Your Ten Best of the 90's

[Johann]

I wanna see everyone's lists for the best films of the last decade.
It could be grounds for a killer thread...
Here's mine:

Eyes Wide Shut
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams
Trainspotting
Dead Man
Breaking The Waves
Natural Born Killers
Ed Wood
Pulp Fiction
The Pillow Book
Malcolm X

[JustaFied]

Good idea, I'll throw something together off the top of my head here (in no particular order):


Pulp Fiction - How did it lose to Forest Gump?
Miller's Crossing - Huge Coens fan
Short Cuts - Altman, this film is mesmerizing
Bottle Rocket - Scorsese agrees Top 10
Fisher King - Still looking for The Holy Grail
Rushmore - Gets better with each viewing
Fargo - Their most popular film
Being John Malkovich - '99, right?
The Big Lebowski - of course, the funniest movie of all time
American Beauty - This is a beautiful film


Tough to leave off any Coen Brothers films, but a couple couldn't crack the list (Barton Fink and The Hudsucker Proxy).

All American movies for me; shows my film ignorance. Now, how about best of the '80's, and John Hughes not allowed. That would be harder.

[JustaFied]

You have some interesting picks Johann. Natural Born Killers is a movie I want to see again. It seemed to be a movie that critics (and people) either really loved or absolutely abhored. I saw it on several "worst of the year" lists that year. I myself liked it; it's a parody, in a way, of the American Way of Life, and maybe some people couldn't see that. I guess they had to pan it just to show how offended their sensabilities were.

I'll try to catch The Pillow Book, one of the ever elusive Greenaway films I'm after.

[SinjinSB]

My Top Ten of 1990s
Boyz N the Hood (91)
Pulp Fiction (94)
GoodFellas (90)
Silence of the Lambs (91)
Shawshank Redemption (94)
Life is Beautiful (97)
Magnolia (99)
Reservoir Dogs (92)
Apollo 13 (95)
Saving Private Ryan (98)

[oscar jubis]

I'm cheating by listing 10 in English and 10 subtitled.

A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY
ACTRESS
ASHES OF TIME
BEFORE THE RAIN
IRMA VEP
THE PUPPETMASTER
THREE COLORS:Blue/White/Red
TOTO THE HERO
UNDERGROUND
THE WIND WILL CARRY US

Close behind: Caidos del Cielo, Butterfly Wings, La Promesse.

***********************

BOYS OF SAINT VINCENT
BREAKING THE WAVES
CRUMB
DEAD MAN
EYES WIDE SHUT
EXOTICA
THE LONG DAY CLOSES
NIGHTJOHN
SAFE
THE SWEET HEREAFTER


Close behind:Visions of Light:The Art of Cinematography, Rushmore, Kids, Schindler's List, Happiness, Goodfellas

[Johann]

It's hard to narrow it down to just 10 from about 4000 films.

Goodfellas, Happiness, Reservoir Dogs, Life is Beautiful, American Beauty, Malkovich. All worthy.

I wrestled with Egoyan and the Coens for my list. Excellent filmmakers who made some beautiful movies in the 90's.
Not enough room!

The Pillow Book is probably more popular than "Cook Thief" because teenage girls love seeing Ewan McGregor's willy.
(Lucky bastard is hung like a mule)

NBK is a bonafide masterpiece. Scathing satire. I watch it a lot for the mind-blowing visuals and heavy soundtrack. When I'm angry with the daily grind I throw on Killers and all of my anger goes away...

Best of the 80's? Easy.

The Shining
Full Metal Jacket
Amadeus
The Last Emperor
Platoon
Born on the Fourth of July
The Last Temptation of Christ
Raging Bull
Do The Right Thing
Batman

[anduril]

1. Eyes Wide Shut
2. Schindler's List
3. Double Life of Veronique, The (1991)
4. Breaking the Waves
5. Age of Innocence
6. Europa Europa
7. Three Colors: Red (1994)
8. Elizabeth
9. Saving Private Ryan
10. Hard Boiled

[anduril]

11. Immortal Beloved
12. Three Colors: Blue (1993)
13. Three Colors: White (1993)
14. Kundun
15. Dances with Wolves
16. Unforgiven
17. Thin Red Line, The
18. Zentropa (1991)
19. Dark City
20. Lola Rennt (1998)

[anduril]

Originally posted by Johann
Eyes Wide Shut
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams
Trainspotting
Dead Man
Breaking The Waves
Natural Born Killers
Ed Wood
Pulp Fiction
The Pillow Book
Malcolm X

J: Where's Titus (1999)?

[Johann]

If there's anyone on these boards who can call me out, it's anduril. He knows me better than my fucking parents..

I must have packed the bowl a little too tight the day I posted that...

Titus is a glaring oversight on my part. Check your gray matter, J.

[anduril]

Originally posted by Johann
Best of the 80's? Easy.

The Shining
Full Metal Jacket
Amadeus
The Last Emperor
Platoon
Born on the Fourth of July
The Last Temptation of Christ
Raging Bull
Do The Right Thing
Batman

No Dekalog??????

Here's my Best of the 80's:

1. Last Temptation of Christ, The
2. Dekalog
3. Raging Bull
4. Empire Strikes Back, The
5. Born on the Fourth of July
6. Amadeus
7. Last Emperor, The
8. Ran
9. Das Boot
10. Shining, The (1980)

[anduril]

1. Godfather, The
2. Barry Lyndon
3. Godfather II, The
4. Star Wars: A New Hope
5. A Clockwork Orange
6. Apocalypse Now
7. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
8. Patton
9. Macbeth
10. Alien

[anduril]

1. Dr. Strangelove
2. Lawrence of Arabia
3. Persona (1966)
4. Fellini's 8 1/2
5. Judgment at Nuremburg
6. La Dolce Vita (1960)
7. 2001: A Space Odyssey
8. Great Escape, The
9. To Kill a Mockingbird
10. Spartacus

[anduril]

1. Seven Samurai
2. Rashomon
3. Ordet (1955)
4. Diary of a Country Priest
5. Paths of Glory
6. Seventh Seal, The (1956)
7. Bridge, The
8. Touch of Evil (1958)
9. Hidden Fortress, The (1958)
10. Bridge on the River Kwai, The

[Johann]

You make it difficult to criticize, Ken.

Damn you!

[anduril]

Originally posted by Johann
You make it difficult to criticize, Ken.

Damn you!

Hey, I'm just your understudy, man, when it comes to film. If not for you, I wouldn't have discovered some of these movies. And, of course, I would not have seen many others that didn't make these lists. I'm sure I'm missing some great ones ... things that would make you cry to learn I've never even seen. :-)

[Johann]

Oscar's got 7 titles that I haven't seen!
Gotta check 'em out if they're considered the best of the 90's..

Is The Puppetmaster really that great?

[oscar jubis]

I've been reluctant to discuss Hou here because I'm still in the process of discovery; but now I'm ready to say there is no better director alive.
I have only written before to recommend Flowers of Shanghai to you because it so strongly evoked the indoor scenes of Barry Lyndon.
I'm not ready to argue that The Puppetmaster is a better film than Flowers or most of Hou's, who's been directing since 1980. It's the one I've watched more times.
The Puppetmaster is one film from a trilogy dealing with the eventful history of Taiwan in the 20th Century through the eyes of artists and their families. Puppetmaster covers the years 1909-1945 when Japan had colonized the island and attempted to impose its culture. The art is, of course, puppetry and opera.
The other two films are:City of Sadness, which takes place during the post-war years of 1945-1949 and the art is still photography. The trilogy ends with Good Men, Good Women which is about a contemporary actress making a film about a guerrilla fighter, and deals with the second half of the 20th century.
What I noticed first about Hou: long static takes, little camera movement, no dubbing only "existing" sound, and use of high-contrast dramatic lighting. Oh, Hou hates close-ups. He'd probably say something along the lines of not wanting to insult the audience by so forcefully telling us where to look. Some scenes may remind you of Tark, others Ozu, but Hou is an original.

[oscar jubis]

One film not on my list that could easily be there is Kundun. I like it as much as Goodfellas, may eventually prefer it to that funniest movie of the 90s.

[Johann]

I've tried to find Flowers of Shanghai to no avail.
I guess I'll have to buy it.

Gotta check out Puppetmaster pronto if you're giving it such praise.

Never seen a film by Sien... I feel bad for being so out of touch...

[pmw]

Originally posted by oscar jubis
I've been reluctant to discuss Hou here because I'm still in the process of discovery; but now I'm ready to say there is no better director alive.

I know people who would agree with you. Aside from the amazing Flowers of Shanghai, I have yet see any of his others. One interesting thing that I picked up is that Tian Zhuangzhuang's Springtime In A Small Town directly references Flowers of Shanghai over and over again. A contemporary homage to say the least. And from a filmmaker who I quite like.

P

[oscar jubis]

It's going on my wish list right now. I found out Zhuangzhuang hadn't made a film since The Blue Kite. That's a decade of artistic inactivity. No signs of a US dvd release for Springtime. Will likely import from China since the UK disc is so expensive. Thanx P.

Several contemporary directors are making films that belong with the classics of world cinema. I love Egoyan, Sokurov, Kiarostami, Dardenne bros., Kar-Wai and others. It's HOU if forced to pick one. Glad to read you like his Flowers, which is available on widescreen, anamorphic and cheap to boot. The Puppetmaster dvd is lamentably full frame and the print is a bit shabby. I still love the shit out of it. Good Men Good Women features a nice dvd transfer and it's set in 1995, which might make it more accessible.

[pmw]

I might choose the Dardenne Brothers from that list. The Son blew me away and I had a chance to talk to the brothers about the film for 30 minutes or so. They were tremendously receptive and very engaging. I also love Kiarostami. By the way, just last week I saw Crimson Gold which is written by Kiarostami, directed by Jafar Panahi. It's a great film. Iranian cinema is mind-bogglingly bold. The screening was followed by a moderated discussion with Godfrey Cheshire and Shohreh Aghdashloo, the supporting actress nominee from House of Sand and Fog. A must see film. Not sure when it comes out but... Egoyan, Sokurov, Kar-Wai are all favorites of mine as well.
P

[cinemabon]

Best of the 70?

Star Wars? but not "Viskningar och rop", 1972, the only foreign film (excluding England) to ever be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar!

And Patton versus Annie Hall? Any movie that Nixon watched 17 times in the White House as his administration crumbled under his corrupt direction can't be all bad?

What about Carrie, Close Encounters, Jaws, Little Big Man, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, One flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, Saturday Night Fever (silly I guess), Street Scenes, Five Easy Pieces, Women in Love, The Molly Maguires, Satyricon, MASH, Woodstock, The French Connection, The Last Picture Show, Carnal Knowledge, Death in Venice, The Sorrow and the Pity, The Garden of Finzi Continis, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Ruling Class, Caberet, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Last Tango in Paris, A Touch of Class, The Sting, American Graffiti, Day for Night, Lenny, Chinatown, Woman Under the Influence, Hearts and Minds, Shampoo, Nashville, The Man Who would be King, Dog Day Afternoon, and this is only HALF-WAY through the decade!!!! Let's make the 70's list a bit longer....

I liked the 70's... but wait... isn't this a column about the 90's?

[anduril]

To be honest, the 70s ain't my best decade... I have some gaps in the films that I have watched from this decade...

However, other 70s movies I really like but that didn't make my top ten include: The Exorcist, Taxi Driver (1976), Amarcord (1974), Tora! Tora! Tora!, Aguirre: Der Zorn Gottes, Fiddler on the Roof, Black Stallion, and Waterloo. These are just a sampling.

[oscar jubis]

What an honor to meet Jean-Pierre and Luc! Hope I get a chance to catch one or more of their docs someday.

I share your opinion of Iranian cinema and look forward to Crimson Gold. It's scheduled to open here soon. Will post.

House of Sand was good. Aghdashloo was great.

90s thread but it includes two 70s and two 80s lists. I may just come back with my own 80s list, a decade I like less than the 70s and 90s, when it comes to English-language movies.

[oscar jubis]

Foreign Language (alphabetical)

AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS (Malle)
DEKALOG (Kieslowski)
EL SUR (Erice)
FANNY AND ALEXANDER (Bergman)
GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES (Takahata)
THE SACRIFICE (Tarkovsky)
SANS SOLEIL (Marker)
SHOAH (Lanzmann)
VAGABOND (Varda)
YELLOW EARTH (Kaige)

Close behind: Heimat, Pixote, Ran, La Traviata, Nostalghia.

English

BRAZIL (Gilliam)
DO THE RIGHT THING (Lee)
FULL METAL JACKET (Kubrick)
HIGH HOPES (Leigh)
THE LAST EMPEROR (Bertolucci)
LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (Scorsese)
LOVE STREAMS (Casavettes)
RAGING BULL (Scorsese)
REDS (Beatty)
STRANGER THAN PARADISE (Jarmusch)

Close behind:Paris,Texas ,The Killing Fields, Once Upon a Time in America, Blade Runner(dir).

[Johann]

I love how oscar manages to squeeze more films onto his lists.
I might steal that tactic...

I'm also impressed you met the Dardennes, P!

I loved Wenders' Paris, Texas. If you get into it, it's very hypnotic moviemaking. I've tried to show it to people but they get bored.
"Too long, shut it off!" they say. "Nothing is happening!"

There's a difference between "nothing is happening" and drawing you in... Kairat had the same feel, but I was not engaged.
Wenders is similar to Godard to me. Maybe even more poetic.

Have you seen Heimat in it's entirety, Oscar? Kubrick LOVED Reitz's epic and Dekalog, which Stan endorses on the video box...

Cinemabon is emerging as a cinephile of huge importance...
Keep those posts coming...

[cinemabon]

All I have to do is read a post by Oscar and realize how few really great films I've ever seen. His lists both baffle and intrigue me. I am woefully inadequate, especially in "foreign" cinema where so many excellent filmmakers have emerged over the past decade, given the rise of the indies. As to that, all I can say is, it's about time. My problem still persists in that I have little or no resources to this level of material.

All that is about to change. This summer, I will no longer be the lonely and slightly unstable voice of the simple but egotistical midwesterner, whose handle reads: "from a farm in Indiana". I am moving to the East Coast, lock, stock, and family (wife and kid). Hopefully, in my new home and larger city, I will have greater access and be a little more "hip" in your discussions on something like, Iranian cinema and the rest. Until then, I can only read and sigh with jealousy.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Johann
I loved Wenders' Paris, Texas. If you get into it, it's very hypnotic moviemaking.
Wenders is similar to Godard to me. Maybe even more poetic.

I'm the proud owner of Paris, Texas on dvd (Widescreen,of course, imported from Brasil). It deserves to be released here. It reminds me of The Passenger, with Jack Nicholson.

Have you seen Heimat in it's entirety, Oscar? Kubrick LOVED Reitz's epic and Dekalog

Yes, I've seen the original. I found a copy of the Facets vhs at my public library (great place to find opera films, historical films, some docs). There's actually a Heimat 2, which is even longer and I've never seen, and a Heimat 3, dealing largely with the period following reunification of East and West Germany. Part 3 will premiere on German TV this year.

Dekalog used to be a highly sought collectible($$$) on dvd (I bought the cheaper import), until its recent reissue in North America. This Polish TV series has gained tremenduous following via word-of-mouth. Each of the 10 chapters (of under an hour) tells a story with a universal moral issue at its center. Both Heimat and Dekalog are meant to be watched on tv, in friendly one-hour chunks.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by cinemabon
I am woefully inadequate, especially in "foreign" cinema where so many excellent filmmakers have emerged over the past decade, given the rise of the indies.
All that is about to change. I am moving to the East Coast, lock, stock, and family (wife and kid). Hopefully, in my new home and larger city, I will have greater access .

Besides Dekalog and Heimat, I watched others from the foreign list and the Casavettes film on home video. Nowadays you can rent by mail at a reasonable cost, so location is less important (you do get more opportunities to watch foreign films in theatres in large cities). The only film from the 80s list not on video is El Sur, from the director of The Spirit of the Beehive.

[oscar jubis]

I've edited my 90s list to include Safe from director Todd Haynes (Poison, Far From Heaven). Safe, starring Julianne Moore, keeps gaining gravity and subtext every time I watch it. It's about a lot more than environmental illness and new age mysticism. I moved the doc Visions of Light out of the top 10 to the runners-up list. By the way, Mr. Haynes is currently working on a Dylan bio.

[SinjinSB]

After seeing so many folks on here mention Dekalog, I'm renting it from Netflix. I just finished the first disc (I-III) and really like it. Not sure if it will make my Top Ten of the 80s yet, but I appreciate the recommendation as it's something I might have missed. The second disc is on it's way and I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Andrew

[Johann]

Right on-

Tell us what you think about Kieslowski's labour of love. Some episodes are more powerful than others-make sure you're paying attention-the slow pacing may provoke daydreams.
Resist the demons! Dekalog is profound cinema. If Stanley Kubrick allowed his name to be stenciled on the DVD box, it's a special work.

And about Dylan- Scorsese just announced he's working on a HUGE anthology film on the life of Dylan. Now I'm stoked!

Johnny's in the basement mixin' up the medicine...

[Howard Schumann]

Here are my favorites from the Gay Nineties:

1. Leolo, Canada, 1992, Jean-Claude Lauzon
2. The Quince Tree Sun, Spain, 1992, Victor Erice
3. Wild Reeds, France, 1994, Andre Techine
4. Lamerica, Italy, 1995, Gianni Amelio
5. Stolen Children, Italy, 1992, Gianni Amelio
6. La Promesse, Belgium, 1996, Jean & Luc Dardenne
7. A Place in the World, Argentina, 1992, Adolfo Aristarain
8. Smoke, US, 1995, Wayne Wang
9. Taste of Cherry, Iran, 1997, Abbas Kiarostami
10. Grand Canyon, US, 1991, Lawrence Kasdan

Honorable Menshun

11. It All Starts Today, France, 1999, Bertrand Tavernier
12. Dreamlife of Angels, France, 1998, Eric Zorca
13. Goodbye South Goodbye, Taiwan, 1996, Hou Hsiao-Hsien
14. Trois Couluers Trilogy, France, 1992-4, Kieslowski
15. Close-Up, Iran, 1990, Abbas Kiarostami
16. The Long Day Closes, UK, 1992, Terence Davies
17. Man in the Moon, US, 1991, Robert Mulligan
18. Searching for Bobby Fischer, US, 1993
19. La Haine, France, 1995, Matthieu Kassovitz
20. Dead Man, US, 1995, Jim Jarmusch

[Johann]

You wouldn't be a fan of foreign films, would you, Howard?

Nice to see yet another Canadian on the boards. Go to the Cinematheque much? Videomatica? Black Dog?

[Howard Schumann]

Originally posted by Johann
You wouldn't be a fan of foreign films, would you, Howard?

Nice to see yet another Canadian on the boards. Go to the Cinematheque much? Videomatica? Black Dog? Thanks. It's nice to be here. I do prefer smaller films to big productions regardless of the country of origin but if I'm interested in the subject matter, I will see most any film. I go to the Cinematheque every so often and frequent Videomatica and Limelight Video about equally. Haven't heard of Black Dog however.

[Johann]

Haven't heard of Black Dog? It's one of the best video stores in Van!

There's a brand new alternative video store here in Calgary that models itself after Black Dog. It's called "Bird Dog Video"- they have lots of Criterions to rent- I'm boning up on Bergman for my next cinema study which will appear soon.

[EarlXX]

Okay, here goes...I'm gonna do the 90s, 80s, 70s and 60s. I'm combining truly great films with personal faves, and with the exception of the number one slot, in no real order

90s
1. Shawshank Redemption
2. Pulp Fiction
3. JFK
4. The Insider
5. Schindlers List
6. Titanic
7. The Truman Show
8. Braveheart
9. Dead Man Walking
10. Heat

80s
1. Raiders Of The Lost Ark
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. Return Of The Jedi
4. The Right Stuff
5. Aliens
6. Glory
7. Gandhi
8. Ghostbusters
9. Die Hard
10. RoboCop

70s
1. Jaws
2. Star Wars
3. Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
4. The Exorcist
5. Apocalypse Now
6. The Godfather Part II
7. All The Presidents Men
8. Manhattan
9. Monty Python And The Holy Grail
10. Dawn Of The Dead

60s
1. The Longest Day
2. Dr. Strangelove
3. Judgment At Nuremberg
4. The Hustler
5. Night Of The Living Dead
6. In The Heat Of The Night
7. The Manchurian Candidate
8. The Birds
9. Dr. No
10. From Russia With Love

Naturally, theres still a lot of major films from the 60s and 70s I still have to see....

[Howard Schumann]

Originally posted by oscar jubis
I've been reluctant to discuss Hou here because I'm still in the process of discovery; but now I'm ready to say there is no better director alive.
I have seen the following films by HHH:

Boys From Fengkuei
Summer at Grandpa's
A Time to Live and a Time to Die
Dust in the Wind
City of Sadness
The Puppetmaster
Goodbye South, Goodbye
Flowers of Shanghai
Millennium Mambo

I've got a question. If you were introducing HHH to someone for the first time, which of the above that you've seen would you start with?

[Howard Schumann]

Originally posted by EarlXX
Okay, here goes...I'm gonna do the 90s, 80s, 70s and 60s. My Dinner With Andre, US, 1982, Louis Malle
Unbearable Lightness of Being, US, 1988, Philip Kaufman
Therese, France, 1986, Alain Cavalier
Yeelen, Mali, 1987, Souleyman Cisse
Pixote, Brazil, 1981, Hector Babenco
Running on Empty, US, 1988, Sidney Lumet
Paris, Texas, France, Germany, 1984, Wim Wenders
Ordinary People, US, 1980, Robert Redford
Resurrection, US, 1980, Nicholas Petrie
Local Hero, US, 1983, William Forsyth
Betrayal, US, 1983, David Jones
The Seventh Continent, Austria, 1989, Michael Haneke
The Natural, US, 1984, Barry Levinson
Wings of Desire, Germany, 1988, Wim Wenders
ET, US, 1982, Steven Spielberg
Field of Dreams, US, 1989, Philip Robinson
Hoosiers, US, 1988, David Anspaugh
Wasn’t That a Time, US, 1981, Jim Brown II
Back to the Future, US, 1985 Robert Zemeckis
The Time to Live and The Time to Die, Taiwan, 1985, Hou Hsiao-hsien
Boys From Fengkuei, 1983 Hou Hsiao-hsien
Summer at Grandpa's, 1984, Hou Hsiao-hisen
Milagro Beanfield War, US, 1988, Robert Redford
Moonstruck, US, 1987, Norman Jewison
Matewan, US, 1987, John Sayles
L'Argent, France, 1983, Robert Bresson
Daniel, US, 1982, Sidnney Lumet
Where is the Friend's Home, 1988, Abbas Kiarostami
The Horse Thief, 1989, Tian Zhuangzhuang
Freeze, Die, Come to Life, 1989, Vitali Kanevsky

[cinemabon]

I didn't think anybody saw Daniel Petrie's film, "Resurrection." That was the performance Ellen Burstyn should have won her Oscar for. The Sam Shepard's roll is sort of silly and out of place in the film, but there can be no doubt Burstyn hit her stride here. Mario Tosi, who also shot "The Stunt Man" the same year, uses natural light in some of the scenes (i.e. the "proof" scene where she heals the cripple) that lent other filmmakers to copy his style. Unfortunately, he is no longer working in film. Daniel Petrie, who principly directed for television, was never given his due for this film. An actor can emote all day, but the director is the one who decides if they've hit the mark or missed. Burstyn got all the credit (as she deserved) but Petrie created a film small film that was largely over looked.

[Howard Schumann]

Originally posted by cinemabon
I didn't think anybody saw Daniel Petrie's film, "Resurrection." That was the performance Ellen Burstyn should have won her Oscar for. The Sam Shepard's roll is sort of silly and out of place in the film, but there can be no doubt Burstyn hit her stride here. Mario Tosi, who also shot "The Stunt Man" the same year, uses natural light in some of the scenes (i.e. the "proof" scene where she heals the cripple) that lent other filmmakers to copy his style. Unfortunately, he is no longer working in film. Daniel Petrie, who principly directed for television, was never given his due for this film. An actor can emote all day, but the director is the one who decides if they've hit the mark or missed. Burstyn got all the credit (as she deserved) but Petrie created a film small film that was largely over looked. I don't know who saw it or who didn't but I own it and have seen it many many times. It is a film I never get tired of seeing. Thanks for the comment.

[cinemabon]

90's Best

The Player
The Unforgiven
Dances With Wolves
JFK
The Silence of the Lambs
Barton Fink
Scent of a Woman
The Remains of the Day
Schindler's List
The Wedding Banquet
Philidelphia
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Shawshank Redemption
Bullets Over Broadway
Forrest Gump
The Lion King
The Usual Suspects
Babe
Shine
Secrets & Lies
Titanic
Good Will Hunting
L A Confidential
Gods and Monsters
The Thin Red Line
The Sixth Sense
American Beauty
Being John Malkovich
The Red Violin

[Chris Knipp]

As usual I am a latecomer to this discussion of decade favorites and I think it's a bit soon to do the 90's but I've drawn up a list of the 80's. No attempt to restrict it to ten. The directors' names are for my own reference. I'll comment later.

FAVORITE MOVIES OF THE EIGHTIES


BEST U.S. & ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Big Chill, The (Lawrence Kasdan)
Blue Velvet (David Lynch)
Brazil (Terry Gilliam)
Dangerous Liaisons (Stephen Frears)
Dead Ringers (David Cronenberg)
Diner (Barry Levinson)
Down by Law (Jim Jarmusch)
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (Stephen Spielberg)
Grifters, The (Stephen Frears)
My Beautiful Laundrette (Stephen Frears)
Platoon (Oliver Stone)
Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese)
sex, lies, and videotape (Stephen Soderbergh)
Shining, The (Stanley Kubrick)
Sid and Nancy (Alex Cox)
Stranger Than Paradise (Jim Jarmusch)
Thin Blue Line, The (Errol Morris)
Tin Men (Barry Levinson)

BEST FOREIGN

As Tears Go By (Wong Kar-Wai)
Au Revoir les enfants (Louis Malle)
Dekalog (Krzysztof Kieslowski)
Kagemusha (Akira Kurosawa)
Law of Desire, The (Pedro Almodóvar)
Night of the Shooting Stars, The (Taviani brothers)
Ran (Akira Kurosawa)
Sid & Nancy (Alan Cox)
Pixote (Hector Babenco)

MOST OVERRATED OF THE EIGHTIES:

Fanny & Alexander (Bergman)
Hannah and Her Sisters (Allen)
Local Hero (Bill Forsyth)
Shoah (Claude Lanzmann)
Terms of Endearment (James L. Brooks)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Robert Zemeckis)
Wings of Desire(Wim Wenders)

[Chris Knipp]

COMMENTS

In my 80’s Movie Best Lists I attempt a balancing act. I try to be true to my own gut reactions and tastes but also to say something significant about the decade. Last first: I adore Bergman, but not every breath he takes, and I found Fanny & Alexander terribly boring. Certain directors are always losing their touch (though I’m not insisting Bergman was—he did fade, though, as do many) and others are emerging. In English the key emergent directors of the decade were Soderbergh, Frears, Jarmusch. Barry Levinson did his best and most authentic work, wonderful movies about Baltimore as true to it as John Waters’, and that’s my home town so I think I can judge. Levinson can get soft and fuzzy about Baltimore and then it doesn’t work, as in Avalon and Liberty Heights. About The Natural: I hate baseball, okay?!

When I say something’s “MOST OVERRATED,” don’t get too upset, guys: just take as an honest admission that certain movies everybody likes just aren’t to my taste, and I’m not going to pretend that they are. I make no apology for Titanic: it’s romantic and exciting to the max and I loved it. It doesn’t always happen that something that cost a bunch and draws in mobs of teenagers also moves me, and I want to celebrate that, along with the Academy. But I don't have a choice like that for the 80's.

Jarmusch was a wonderful, edgy new director who was on a roll in the Eighties. His beat hipsters, exemplified by John Lurie and Tom Waits – and introducing Roberto Benigni to an astonished English-speaking world – found their home in Jarmusch’s witty, artful movies. Whether he will ever outdo Dead Man is hard to say: it’s a masterpiece. David Lynch was the other edgy guy and he made kinkiness and surrealism seem hip even to the marginally hip; he has tended to repeat himself growing only technically (with some great acting), not ever learning how to tell a coherent story, but Blue Velvet had the edge and was a seminal movie of the decade. It made sexual perversion and small town bland sickness both seem really nasty and surreal. Soderbergh emerged with a movie that seemed quite fresh and challenging yet could draw in a large audience and he’s continued to maintain that delicate balance ever since.

Frears also was on a roll, and he has continued to surprise and experiment to this day. I could also mention Prick Up Your Ears, and The Grifters, a real classic, was just about to happen.

I’m not a huge fan of the immensely talented and bright Martin Scorsese, who has made such a contribution to the study of preservation of movies besides being a great director. I find his work cold and unappealing, and I’d rate Kubrick way above him, but nonetheless I have to acknowledge that Raging Bull is his masterpiece and one of the seminal movies of the decade -- some think the 80’s English-language movie.

Cronenberg is a master whose brilliance I only graduallly recognized. Naked Lunch clinched it, and Spider is perhaps even better.

I admire all those who discover and reveal the more exotic foreign directors. I’m not sure Wong Kar-Wai swam into my ken till the early 90’s, but one of his offbeat masterpieces that is known here is As Tears Go By. It provides a key to his understanding of relationships. Most of his great work was to come in the 90’s, and Quentin Tarantino (the star of 90's mainstream edginess) gave him a boost here by finding mainstream re-distribution for Chungking Express via Miramax.

All my other foreign listings are personal favorites. I consider Kurosawa a god of cinema. Au Revoir les enfants is Malle’s most touching work. Sid & Nancy is a trip. Much of one decade is about revisiting the previous two, in this case the 60’s and 70’s.Kryzszytof Kieslowski is the most profound and serious foreign director who swam into my view in the last several decades, though of course Blue, White, and Red are 90’s movies and Dekalog wasn’t shown here till a couple of years ago, though it was shown on Polish TV in 1987 and belongs with that decade.

I think it's significant that all these are so far from the Yuppiehood and Me Generation Reagonist stuff that was oppressing us in America during the 80's: we needed to escape. Only The Big Chill, which deals with an earlier generation, and sex, lies and videotape slightly relate to the presumed 80's mood, and even that's a stretch.

One I forgot: Running on Empty. Sorry, River! We'll never forget you. But sometimes it's a little too painful to remember. Martha Plimpton knows.

[Howard Schumann]

Did you see My Dinner With André?

[Chris Knipp]

Are you talking to me?

[Howard Schumann]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
Are you talking to me? Yes Chris. I was wondering if you have seen My Dinner With Andre, one of my favorite films from the 80s.

[Johann]

If there's one thing that Chris and I share, it's the idea that you shouldn't apologize for your personal taste. That's the beauty of being an individual who THINKS. Chris is more deft at defending his opinions than me.

That said, I agree in large part with most of your comments re: the 80's. I grew up in the 80's, (in Canada) so I don't have the memories of "Reagonist" America. I only have theatre-going memories that were quite joyous (oh, to be young again!).

A lot of the movies you mention I only saw in the mid-to-late 90's, and the careers of the directors you cite were not as clear to me.
But, you are absolutely right that the decade was prime for Jarmusch, Lynch & Soderbergh. The masters that lost no impact: Kurosawa & Kubrick, the masters that did: Bergman & Fellini (excepting City of Women)- all excellent points.

I agree completely about Cronenberg & Kieslowski and re: Scorsese, a case could be made that his output post-Raging Bull is lacking. On some days I find myself wondering if Robert McKee is right when he said last year *in an angry drawl*: "That guy hasn't made a good movie in over ten years!"

[Chris Knipp]

To Howard: I'm sorry, I was dodging the question. I knew what you were asking. Yes -- well; I walked out of it. I'd have probably seen it through, but I was with one of my best friends and her husband and she was bored and I was too, so we left 1/2 or 2/3 of the way through.

To Johann -- I'm pleased to get the positive feedback. Your championing of Kill Bill has had a very good influence with me. A friend of mine who happens to be the daughter of a movie director from the great days told me she was going back to see Kill Bill 1 again, and that and your comments inspired me to go see it again too, and I loved it. This guy is such a great filmmaker, it really helps to get inside his movies and memorize them a bit.

But hey, that's the 00's.

Weren't there any yuppies in Canada? I bet there were. But I was living in San Francisco, and it was full of the selfish bastards. In fact one could argue that they took it over. Luckily, they usually move on to the next "lovely place" and despoil that. Yeah, I lived through the 80's, and they were the best time of my working life personally and the worst time in this country otherwise as a place to be and as a culture, or so it seemed to me. It was weird, in retrospect, the contrast.

[Howard Schumann]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
[b]To Howard: I'm sorry, I was dodging the question. I knew what you were asking. Yes -- well; I walked out of it. I'd have probably seen it through, but I was with one of my best friends and her husband and she was bored and I was too, so we left 1/2 or 2/3 of the way through.

[B] Now that you are so much wiser, are you willing to give it another go on my recommendation?

[Chris Knipp]

Yes.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Howard Schumann
If you were introducing HHH to someone for the first time, which of the above that you've seen would you start with?

Highest rated Hou films according to IMDb voters:

A Summer at Grandpa's
Boys of Fengkuei
City of Sadness
A Time to Live and a Time to Die
Dust in the Wind
Flowers of Shanghai
Good Men, Good Women

I finally will get to watch the top two next month as a mini Hou retro hits town. Thanks for your excellent post about these early films, Howard. I've seen just about everything else and Flowers and Puppetmaster are favorites. Both are period films. Flowers can be hard to penetrate at first (although I'm convinced Johann would love it and I've told him so). Puppetmaster is a bit long and the dvd is a disaster (full frame and bad print, perhaps a factor in its low IMDb rating). So, my answer to your question is Good Men, Good Women. It's an ambitious but direct and accessible film with a contemporary protagonist (an actress preparing for a role as a post-war political activist is having pages from her diary faxed to her by a stranger who stole it).

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
Jarmusch was a wonderful, edgy new director who was on a roll in the Eighties.

J.J.'s 80s Top 10 (as published by Premiere)

1.RAGING BULL
2.LOVE STREAMS (Casavettes)
3.ON TOP OF THE WHALE (Ruiz)
4.DEAD RINGERS
5.THE ROAD WARRIOR
6.TOUTE UNE NUIT (Akerman)
7.DO THE RIGHT THING
8.THE HIT
9.THE EVIL DEAD
10.THE STATE OF THINGS (Wenders)

I think it's significant that all these are so far from the Yuppiehood and Me Generation Reagonist stuff that was oppressing us in America during the 80's: we needed to escape

My "Great movies I Love" list includes less movies from the 80s than from any other decade since the 1940s and only 9 in English. Two are UK productions (Brazil, My Left Foot), two by Italian directors with a foreign crew (Bertolucci's The Last Emperor and Leone's trippy Once Upon a Time in America) and the made-in-England Full Metal Jacket.
What remains are four American movies:Raging Bull, Reds, The Last Temptation of Christ and Do the Right Thing. Among the few American films of the 80s that came close to get listed: Stranger Than Paradise, Drugstore Cowboy, Blue Velvet, Love Streams and Sam Fuller's White Dog.

[Chris Knipp]

It was an oversight to leave out Full Metal Jacket (Stanley Kubrick) and I probably should have given a nod to Spike Lee by naming Malcolm X, better in my view than Do The Right Thing (on far more 80's Best Lists) and perhaps Denzel Washington's best performance, even if it's largely an act of vertriloquism, like Will Smith's (also fine) Muhammad Ali.

EarlXX gives this very solid and coherent list for the decade:

80s
1. Raiders Of The Lost Ark
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. Return Of The Jedi
4. The Right Stuff
5. Aliens
6. Glory
7. Gandhi
8. Ghostbusters
9. Die Hard
10. RoboCop

EarlXX's lists are more truly representative of what was popular during the decades and this list shows something important I failed to note: that while the 70's was a period of strong American "auteurs" celebrated by Pauline Kael, whose heyday as a famous critic for The New Yorker Magazine was this decade, the 80's was the time when the Blockbusters emerged. But note this was the good old days of blockbusters, before things like Pearl Harbor, The Rock, and Judgment Day took over. EarlXX's 80's faves are real pop classics, doomed to be more and more palely copied in the decade to come.

This factor may be what led film buffs like Oscar Jubis to ghettoize themselves further by retreating to foreign films for most of their faves. But wait! Aided by the huge profits in Hollywood produced by blockbusters, general American movie production was up and continued to be, aided by the video rental and sale boom, which allowed non-blockbusters to make back their costs beyond the box office. So there is a good choice now of English language movies of all sorts both in and out of the cineplex.

[Howard Schumann]

I finally will get to watch the top two next month as a mini Hou retro hits town. Thanks for your excellent post about these early films, Howard. I've seen just about everything else and Flowers and Puppetmaster are favorites. Both are period films. Flowers can be hard to penetrate at first (although I'm convinced Johann would love it and I've told him so). Puppetmaster is a bit long and the dvd is a disaster (full frame and bad print, perhaps a factor in its low IMDb rating). So, my answer to your question is Good Men, Good Women. It's an ambitious but direct and accessible film with a contemporary protagonist (an actress preparing for a role as a post-war political activist is having pages from her diary faxed to her by a stranger who stole it). Good Men, Good Women is the only film of Hou's that I haven't seen and is not available for rent here. I think I will go with Goodbye South, Goodbye.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
the 80's was the time when the Blockbusters emerged. This factor may be what led film buffs like Oscar Jubis to ghettoize themselves further by retreating to foreign films for most of their faves.

Well, I posted two lists (page 1), one exclusively for English language films. Even in the decade of the 80s, I have more films "Made in USA" than films from any other country.

[arsaib4]

Well, the current decade is about half over so I think it's time to reflect back on the previous one.


TOP 10
(alphabetical order only)

Cold Water (L’Eau Froide) - Olivier Assayas / France

Flowers of Shanghai (Hai Shang Hua) - Hou Hsiao-hsien / Taiwan

I Can’t Sleep (J'ai Pas Sommeil) - Claire Denis / France

Jackie Brown - Quentin Tarantino / U.S.A

Naked - Mike Leigh / U.K

Natural Born Killers - Oliver Stone / U.S.A

Red (Rouge) - Krzysztof Kieslowski / Poland-France

Rosetta - Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne / Belgium

Smoke - Wayne Wang / U.S.A

Taste of Cherry (Ta'm e Guilass) - Abbas Kiarostami / Iran


Runners-Up
(alphabetical order only)

All About My Mother (Todo Sobre Mi Madre)
Pedro Almodóvar / Spain

Beau Travail - Claire Denis / France

La Cérémonie - Claude Chabrol / France

Exotica - Atom Egoyan / Canada

Fargo - Joel & Ethan Coen / U.S.A

Heat - Michael Mann / U.S.A

Maborosi (Maboroshi No Hikari) - Hirokazu Kore-eda / Japan

Pulp Fiction - Quentin Taranino / U.S.A

The Thin Red Line - Terrence Malick / U.S.A

Vive L'Amour (Aiqing Wansui) - Tsai Ming-liang / Taiwan

Honorable Mention
(alphabetical order only)

Before Sunrise - Richard Linklater / U.S.A

Besieged (L’Assedio) - Bernardo Bertolucci / Italy

The Blue Kite (Lan Feng Zheng) - Tian Zhuangzhuang / China

Buffalo ‘66 - Vincent Gallo / U.S.A

Cabaret Balkan (Bure Baruta) - Goran Paskaljevic / Yugoslavia

Close Up (Nema-ye Nazdik) - Abbas Kiarostami / Iran

The Cloud (La Nube) - Fernando E. Solanas / Argentina

Crane World (Mundo Grúa) - Pablo Trapero / Argentina

Dark City - Alex Proyas / U.S.A

Dream of Light (El Sol Del Membrillo/ Quince Tree of the Sun)
Víctor Erice / Spain

Journey to the Sun (Günese Yolculuk) - Yesim Ustaoglu / Turkey

Killer (Tueur à Gages) - Darezhan Omirbayev / Kazakhstan

L'Humanité - Bruno Dumont / France

Light Sleeper - Paul Schrader / U.S.A

Moe No Suzaku - Naomi Kawase / Japan

Molokh - Aleksandr Sokurov / Russia

A Single Girl (La Fille Seule) - Benoît Jacquot / France

The Sweet Hereafter - Atom Egoyan / Canada

Taboo (Gohatto) - Nagisa Oshima / Japan

Un Coeur En Hiver - Claude Sautet / France

Edit: [alphabetical order corrected]

[oscar jubis]

Not a single bad movie. What I find most interesting, from my own perspective, is how much I like your foreign language selections and how many of the English ones I deem only "worth watching", not films I would ever want to watch again. Even some of the English films on your list that I liked a lot upon release, such as NBK, have depreciated in my estimation. From where I sit, it feels like your foreign language selections were picked by someone with whom I have a lot in common, and the English ones were selected by totally different person. Will seek out the four I haven't seen: Killer, Moe no Suzaku, Molokh, and Journey to the Sun (which I now own on dvd).

[Chris Knipp]

I'd say the taste is more European than American. Europeans don't see English language films the way way Anglophone people do.

[arsaib4]

Originally posted by oscar jubis

Not a single bad movie. What I find most interesting, from my own perspective, is how much I like your foreign language selections and how many of the English ones I deem only "worth watching", not films I would ever want to watch again. Even some of the English films on your list that I liked a lot upon release, such as NBK, have depreciated in my estimation. From where I sit, it feels like your foreign language selections were picked by someone with whom I have a lot in common, and the English ones were selected by totally different person. Will seek out the four I haven't seen: Killer, Moe no Suzaku, Molokh, and Journey to the Sun (which I now own on dvd).

Thanks. It's true that many of our foreign language selections are from the same filmmakers; the likes of Assayas, Hou, Kiarostami, Dardennes, Kieslowski etc. Johann has talked about Omirbaev in detail elsewhere on this site, the master from Kazakhstan whose Killer I mentioned. Kent Jones appreciates his earlier films, Cardiogram and Kairat much more. Sokurov's Molokh isn't an easy one either, it is coming out on DVD here in March, I think.

As for American films, you don't appreciate Tarantino as much as most others so you were bound to disagree with Pulp and Jackie, and even NBK. You certainly have some curious selections yourself in "English" language films with the likes of Saint Vincent, Kids, Happiness etc. all up there. I have Smoke in the top ten and I certainly wouldn't expect this film to make many other Best of the 90's lists. This is an extremely personal selection. However, the film did win the Golden Bear so there were a few others who appreciated it. I do have the likes of Fargo, Heat, Before Sunrise, Buffalo '66 etc. on the list, films I appreciate along with you and others.

[Chris Knipp]

Certainly your lists are interesting and challenging ones, arsaib4, because some of us have to go out and find a lot of them before we can say anything. I'm pretty much limited over the past decade to what was distributed (to some extent) in US theaters and have not gone to film festivals or rented otherwise unavailable films for instance last year with the sole exception of Ripley's Game and one or two others (my first Hou, Goodbye, South, Goodbye). I would like access to your or Oscar's dvd/video library, too bad we're far apart in space. I adore Tarantino; to me he's the best new American filmmaker of the 90's, hands down.

[arsaib4]

Yeah, we certainly agree on Tarantino. I wasn't a huge fan of KB Vol. 1, especially considering that this was his first film in quite a while. Loved KB Vol. 2 where along with paying "homage" to others, he also did what he does best.

[oscar jubis]

I get a kick out of some formal elements of Pulp Fiction, namely its narrative structure. I find some of the dialogue amusing and the actors perform with gusto. I find a couple of scenes from Buffalo '66 memorable_such as the dinner involving Ricci, Gallo, Huston and Gazzara. Heat stands out in a genre characterized by mediocrity. But these are not the English language films of the 90s that I treasure. You mentioned a few of my faves, others include:Crumb, Thin Red Line, Rushmore, Eyes Wide Shut, Safe, the Egoyan films you also like, etc. Even Fargo, which I enjoyed tremendously, has a smart-alecky, aren't-these-dupes-funny? stance that simply runs contrary to my sensibilities.

[Chris Knipp]

What about Natural Born Killers and Dark City--do you love those ones, Oscar?

[oscar jubis]

Bottom of the Top 10 English list on their respective years of release, certainly nowhere in a Favorites of the 90s list. NBK's display of technical chops is awesome but belabors the same (valid) point about the media and violence. Dark City is as good as genre pics get without transcending genre. Call 'em crushes.

[arsaib4]

To me Heat was possibly the best "B" film made in the 90's and I mean it as a compliment. In some ways it even transcends the genre. Were better films made in the 90's than Buffalo '66? Probably, but this particular depiction of the dysfunctional family I haven't seen before and it hits home. NBK is still very much misunderstood, people have raised the point about its "sameness" before.

[Chris Knipp]

I did not question Buffalo 66 as I thought it one of the year's best.

[Chris Knipp]

I haven't seen Assault on Precinct 13 but judging by reports it should fit your category of beautifully done genre movies. Jonathan Rosenbaum calls it "A must-see" and prefers it to Carpenter's original for its pungent social and political commentary, says it's not quite as suspenseful as Carpenter's but that's because of its greater complexity. Clearly it's not unimportant that the director is French.

[arsaib4]

Good points. Hoberman and Ebert liked it also. I am thinking about checking it out but am still geared toward watching more stuff from last year that I can find out in theatres and on DVD. Have you seen it yet?

[Chris Knipp]

No I haven't but will go now.

By the way, I want to make a list of your and Oscar's recommendations of 2003-4 films -- esp. Asian, and those Mexican ones (can you remind me what those were? I can't seem to find them here) -- that I've missed and I'll order them on a friend's Netflix. This time of year is a good time to catch up.

[wpqx]

This topic seemed so familiar, probably why I thought I had already posted my list. I'll admit my list seems a little stale and overwhelmingly dominated by US films, but whatever I stand by it.

1. Pulp Fiction (Tarantino)
2. To Live (Yimou)
3. Schindler’s List (Speilberg)
4. Dances With Wolves (Costner)
5. Goodfellas (Scorsese)
6. Magnolia (Anderson)
7. Fight Club (Fincher)
8. Malcolm X (Lee)
9. L A Confidential (Hansen)
10. Natural Born Killers (Stone)

Now this doesn't represent all of my favorites of the decade and honestly it probably makes me look like some young ignorant punk who has no real appreciation for great cinema (which I just might be), but hey it is only ten.

[arsaib4]

Originally posted by wpqx
I'll admit my list seems a little stale and overwhelmingly dominated by US films, but whatever I stand by it.



As you should. Even though only your #1 and #10 made my list (40 films), I do appreciate various aspects of many of the other films you've listed. Most of your lists usually do concentrate on American films so I'm not surprised with the overwhelming majority being local.

[arsaib4]

If I remember correctly, only two of those are available here on DVD: Japon and Unknown Pleasures (you already know about Springtime in a Small Town). The other two, Aro Tolbukhin and Blissfully Yours, are only available on import DVD at this point. I've also mentioned the French film Son Frere from '04 and the Argentinian La Cienaga in various threads as the films that deserve to be seen.

[arsaib4]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
Thanks. I'll copy that out and work with it. I assume most of the Kiarostomi and Hou and Tsai titles you've mentioned before I could get on Netflix?

All Tsai films are available on DVD; his latest Goodbye Dragon Inn releases on February 15th.

All 4 films Hou made in the 90's are on DVD (The Puppetmaster; Good Men, Good Women; Goodbye South, Goodby and Flowers of Shanghai) along with his effort earlier this decade (Millenium Mambo). I can bitch about the quality of some of the DVD's but atleast they're available.

Kiarostami's Close Up, Taste of Cherry, The Wind Will Carry Us and Ten are all available.

I assume you mean La Cienega directed by Lucrecia Martel? It helps if you give the director's name esp. when it's not a common name.

Yup...I should've been more specific. I believe Martel is talented enough to become one of the major filmmakers in the near future.

[Chris Knipp]

So from this we have:

Japón (Carlos Reygadas)
Unknown Pleasures (Ren xiao yao, Zhang Ke Jia)
Springtime in a Small Town (Xiao cheng zhi chun, Zhuangzhuang Tian)
Son Frère (Patrice Chéreau)
La Cienaga. (Lucrecia Martel)

Right?

And from your other postings I got:

La Commune (Paris, 1871) - Peter Watkins / France
Lilya 4-Ever - Lukas Moodysson / Sweden
Millennium Mambo (Qianxi Manbo) - Hao Hsiao-hsien / Taiwan
Ten - Abbas Kiarostami / Iran
Suddenly (Tan de Repente) - Diego Lerman / Argentina
Under the Skin of the City (Zir-e Poost-e Shahr) Rakhshan Bani Etemad / Iran
Magdalene Sisters - Peter Mullan / U.K.-Ireland
Seaside (Bord de Mer) - Julie Lopes-Curval / France
Suddenly (Tan de Repente) - Diego Lerman / Argentina
Rakhshan Bani Etemad / Iran
El Bonaerense - Pablo Trapero / Argentina
Seaside (Bord de Mer) - Julie Lopes-Curval / France
Decasia
Mondays in the Son

I have not seen these either. If you want you could put stars by the ones you think most urgent to see among these, because my Netflix loan may run short before I'd get through all of this list.

Plus by:
Kiarostami
Close Up
Taste of Cherry
The Wind Will Carry Us
Ten

Hou:
The Puppetmaster
Good Men, Good Women
Goodbye South, Goodbye
Flowers of Shanghai
(I have Millenium Mambo above)

And you're saying I ought to see but I can't get on rental:
Aro Tolbukhin. En la mente del asesino (Isaac-Pierre Racine
Agustín Villaronga et al.)
Blissfully Yours (Sud sanaeha, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)

Right?

Thank you.

[arsaib4]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
So from this we have:

Japón (Carlos Reygadas)
Unknown Pleasures (Ren xiao yao, Zhang Ke Jia)
Springtime in a Small Town (Xiao cheng zhi chun, Zhuangzhuang Tian)
Son Frère (Patrice Chéreau)
La Cienaga. (Lucrecia Martel)

Right?



Correct.

And from your other postings I got:

La Commune (Paris, 1871) - Peter Watkins / France
Lilya 4-Ever - Lukas Moodysson / Sweden
Millennium Mambo (Qianxi Manbo) - Hao Hsiao-hsien / Taiwan
Ten - Abbas Kiarostami / Iran
Suddenly (Tan de Repente) - Diego Lerman / Argentina
Under the Skin of the City (Zir-e Poost-e Shahr) Rakhshan Bani Etemad / Iran
Magdalene Sisters - Peter Mullan / U.K.-Ireland
Seaside (Bord de Mer) - Julie Lopes-Curval / France
El Bonaerense - Pablo Trapero / Argentina
Decasia
Mondays in the Son

I have not seen these either. If you want you could put stars by the ones you think most urgent to see among these, because my Netflix loan may run short before I'd get through all of this list.

El Bonaerense, Lilya 4-Ever and La Commune aren't available here in R1 DVD.

As for the rest: (out of 5 stars)

Millennium Mambo-Hao Hsiao-hsien (****)
Ten-Abbas Kiarostami (****)
Suddenly-Diego Lerman (***1/2) (Comes out on DVD-Feb 22nd)
Under the Skin of the City-Rakhshan Bani Etemad (***1/2)
Magdalene Sisters-Peter Mullan (***)
Seaside-Julie Lopes-Curval (***)

Decasia and Mondays in the Sun weren't on my list, but, Decasia is certainly worth a look. I didn't like Mondays in the Sun very much.

And you're saying I ought to see but I can't get on rental:
Aro Tolbukhin. En la mente del asesino (Isaac-Pierre Racine
Agustín Villaronga et al.)
Blissfully Yours (Sud sanaeha, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)

Right?

Thank you.

True...and you're welcome. I'd love to hear your thoughts after you've watched some of them.

[Chris Knipp]

You'll hear from me when I've seen some of these. By the way, since I realized that Tsai and Hou are Taiwanese, what about Yi Yi by Edward Yang? Don't you like that? I thought it was awfully good, rich as a novel, and quite profound. Seen first at Film Forum in December about three years ago.

[Chris Knipp]

I'm surprised Lilya 4-Ever isn't available since I thought it was fairly widely shown in the US.

[arsaib4]

*Yi Yi is a wonderful film and you're right, Edward Yang also hails from there (amazing for such a small "country," isn't it?) It was a 2000 release so that's why you haven't seen it on my lists so far. The film was truly a life lesson; at once simple yet it didn't shy away from the hard truths. It's unfortunate that Yang has to live under the shadow of Hou and Tsai.

*As for Lilya 4-Ever, I don't have a good answer but obviously it always comes down to money. Lilya is a tough film, sincere and w/out a hint of exploitation. It was one of the most acclaimed films of 2003 and many have questioned its unavailability. The last I heard was that NewMarket was planning a release somewhere around the time of their release of Moodysson's latest A Hole in my Heart later this year.

[Chris Knipp]

I see. Thanks for the further clarification. I will see now about Netfilx for my list. I'll go for some Hou, some Kiarostami, and a couple of the others to start off. Springtime in a Small Town since we've discussed it... Perhaps Son Frère though it sounds grim, because of my "tie" with Chéreau via films of his I've been impressed by.

[Johann]

This turned into a great thread. I want to thank everybody for their contributions- you've given me ideas for future rentals/looks.

The 90's will be looked on in the future as a great decade for cinema. (much better than the 80's)

Oliver Stone was a real force to be reckoned with with stuff like
Natural Born Killers & Nixon.

Spike Lee made a classic: Summer of Sam.

You have the Coens (as mentioned earlier) with Fargo & The Big Lebowski. One thing I love about Fargo is the film poster. Anyone see it? It's a work of grandma's needlepoint art!

You have Tim Burton running rampant with his controlled schizophrenics: Ed Wood/Mars Attacks!

You have Greenaway toiling away in another time/space

You have Wes Anderson and Julie Taymor arrive, Kurosawa and Kubrick leave, films like Pi and Trainspotting and Buffalo 66 leaving huge craters in filmgoers' psyches.... it was a mixed bag decade for cinema but I think there was more than enough to get excited about and stay excited about.

[wpqx]

I agree with Johann in terms of this thread giving me plenty of ideas. Unfortunately a lot of these films aren't easy to come by. For some reason Mike Liegh is difficult about DVD's. His Topsy Turvy is OOP, and Naked, which was on at least one list, is still VHS only. The DVD's of his that are in print, have nothing for extra features, so not exactly a director who has embraced that new technology.

As for your highlights of the decade, well some odd choices. I'm glad many people on this site admire NBK, and honestly I'm a little surprised by it. I'll admit although a big fan of Stone's I'm not an expert, and Nixon is one of his films, for some unexplainable reason I haven't seen.

As for Spike Lee, he was arguably the most prolific filmmaker of the 90's, and certainly one of the best. I again scratch my head in wonder at Summer of Sam being your highlight. Don't get me wrong I loved the movie. Spike has a wonderful operatic quality to his work. Everything is on such a huge scale it really is profound. Lee is capable of such amazingly complex work. In one of his films you get to know every character, and there is always something going on. Summer of Sam dealt with several main characters, a couple of subplots and it all held together. Despite being a Leguizamo fan, I did find his performance a little off though, I think he was trying too hard to prove he could act. Personally I enjoyed Mo Better Blues and Malcolm X for Lee's 90's work.

Pretty good picks for the Coens, but add Barton Fink to that list. That is IMO their most overwhelming movie. The farthest from normal, and the one that left me thinking harder than any other. Plus John Turturro (see the Spike Lee connection) is always good, and he has his biggest role in Barton Fink. Although I think he was at his best as Jesus in Lebowski.

Tim Burton, certainly one of the most profitable filmmakers of the 90's, I still however consider him an outgrowth of the 80's, where he made his first big impression. And well Pee Wee's Big Adventure beats anything he made in the 90's, or this decade for that matter.

Peter Greenaway I'm a complete moron on. I've just started to get some of his films, but I believe he is a director that the more I see, the more I'll appreciate him. As of now, I've only seen The Draughtsman's Contract, and the Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover. Within the week though I'll probably see the Pillow Book, so I'll fill you in.

[arsaib4]

Originally posted by wpqx
Naked, which was on at least one list, is still VHS only.

It's one of my favorites. The Australian DVD is pretty nice, but wait for one from CRITERION.

[Johann]

wpqx:

Spike Lee's Malcolm X is in my top ten for the 90's (see first post in thread).

I emphasize Summer of Sam because it was something filmgoers didn't expect from him (at least I didn't). Sure he's a son of New York, and it not hard to fathom this as a Lee joint, but it's still surprising somehow that he decided to make this- it's genius.

It captured the times I think. I was only 2 when the events depicted were taking place, but don't you get the paranoia and the sense of how hot it was that summer in the big apple?
Spike recreated that time. The cinematography by Ellen Kuras (a professsional who deserves much respect) is stunning. There is only one "Spike Lee dolly-shot" in the movie. The rest is all Kuras.
She's got a hell of a resume- check it out @ the imdb.
And the soundtrack to S.O.S. is awesome.

Barton Fink is also a masterpiece. (Palm D'or winner as well). John Turturro's acting is always fascinating. The scene that stands out in my mind is the hallway on fire scene with John Goodman. It's a surreal few minutes, no?

FYI: if you were wondering what happened to The Dude and Walter's clothes from Lebowski, they were bought by a video store owner in Ottawa Canada- Elgin street video (near Laurier)-
he has them mounted on the wall of the store. I asked where he got them: "bought 'em from the studio".
He also has someone's Oscar statuette. Check it out if you're ever in Canada's capital.

Re: NBK.
oscar jubis has probably been the most accurate in placing that movie in context. I praise it more, but only because Stone resonates with me so much. The visuals are where that movie ultimately succeeds the best. The media message hasn't been heeded by the news networks or society at large, so it's impact is lessened. Don't worry Oliver: the shadow knows...

Good God, man- rent Nixon! Anthony Hopkins gives an Oscar-worthy performance.
Just remember that "Nixon was in love with the lie. He studied it"- O. Stone
Oliver pulls a Gore Vidal- he takes history (and Oliver knows his history folks- don't you think for a minute that he doesn't have context) & shows us a "this is how it probably went down".
There is creative license (Nixon's actual personality is more sinister than Hopkins', more intense- you can learn to love to hate Tony's Dick. I don't think anybody can say they have sympathy for Nixon). AND IF YOU DO: please explain. NOW.


So you like Big Top Pee Wee better than anything else Burton's done? Please explain your position more.
Have you seen Edward Scissorhands,Batman,
or Ed Wood? Slightly more artistically sound I would say.
More ambitious and more successful movies.
But I like Pee Wee- it's Benicio del Toro's first ever film role.

And Greenaway? I talk a lot about this man here, and my admiration will never waiver. He's one of the great film artists, and he breathes the same air as us. Greenaway lives!
He's the van Gogh of cinema. He's the Kitaj of today. He's the Vermeer of now.

and nobody sees it. Nobody knows, nobody's seen the man's prolific output. That's why I'm here: to tell you to give it up for his odd but extremely compelling diversions.

See his code. See his intelligent exacting cinema. Kubrick's films reveal new things everytime you watch them. So do Greenaway's.

[Johann]

Other great 90's films:

The Beautiful Troublemaker
Delicatessen
Raining Stones
A Perfect World
The Professional
Queen Margot
The People Vs. Larry Flynt
William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet
Boogie Nights
When We Were Kings
The Celebration
The Limey
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

[arsaib4]

Originally posted by Johann
Other great 90's films:

The Beautiful Troublemaker
A Perfect World
Queen Margot
The Celebration

That's just beautiful.

[wpqx]

About Tim Burton

First of all it was Pee Wee's Big Adventure I was referencing, he didn't direct Big Top.

Second, I have seen Ed Wood (just once), Edward Scissorhands (at least 5 times) and Batman (probably a dozen times). I'll admit those films are more ambitious, but I can't say they're better. Burton was trying something truly unique and original with Pee Wee, a comedy with art direction. I mean how many "silly" films are filled with such innovative lighting, surreal dream sequences, and come on Twisted Sister. Pee Wee's Big Adventure still cracks me up, particularly the scene of him driving through the billboard on a motorcycle.

Come on the comic expressionist distortion is pitch perfect. Like would a group of tourists all bust out laughing for several minutes at someone asking to see the basement of the Alamo? And remember Pee-Wee's dubbed voice when he played the bellboy in his own movie. Plus Phil Hartman makes a cameo (and he cowrote the screenplay). The film is adventurous, and feerless, made by original thinkers who weren't afraid to try new things. And if nothing else, watch it and feel the nostalgia for Mr. T cereal.

[HorseradishTree]

"Paging Mr. Herman. Mr. Herman, you have a phone call."

[JustaFied]

Originally posted by wpqx
Burton was trying something truly unique and original with Pee Wee, a comedy with art direction. I mean how many "silly" films are filled with such innovative lighting, surreal dream sequences, and come on Twisted Sister. Pee Wee's Big Adventure still cracks me up, particularly the scene of him driving through the billboard on a motorcycle.

I saw this movie when it came out on the big screen in 1985 (I was 11). I went to see it with my grandparents, and their reaction was, "yes, that was very nice". I think they were confounded. I thought it was an hilarious movie, but I also wondered if we Texans were really as obnoxious as we were portrayed in the movie (I'm referring to the scene where Pee Wee, to determine if he's in Texas, yells out loud in a diner, "The stars at night, are big and bright....", and the crowd in unison sings back, "Deep in the heart of Texas".) My grandmother's other reaction, "Well of course the Alamo doesn't have a basement...".

[JustaFied]

Originally posted by Johann
Barton Fink is also a masterpiece. (Palm D'or winner as well). John Turturro's acting is always fascinating. The scene that stands out in my mind is the hallway on fire scene with John Goodman. It's a surreal few minutes, no?

Yes, indeed. I'm still trying to figure this one out. "This is the life of the mind for you, Barton". So what was in the box?

[Johann]

Good question.

Do we need to know?

[JustaFied]

Do we need to know? We're not going to know...that's the mystery.

Maybe it's one of Charlie's victims. Maybe it's Barton's head in the box, allegorically speaking. Maybe it contains the masterpiece Barton's trying to write. Maybe it's the meaning of life, which you're trying to decipher on another thread here...

[Johann]

C'mon you lurkers!

Add your two cents!

Must Howard and I be the sacrificial lambs for making clear that life is all about midichlorians and the standing orders of Battlestar Galactica?

That was Zen, this is Tao:
what do you think the meaning of life is?

[wpqx]

I thought it was Barton's head personally.

As for the meaning of life and Battlestar Galactica, no thank you. The point of life is to cheat death, that's the only reason we're alive.

Oh and I finally got to see My Own Private Idaho, certainly one of the most important films of the 90's.