MY TOP 10s OF THE 1990s
1999
1 Being John Malkovich
USA
Jonze, Spike
2 Not One Less
China Zhang Yimou
3 All About My Mother
Spain Almodovar, Pedro
4 Wonderland
Britain Winterbottom, Michael
5 Titus
USA Taymor, Julie
6 The Matrix
USA Wachowski brothers
7 Pola X
France-Germany Carax, Leos
8 Adrenaline Drive
Japan Yaguchi, Shinobu
9 After Life
Japan Kore-eda, Hirokazu
10 South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
USA
Parker, Trey
11 Memento Mori
South Korea Kim, Tae-Yong; Min, Kyu-Dong
12 The Emperor and the
Assassin China
Chen Kaige
13 Mast
India
Varma, Ram Gopal
14 Time Regained
France-Italy Ruiz, Raul
15 Dead or Alive
Japan
Miike, Takashi
16 The Wind Will Carry Us
Iran Kiarostami, Abbas
17 The Straight Story
USA Lynch, David
18 I'm Not Afraid of Life
France Lvovsky, Noëmie
19 Boys Don't Cry
USA Pierce, Kimberly
20 Eyes Wide Shut
USA
Kubrick, Stanley
Critical consensus: American Beauty. U.S. films had their best year
since 1993 although there were still some over-rated ones such as American Beauty,
Magnolia, and The Talented Mr. Ripley.
1998
1 The Hole
Taiwan
Tsai Ming-liang
2 Show Me Love (Fucking Amal)
Sweden Moodysson, Lukas
3 The Dreamlife of Angels
France Zonca, Erick
4 The Thin Red Line
USA
Malick, Terence
5 The Celebration
Denmark Thomas
Vinterberg
6 Autumn Tale
France Rohmer, Eric
7 A Simple Plan
USA
Raimi, Sam
8 Henry Fool
USA
Hartley, Hal
9 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
USA Gilliam, Terry
10 The Big Lebowski
USA
Coen, Joel
Honorable mention: Saving Private Ryan; Shakespeare in
Love; Sleepless Town; Xiao Wu. Critical consensus: Rushmore. There
were some highly over-rated movies this year including Happiness, Affliction,
and There's Something About Mary, but it was a great year for performances with Little
Voice getting my award for year's best ensemble. Still, if I were giving out Best
Actor awards, they would go to Cannes winners Élodie Bouchez (The Dreamlife of Angels)
and Sean Penn (Hurlyburly). Cinema lost one of its giants with Akira
Kurosawa's death.
1997
1 Happy Together
Hong Kong Wong
Kar-Wai
2 La Vie de Jesus
France
Dumont, Bruno
3 L.A. Confidential
USA
Hanson, Curtis
4 Deconstructing Harry
USA
Allen, Woody
5 Hana-Bi (Fireworks)
Japan Takeshi Kitano
6 The End of Violence
USA Wenders,
Wim
7 Taste of Cherry
Iran
Kiarostami, Abbas
8 Fast, Cheap & Out of Control
USA Morris, Errol
9 The Ice Storm
USA
Lee, Ang
10 The Longest Nite
Hong Kong Yau, Patrick
Honorable
mention: Princess Mononoke; Same Old Song. Critical consensus: L.A.
Confidential. The year in which a *** Titanic movie became the decade's
biggest phenomenon film.
1996
1 My Sex Life... or How I Got Into an Argument France
Desplechin, Arnaud
2 Trainspotting
Britain
Boyle, Danny
3 A Moment of Innocence
Iran Makhmalbaf, Mohsen
4 Bound
USA
Wachowski brothers
5 La Promesse
Belgium-France Dardenne brothers
6 Irma Vep
France Assayas, Olivier
7 Nenette et Boni
France Denis,
Claire
8 Love and Other Catastrophes
Australia Croghan, Emma-Kate
9 Flirting With Disaster
USA Russell,
David O.
10 Forgotten Silver
New Zealand
Jackson, Peter
11 Khamoshi
India
Bhansali, Sanjay Leela
12 Freeway
USA
Bright, Matthew
13 Breaking the Waves
Denmark Von Trier, Lars
14 The People Vs. Larry Flynt
USA Forman, Milos
15 Welcome to the Dollhouse
USA Solondz, Todd
16 Tin Cup
USA Shelton, Ron
17 Celestial Clockwork
France Torres, Fina
18 Trees Lounge
USA Buscemi, Steve
19 Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin USA
Berlinger; Sinofsky
Hood Hills
20 Secrets and Lies
Britain Leigh, Mike
Critical consensus: Breaking
the Waves. France had a notable output this year with contributions like Desplechin's
Comment je me suis dispute... (ma vie sexuelle), Assayas' Irma Vep, and
Denis' Nenette et Boni.
1995
1 Maborosi
Japan
Hirokazu, Kore-eda
2 Antonia's Line
Denmark
Gorris, Marleen
3 Safe
USA Haynes, Todd
4 Haut bas fragile
France Rivette,
Jacques
5 Before Sunrise
USA
Linklater, Richard
6 A Little Princess
USA
Cuaron, Alfonso
7 Whsiper of the Heart
Japan Kondo,
Yoshifumi
8 The Usual Suspects
USA
Singer, Bryan
9 Clueless
USA
Heckerling, Amy
10 Kids
USA
Clark, Larry
Honorable
mention: Babe; Casino; Dead Man Walking. Critical consensus: Safe. Braveheart
is the all-time worst film to win the Best Picture Oscar, not that the Academy Awards
have ever been a real barometer of quality.
1994
1 Chungking Express
Hong Kong Wong Kar-Wai
2 Heavenly Creatures
New Zealand Jackson, Peter
3 Satantango
Hungary
Tarr, Bela
4 Pulp Fiction
USA
Tarantino, Quentin
5 Ashes of Time
Hong Kong Wong
Kar-Wai
6 Trois Colours: Rouge
France Kieslowski, Krzysztof
7 L'Eau froide (Cold Water)
France Assayas, Olivier
8 Eat Drink Man Woman
Taiwan Lee, Ang
9 A Confucian Confusion
Taiwan Yang,
Edward
10 Muriel's Wedding
Australia Hogan, P.J.
11 JLG/JLG - autoportrait de decembre France
Godard, Jean-Luc
12 Crumb
USA
Zwigoff, Terry
13 The Last Seduction
USA Dahl,
John
14 New Legend of Shaolin
Hong Kong Yuen,
Corey; Wong Jing
15 The Shawshank Redemption
USA Darabont, Frank
16 Priest
Britain
Bird, Antonia
17 Red Rock West
USA
Dahl, John
18 Quiz Show
USA
Redford, Robert
19 Nobody's Fool
USA
Benton, Robert
20 Cremaster 4
USA
Barney, Matthew
Critical consensus: Pulp Fiction.
The best year in movies in recent memory. It was so good, I had to extend the top 10
to a top 20. Wong Kar-Wai hit full stride with two great movies. Kieslowski announced his
retirement from filmmaking with Red, then died in 1996.
1993
1 Helas pour moi
France
Godard, Jean-Luc
2 Naked
Britain
Leigh, Mike
3 Dazed and Confused
USA
Linklater, Richard
4 The Baby of Macon
Britain-France Greenaway, Peter
5 King of the Hill
USA
Soderbergh, Steven
6 Ruby in Paradise
USA
Nunez, Victor
7 Groundhog Day
USA
Ramis, Harold
8 Short Cuts
USA
Altman, Robert
9 Iron Monkey
Hong Kong
Yuen Woo-Ping
10 The Puppetmaster
Taiwan Hou Hsaio-hsien
Honorable
mention: Baraka; Boys Are Easy; Remains of the Day; Schindler's
List; Sonatine. Critical consensus: Schindler's List. Schindler's
List is superb technical filmmaking but suffers from Spielberg's inability to overcome
Hollywoodization, restrained as it is in the film. That quality is antithetical to
Jean-Luc Godard. Federico Fellini died this year.
1992
1 Rebels of the Neon God
Taiwan Tsai Ming-liang
2 Swordsman II
Hong Kong Ching
Siu Tung
3 The Heroic Trio
Hong Kong To,
Johnny
4 Hard-Boiled
Hong Kong Woo,
John
5 The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk
Hong Kong Yuen Kwai
6 Dragon Gate Inn
Hong Kong Lee, Raymond
7 Police Story 3: Super Cop
Hong Kong Tong, Stanley
8 Dead Alive
New Zealand
Jackson, Peter
9 Unforgiven
USA
Eastwood, Clint
10 The Player
USA
Altman, Robert
Honorable
Mention: Aladdin; The Last of the Mohicans. Critical consensus: Unforgiven.
Hong Kong cinema reached its peak with 6 films on my list during an awful year for
American filmmaking, but #1 belongs to another Chinese film, the feature debut of Tsai
Ming-liang.
1991
1 La belle noiseuse
France
Rivette, Jacques
2 Toto le heros
Belgium-France van Dormael,
Jaco
3 A Chinese Ghost Story III
Hong Kong Ching Sui Tong
4 Musuko
Japan
Yamada, Yoji
5 A Brighter Summer Day
Taiwan Yang, Edward
6 Slacker
USA
Linklater, Richard
7 Delicatessen
France
Jeunet; Caro
8 Les amants du Pont-Neuf
France Carax, Leos
9 Once Upon a Time in China
Hong Kong Tsui Hark
10 The Silence of the Lambs
USA Demme, Jonathan
Honorable mention: Impromptu;
Only Yesterday. Critical consensus: Raise the Red Lantern. Richard
Linklater, one of the most promising of American independent filmmakers, made his feature
debut with Slacker.
1990
1 Life Is Sweet
Britain
Leigh, Mike
2 Metropolitan
USA
Stillman, Whit
3 The Nasty Girl
Germany
Verhoeven, Michael
4 C'est la vie
France
Kurys, Diane
5 Miami Blues
USA
Armitage, George
6 Operation Condor: Armour of God II
Hong Kong Chan, Jackie
7 Archangel
Cananda
Maddin, Guy
8 Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
Spain Almodovar, Pedro
9 Goodfellas
USA
Scorsese, Martin
10 The Match Factory Girl
Finland Kaurismaki, Aki
Honorable
mention: Bullet in the Head. Critical consensus: Goodfellas.
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