey, but Ace Ventura the #9 best film of the 90's?

I could copy-paste what I said about Shawshank to state my views on Titanic, but I'll let you have it.

 

[God Part III]

My 2 cents...

I've seen Eyes Wide Shut several times, and I just don't care for it. Don't understand why anyone would have it as #1. And no, I am not watching it yet again

Not forcing you to watch it again (though still advicing you), I'll tell you why I put it #1:

1. Arguably best cinematography of any Kubrick-film.

2. The experimentation with the narrative and reality, which succeeds all the way.

3. Without being completely revolutionary, it remains the perhaps most inventive film of the decade.

4. I know when I watch it again in 50 years time, I'll still love it.

 

[Irvine511]

3.I will not apologize for putting Titanic that high. I think it was an extraordinarily well-done film, despite the chick-flick-y aspects of it.

i agree with you. it's one of those films that's cool to hate, but it's also sensationally well done for what it intends to be -- a big, dumb romance that's every bit the "gone with the wind" of the 2nd half of the 20th century.

 

[Irvine511]

in no particular order:

Trainspotting
Schindler’s List
Goodfellas
Saving Private Ryan
Boogie Nights
LA Confidential
The English Patient
Rushmore
Hoop Dreams
Lonestar
Waiting for Guffman
Beauty and the Beast (laugh all you want, it’s the best non-CGI animated movie ever)
The Insider
The Piano
JFK

Honorable mention: Fargo, Titanic

 

[God Part III]

If you want to participate in the '70s and '80s polls but you can't, you can email your lists to me at:

islagia@aol.com

Thanks, the main reason would be me forgetting it.
So why not do it now?

60's (American cinema = pretty depressing):

1. Le mépris (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963)
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
3. À bout de souffle (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960)
4. 8½ (Federico Fellini, 1963)
5. Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned To Stop Worring and Love the Bomb (1964)
6. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
7. La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960)
8. Belle de jour (Luis Buñuel, 1967)
9. Once Upon A Time In The West (Sergio Leone, 1968)
10. Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965)
11. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (Sergio Leone, 1966)
12. Blow-Up (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1966)
13. Rosemary's Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968)
14. The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967)
15. Vivre sa vie (Jean-Luc Godard, 1962)

#1 and #2 are coincidentially my #1 and #2 best films of all time. You guessed it, I love Godard.

I'll be back later with 70's/80's.
(I haven't watched any Bergman )

BTW, after reading through the thread, people reminded me of movies I forgot.

I can't edit my original post, so:

Switch Schindler's List with Trainspotting, move one place up, placing Toy Story on a solid #15.

 

[God Part III]

Beauty and the Beast (laugh all you want, it’s the best non-CGI animated movie ever)

Spirited Away/Bambi?