Top 10 of the Decade: The 1990's

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1. The English Patient (Minghella, 96)
2. Barton Fink (Coen Bros, 91)
3. Days of Being Wild (Wong, 90)
4. Fight Club (Fincher, 99)
5. Eyes Wide Shut (Kubrick, 99)
6. Three Colors: Red (Kieslowski, 94)
7. The Age of Innocence (Scorsese, 93)
8. Princess Mononoke (THE ZAK!, 97)
9. The Thin Red Line (Malick, 98)
10. JFK (Stone, 91)
 
1. Pulp Fiction - Tarantino - 94
2. The Big Lebowski - Coen - 98
3. Beauty and the Beast - Trousdale/Wise - 91
4. Shakespeare In Love - Madden - 98
5. Before Sunrise - Linklater - 95
6. Terminator 2: Judgment Day - Cameron - 91
7. L.A. Confidential - Hanson - 97
8. Good Will Hunting - Van Sant - 97
9. Goodfellas - Scorsese - 90
10. The Matrix - Wachowski - 99

BOOM!
 
1. Schindler’s List – Spielberg
2. Forrest Gump – Zemeckis
3. Fargo – Coen
4. Shakespeare in Love – Madden
5. The Silence of the Lambs – Demme
6. Sense and Sensibility – Lee
7. Boogie Nights – Anderson
8. Eyes Wide Shut – Kubrick
9. Heat – Mann
10. Howards End – Ivory
 
1. A Brighter Summer's Day (Yang, 1991)*
2. Chungking Express (Kar-Wai, 1994)
3. The Thin Red Line (Malick, 1998)
4. Taste of Cherry (Kiarostami, 1997)
5. The English Patient (Minghella, 1996)
6. The Piano (Campion, 1993)
7. Eyes Wide Shut (Kubrick, 1999)
8. Goodfellas (Scorsese, 1990)
9. All About My Mother (Almodovar, 1999)
10. Magnolia (Anderson, 1999)

* This is a somewhat recent watch (less than a year ago), but I was so overwhelmed by this film (and in subsequent re-watchs) that I'm comfortable putting it on top of my list.
 
1. Happy Together (Wong, 97)
2. Three Colors: Red (Kieslowski, 94)
3. Ghost in the Shell (Oshii, 95)
4. The Thin Red Line (Malick, 98)
5. The End of Evangelion (Anno, 97)
6. Eyes Wide Shut (Kubrick, 99)
7. Beau Travail (Denis, 99)
8. Dead Man (Jarmusch, 95)
9. Irma Vep (Assayas, 96)
10. Until the End of the World (Wenders, 91)

That last one's for Shouter. Also, if we were doing an unfiltered list, Days of Being Wild would definitely be #2 or #3. [/b]Fallen Angels[/b] would probably figure in somewhere just before the bottom as well. Additionally, if I were personally including television series or miniseries (or OVAs and such) Cowboy Bebop would be #1 on my list here. With quite a wide gap between it and everything else. I suppose my #5 is debatable as well for the same reason, though it's definitely as much a stand-alone feature as it is a conclusion to the Eva series.

This one felt the most painful cuts yet for me. Having to leave off Kiarostami, Miyazaki, Kitano, Hou, Campion, Mann, Trier, Herzog, and of course the Coens was incredibly difficult.
 
1. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (David Lynch, 1992)
2. Lovers of The Arctic Circle (Julio Medem, 1998)
3. Open Your Eyes (Alejandro Amenabar, 1997)
4. Jacob’s Ladder (Adrian Lyne, 1990)
5. Dances With Wolves (Kevin Costner, 1990)
6. The Fisher King (Terry Gilliam, 1991)
7. Last of The Mohicans (Michael Mann, 1992)
8. The English Patient (Anthony Minghella, 1996)
9. Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
10. Silence of The Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991)
 
1. Magnolia (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999)
2. Eyes Wide Shut (dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1999)
3. GoodFellas (dir. Martin Scorsese, 1990)
4. Pulp Fiction (dir. Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
5. The Big Lebowski (dir. Joel & Ethan Coen, 1998)
6. Unforgiven (dir. Clint Eastwood, 1992)
7. Fight Club (dir. David Fincher, 1999)
8. Heat (dir. Michael Mann, 1995)
9. Short Cuts (dir. Robert Altman, 1993)
10. Rushmore (dir. Wes Anderson, 1998)

Again, foreign fare's lower than I would like... by a lot. It was a toss-up between Barton Fink and The Big Lebowski, both of which I feel are the Coens greatest achievements aside from A Serious Man. The Thin Red Line's on the pipeline after my Horrorfest, so we'll see how this list changes.

As far as Magnolia goes, I think it's P.T.'s most uneven film. However, its ambition and high-points are not only my favorites in his body of work, but also compared to what I've seen of the decade's output. The entire second act is a masterwork in weaving through multiple narrative threads and tracing emotion and momentum.

Respect the cock.
 
Heat was close to my list. As for the Coens I was leaning towards Miller's Crossing which these days I think is my favorite of theirs. Lebowski would have been a close second for the 90s.
 
Ah, this one too. Possibly my favorite Almodovar. Wasn't quite in contention for list-status for me though.

Talk to Her and Volver might be my favorites, but I think that All About My Mother is the archetypal Almodovar film in that it contains every crucial element about his work (the tonal sensibilities, the acute insights about the feminine psyche, the awareness of and generosity to film history, etc). He is one of my favorite working filmmakers; even what is considered as "minor" by the critics (like Broken Embrances) is still damn good.
 
I was a huge fan of Broken Embraces last year. And Volver is a close second favorite personally. Talk to Her works wonders for me in fits and starts, but leaves me with somehow less than my two favorites.
 
Also I'll say that if a Miyazaki film had made my list (they'll be one very high on my 2000s) it would have been Porco Rosso, as majestic and iconic as Princess Mononoke continues to be.
 
1. American Beauty (dir. Sam Mendes, 1999)
2. Pulp Fiction (dir. Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
3. Toy Story (dir. John Lasseter, 1995)
4. Groundhog Day (dir. Harold Ramis, 1993)
5. Forrest Gump (dir. Robert Zemeckis, 1994)
6. The Sixth Sense (dir. M. Night Shyamalan, 1999)
7. Fargo (dir. Joel Coen, 1996)
8. The Shawshank Redemption (dir. Frank Darabont, 1994)
9. The Usual Suspects (dir. Bryan Singer, 1995)
10. Ed Wood (dir. Tim Burton, 1994)

I'm actually very comfortable with this list. Most of these movies are among my all-time favorites, and I only had to leave off a handful that could compete with them.
 
So, while the '80s was the decade I was born in, the '90s was the decade I grew up in. That was why making an '80s list was so hard for me, because there was so much contention between films I truly believed were good movies and movies I'd loved since the time I was born. I've seen more movies from the '90s than any other decade, but making this list wasn't hard. Mostly because by the end of it, it became easier for me to tell if a movie was good, or just something I enjoyed watching as a kid. But, I do have a few films I need to mention at any rate, not as honorable mentions, just as a bit of fact about myself, because, I mean, I'm sure you all wanted to know. Also, on this list, the films that have an "*" next to them are films from my top ten movies ever:

1.) American Beauty * ('99, Mendes) [Favorite movie ever. Even if that is incredibly cliched, whatever. I loved it before I ever became a truly big fan of film. It might even be THE reason I've come to love movies as much as I have. I watch it now to try and understand why it's become so repelling to like to some people, and I just don't see it. Like I said, favorite movie ever.]
2.) The Shawshank Redemption * ('94, Darabont) [One of the first movie that I ever spent a lot of time watching with my dad.]
3.) Forrest Gump * ('94, Zemeckis)
4.) Shall We Dance? * ('96, Suo)
5.) Rushmore ('98, Anderson)
6.) Trainspotting ('96, Boyle)
7.) Groundhog Day ('93, Ramis) [I have incredibly personal but great memories and emotions attached to this film]
8.) The Sixth Sense ('99, Shyamalan) [Just watched it again recently, and realized that I had come to dislike it over the years because of all the meme-ness surrounding it. Jumped way up in my list of favorite films]
9.) Get Shorty ('95, Sonnenfeld)
10.) Se7en ('95, Fincher)

Movie I've seen more than any movie ever and almost included on the list: Sister Act
Favorite animated film (not computer animated film) of all time: The Lion King
Greatest so-bad-it's-good film ever: Under Siege

Yay!
 
6. The Fisher King (Terry Gilliam, 1991)

I know I just posted this in the review thread recently, but I wanted to like this movie a great deal, but I just couldn't quite get into Williams' character. It's nice to see it on a list though, it was a great movie regardless.
 
1. Magnolia (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999)
2. Eyes Wide Shut (dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1999)
3. GoodFellas (dir. Martin Scorsese, 1990)
4. Pulp Fiction (dir. Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
5. The Big Lebowski (dir. Joel & Ethan Coen, 1998)
6. Unforgiven (dir. Clint Eastwood, 1992)
7. Fight Club (dir. David Fincher, 1999)
8. Heat (dir. Michael Mann, 1995)
9. Short Cuts (dir. Robert Altman, 1993)
10. Rushmore (dir. Wes Anderson, 1998)

Again, foreign fare's lower than I would like... by a lot. It was a toss-up between Barton Fink and The Big Lebowski, both of which I feel are the Coens greatest achievements aside from A Serious Man. The Thin Red Line's on the pipeline after my Horrorfest, so we'll see how this list changes.

As far as Magnolia goes, I think it's P.T.'s most uneven film. However, its ambition and high-points are not only my favorites in his body of work, but also compared to what I've seen of the decade's output. The entire second act is a masterwork in weaving through multiple narrative threads and tracing emotion and momentum.

Respect the cock.

This is the best list for this thread so far.

9 outstanding films and 1 very good one. No sentimental pap.
 
I'mma put you in cinephile jail, caddy corner from Sam Mendes in directors jail.

It was my number 4 though. :reject:

I feel like there's a meta-film about Director's Jail that needs to be made where Brian De Palma leads a break-out.

Michael Bay's the demolitions expert.

This is the best list for this thread so far.

9 outstanding films and 1 very good one. No sentimental pap.

Thanks?
 
Wow, I must really fucking suck then. Sorry for wasting you and everyone else's time, Deep.
 
Pull dee STRING!

Ed Wood puts a new perspective on the old school horror movie marathon I intend to have over the next week or so. I may throw Plan 9 in there for added fun.
 
Oh lord. My how things have changed in three years. I also love Laz's epic EWS post right below there. Where's elmel? That's a good read.

That is an epic smackdown I received :) Sorta like Shaq-daddy throwing down on Manute Bol :lol:

However, I still don't like EWS :wink:

I'm just gonna take from lists already posted, cuz I'm too tired to think at this point. And there's plenty I really love already.

Babe - Noonan 95 Love this. Don't think I saw it listed yet
Last of the Mohicans - Mann Wonderful historical epic. Cinematography :love:
The Thin Red Line - Malick Great war film despite John Travolta :D
Shakespeare In Love Don't know why I like this one so much. It's a mystery, as Geoffrey Rush would say
Ed Wood - Burton Lotta fun, and a great performance from Martin Landau
Bulworth - Beatty 98
Everyone Says I Love You - Allen 96 Woody was fading but I thought this one was nice return to form. A musical no less
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead - Stoppard 90 Love this sideways look at the Hamlet story. Oldman and Roth are very good together in this comedy.
JFK - Stone 91
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut I love South Park. What would Brian Boitano do? :)

Wow, caught up. Wish I was able to be here more to participate in the discussion. Regardless, it was fun.
 
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