Top Ten Films of the 90s

I am and always will be a child of the 90s. Saved by the Bell, Sega Genesis, Goosebumps, 90s Nickedodeon, Bill Clinton, Third Eye Blind deep cuts...these are all things I cherish. The 90s was also an incredible decade for the film industry, arguably the best of the century. Being a big advocate of any and all top 10 lists (and I have an absurd amount of free time at work), I decided to make my own for the best films of the 90s. The task was more difficult that I first imagined. Should it be the top 10 most defining films of the 90s? The most influential? Best nude scenes of the 90s? These were all valid topics, but I decided to just stick with the generic word 'best' and see where that takes me. So here is the list, starting with #10 and working my way down. Feel free to criticize.



10. The Nightmare Before Christmas (Henry Selick)



Tim Burton may not have directed this stop-motion masterpiece, but everyone sure gives him credit for it. The Nightmare Before Christmas is without question one of the most well-known and universally loved films of the 1990s. It is also a film I try to watch at least once every year. The animation is breathtaking (especially when you think of all the work that went into it), the songs are great, and the story is brilliant in it's simplicity. This is a film that will only get better with age and will forever remain one of America's most beloved cult classics.



9. Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese)



It would be a sin to leave this quintessential gangster film off of the list. This is De Niro, Pesci, and Liotta at their absolute best. The story has been told many times before: A guy comes from nothing, makes it big, life is good, it goes to his head, things don't work out. Fortunately, Goodfellas never seems formulaic. Every scene is brilliant, memorable, and perfectly acted.

Pesci's performance may be second only to his notorious roll as a member of the Sticky Bandits in Home Alone. 8. Scream (Wes Craven)

Without a doubt the best horror film of the 90s, Scream did for its genre what American Pie did for the Teen Flick. If Halloween gave birth to the Slasher genre, Scream is the film that brought it out of a coma. From the never-ending Friday the 13th series down to b-rate gems like My Bloody Valentine, the 80s saw an overload of blood and boobs and established the Slasher as a genre more formulaic than the Western. Pretty soon, horror was demoted back to its 'cult' status as the movie-going public got tired of the same stories, half-assed dialogue, and low-budget productions. Then Scream came along and everything changed. Adding nothing more than a little tongue-and-cheek, Scream brought horror back to the mainstream, and just like Halloween, managed to inspire a long list of sub-par slashers (though Urban Legend is tragically underrated). Now all we need is the next film to bring this dying genre back to life.

7. Red (Krzysztof Kieslowski)

Red is not only Kieslowski's best film, it was also his last. Red premiered less than two years before he died at the age of 55. Tragically, Kieslowski died at the peak of his career, even though he had been directing features since the 1960s. Red is the final installment of the Three Colors Trilogy, Kieslowski's tribute to France. Though each of the three movies is worth of any top ten list, Red is undoubtedly the best. Like Bergman before him, Kieslowski loves to have beautiful women as the centerpiece of his films. Irene Jacob is brilliant here and manages to perfect the art of looking like she could burst into tears at any moment (a talent found only in French actresses).


6. Fargo (Joel Cohen)

One of the hardest parts about making this list was choosing only one Cohen Brothers film. The Big Lebowski and Miller's Crossing could easily make any 90s top ten. Fargo, however, is simply better. Fargo is one of those movies that you can only watch with a clear conscience. Otherwise everything seems like it's going to come crashing down on you at any moment. Every character in Fargo 'gets what's coming to them' and justice has never been sweeter. Honestly, Fargo would probably have made this list if only for the Minnesota accents.

5. Chungking Express (Wong Kar Wai)

Though it's not even my favorite Wong Kar Wai film, Chungking Express is more definitive of the 1990s than almost anything that came out of America that decade. The film is comprised of two stories that follow a broken-hearted man in search of new love in Hong Kong. Like every Wong Kar Wai film, the plot of Chungking Express is almost impossible to define unless you simplify it to one sentence. Wong Kar Wai is like the Godard of the 90s, creating a loosely-defined story and focusing more on characters and environment to get his point across. The result is subtle and beautiful. After watching Chungking Express, it's easy to see why Time Magazine called Wong Kar Wai "the world's most romantic filmmaker."

4. Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick)

The controversy surrounding Eyes Wide Shut is almost as good as the film itself. The film is so sexually graphic that almost 20 minutes had to be cut for theatrical release so it could get an R rating. People still complained that it was too much. There is also controversy surrounding Kubrick's own thoughts regarding the final product. Some say he hated it. Others say he thought it was the best film of his career. No one will ever know, since Kubrick died a month before the premiere. Regardless of his own opinion, the movie is classic Kubrick: slow, hypnotic, and visually stunning. Tom Cruise gives a great performance and Nicole Kidman has never looked better. It may not be Kubrick's finest hour, but even his excrement would look better on screen than most movies.
3. Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson)

Boogie Nights is like Goodfellas in the way that it tells a cliche "Rise and Fall" story without any of the cliches. It is at once an inside look at the porn industry and an ode to the decadence of California in the '70s and '80s. Mark Wahlberg proves that he could be a great actor if he didn't choose so many bad movies and Burt Reynolds plays one of the best roles of his career as adult film super-director Jack Horn. The ensemble cast doesn't stop there. Don Cheadle, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, Heather Graham, and William H. Macy all give great performances. P.T. Anderson loves the extended shots and Boogie Nights displays some of the most impressive cinematography you will ever see. Plus you get to see Wahlbergs wang at the end, though unfortunately it's fake...DAMMIT.

2. Boyz N The Hood (John Singleton)

Despite its unfortunately spelled name, Boyz N The Hood is one of the most powerful films ever made. It was one of the first films to shed light on life in the inner-city, surrounded by drugs, gangs, and violence. Cuba Gooding Jr, Ice Cube, and Lawrence Fishbourne all give the best performances of their career. The story is both tragic and hopeful, full of memorable scenes and loveable characters. Boyz N The Hood is on a short list of films that should be required viewing for every American.

1. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino)

Anyone who knows me shouldn't be surprised that Pulp Fiction holds the number one spot on this list. Pulp Fiction is THE film of the 1990s. When I first saw this movie at the age of 14 it literally changed my life. It was more original, more entertaining, and more intelligent than any movie I had ever watched. For years after that I compared everything to Pulp Fiction. Since then, my perceptions of the film world have changed, but my love for Pulp Fiction has not. Everything about this movie is perfect: acting, script, score, cinematography, editing. Tarantino is, without a doubt, the quintessential 90s American director, and Pulp Fiction is his magnum opus.