I'm a huge film fan and I particularly enjoy 90's cinema - I just made this list, and I like it, honestly. Every film has a mini-review attached - and yes, I really enjoy #1 THAT much
10. Fight Club – This was a perfect storm – Edward Norton riding high off of a Best Actor nomination for his powerhouse performance in American History X; Brad Pitt rounding into one of the biggest stars of his generation; and David Fincher coming off a hot streak after creating the bleakly enthralling Se7en and the twisty Game, taking on one of the most controversial novels of the 1990’s. Add in a sinister, seductive turn from Helena Bonham Carter and you have the foundation for one of the most incendiary and galvanizing releases of the past 25 years; even in 2019 ‘Fight Club’ feels bracingly ALIVE, vibrating with energy and scathing dark wit, its humor and pathos creating an elaborate and cynical universe unsettlingly similar to our own. And it’s not just the breathlessly entertaining Tyler/Narrator dialogue that pulls you in, or even the ASTONISHINGLY brutal fight scenes (including one of the most viscerally shocking beatdowns in film history); it’s the film’s unblinking gaze into lives laid to waste – people bereft of happiness, hope, or even dignity attempting to reclaim power and control in ways that are desperate, heartbreaking, and ultimately, elusive. Its power to provoke and disturb has only grown with the passage of time.
9. Beauty And The Beast – It’s really bold to put a Disney film – you know, the company that is currently cannibalizing its own past successes to make cash-grabbing live action remakes and forcing the once venerable Pixar to craft frivolous droves of pointless sequels (there may very well end up being a dozen Toy Story installments) – in the top 10 of a decade end-of-list. And furthermore, ‘Toy Story’ is simply THE most influential animated film of the entire decade. But ‘Beauty and the Beast’, to this day, is a FEAST for the senses – a musical tour de force that manages to mix stirring action with effortlessly memorable (and memorably wordy) songs, crafting a tale that is as lushly beautiful as it emotionally resonant and charming. It also features one the best Disney villains – the subtlety-effacing Gaston, who may be cinema’s most enjoyably loathsome narcissist. The depths of characterization and colorful cast of characters hold the attention while the central romance expertly pulls at the heartstrings - all against a backdrop that may be Disney’s very finest animated outing. Disney will make MANY more films in its ravenously profitable future, but they may never top the perfection they created here. This is a film that will hold any viewer of any age in complete rapture.
8. Se7en – After ‘Alien 3’, newcomer David Fincher’s career was off to a desperately bad start. After making ‘Se7en’ two years later, however, his career made a humongous bounce back that has lasted deep into the 2010’s. It figured all he needed was an emerging young star (Brad Pitt), a skilled veteran (Morgan Freeman), and a screenplay worthy of his peculiarly morbid talents. What would follow is one of the most openly unnerving and plain mean-spirited thrillers of the decade. Sure, gory thrillers about misbehaving sociopaths were all the rage in the 90’s, but few were as articulate or exacting as Se7en’s benighted antagonist, and few of them were set in a world as menacing and dreary as the one Fincher conjures for us. Even fewer provided such a mournful, tortured hero such as Morgan Freeman’s detective Somerset. In quite possibly a career-best performance, Freeman reflects the ennui of a life lived in darkness and missed opportunity, and he elevates the potentially gimmicky proceedings to a state of art – and tragedy. Even Jonathan Demme’s ‘Silence of the Lambs’ doesn’t capture the soul-stealing bleakness and moral ambiguity of this film, which refuses to glamorize the cruelty and horror of the actions we see on (and especially off) screen, instead dragging us deeper and deeper into its well-photographed inferno right up to its shattering, unspeakably cruel denouement. What you’re left with is a world adrift in a sea of moral rot, forced upon two heroes (as pugnacious and naively idealistic as one of them may be) that you truly wish the better for. Not this time.
7. Unforgiven – In a long, award-winning career as a director – and an even longer one as an acting icon – Clint Eastwood has hit a lot of peaks and valleys. Around the late 80’s and early 90’s he was establishing an increasingly eclectic pattern; previous to this film he covered jazz artists (‘Bird’) and followed it up with a modern day update of Bogart-Hepburn (“White Hunter Black Heart”), confidently venturing outside of his comfort zone despite smaller commercial returns. Yet the widespread acclaim and popularity that had met his earlier work in the 60’s and 70’s as an action star repeatedly eluded him in his second avocation. The release of ‘Unforgiven’ in 1992 would obliterate any doubts about the legitimacy of his directorial abilities or his cross-generational appeal. It was also a very final nail in the coffin of his Western legacy (an area he has not approached since), the film itself a harshly pragmatic eulogy for a dying genre that approaches neo-revisionism in its dark perspective of the old west. As somber as that sounds, the film itself establishes a tone to match. It’s ugly, unsparing, and morally complex – there are no heroes or villains, simply men capable of good and terrible evil, with our hero darkly signaling that fate, and character, may be inevitabilities that can’t be avoided despite the noblest of intentions. The acting, by such talents as Gene Hackman, Richard Harris, and Eastwood himself in the lead, is uniformly superb and Eastwood the director proves to be an expert at juggling multiple stories and character arcs. Plenty of Westerns have arrived in the aftermath of Eastwood’s classic, in some ways even more gritty and violent, yet none of them have captured so eloquently (and dramatically) the lie at the heart of the Western myth with such force. Eastwood has made many exceptional films after this work, but arguably none have topped the peak he arrived at here. It’s the true last word on the Western.
6. Silence of the Lambs – If there’s a shorter list than ”great horror films”, it’s “horror films that have won for Best Picture.” In fact, ‘Silence of the Lamb’’s dominance of the Oscars in the winter of 92’ (capturing Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Adapted Screenplay) is made even more unusual by how gruesome and uncompromising it is. In fact, even now that films and television have perpetually upped the ante in terms of on-screen violence, ‘Silence’ still packs a wallop because it takes its characters and situations deadly seriously. When a character is attacked, murdered, or even spread-eagled (!), there is a genuine sense of unease since the film feels startlingly real. That the film is able to develop a memorable hero (Foster’s Clarice Starling) AND an iconic villain (Anthony Hopkins’ peerless portrayal of Hannibal Lecter) as well is a wonder; Hopkins in particular turns his Lecter into one of the most memorable on-screen monsters in history, enthralling and repulsing in equal measure. Even on repeat viewings, Lecter remains compelling and disquieting, his eyes tracked on Clarice like a snake pursuing prey, his courtesy a wonderfully constructed veil disguising his savage, sadistic impulses. Ultimately, though, what separates Silence of the Lambs from the glut of like-minded thrillers released in its wake is that every aspect of the production not only works but compliments the other; the soundtrack, cinematography, even the strategic lighting used when Clarice first arrives at Lecter’s cell, all serve to envelope the viewer in an atmosphere of uncertainty and dread. Quotable (try thinking about lotion or fava beans the same way again), intense, and shocking, Silence of the Lambs” is perhaps the platonic ideal of the horror movie - one that genuinely disturbs and provokes a response, and one where following the events on-screen doesn’t require turning your brain off.
5. Saving Private Ryan – When the 90’s dawned, the idea of Steven Spielberg producing not one but two of the greatest war films of all time – films that were as technically impressive as they are dramatically effective and poignant – might have seemed nebulous. Up to that point he had occasionally dabbled in drama - first with the fine Color of Purple and then the solid-if-unspectacular Empire of the Sun. Yet his true reputation laid in creating unpretentious, enjoyable blockbusters revolving around sharks, aliens, and Harrison Ford outrunning boulders. The initial surprise of ‘Schindler’s List’ must have been jarring for his detractors in 1993, deservedly capturing Best Picture and Best Director and securing a place in the film pantheon for Spielberg, the dramatist. ‘Saving Private Ryan’ five years later would further confirm what many had suspected – that Spielberg was as innately gifted at crafting drama as he was at creating genre films - perhaps even better. Where ‘Schindler’s List’ stunned with its restraint, however, ‘Ryan’ shocks with its sheer power. The visceral impact of the opening D-Day sequence is difficult to overstate; it’s a symphony of carnage and viscera flying at a breakneck pace, leaving little room for anything other than shock and awe. The following film is less intense yet incredibly well-acted, paced, and directed to technical perfection. One particular sequence, where our heroes capture an enemy desperately pleading for their lives, is both intelligently understated and unexpectedly funny, and in part leads to a satisfying (and surprising) payoff at the film’s conclusion. What is most evident, as is displayed by ‘Schindler’s List”, is that Spielberg is not afraid to pull at the heartstrings or let dramatically daring scenes play out without compromise - when the Reaper comes to collect, Spielberg does not spare us from war’s ultimate price (one death in particular remains incredibly unpleasant and painful even after several viewings). Although Spielberg first established his reputation with blockbusters steeped in escapism, his dramatic efforts of the 90’s and beyond are what have truly set him apart as a filmmaker – among them, ‘Saving Private Ryan’ is one of the very strongest.
4. The Sweet Hereafter – Welcome back from IMDb; ‘The Sweet Hereafter’ (nominated for Best Director) is not the most well-known film of the 90’s. It is however, one of the finest. A brilliantly crafted drama that centers around a town that has been devastated by a bus accident that kills many of the town’s schoolchildren, Atom Egoyan’s 1997 feature has the unusual ability to grow and improve on repeat viewings. The film’s sterling sense of craft (the cinematography in particular is remarkable in its clarity and detail) and nuanced characterizations reveal new layers of depth with each successive viewing. Yet even on the first viewing the power of the film is undeniable; the character’s lives and situations and heartbreakingly believable and real, and the film doesn’t contain the slightest hint of melodrama. It is admirably restrained, observant, and able to locate the deeper truth of the events unfolding – that human existence is fragile and our ability to control our fate is uncomfortably limited. This is as evident in lawyer Mitchell Stevens (a wonderful Ian Holm), helplessly watching his daughter’s life spiral into the depths of addiction, as it is in the lives of the townspeople, who are suddenly confronted by a life-altering cataclysm and search in vain for some explanation or assignation of blame that will ease the weight of their grief. The film is also as accomplished of a book-to-film adaptation as one can imagine, effectively adding a framing device in the form of the Pied Piper of Hamlin and unfolding in a nonlinear yet entirely coherent fashion, deftly tying the tapestry of events together into a satisfying, effective whole (the book’s author himself admits he feels the film version is the superior product). It’s a testament to Egoyan’s confidence in his craft that he is able to turn a small event in a small town into a compelling and challenging meditation on life (and death), delivering the dramatic impact of films with numerous times his budget and resources, ultimately arriving at a place of hope and renewal. It’s quite possibly the most underrated classic in a decade full of them.
3. Pulp Fiction – There was no way this list could be made – any list of 90’s films, honestly - without a Quentin Tarantino film appearing at least once. In this instance, it took most of the list to reach (I disputed putting ‘Reservoir Dogs’ in the top 10, but decided against it late in the process) – but ‘Pulp Fiction’ is as worthy as any film to come out during the 90’s. This film is FUN, off-the-wall; an absolute thrill ride. Every scene is entertaining in and of itself, but the cumulative power of every scene builds to an unexpectedly poignant conclusion (which isn’t really the conclusion, but it’s the perfect closing scene). ‘Pulp Fiction’ is by turns hilarious, thought-provoking, genuinely unpredictable and audaciously creative. The sheer amount of twists and turns in the plot are almost dizzying to consider. The film’s true asset, however, is its dialogue; the conversations between characters that can build to violence, betrayal, misunderstandings, and well, debates about foot massages (I’m team Travolta) are absolutely mesmerizing. You could hear these people talk about the most mundane of subjects for days, and each has their own distinct personality that the actors color in expertly (special props to Samuel L. Jackson, who simply steals scenes at will). And the film’s sense of humor, which incorporates (among other things) gore, headshots, forced sodomy and metal accessories being strategically hidden up asses, is as well-written and delivered as possible. Roger Ebert once famously said that he knew had seen either one of the year’s best or worst films after he saw ‘Pulp Fiction’ at Cannes; in 2019, there’s little doubt which side it landed on. ‘Pulp Fiction’ will go down as perhaps the most beloved film of the single most beloved director of the 90’s, and even now it’s the total package in terms of entertainment - a jolt of adrenaline plunged straight into the heart.
2. Schindler’s List - Very few films hold the power to make an audience cry; fewer can elicit those tears from both tragedy and, more amazingly, catharsis. ‘Schindler’s List’ accomplishes this, and more – it’s the single most powerful and essential feature film (documentaries not included) about the greatest tragedy of the 20th century, the Holocaust. Amid scenes of horrific brutality and near-pitiless suspense, the film is able to tell the story of how one man was able, through politicking and savvy planning, to save over 1,000 Jews from certain death (with one scene detailing the rescue of a group of people saved from being gassed with only seconds of time to spare). Yet it’s not just the violence – which is sudden, and jolting in its brutality – or the vivid recollection of the many atrocities that were committed that captures the attention. It’s the way Spielberg crafts a narrative that is able to fully encompass the entire arc of the with complete clarity and astounding cinematic economy (for a three hour film, this film rushes along incredibly quickly). This is certainly helped by a bombshell cast, which includes career-best work from Liam Neeson, a subtle turn from Ben Kingsley, and the best villain of Ralph Fiennes’s gallery, the twisted Amon Goeth. In its contrast of Schindler and Goeth’s personalities, the film is able to paint a believably compelling portrait of good and evil, with the very ability to do good inextricably linked to bartering with conscienceless evil; Schindler’s willingness to spend his vast amount of riches suddenly becomes, in one tense exchange, a literal trading of dollars for lives. Spielberg is able to lighten the mood occasionally – the instance where a factory worker survives death simply because the guns Schindler’s factories are producing are unusable being one example – but the overall tone is grim, with the film refusing to spare the viewers the results of dehumanization and hatred. During many scenes it is tempting to look away - the film makes the random violence perpetrated towards innocent people jarring and, during a particularly prolonged instance of domestic violence, gut-wrenching. In many ways the impact of Spielberg’s film remains unmatched; it has both a visual (beautifully filmed in black-and-white) and emotional power that is simply tough to match. As accomplished as Spielberg’s output was before ‘Schindler’s List,’ he outperformed even the loftiest expectations here, creating a film that is timeless, dramatically devastating, and life-affirming. It is among the very finest films ever made.
1. GoodFellas –After the smoke clears and the films of the 20th century are evaluated 30 or 50 years from now, it’s not unthinkable to imagine ‘GoodFellas’ being among the most regarded (if not residing at the pinnacle). It is arguably the greatest work of a man many feel to be cinema’s greatest living director – Martin Scorsese. It’s also arguably the greatest gangster film ever put to celluloid, besting even the iconic Godfather. More than anything, though, ‘GoodFellas’ is the platonic ideal of a film, one that appeals overwhelmingly to critics and a plethora of filmmakers who have been influenced by it as well as the wider, casual audience of filmgoers - people who might not be any more familiar with Eric Rohmer than they are with Richard Linklater. It can be studied and admired at film festivals and inside film courses yet also played during a party on the weekend or with a group of friends. If a masterpiece is about the scope and enduring appeal of the product in dispute, then ‘GoodFellas’ is inarguably deserving of the lofty term. Violent, funny, blessed with a cast that almost feels embarrassingly generous (Ray Liotta, DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Paul Sorvino, Lorraine Bracco, Frank Vincent among them) and based on a faithful screenplay that illuminates several fascinating aspects of Henry Hill’s (Liotta) life in the mob, the film is impossibly entertaining and moves at such a relentless pace that boredom is not only unlikely, it isn’t an option. Every single scene is truly its own film – Pesci ‘s Tommy pulling off one of the best bluffs in film history, an entire cast of characters slain to “Layla,” the inspection of a noisy trunk, a visit with Tommy’s mother concerning deer hooves and bizarre paintings, a helicopter tailing our coke-addled protagonist, the Copacabana scene, the very act of thinly slicing onions for a gourmet prison meal – every scene is ceaselessly compelling and makes for compulsory viewing. ‘GoodFellas’ may also have the best soundtrack of any film, full of 50’s, 60’s and 70’s classics that complement every scene perfectly. It is certainly the most well-paced, refusing to let up for even a single second while breathlessly, cohesively telling its story in a two hour and twenty-six minute period of time that may as well be a half hour and change. In my opinion this isn’t just the best film of the 90’s – beating out some seriously daunting competition – but this funny, completely unpretentious and thoroughly engaging gangster saga is my pick for the best film of all time.
Submitted August 01, 2019 at 11:20PM by PhillyCSpires https://ift.tt/2ZoBIDf
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