90 Greatest Movies of the 90's

As everyone knows by now I love lists, so when Paste Magazine made a list of the best movies from the 90’s that really got my attention. 

Number 1 was an easy pick and not a big surprise.  There are lots of surprises though.  The biggest surprise for me was that I have only seen about 2/3 of the movies on the list.  Feel like I am slacking.

The list does confirm what I have always said and that was 1999 was a great year for movies with 19 movies from ‘99 on the list, and 1994 was another great year for movies with 14 movies on the list.

I have listed all the movies but if you want the reason certain movies were selected you can go to the website   http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2012/07/the-90-best-movies-of-the-1990s.html

Without further ado here is the list with Best Picture winners highlighted in red.

More thoughts at the bottom.

1.      Pulp Fiction (1994)

2.      Schindler’s List (1993)

3.      Magnolia (1999)

4.      Three Colors Trilogy (1993,94,94)

5.      The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

6.      Fargo (1996)

7.      Goodfellas (1990)

8.      Hoop Dreams (1994)

9.      Rushmore (1998)

10.  The Apostle  (1997)

11.  Fight Club (1999)

12.  The Big Lebowski (1998)

13.  Dead Man Walking (1995)

14.  The Usual Suspects (1995)

15.  Toy Story 2 (1999)

16.  Sling Blade (1996)

17.  Being John Malkovich (1999)

18.  Crumb (1994)

19.  Jackie Brown (1997)

20.  Boogie Nights (1997)

21.  Bottle Rocket (1996)

22.  Chungking Express (1994)

23.  Unforgiven (1992)

24.  Reservoir Dogs (1992)

25.  Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control (1997)

26.  Before Sunrise (1995)

27.  Saving Private Ryan (1998)

28.  The Thin Red Line (1998)

29.  The Sweet Hereafter (1997)

30.  Toy Story (1995)

31.  The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

32.  Trainspotting (1996)

33.  Malcolm X  (1992)

34.  Out of Sight (1998)

35.  Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

36.  The Double Life of Veronique (1991)

37.  Boyz N Da Hood (1991)

38.  Office Space (1999)

39.  The Matrix (1999)

40.  Short Cuts (1993)

41.  L.A. Confidential (1997)

42.  Bringing Out the Dead (1999)

43.  The Player  (1992)

44.  Se7en (1997)

45.  The Ice Storm (1997)

46.  Three Kings (1999)

47.  Heat (1995)

48.  Metropolitan (1990)

49.  Miller’s Crossing (1990)

50.  Casino (1995)

51.  The Lion King (1994)

52.  The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

53.  The Remains of the Day (1993)

54.  Exotica (1994)

55.  Groundhog Day (1995)

56.  Heavenly Creatures (1994)

57.  Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

58.  JFK (1991)

59.  Good Will Hunting (1997)

60.  The Professional (1994)

61.  Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

62.  Beauty and the Beast (1991)

63.  Election (1999)

64.  Clueless (1995)

65.  The Iron Giant (1999)

66.  After Life (1998)

67.  American History X (1998)

68.  Princess Mononoke (1997)

69.  The Game (1997)

70.  The Sixth Sense (1999)

71.  Sweet and Lowdown (1999)

72.  A Taste of Cherry (1997)

73.  Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

74.  As Good as it Gets (1997)

75.  Thelma and Louise (1991)

76.  Apollo 13 (1995)

77.  The Wrong Trousers (1993)

78.  Boys Don’t Cry (1999)

79.  The Battle Over Citizen Kane (1996)

80.  Bound (1996)

81.  Braveheart (1995)

82.  Quiz Show (1994)

83.  Burnt By the Sun (1994)

84.  A Bronx Tale (1993)

85.  Waking Ned Devine (1998)

86.  The Truman Show (1998)

87.  Barton Fink (1991)

88.  Forrest Gump (1994)

89.  American Beauty (1999)

90.  True Romance (1993)

A few thoughts on the list. 

First thing that stands out is Eyes Wide Shut and Bringing out the Dead.  Two movies that do not deserve to be on the list.  Eyes Wide Shut was an awful movie and Bringing Out the Dead was so-so at best.

Saving Private Ryan should be higher on the list then 27. 

There is no way Jackie Brown should be higher than Reservoir Dogs and probably shouldn’t even be on the list

1997 is well represented on the list also with 13 movies. Interestingly enough the Best Picture Winner of that year and the highest grossing movie of the decade Titanic is not on the list.

Speaking of Best Picture winners 6 out of the 10 winners of the decade made the list. (Dances With Wolves-1990, The English Patient-1996, Titanic-1997, and Shakespeare in Love-1998 did not make it)

The Coen Brothers are the most represented directors with 4 movies on the list (Fargo, The Big Lebowski, Miller’s Crossing, and Barton Fink) Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, and David Fincher each have 3 movies on the list. 

There are three documentaries on the list (Hoop Dreams, Fast Cheap and Out of Control, and The Battle Over Citizen Kane).

There is one short The Wrong Trousers

There are 7 animated films (Toy Story 2, Toy Story, Beauty and the Beast, The Iron Giant, Princess Mononoke, and The Wrong Trousers).

Oddly Austin Powers 2 made the list but not the first one.

They admit in the article that there was probably more foreign movies that should have made the list. The one that stands out to me is Life is Beautiful (1997)

Missing from the list in my opinion

10 Things I Hate about You (1999)

A Few Good Men (1992)

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

Pleasantville (1998)

There’s Something about Mary (the funniest movie of the decade)

And what about big budget Michael Bay action movies

Armageddon (1998)

The Rock  (1996)

Let me know what your thoughts are on this.

Forrest Gump

1994 was a great year for movies. Three of the five movies nominated for Best Picture are also on AFI’s 100 Greatest Movies of All Time.  The three movies are Forrest Gump the eventual winner, Pulp Fiction, and The Shawshank Redemption.  The other two movies nominated were Quiz Show another good movie and Four Weddings and  a funeral which I have to admit I have never seen.  But how you choose one movie over the others is hard since they are all so good and represent different genres.  Forrest Gump is sometimes listed as overrated and not deserving of Best Picture like in a recent article from Entertainment Weekly it was on the list of most overrated winners of best picture.

Forrest Gump is a comedy/drama about a simpleton who unaware of what is going on around him manages to find himself in incredible circumstances.  He begins telling his story to anyone that will listen next to him on a bench at a bus stop.  He starts by telling about his childhood, his mother and his best friend Jenny.  To him his mother is always right and never does anything wrong and he often quotes things she said.   Always being different either for his lower mental abilities or for the braces on his legs he is mostly ignored by everyone at school except for Jenny.  To sum up the movie quickly is hard as so much happens but here is the quick version. As he grows up he meets Elvis Presley, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon and John Lennon among other famous people. Also he becomes a war hero, a ping pong champion, a fishing boat captain, a rich stock holder, and a famous runner.  In the meantime Jenny becomes a stripper, hippie, and drug user and their paths cross a couple of times.  Never really comprehending what Jenny is going through Forrest always loves her unconditionally.  Besides Jenny the only other friend he has is Lieutenant Dan who he saved during the Vietnam war.  Lieutenant Dan was injured and lost both his legs before Forrest rescued him and feels that he should have died and is mad at Forrest for saving his life.  After Forrest starts a shrimping company Lieutenant Dan comes to work for him and finally finds some peace.

The movie is heartfelt and fun.  The circumstances that Forrest finds himself in are both funny and poignant.  The fact that Jenny doesn’t return the love that he has for her is tragic.  The variety of emotions that the movie takes you through is what makes it work. Also, all the acting is great. Tom Hanks won his second Best Actor award in a row.  Making him only the second actor to win two years in a row the first actor to do it was Spencer Tracy for Captains Courageous and Boys Tow in 1937 and 1938.  Gary Sinise was also nominated (but lost) for Best Supporting Actor as Lieutenant Dan.  The movie is also has lots of memorable quotes that helped it win the Best Adapted Screenplay award.  Overall the movie had 6 wins out of its 13 nominations.  Despite its great visuals and great use of computer effects I don’t think it should have won the Best Special Effects Oscar since The Mask has some amazing effects.

Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction each had 7 nominations.  Pulp Fiction won for Best Original Screenplay and Shawshank Redemption did not win any.  I remember at the time there was a lot of talk about which should win Pulp Fiction or Forrest Gump. I always thought that Pulp Fiction was the better movie. Since I own both movies I decided to rewatch both Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction again.  And it turns out I still think Pulp Fiction is the better movie of the three.  It is truly an original and is very shocking.  I remember watching it for the first time and just being blown away by the crazy stuff that happens in it.  I am glad it won Best Original Screenplay as it was one of the most original stories put on screen.  It also should have won Best Supporting actor for Samuel L. Jackson.  Shawshank Redemption is a great movie and any other year it probably would have won. And I am not sure how Tim Robbins did not get nominated for Best Actor. It seems that the movie has gotten more fans as time has gone by and it is now rated at number 1 on IMDB Top 250.  And it is the first movie based on a Stephen King book to be nominated for Best Picture. 

The other movie that was super popular that year was The Lion King had four nominations.  Three of the nominations were for Best Original Song “Can you Feel the Love Tonight”,  “Hakuna Matata”, and “Circle of Life” were all nominated.  This tied a record with Beauty and the Beast for most songs nominated for one film.  Another one of my favorite films form 1994 was Speed which won for Best Sound and Sound Effects Editing.

By the Numbers
Forrest Gump was ranked  number 71 on AFI Top 100 Greatest Films in 1997 and number 76 in 2007 and the line “Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.” was listed at #40 on their greatest quotes list.  It is currently ranked at  number 30 on IMDB Top 250.
The Shawshank Redemption was ranked number 72 on AFI Top 100 Greatest Movies in 2007 and is currently ranked number 1 on IMDB Top 250.
Pulp Fiction was ranked at number 95 on AFI Top 100 Greatest Movies in 1997 and 94 in 2007. It is currently ranked at number number 6 on IMDB Top 250.
The Lion King is currently number 130 on IMDB Top 250.

Whats your favorite movie from 1994
	Forrest Gump
	Pulp Fiction
	The Shawshank Redemption
	The Lion King
	Clerks
	Speed
	Natural Born Killers
	True Lies
	Dumb and Dumber
	The Mask
	Heavenly Creatures
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