I find myself in the mood for another long term movie list project. I had a lot of fun with the Anytime Movies series last year, so I thought I would try out another series. I plan to take each year of the 1990s and make my top 10 list from each individual year. I will mostly use IMDB, but there will probably be a few other sites I use to determine the movies on the list. Yes, my real hardcore movie viewing did not begin until 1993 with Jurassic Park, but since 1993, I have watched movies from all over the place and have seen enough to be able to fill out these early years. These lists will contain where the movie are on my list NOW, not when I saw them initially. Granted, some of these movies I will have seen more than others but such is the way of a film buff. I hope you enjoy the series!
10. Dazed and Confused- Now, in honor of full disclosure, I would probably like this movie more if I watched it high, or if I even had a lot of experience in being high, but I still think it is a damn funny movie, with some great high school schenanigans, hot people, cool clothes and this magnetic performance from the now always shirtless Matthew. There is not a whole lot to say about the movie, it is just a funny drugged out comedy that takes place over 1 (?) day in a high school in the late 1970s. Watch it and laugh.
9. Last Action Hero- When I was a teenager and saw this, I really hated it. I thought it was a stupid movie that did not know what it wanted to be. When I got older, I realized that was the point. The movie is meant to be a satire on all those 1980s action movies. When I realized that, I really loved the movie. It is a big fun action movie that is surprisingly smart, even if Arnold looks like he is trying a bit too hard. I recently watched it again as part of my Shane Black phase and it still rings pretty funny. You probably have to give it a two viewings to get what all is happening in terms of the satire, or maybe I just did because I was too young to get how an action movie could also be a satire on action movies.
8. Philadelphia- Tom Hanks won the Oscar, deservedly so, for his physical transformation, on top of a brilliant performance, but Denzel Washington also soars in this tragically sad story of a man fired for being gay and having HIV. Setting much of a movie in a courtroom without it being a thriller is tough, but Jonathon Demme is a sure handed director with a lot of confidence in his material, his actors and his own level of skill that the movie never turns boring. It helps having powerhouse performances, a really well written script and a message, that while a little preachy, is never too much because it is balanced with Washington's character's own blatant homophobia, which is perfectly put on display by the actor. The film is a master class in acting and of course, in film make up. Hanks' transformation really is remarkable.
7. Sleepless in Seattle- One of my all time favorite Romantic Comedies featuring two actors who work very well together in that genre. This was the second of three for this duo, and clearly the best of the bunch. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan spend most of the movie apart, yet their chemistry comes across even as they are seemingly worlds apart. The story of a widowed man trying to find love with the help of his son is at times touching and sad, but also can be very funny. Rob Reiner's supporting role as Hanks' buddy is very funny and Rosie O' Donnell turns down the annoying for a funny side character. It takes a lot of cues from An Affair to Remember which is widely considered one of the more romantic movies to exist, so Sleepless in Seattle is a bit manipulative, but it still works.
6. Pelican Brief- Denzel Washington is a favorite actor of mine and this is the second of his movies this year to appear on my list. Based on my favorite John Grisham novel, This tight thriller is still something i enjoy watching. The movie moves very quickly, and even the down beats are filled with a nice intensity. The editing and score help a lot, but the script and story really emphasize a fast moving thriller with car bombs, up close gun deaths, far away gun deaths and they manage to make a movie where a big part of the plot is about pelicans, incredibly tense. Julia Roberts and Washington both give excellent thriller performances and they have a really nice chemistry that comes off exactly how you need it to in the film.
5. The Fugitive- Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones really make this movie for me. I love a good chase movie, but essentially they are all the same thing. What sets the good ones apart from the mediocre ones, is usually the level of acting. Tommy Lee Jones was awarded a Supporting Oscar for his work in this movie, and that combined with Ford's hard assed resolve and gruff delivery help make this movie not just a big screen version of a television show. It is tightly paced, features some great stunts and of course that great monologue from Jones about checking everywhere for the man on the run. It is a monologue that is repeated in some form by every chase film since, including the less successful, but still entertaining spin-off.
4. The Sandlot- The childhood glee of baseball has been captured in many movies, especially in the 1990s, but none capture it quite like The Sandlot. Infinitely quotable, this story about a rag-tag group of young men spending their childhood summers playing baseball. The movie is funny and sweet, but mostly it is just awesome. Growing up playing baseball, this movie has a lot of special meaning to me as it shows how baseball can bring people together and why it is called America's past time. It is one of those family movies that everyone can enjoy and it is still fun to watch, even today. The themes of the film are universal, and who does not want to just sit back and watch a wonderful movie about growing up in a simpler time heavily featuring baseball and these wonderful kids just having fun.
3. Schindler's List- To me, the fact that Speilberg did this and Jurassic Park in the same year is a perfect example of why I love him so much. This brilliant piece of film making is really tough to watch, though. I have seen it twice and am not sure I could ever really watch it again. Horrifying in almost every way, it does not flinch away from the subject matter and for that reason, I love it. The acting, the script and the solid directing all add up in this masterpiece. Neeson and Fiennes show true depth and give equally amazing performances and the black and white picture is so strikingly gorgeous that it works as a juxtaposition to the horrific things going on in the film.
2. True Romance- A brilliant script, a solid directing vision, wonderful performances all the way around and some seriously kick ass action make this one of those 90s movies that help define the decade of Tarantino fueled film making. Slater and Arquette make a dynamic tragically cool couple and when you throw in all these insane cameos from Brad Pitt, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Val Kilmer, Samuel L. Jackson and Gary Oldman, you get this delightful kaleidoscope of characters turning this movie about drugs, sex and violence into something somewhat iconic in a cult classic kind of way. It is the kind of movie I appreciate more and more with every viewing.
1. Jurassic Park- This is the movie that started it all for me. I had enjoyed movies my whole life, but this movie made me fall in love. From the effects, to the scares, to the story, and finally just to how the movie made me feel, Jurassic Park changed the entire course of who I was. It is still a movie I go to to remind me what movies can mean to someone, to me. Everything about it still holds up today in my eyes. Watch it and tell me those dinosaurs don't still look amazing 17 years later! Speilberg is my favorite director for a variety of reasons, but this movie is probably the biggest reason. The movie scares me, intrigues me, makes me laugh and makes me feel good all at the same time. I could never say enough great things about it and in fact, I think I will go watch it now.
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