The 10 Best Films of the 1990's

Here is the last look at the best films of each decade as I touch on the 90's. The 90's were an exciting period as a group of exciting new filmmakers made their splash in Hollywood. We were introduced to the talents of Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket; Rushmore; The Royal Tenenbaums; The Life Aquatic), David O. Russell (Spanking The Monkey; Three Kings), Paul Thomas Anderson (Hard Eight; Boogie Nights; Magnolia) and Alexander Payne (Citizen Ruth; Election; About Schmidt; Sideways) and movie fans eagerly await their next projects.

Theater owners, fearing they were losing customers to Home Video and DVD began opening large multiplexes, more screens with less seats giving the customer a chance to see a popular movie right away as it would be shown on as many as six screens in one building. With scattered show times there was less a chance of actually waiting in line or even hitting a sold out performance. Updated stereo systems were added to several auditoriums per building as well as stadium seating and rocking chair seats in some instances.

The drive-in all but died in the 90's with less then 300 still in operation at its high point.

Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson and Tom Hanks were the top 3 box office stars of the decade as each made one blockbuster after another.

Here are my choices for the ten best films of the 1990's listed in alphabetical order.

BOOGIE NIGHTS - Paul Thomas Anderson wrote and directed this amazing epic-style drama about life in the porn industry as seen through the eyes of a young man (Mark Wahlberg) with only street sense who happens to be blessed with a large sex organ. Soon he rises from dishwasher to adult movie star before our eyes. Anderson introduces us to a large group of characters, all of them in the industry and all of them real and interesting. Burt Reynolds gives a career performance as the patriarch of the porn family who is a top director with Julianne Moore, Don Cheadle, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly and Alfred Molina also starring. The film is filled with wall-to-wall 1970's rock music and memorable set pieces including a visit to a drug lord's home where an occupant continually lights firecrackers and the first time the young dishwasher "performs" on the set. The finale, a direct steal from Martin Scorsese's "Raging Bull," brings the film together.

FARGO - The Coen Brothers (Raising Arizona; Blood Simple; Miller's Crossing) masterpiece is a dark comedy/thriller about a car salesman (Oscar nominee William H. Macy) who arranges to have his wife kidnapped so he can borrow the ransom money from his father in law in order to collect it himself so he can cover up a fraud he has committed at work. Soon he finds himself way over his head as a pregnant police chief (Frances McDormand - Oscar winner), known for her ability to solve difficult cases, begins looking into the case. Aside from the main story and characters, the Coens take a deeper look at the life of citizens in Minnesota with witty observations about them all. The film is extremely funny and shockingly violent at times but it all comes together in one of the best films of the decade.

GOOD FELLAS - Martin Scorsese struck cinematic gold yet again with this epically long but thoroughly fascinating look at life in the mafia as seen through the eyes of a young man whose dream of being part of the life is realized. Ray Liotta plays the lead role to perfection but it is Joe Pesci's Oscar winning role as a man whose temperament wick is about a half inch long that makes the film so memorable. Robert DeNiro, Paul Sorvino and Lorraine Bracco end memorable support to Scorsese's searing, unflinching look at a violent livelihood. The film is extremely violent but with just cause.

GRAND CANYON - Lawrence Kasdan's multi-layered look at the lives of people in Los Angeles with Kevin Kline as a well to do businessman who is cheating on his wife, worrying about his son who is about to learn to drive and a wife he is distanced from. As the film opens his car breaks down in a very bad area and his life is saved by a sympathetic tow truck driver (Danny Glover) who worries about the lives of his sister and nephew, who appears to be leaning towards a gang life. This is just the start of a powerful drama that touches on many characters that all beautifully come together in a concluding shot that is positively breathtaking.

MAGNOLIA - Paul Thomas Anderson's follow up to "Boogie Nights" is another epic tale of many characters all dealing with misery, death, anger and loneliness that all culminates in a biblical miracle that brings everyone's emotions to a head. Many stories intersect with one another and it all comes to make sense just over three hours later. Tom Cruise (Oscar nominee), Melinda Dillon, Julianne Moore, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly, Jason Robards and William H. Macy star in the film that solidified Anderson as one of our most exciting directors. Memorable set pieces include the unbroken shot of people going through a television studio and a song that the entire cast sings along to. The biblical reference scene has to be seen to be believed.

MALCOLM X - Spike Lee borrows from David Lean territory to make this epic masterpiece about the famous leader among African Americans tracing his life from street thug to prisoner to the conversion of Islam up to his assassination. Lee spends three and a half hours telling the story without ever losing touch with his audience and keeping things fascinating. Denzel Washington is superb in the lead and got a well-deserved nomination for Best Actor. Lee's trademark oddball shots are kept to a minimum as he allows his story to do all the talking.

PULP FICTION - Quentin Tarantino became a star director with his violent and unconventional multi-storied look at lowlifes. Tarantino takes the odd approach of telling different stories out of time sequence (some earlier seen scenes are actually action that happens after scenes we see later) but never losing his audience with his brilliant writing and terrific ear for dialogue. John Travolta made a career comeback and scored an Oscar nomination along with Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson. Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth and Christopher Walken (in a tremendous one scene cameo) also appear. The film is not for everyone's taste and the level of violence and threats of violence almost make you squirm but the rewards are more then worth it.

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN - The second of Steven Spielberg's 1990's masterpieces is this WWII drama about the search for a young man whose three brothers have already been killed in action. Tom Hanks plays the captain of the platoon sent to seek out Ryan (Matt Damon) with Tom Sizemore, Giovanni Rabisi, Vin Deisel, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper and Adam Goldberg co-star as members of Hanks' troop. Also be on the lookout for Ted Danson, Dennis Farina and Paul Giamatti. The opening 30 minutes, one long battle scene, is among the greatest scenes ever put on film. Spielberg does not compromise on violence and shows what it truly must have been like to be on the battlefield. The film doesn't quite pack the expected emotional punch but still stands out as one of the best war films ever made.

SCHINDLER'S LIST - Steven Spielberg's other masterpiece of the 1990's is quite simply one of the greatest films ever made. Liam Neeson stars as the title character who made a mint sucking up to the Nazis and then went broke saving over 1000 Polish Jews by employing them in a weapons factory where they made weapons and ammunition that didn't work. Shot in beautiful black and white, Spielberg captures not only the time and place but also the horrors of the Nazi atrocities committed on the Jews. Ralph Fiennes makes a frightening and memorable film debut as a sadistic Nazi who likes to spend his time shooting people for target practice. Ben Kingsley is equally superb as Schindler's accountant and right hand man. More powerful then any three movies combined, the film may be hard to watch but its rewards are worth the effort. You will be horrified and you will cry but you will also feel a special sense of gratitude and wonder that Spielberg pulled it off.

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION - Frank Darabont adapted Stephen King's short story, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, into a classic prison picture starring Tim Robbins as a man sent to Shawshank for life, wrongly accused of murdering his wife and her lover. Inside he meets a myriad of prisoners headed by Morgan Freeman as a prisoner who can get you anything you want. As the years pass the prisoners come to admire Robbins for his cool head and ability to move forward and make things better despite a cruel warden and sadistic guards. James Whitmore has a nice role as Red, a prisoner paroled after spending most of his life in prison and finding that adjusting to life outside is more difficult then he imagined. The film packs power and emotion into its story and characters and ends with one of the most quietly emotional scenes you will ever see.