Best of the 90's: The AV Club's Top 50

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Again, I went to high-school and college in this decade.

50. Dead Man (1995) -- Surrealist Western featuring a deadpan Johnny Depp and an awesome, haunting Neil Young score.
49. American Movie (1999)-- This is the one about the semi-delusional midwestern dude and his Sancho Panza making "Coven"-pronounced-KOH-ven? I liked this one-- both as dark comedy and weird inspirational flick.
48. Ed Wood (1994)-- Got at mostly the same meat, ultimately, as American Movie, but-- frankly-- not as well. Strangely sweet tone, and great stuff from Depp and Landau here, but mostly, overblown/overrated.
47. Starship Troopers (1997)--Big, dumb, stupid tongue-in-cheek Heinlein adaptation... Fun, but it's amazing what satirical freight critics seem to have retro-backloaded onto this one.
46. Heavenly Creatures (1994)-- Chick-friendships get weird. Peter Jackson before the Hobbitplay. Strange, imaginative, spooky.
45. The Limey (1999)-- I saw this, and I remember Zod was in it, and I remember liking it... but I remember precious little else.
44. Metropolitan (1990)-- Hilarious, pretentious prep-school twaddle.
43. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)-- I high-fived a LOT of people during this movie.
42. All About My Mother (1999)-- Good Almodovar. So it's watchable, and moving at times.
40. Trainspotting (1996)-- Superstylish-yet-brutal, fantastic soundtrack. Danny Boyle's best (Slumdog inclusive).
39. The Blair Witch Project (1999)-- Bullshit, yes, but effective, gimmicky, original-at-the-time bullshit.
38. Fast, Cheap & Out Of Control (1997)-- Errol Morris interviews weirdos with weirdo jobs, with that creepy, look-directly-at-the-audience interview camera he has.
37. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)-- Great late Lemmon, pitch-perfect Ed Harris, actual subtle (!) Pacino... there's a LOT more to it than "Coffee is for closers."
36. L.A. Confidential (1997)-- Pitch-perfect Ellroy adaptation. Loved it then, love it now. Outside of The Insider, I don't know that Crowe's been better.
34. Seven (1995)-- Rainy.
33. The Matrix (1999)-- Dark City with kung-fu and "bullet-time." So, so cool for a minute.
31. Paradise Lost: Child Murder in the Robin Hood Hills (1996)-- This one helped make me a death-penalty opponent/person who is wary of ever setting foot in Arkansas.
30. The Thin Red Line (1998)-- Good Lord. I actually contemplated suicide-- mentally worked through the mechanics of it, wondered how cleanup would go in the theater-- during this one.
28. Election (1999)-- I'll stipulate to "Good, not great," too.
27. Short Cuts (1993)-- Raymond Carver stories set in a sprawling Altman film? YES, PLEASE. Long, but worth it.
26. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)-- Ugh. SO much revisionist critique here.
25. Fight Club (1999)-- Gimmicky, but still pops.
24. Crumb (1994)-- Sad, fascinating character study.
23. Carlito�s Way (1993)-- Man alive, how did this get here? Pacino's pretty good, and Penn's working pretty hard, but it plays like a parody that doesn't know it's a parody.
22. The Sweet Hereafter (1997)-- Survivor's grief, the movie. Unsettled me when I saw it the first time. It got me HARD a little while later, when I saw it again after I'd lost someone.
21. Fargo (1995)-- The most William H. Macy William H. Macy performance ever.
20. Red (1994)-- Beautiful and thoughtful rumination on fate and communication and interconnectedness and everything.
19. Exotica (1994)-- On paper, this should have worked on me a lot more... I just found it a slow game of "What the Fuck's Happening?" Maybe I should revisit.
18. Schindler�s List (1993)-- Thrills! Chills! Madcap adventure! Bring the kids!
17. Safe (1995)-- Spooky stuff. Todd Haynes and Julianne Moore work really well together.
16. The Big Lebowski (1998)-- Wasn't expecting much. Got a hell of a lot (and way too many friends of mine "discovering" White Russians).
15. Groundhog Day (1993)-- As a kid-- like a lot of smartass kids-- I used to play the tastes-make-the-person game with judging strangers. I've grown past that, mostly... but if you can't get with this one, I'm not sure I care to know you.
14. Hoop Dreams (1994)-- I'll grant that this was probably easier to sit through at home than in the theater, but... heartbreaking, sterling work. Still. (If you didn't care about the people in this, frankly, it's on you.)
13. Boogie Nights (1997)-- Candicolor, tongue-in-cheek humanism. Loved it, and still do.
12. Miller�s Crossing (1990)-- Weirdly moving. The Coens' apex. Gabriel Byrne's too, methinks. And I loveloveLOVE badass, bathrobed Albert Finney.
11. Barton Fink (1991)-- The Coens' nadir.
10. Being John Malkovich (1999)-- Up there on a personal favorites list. Saw this on a second date, and SHE chose it; frankly, I don't know how I didn't end up with that one.
9. Rushmore (1998)-- Maybe my favorite movie. Probably my favorite Murray. Definitely my favorite Schwartzman/Wes Anderson.
8. Unforgiven (1992)-- Dark, powerful, ruminative... and it bored (post-adolescent) me to hell. Should I give this another shot?
7. Reservoir Dogs (1992)-- Bang, bang. Pulp Fiction is better, but I like this one better. Does that make sense?
6. Out Of Sight (1998)-- Great, snappy, sexy. Fuck, if Jennifer Lopez had an ounce of taste in choosing roles, she could have been... man.
5. Chungking Express (1994)-- Really, really pretty, but... what the hell's underneath that?
4. Dazed And Confused (1993)-- I keep getting older, and this stays the same, great age.
3. Toy Story 2 (1999)-- I think I know why they chose this one-- it kind of got me in the gut a little more than the great, jokey first one; there's a little more vinegar in the honey of this one. Still... kind of an odd call.
2. Pulp Fiction (1994)-- Well, yeah.
1. Goodfellas (1990)-- Of course.

Edited October 18, 2012 by Guest

[Vic Sage]

14. Hoop Dreams (1994)-- I'll grant that this was probably easier to sit through at home than in the theater, but... heartbreaking, sterling work. Still. (If you didn't care about the people in this, frankly, it's on you.)

Fine, it's on me. It was still a bore.

[Guest themetfairy]

8. Unforgiven (1992)-- Dark, powerful, ruminative... and it bored (post-adolescent) me to hell. Should I give this another shot?

I wouldn't bother.

I still wish Beauty and the Beast beat out this one for Best Picture.

[seawolf17]

Nymr83 wrote: Vic's List is much closer to mine than this published one is. Leaving out SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION? Did this guy even watch movies in the 90's?

No kidding. Maybe it's not your favorite, but not even in the Top 50?!?!

[Edgy MD]

27. Short Cuts (1993)-- Raymond Carver stories set in a sprawling Altman film? YES, PLEASE. Long, but worth it.

Girl I absofuckinglutely should have been with in college, but wasn't because we were never available at the same time, gives me a call. I'm working in Chelsea, and she just started a grad program that has brought her back to the city. Can we get together? "Hells YEAH!" I say, but cooler than that. (I work in Chelsea, after all.) I tell her I'll head up to her place after I get off at 5:30. "Great!" she says. "Great!" I say.

A half hour later, she calls and says she wants to get some lab work done. Can I kill some time and come up a little later? "Sure! I'll duck into a movie after work and get the A line up there after it lets out."

"GREAT! Looking forward to seeing you!"

I duck into... Short Cuts! By the time I get up there seventy hours later, pulled and stretched to my limits emotionally, GIASHBwiC is absofuckinglutely asleep. My love life once again resumes its struggle to survive like it's being sprayed from overhead by ominous helicopters.

To this day, my one-item bucket list reads "Punch Matthew Modine in face."

[Vic Sage]

that's as worthy an ambition as any i can think of.

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy DC wrote: Can we get together? "Hells YEAH!" I say, but cooler than that.

Well, in your head it was cooler than that.

[nymr83]

seawolf17 wrote: Nymr83 wrote: Vic's List is much closer to mine than this published one is. Leaving out SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION? Did this guy even watch movies in the 90's? No kidding. Maybe it's not your favorite, but not even in the Top 50?!?!

He left off TWO movies that are in my top 5. Shawshank and The Hunt for Red October.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

You like your Soviet sub captains with Scots accents, eh?

Taste is personal and all, but hell, I'm not sure Hunt is the best '90s Jack Ryan movie.