The 1990s

[CinemaInternational]

The 1990s were the final decade of the 20th century, and somehow managed to be an intriguing decade that was also infuriatingly uneven. I admit to preferring the earlier half of the decade, and don't care much for the last two years, but it is what it is.

[CinemaInternational]

1990
1 Cyrano De Bergerac
2 The Godfather Part III
3 Postcards from the Edge
4 Dances with Wolves
5 The Russia House
6 White Palace
7 Come See the Paradise
8 Metropolitan
9 Mr. and Mrs. Bridge
10 Jacob's Ladder
11 Men Don't Leave
12 Gremlins II: The New Batch
13 Truly Madly Deeply
14 Texasville
15 Stanley and Iris
16 Hamlet
17 Europa Europa
18 Joe Vs. The Volcano
19 My Mother's Castle
20 Reversal of Fortune
21 Back to the Future Part III
22 The Witches
23 Green Card
24 Alice
25 Mermaids
26 The Long Walk Home
27 Havana
28 Internal Affairs
29 The Freshman
30 Pretty Woman
31 Total Recall
32 Edward Scissorhands
33 GoodFellas
34 Mountains of the Moon
35 Life is Sweet
36 Everybody Wins
37 Avalon
38 Misery
39 The Sheltering Sky
40 Dick Tracy
41 Miller's Crossing
42 Cry-Baby
43 The Rescuers Down Under
44 Home Alone
45 My Blue Heaven
46 Awakenings
47 The Two Jakes
48 A Show of Force
49 Ghost
50 The Exorcist III
51 The Grifters
52 Kindergarten Cop
53 Stella
54 Love at Large
55 My Father's Glory
56 Quick Change
57 Mo' Better Blues
58 The Hunt for Red October
59 The Hot Spot
60 Pacific Heights
61 Bird on a Wire
62 Betsy's Wedding
63 Mister Johnson
64 The Bonfire of the Vanities
65 Rocky V
66 I Love You to Death
67 Flashback
68 Arachnophobia
69 Days of Being Wild
70 Cadillac Man
71 Presumed Innocent
72 Wild at Heart
73 White Hunter, Black Heart
74 Without You I'm Nothing
75 Close-Up
76 Days of Thunder
77 Welcome Home Roxy Carmichael
78 Q&A
79 The Match Factory Girl
80 The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter

1991
1 Beauty and the Beast
2 The Fisher King
3 The Man in the Moon
4 Thelma and Louise
5 The Silence of the Lambs
6 Soapdish
7 The Doctor
8 Boyz N the Hood
9 Once Around
10 Dogfight
11 The Prince of Tides
12 Grand Canyon
13 Jungle Fever
14 JFK
15 Black Robe
16 Barton Fink
17 Europa
18 Homicide
19 Proof
20 Shadows and Fog
21 High Heels
22 Frankie and Johnny
23 My Girl
24 Scenes from a Mall
25 The Miracle
26 Terminator II: Judgment Day
27 Paradise
28 Oscar
29 Regarding Henry
30 Hudson Hawk
31 Fried Green Tomatoes
32 For the Boys
33 Doc Hollywood
34 Enchanted April
35 Dead Again
36 Daughters of the Dust
37 Billy Bathgate
38 Class Action
39 A Woman's Tale
40 Liebestraum
41 Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
42 The Lovers on the Bridge
43 The Rapture
44 L.A. Story
45 Only the Lonely
46 Only Yesterday
47 Defending Your Life
48 Let Him Have It
49 Life Stinks
50 Mystery Date
51 The Commitments
52 Hear My Song
53 American Friends
54 City Sickers
55 The Hard Way
56 Jacquot De Nantes
57 Father of the Bride
58 Rush
59 Raise the Red Lantern
60 Stepping Out
61 Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
62 Married to It
63 Shattered
64 Other People's Money
65 Impromptu
66 A Brighter Summer Day
67 What About Bob?
68 Where Angels Fear to Tread
69 The Rocketeer
70 Little Man Tate
71 The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear
72 The Double Life of Veronique
73 29th Street
74 V.I. Warshawski
75 Switch
76 Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken
77 Hot Shots!
78 The Marrying Man
79 Deceived
80 The Efficiency Expert
81 Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead
82 Curly Sue
83 The Object of Beauty
84 The Five Heartbeats
85 The Addams Family
86 Closet Land
87 Delirious
88 Mortal Thoughts
89 True Colors
90 Nothing but Trouble
91 Bugsy
92 Delicatessen
93 Guilty by Suspicion
94 Meeting Venus
95 My Own Private Idaho
96 An American Tail II: Feivel Goes West
97 All I Want for Christmas
98 City of Hope
99 Hook
100 Dying Young
101 Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
102 Point Break
103 The Butcher's Wife
104 Rambling Rose
105 Company Business
106 A Kiss Before Dying
107 Sleeping with the Enemy
108 He Said, She Said
109 New Jack City
110 White Fang
111 Night on Earth
112 Kafka
113 Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man
114 Talent for the Game
115 Career Opportunities
116 The Indian Runner
117 Backdraft
118 Mediterraneo
119 Ricochet
120 Sweet Talker
121 The Super
122 Not Without My Daughter
123 Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey
124 Defenseless
125 Cape Fear
126 Hard Promises
127 The Last Boy Scout
128 The Doors

1992
1 Chaplin
2 Husbands and Wives
3 A River Runs Through It
4 Indochine
5 Malcolm X
6 Hoffa
7 Sister Act
8 Rich in Love
9 Leaving Normal
10 Noises Off
11 Unforgiven
12 Used People
13 Passion Fish
14 Falling from Grace
15 Orlando
16 A League of Their Own
17 Howards End
18 The Last of the Mohicans
19 Diggstown
20 Love Field
21 Mr. Saturday Night
22 My Cousin Vinny
23 Bram Stoker's Dracula
24 Lorenzo's Oil
25 The Player
26 Housesitter
27 Basic Instinct
28 Death Becomes Her
29 The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
30 Hero
31 Aladdin
32 A Few Good Men
33 Strictly Ballroom
34 Gas Food Lodging
35 The Muppet Christmas Carol
36 Newsies
37 The Long Day Closes
38 Final Anaylsis
39 Peter's Friends
40 Scent of a Woman
41 The Power of One
42 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
43 The Bodyguard
44 The Cutting Edge
45 Glengarry Glen Ross
46 Boomerang
47 Batman Returns
48 City of Joy
49 Single White Female
50 The Crying Game
51 Leap of Faith
52 The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag
53 This is My Life
54 CrissCross
55 School Ties
56 Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
57 Honeymoon in Vegas
58 Beethoven
59 The Last Days of Chez Nous
60 Patriot Games
61 Alien³
62 Jennifer Eight
63 Thunderheart
64 The Mighty Ducks
65 The Distinguished Gentleman
66 Like Water for Chocolate
67 Damage
68 One False Move
69 Sneakers
70 White Men Can't Jump
71 1492: Conquest of Paradise
72 Unlawful Entry
73 Toys
74 Prelude to a Kiss
75 Honey, I Blew Up the Kid
76 A Stranger Among Us

1993
1 The Joy Luck Club
2 Fearless
3 Three Colors: Blue
4 The Piano
5 Shadowlands
6 The Remains of the Day
7 Heaven and Earth
8 Household Saints
9 The Age of Innocence
10 Tombstone
11 Much Ado About Nothing
12 A Perfect World
13 The Secret Garden
14 Wrestling Ernest Hemingway
15 What's Eating Gilbert Grape
16 Schindler's List
17 What's Love Got to Do with It?
18 In the Name of the Father
19 Flesh and Bone
19 Manhattan Murder Mystery
20 The Thing Called Love
21 Bopha!
23 King of the Hill
24 Lost in Yonkers
25 Philadelphia
26 The Cemetery Club
27 The Ballad of Little Jo
28 The Firm
29 Six Degrees of Separation
30 Dave
30 Heart and Souls
31 Dazed and Confused
32 In the Line of Fire
33 M Butterfly
34 Mad Dog and Glory
35 Mr. Wonderful
36 Short Cuts
37 A Home of Our Own
38 Poetic Justice
39 Sleepless in Seattle
40 Indecent Proposal
41 Grumpy Old Men
42 Groundhog Day
43 A Dangerous Woman
44 A Bronx Tale
45 Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
46 Mrs. Doubtfire
47 Ruby in Paradise
48 Searching for Bobby Fischer
49 The Pickle
50 Jurassic Park
51 The Sandlot
52 The Good Son
53 Untamed Heart
54 Addams Family Values
55 Mr. Jones
56 Ocean Waves
57 Rising Sun
58 My Life
59 Son of the Pink Panther
60 Undercover Blues
61 Sommersby
62 The Fugitive
63 Benny and Joon
64 Malice
65 Hocus Pocus
66 Made in America
67 Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
68 The Nightmare Before Christmas
69 The Snapper
71 Sliver
72 The Dark Half
73 Beethoven's 2nd
74 We're Back A Dinosaur's Story

1994
1 Quiz Show
2 The Browning Version
3 Widows Peak
4 That's Entertainment III
5 Ed Wood
6 Little Women
7 The Shawshank Redemption
8 Crooklyn
9 Four Weddings and a Funeral
10 Serial Mom
11 Second Best
12 Don Juan DeMarco
13 It Could Happen to You
14 Tom and Viv
15 The Hudsucker Proxy
16 Corrina Corrina
17 Nobody's Fool
18 Death and the Maiden
19 Angie
20 Guarding Tess
21 Hoop Dreams
22 Muriel's Wedding
23 The Ref
24 Speed
25 The Client
26 Vanya on 42nd Street
27 I.Q
28 Intersection
29 Blue Sky
30 Bullets Over Broadway
31 Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
32 Three Colors: Red
33 Love Affair
34 True Lies
35 Chungking Express
36 The Swan Princess
37 Eat Drink Man Woman
38 The Madness of King George
39 The Paper
40 I Love Trouble
41 Barcelona
42 Nell
43 Only You
44 Forrest Gump
45 The Last Seduction
46 Pulp Fiction
47 Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
48 Andre
49 Miracle on 34th Street
50 Double Happiness
51 Wolf
52 The Flintstones
53 Color of Night
54 Legends of the Fall
55 The Lion King
56 Reality Bites
57 Monkey Trouble
58 The River Wild
59 Angels in the Outfield
60 The Santa Clause
61 Milk Money
62 My Girl 2
63 Il Postino
64 The Little Rascals
65 Thumbelina
66 Three Colors: White
67 Blown Away
68 D2: The Mighty Ducks
69 The Pagemaster
70 Disclosure

1995
1 Dead Man Walking
2 Sense and Sensibility
3 Babe
4 The Bridges of Madison County
5 Dolores Claiborne
6 To Die For
7 Mr. Holland's Opus
8 Boys on the Side
9 How to Make an American Quilt
10 While You Were Sleeping
11 Cry the Beloved Country
12 A Walk in the Clouds
13 Nixon
14 Pocahontas
15 Persuasion
17 12 Monkeys
16 My Family
18 A Month by the Lake
19 Richard III
20 A Little Princess
21 Before Sunrise
22 Forget Paris
23 Rob Roy
24 The Grass Harp
25 Father of the Bride Part II
26 Mighty Aphrodite
27 Georgia
28 Casino
29 Outbreak
30 Waiting to Exhale
31 Leaving Las Vegas
32 Circle of Friends
33 Apollo 13
34 Carrington
35 The Brady Bunch Movie
36 To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar
37 First Knight
38 Clueless
39 Safe
40 Now and Then
41 Toy Story
42 The Flower of My Secret
43 Devil in a Blue Dress
44 Whisper of the Heart
45 Get Shorty
46 The American President
47 The Brothers McMullen
48 Grumpier Old Men
49 A Midwinter's Tale
50 Balto
51 The Net
52 French Kiss
53 Frank and Ollie
54 Roommates
55 Dead Man
56 The Indian in the Cupboard
57 Something to Talk About
58 Losing Isaiah
59 Showgirls
60 Braveheart
61 Clockers
62 Jumanji
63 GoldenEye
64 The Amazing Panda Adventure
65 A Goofy Movie
66 Casper
67 Home for the Holidays
68 Fluke
69 Dangerous Minds
70 Gordy
71 Nine Months
72 Napoleon
73 The Usual Suspects
74 The Pebble and the Penguin
75 Se7en
76 A Kid in King Arthur's Court
77 Gold Diggers: The Legend of Bear Mountain

1996
1 Fargo
2 The English Patient
3 The First Wives Club
4 The Portrait of a Lady
5 Mother
6 The Mirror Has Two Faces
7 Evita
8 Marvin's Room
9 Everyone Says I Love You
10 Mary Reilly
11 The Long Kiss Goodnight
12 Secrets and Lies
13 Fly Away Home
14 The Birdcage
15 Matilda
16 The Spitfire Grill
17 The Hunchback of Notre Dame
18 Surviving Picasso
19 Carried Away
20 The Frighteners
21 The Truth About Cats and Dogs
22 Emma
23 Bottle Rocket
24 Lone Star
25 A Time to Kill
26 Waiting for Guffman
27 Mulholland Falls
28 A Family Thing
29 101 Dalmatians
30 One Fine Day
31 Michael Collins
32 The Preacher's Wife
33 Jane Eyre
34 The Evening Star
35 Trainspotting
36 My Fellow Americans
37 Breaking the Waves
38 Walking and Talking
39 Up Close and Personal
40 Jerry Maguire
41 Bed of Roses
42 Harriet the Spy
43 Grace of My Heart
44 Unhook the Stars
45 Muppet Treasure Island
46 Night Falls on Manhattan
47 Twelfth Night
48 Striptease
49 The Nutty Professor
50 Before and After
51 Blood and Wine
52 Big Night
53 Mrs. Winterborne
54 Kansas City
55 Shine
56 Hard Eight
57 City Hall
58 Flirting with Disaster
59 Beyond Silence
60 Tin Cup
61 Twister
62 The Crucible
63 Primal Fear
64 Ghosts of Mississippi
65 Extreme Measures
66 Jack
67 Shiloh
68 Looking for Richard
69 Flipper
70 Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco
71 Space Jam
72 She's the One
73 In Love and War
74 William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
75 The Cable Guy
76 D3: The Mighty Ducks
77 The Adventures of Pinocchio

1997
1 4 Little Girls
2 L.A. Confidential
3 John Grisham's The Rainmaker
4 Jackie Brown
5 Eve's Bayou
6 The Apostle
7 My Best Friend's Wedding
8 Deconstructing Harry
9 Anastasia
10 The Ice Storm
11 Gattaca
12 The Tango Lesson
13 Titanic
14 Ulee's Gold
15 Rosewood
16 Paradise Road
17 Boogie Nights
18 Life is Beautiful
19 Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
20 Selena
21 Romy and Michele's High School Reunion
22 Soul Food
23 Smilla's Sense of Snow
24 The Boxer
25 The Winter Guest
26 Hercules
27 Critical Care
28 Mrs. Dalloway
29 Afterglow
30 The Sweet Hereafter
31 The Wings of the Dove
32 A Thousand Acres
33 As Good As It Gets
34 Good Will Hunting
35 Love Jones
36 Out to Sea
37 Mrs. Brown
38 Affliction
39 Tomorrow Never Dies
40 Face/Off
41 Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
42 The Education of Little Tree
43 Liar Liar
44 FairyTale: A True Story
45 The Full Monty
46 Wag the Dog
47 Mouse Hunt
48 The Game
49 In and Out
50 Amistad
51 Home Alone 3
52 Grosse Pointe Blank
53 Flubber
54 Air Bud
55 The Beautician and the Beast
56 Men in Black
57 Joey
58 Cats Don't Dance
59 The End of Violence

1998
1 The Prince of Egypt
2 Shakespeare in Love
3 Saving Private Ryan
4 Rushmore
5 One True Thing
6 The Last Days of Disco
7 The Parent Trap
8 The General
9 Pleasantville
10 The Horse Whisperer
11 Pecker
12 Besieged
13 Beloved
14 Central Station
15 A Simple Plan
16 The Impostors
17 The Big Lebowski
18 Hilary and Jackie
19 The Opposite of Sex
20 Twilight
21 Swept from the Sea
22 Down in the Delta
23 Primary Colors
24 Madeline
25 Living Out Loud
26 Out of Sight
27 Hope Floats
28 The Truman Show
29 He Got Game
30 Stepmom
31 Dangerous Beauty
32 How Stella Got Her Groove Back
33 Polish Wedding
34 Waking Ned Devine
35 You've Got Mail
36 The Wedding Singer
37 The Gingerbread Man
38 The Thin Red Line
39 Simon Birch
40 Zero Effect
41 Elizabeth
42 Antz
43 Cousin Bette
44 Dirty Work
45 Celebrity
46 Mulan
47 Babe: Pig in the City
48 A Bug's Life
49 Sliding Doors
50 Practical Magic
51 Dancing at Lughnasa
52 Bulworth
53 A Civil Action
54 The Rugrats Movie
55 Paulie
56 Run Lola Run
57 Little Voice
58 Wide Awake
59 Quest for Camelot
60 Pokemon: The First Movie
61 Patch Adams
62 I'll Be Home for Christmas
63 Air Bud II: Golden Receiver
64 Barney's Big Adventure
65 Jack Frost

1999
1 The Straight Story
2 The End of the Affair
3 Magnolia
4 All About My Mother
5 Topsy-Turvy
6 Tea with Mussolini
7 Notting Hill
8 Cookie's Fortune
9 Toy Story 2
10 Eyes Wide Shut
11 The Thomas Crown Affair
12 The Muse
13 October Sky
14 Blast from the Past
15 The Sixth Sense
16 Bringing Out the Dead
17 The Insider
18 A Walk on the Moon
19 Anywhere but Here
20 Bowfinger
21 The Hurricane
22 The Iron Giant
23 The Green Mile
24 Never Been Kissed
25 Fantasia 2000
26 Dick
27 Galaxy Quest
28 Anna and the King
29 Mansfield Park
30 Stuart Little
31 Muppets from Space
32 The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
33 Tarzan
34 Runaway Bride
35 Tumbleweeds
36 Mumford
37 The World is Not Enough
38 Guenivere
39 Music of the Heart
40 Sweet and Lowdown
41 Liberty Heights
42 The Talented Mr. Ripley
43 The Winslow Boy
44 Office Space
45 Election
46 My Life So Far
47 Dreaming of Joseph Lees
48 Girl Interrupted
49 A Dog of Flanders
50 Bicentennial Man
51 East is East
52 Being John Malkovich
53 Forces of Nature
54 Pokemon 2000
55 The Other Sister
56 Drop Dead Gorgeous
57 The Deep End of the Ocean
58 Doug's First Movie
59 Inspector Gadget
60 The Cider House Rules
61 American Beauty
62 Big Daddy
63 Baby Geniuses

[laffite]

It's fun to rummage through your lists. I was gratified to see that Where Angels Fear to Tread was 68th out of 122 in 1994. That seems middling but I love the movie and quite frankly as I perused your list I was guessing it would not be there. It doesn't do well with critics and probably viewers alike. I had a stretch where I watched this movie seven times in 10 days. If I like a movie well enough I may watch it again but not anytime soon. Everything had to be right. I brooked no interruptions during the view. I savored every seamless change of scene, the economy of the story telling, Rachel Portman's magnificent musical score perfectly synchronized with the movement on screen. Elbows, eyebrows, gestures, utterances, scenery, music, etc. Okay there may be flaws but I sweep them off the table with a swipe of the hand. I am enthralled nonetheless. Seven days out of 10. I thought that anyone who aspires to directing should regard this as a must-see.. Imaging my joy to read Steven Scheuer's mini review saying that it was "flawlessly directed." A Kindred Spirit!! He understands, he sees what I see! No other critic writing anything so lavish. Looking at the Critical Responses on Wikipedia where all is negative. I am enamored with sort of thing anyway. BBC TV is among my fave joys. WAFTT was a theatrical release but it also appeared on Masterpiece Theater. I see you have Carrington later on. Another fave. Conspicuously absent (for me) was Onegin.

[The opening scene at the train station. At first just chattering on the platform. Then the train is about to depart. Up a notch, everything thing is now hurried ... the music]

A technical flaw. The DVD has no closed captions. The actors cannot always be heard. DEPLORABLE!

[laffite]

I've just scanned the movie, it's been years now. The last 10 minutes are so subdued and yet I am still drawn to tears. The screenplay and direction here is phenomenal. To take that material and do that with it, and at the end of the film where blockbusting finales are so common. There are many fine and moving scenes. The cultural clash is rich. It's like a favorite symphony that one is attached to for decades.

What can one tell about one other based on fave movies?

I have mentioned more than once that my fave of all time was La Nuit de Varennes (1983). This one has flaws and even I can see them but they don't bother me. Malden called it "too talky" but what talk. And yes it is over long. The ending drags a little but I don't care. Like the other Angels... , there may be flaws but in both cases and with other great movies, they are wholly inspired. I am, however, appalled more that ever the difficulty of hearing the words of the actors. They seem relegated to some loathsome priority basis. The clatter of a carriage seems more important than the dialogue. This is an immense disappointment. I hope they will remedy some day.

These two movies are in a class by themselves chez moi and yet I have never posted on them. I don't know why. I like them so much I seem to be intimidated. I don't think I could write about them to my satisfaction.

I will look again but I don't seem to remember if you included foreign movies. Not sure but I think not. That would be a fine browse. A list like that. There is a thread entitled "Lists" that I never cared to look for at. It's a good thing. Your mentions, C, reveal movies I had seen and liked but had totally forgot about. I'm glad you have done this.