Monday, August 30, 2010

Flashback: Best of the 90s (Pt. 2)

Start with Pt 1 of this 90s Flashback... if you're confused about what's going on. To make a long story short, I'm excerpting items from an old zine I wrote in Spring 2000, during the first year of the website. Yes, I was originally juggling too many things. Why that's not like me AT ALL.

We previously covered my dated lists for Actors, Supporting Actresses and Supporting Actors -- lists I don't agree with in full anymore (though the supporting actresses list I quite like still). So now we move on to Picture and Actress.

Best Actress
Top ten chronological order. What follows is original text from the magazine, with the winner in bold text. I had purposefully excluded 1999 which is why you don't see Kate Winslet for Holy Smoke or Hilary Swank for Boy's Don't Cry though here's what I wrote about Swank in that same zine...

I'm rooting for Swank on Oscar night. But I must express concern that she could turn into Elisabeth Shue and only have this one great role in her.
Ha. I was right but it's funny in retrospect to have proof that I had no animosity at all (I love Shue). I mean I wasn't giving the Swankster mean nicknames or spoofing my own hatred of her and I was actually rooting for her to win that first time. It was that damn disingenuous "girl from a trailer park" campaigning and the second win that rubbed me in directions wrong and wrongest. [sic]
  • Anjelica Huston, The Grifters (1990)
    Her daring unsympathetic work tore through the screen.
  • Jodie Foster, The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
    Clarice Starling is one for the history books.
  • Susan Sarandon & Geena Davis, Thelma & Louise (1991)
    I'm loathe to separate this duet, so I shan't.
  • Michelle Pfeiffer, Batman Returns (1992)
    Meow. Her funniest most magnetic star turn this decade.
  • Emma Thompson, Howards End (1992)
    She shone as the passionate but centered Margaret Schlegel
  • Juliette Binoche, Three Colors: Blue (1992 [sic] it was actually 1993. I think I was avoiding a certain 1993 problem in my head! read on.)
    A mystifying transcendent performance.
  • Holly Hunter, The Piano (1993)
    One of our finest comic actresses in her best dramatic work.
  • Elisabeth Shue, Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
    No one knew she had this in her but I'm glad she did.
  • Frances McDormand, Fargo (1996)
    An expert comic performance that owns the great film.
  • Helena Bonham-Carter, Wings of the Dove (1997)
    She gets better and better and this is the top.
Hmmm. Looking back I'm confused why Julianne Moore [safe] isn't listed. I was also a bit surprised that Meryl Streep's Postcards From the Edge didn't factor in but then I remembered that it took quite some time before Meryl Streep's "Suzanne Vale" started threatening to be my favorite of her character gallery.

1993 was too good a year in Best Actress. Too many riches.

And I'm a touch surprised to see Juliette Binoche there though I think the performance is a hypnotic icy marvel. The film was released in the States in 1993 which means that I'd have to bump Michelle Pfeiffer from The Age of Innocence off of my best actress 5 that year (*sniffle*) which would leave me with Holly Hunter, The Piano (winner) and nominees: Angela Bassett, What's Love Got to Do With It; Juliette Binoche, Three Colors: Blue; Stockard Channing, Six Degrees of Separation and Emma Thompson, Much Ado About Nothing (previously discussed) none of whom I am able to part with. Sorry 'Chelle! It hurts me more than it hurts you.

Best Picture
[Chronological Top Ten. Winners in bold red. What follows is original text. 1999 I had originally excluded as it had just ended and I was still deciding on "bests" for that year.]

Heavenly Creatures and Porn Stars
  • Beauty & The Beast (1991)
    Best cartoon of the decade. The genre has thankfully exploded since this.
  • THELMA & LOUISE (1991)
    Eternal thanks fo Ridley, Callie, Susan & Geena. Best road trip of the decade.
  • Husbands and Wives (1992)
    Allen's best film of the 90s. Its status will grow in time, trust me.
  • Trois Coleurs (1992-1994)
    Have this experience! Kiezlowski's enthralling spiritual trilogy.
  • THE PIANO (1993)
    Jane Campion's painterly erotic masterwork.
  • Schindler's List (1993)
    I hate to include Spielberg but he actually deserved the kudos on this one. (recently discussed at the blog)
  • Heavenly Creatures (1994)
    Peter Jackson's surreal mood juggling giddy nightmare.
  • Dead Man Walking (1995)
    Tim Robbins enthralling and enormously moving death row drama.
  • Boogie Nights (1997)
    P.T. Anderson's mega-entertaining superbly acted porn-opus.
  • Wings of the Dove (1997)
    Vastly underrated James adaptation by Iain Softley and a trio of fine actors.
The "runners up" listed were Edward Scissorhands, Howards End, Pulp Fiction, Queen Margot, Babe, Fargo and The Truman Show. And my three favorites of 99, listed elsewhere in the zine were Being John Malkovich, Run Lola Run and All About My Mother. (I've always enjoyed Lola but I didn't remember it as that high up!)

Some notes: It appears that I was in love with the word "enthralling" in Spring 2000. I guess I could not choose an adjective for Heavenly Creatures so I just went with all of them. I was also, not yet dead set against "ties". The Piano (see my review) now holds the throne on its own and those porn stars, waitresses on the run and murderous teen girlfriends continue to sit nearby as ladies in waiting to "Best Film of the 90s." (And yes, I do still think Beauty & The Beast is the best animated film of the 90s. Sorry Toy Story and Princess Mononoke) The rest of the list would need a seriously rethink or overhaul.

And if that weren't enough -- you're all "please stop. It's 2010!" yeah, yeah, we'll get back to it -- here were some other fighting words back then. Original Text follows. I can't totally stand by all of this since it's 10 years ago that I wrote this and I haven't seen at least half of the films since. Plus, I seemed to have had a distinct distaste for films with negative messages. But here's what I wrote ten years ago...
The World is Stone Pt 1 (Unjustly aborted movie children i.e. the most underrated films of the 90s.)
  • One True Thing
    Dismissed as just a fine Streep film. Sorry, try again. Just a fine film.
  • Velvet Goldmine
    Time has lifted [safe] to grand cinema status. Same thing will happen to Todd Haynes' most electric film.
  • Strange Days | Nell | The Ref
    Not classics but severely and rudely underrated.
  • Queen Margot
    This film floors me. Luscious. Epic. Incredible.
  • Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
    You might want to hate it but you'll learn to love it.
  • Truly Madly Deeply
    A rarely insightful look at the mourning process with two terrific lead performances.
  • Batman Returns | Mars Attacks
    Burton's least appreciated. Funny and clever films.
  • Living Out Loud | Home for the Holidays
    The first was widely shrugged off, the second universally hated. I'll never get why. Holly Hunter is perfection in both.
  • Men Don't Leave
    An emotional stunner with Jessica Lange in top form.
  • Romeo + Juliet
    The media tried to reduce it to "Shakespearean MTV" when it's a visually inspired experience. DiCaprio and Danes briefly gave Young Hollywood a good name.

The World is Stone Pt 2 (spoiled brats - overrated films of the 90s)
  • LA Confidential
    Didn't anyone else find the ending a major cop out?
  • Deconstructing Harry
    One of Woody's worst. Childishly vicious.
  • Henry Fool
    A revered arthouse film that's so pretentious I felt like tearing at my skin.
  • Forrest Gump | Saving Private Ryan
    Two ultra adored patriotic Tom Hanks blockbusters with scary political implications or simplified messages.
  • In the Company of Men
    It's just inert as a film. Lifeless even in all its bile.
  • Braveheart
    Mel Gibson's sick, homophobic, bloodthirsty operatically self-indulgent mess. Won the Oscar of course.
  • Casino
    Just when I was sick to death of it, I realized it was only halfway over. Repetitious, ugly, and revered based solely upon the name in the director's chair.
Hmmm.

Many many people have told me I should love Casino (1995) as they do. Perhaps I wasn't in the right place? But I still remember the visceral hatred of it in the movie theater ... so I'm scared to go back. I rarely employ "pretentious" as a kneejerk insult now so I wonder what I'd think of Henry Fool today? I still have plenty of hate for Forrest Gump (see recent proof) and Braveheart (see recent proof) but I am confused at the dismissal of LA Confidential which is obviously a goodie.

Things I have no memory of: Hating In the Company of Men or loving One True Thing.

What were your favorite and least favorites of the 1990s back in 2000?
How is the list different now?

*

40 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm glad that someone other than me finds both Braveheart and L.A. Confidential to be highly overrated. Love the "H.S. I Love You" post as well.

James T said...

Just when I was about to say "THANK YOU", you made me less enthusiastic. No matter :p

What I am referring to is:

1) I'm obviously excited your love for Beauty and the Beast has not faded (and any post looks prettier when it includes a pic from this masterpiece)

2) I was walking for 127 hours and still found no one to agree with me that LA Confid... looks good but, really, totally isn't! And just when you provided me with some company, you took it back. I'm not trying to be snooty but, how can anyone like the message of that movie? "You can't be an idealist. You have to make moral sacrifices. That's easy and everybody does it but I'm here to comfirm it"

At least that's what I got out of it.


Also, why do I remember being touched by Pfeiffer's Catwoman? Why don't I think she was funny? Darkly funny? Maybe.


------


I don't expect anyone to agree with me, though I don't understand why I'm alone in this, but I adored The House of the Spirits the first, second and third time I saw it. Too sentimental? Messy? I only see a beautifully told (fairy) tale.


Favorites from the 90's:

Beauty and the Beast
Dead Man Walking
Basic Instinct
The Last Seduction
Titanic
House of the Spirits
Dead Again
Leaving Las Vegas
My Best Friend's Wedding
Secrets & Lies
Sense and Sensibility
The Straight Story
To Die For
Trainspotting (kind of)
Great Expectations


I saw some of them only once when I was about 10, 12, 14 or something, some others only recently and some both.
I'm sure I forgot many that I thought were masterpieces when I was 10.

And, again, thank you for sharing!

Jay said...

If I were to do a list it would only be accurate for a day. My tastes would change or something would occur in my life and I would have to rethink it all over again.

I guess people change. I expected to see Cronenberg's Crash or your lists. Perhaps you came around to that one more recently. (Or maybe, it just wasn't in your tops of the decade).

James T said...

I knew I had forgotten something important!

Batman Returns
Heavenly Creatures

NATHANIEL R said...

James T -- i'm still not entirely sold on LA Confidential (particularly the ending) but it's way too good to simply dismiss. I mean it doesn't deserve to be lumped in with some real travesties of adoration where you just feel bad for the world that that's what the world loves. ;)

Jay -- i loved Crash back then (Cronenberg) then and love it now, but not top ten of decade love then or now.

/3rtfu11 said...

LA Confidential is the best studio picture of the decade. It also mops the floor with everything that came after it in the subsequent decade.

Luke said...

Reading of your affection for Six Degrees of Separation makes me want to see an entire post to your explanation of these feelings. Just saw it recently, and I'm at a loss for whether or not I enjoyed it. One of those movies, I guess...

Oh, and take my word for it - Casino is not worth revisiting. Just did so recently and you've hit the nail on the head.

MrW said...

Here we go again. My Top 10 Lead actress performances of the 90s:

Anjelica Huston in The Grifters
Gong Li in Raise the Red Lantern
Emmanuelle Béart in Un coeur en hiver
Holly Hunter in The Piano
Crissy Rock in Ladybird, Ladybird
Rena Owen in Once Were Warriors
Heather Matarazzo in Welcome to the Dollhouse
Emily Watson in Breaking the Waves
Pam Grier in Jackie Brown
Cecilia Roth in All About My Mother

Favorite performance of the decade: Anjelica Huston, by a mile.


Best Picture of the decade (not including Lars von Trier's TV mini-series The Kingdom, which would have a good shot at #1, if I included it):
La belle noiseuse (Jacques Rivette)
Chungking Express (Wong Kar-Wai)
Once Were Warriors (Lee Tamahori)
Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino)
Casino (Martin Scorsese)
Fargo (Joel & Ethan Coen)
Jackie Brown (Quentin Tarantino)
Happiness (Todd Solondz)
All About My Mother (Pedro Almodóvar)
Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze)

#1 is a tough choice between Chungking Express, All About My Mother or Being John Malkovich.

Obviously, I do love Casino, it even edges out Goodfellas as Marty's 1990s masterpiece for me.

James T said...

Nathaniel, the ending is what bothers me, too. But it bothers me a lot. The acting is good/great and the script has some fine moments but I'm sooo against it morally.

NATHANIEL R said...

MrW -- good performances those. Béart is terrific in that Un Couer en Hiver. too bad people never talk about her anymore.

and Huston ... too bad she didn't win the Oscar.

/3rtfu11 said...

the ending is what bothers me, too. But it bothers me a lot. The acting is good/great and the script has some fine moments but I'm sooo against it morally

You’re reading far too much into a non-art film. This is quality cinema entertainment from Hollywood of the highest order. The movie says human beings were no different then than they are now – only the surface of the culture has changed.

James T said...

/3rtfu11 - I'm glad your response is nothing close to "you just don't get it" but I'm not sold on your logic because, if it wanted to compare two different (but, as you say, not that different) eras, why not choose a larger gap? LA Conf..'s era is not that far before 1999's.

/3rtfu11 said...

Huston ... too bad she didn't win the Oscar

All the women in that category are Oscar winners. How many times has that happened? It was Bates’ turn. Ten years later after a career of peaks and valleys it was Julia’s turn. Meryl has two so she has to wait.

Huston was always best suited to ensemble work so her supporting actress win being directed by her respected father and co-starring with her mega powerful / legend boyfriend isn’t bad. Woodward has an Oscar and was married to Paul Newman.

/3rtfu11 said...

James,

LA Confidential is set in the film noir era. Everything about Hollywood was built on larger than life personas and illusion. Real movie stars and media lies. The media still lies but they were able to be a lot worse about it because the public never questioned the status quo.

LA Confidential touches on the issue of race and class with the LAPD placing blame on black male youth for the Night Owl murders. It ties into another story that this young men actually participated in a rape and kidnap of a young Latin women.

There’s the homosexuality of the era with the murder of a desperate young man who wanted to make it big in show business – my God I hadn’t seriously thought about these elements to the story because the movie doesn’t preach to the audience at how true and sad these situations are. They’re apart of the story and are just that.

James T said...

It's not only about which issues a movie touches. It's also about what taste it leaves etc. To me, it felt more shallow than it want to seem and a little confused. We'll never agree but I'm OK with that :p

Michael said...

My current 10:

Pulp Fiction
Goodfellas
Fargo
LA Confidential
Election
The Iron Giant
Glengarry Glen Ross
Rob Roy
Boogie Nights
Barton Fink

My ten back in the day would've definitely had Magnolia over Boogie Nights and Beauty and the Beast over The Iron Giant which I foolishly dismissed without viewing in 99.

I also probably had a lot more choices like Schindler's List and The Silence of the Lambs which were obviously great and validated by public consensus, but after 10 years these are the films I keep coming back to. I had no idea at the time that stuff like Election or Rob Roy would develop such a hold on me over the years.

NATHANIEL R said...

sometimes that's why those lists are more interesting. time does strange things tying some movies to us permanently, letting others drift away... and sometimes it's not the ones that it's "supposed to be" :)

No Bad Movies said...

Well Nathaniel... we are all individuals and we can't ( thank the lord ) be the same and that's why I disagree with a couple of films you ranked as " overrated ".

I happen to think Casino is a classic. I did originally see it in the theater and was riveted. Remember...many people claim this is Good Fellas Part II, but it's not. It's based from a true story with names changed. And if people think that Joe Pesci is channeling Tommy from Good Fellas, they are wrong. He was just portraying the guy how he was. He was a evil, sociopath in real life. Even more so in real life than portrayed in the fim.
I also thought the narrative throughout the film was excellent, the character's portrayed very good, especially Sharon Stone. There is a lot of emotion bubbling underneath through the whole movie it's palpable. The soundtrack ( as with all Scorsese flicks ) is awesome. Come on...Devo's version of Satisfaction ?! I own the film and watch it at least once a year. There is not one lag in the movie. Also the camera work is very impressive to mention the technical aspects of the film.

Saving Private Ryan overrated ? My grandfather served in WWII and fought hard in Normandy at Utah Beach. I showed him the film when it was released on VHS, and he told me that was the most realistic WWII film ever made and he'd seen almost every film based on that war. He couldn't believe that Spielberg got such into detail of the period that he added FUBAR to the dialogue. No other WWII film mentioned that term. Other than fact that the film got two big thumbs up from my veteran grandfather, I also just plain believed the characters. They seemed real to me. I felt sad after getting to know them and then most of them perished. I also think in a filmmaking sense, it's incredibly well made. Great cinematography. It's as if you are right there in it with them.

And lastly, I noticed the omission of Emma Thompson in lead actress for In The Name Of The Father. She is the heartbeat of that film.

These would be my only gripes with your list, as I agree with most of it.

Anonymous said...

Yes. Casino to is one of the most aesthetically beautiful stories put to film, just the colours and neons and all. That, or I need to see a shrink.

Speaking of needing to see a shrink. I was twelve coming out of the 90's, so my actress list would have sucked. It would be like Winslet twice for both Heavenly Creatures and Hamlet (still love her) and Madonna for Evita.

Lastly, I thought 1995 was a banner year for supporting actresses (Scott Thomas, Sorvino, Stone, Stowe, Winslet) and 1991 for leading actresses (Davis, Foster, Linda Hamilton, Irene Jacob, Sarandon).

I'll write what my list looks like now in my blog. Tomorrow.

NATHANIEL R said...

no bad -- i have no issue with the technical details of Saving Private Ryan and that opening battle sequence is a stunner. But i have other issues with it. It's still funny to me that people are always bitching that the oscars have no sense of humor but the rare time they go with a comedy like Shakespeare in Love people freak out.

I think Shakespeare in Love is a better movie personally (even if The Thin Red Line probably should've won.) so i had no issues with that decision... especially since Spielberg won director for SPR so it's not like they treated the film badly.

okinawa -- i loved Madonna in Evita. It's ok to love Madonna. I've been spreading that gospel my whole life. ;)

No Bad Movies said...

Do tell about your other issues with SPR ? I am genuinely curious.

Daryn G said...

@No Bad Movies:

I don't think Casino is defensible on the grounds that it's based on a true story & the actors are portraying people as they were in real life--so what? Scorsese chose or at least agreed to make this movie, which is, on the whole, an unnecessary & self-indulgent retread of Goodfellas (though it does have some redeeming qualities, like DeNiro's complex lead performance & some of the inside details of the casino biz).

Manuel said...

Woow Nathaniel. Is the colour triology the only foreign movies you really liked in the 90s? Both of your list are really American for my taste. But I do like your love for the performances and movies you REALLY love.

My fav 90s best actress:
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth
Tilda Swinton - Orlando
Gong Li - Raise the red lantern
Emily Watson - Breaking the Waves
Jodie Foster - The Silence of the Lambs
Rena Owen - Once Were Warriors
Kate Winslet - Heavenly Creatures
Nicole Kidman - Eyes Wide Shut
Juliette Binoche - Three Colours: Blue
Angela Bassett - Whats Love Got To Do With It

Almost there: Emma Thompson in Remains of the Day, Meryl Streep in The Bridges over Madison County, Kristin Scott Thomas in The English Patient, Cecilia Roth in Todo Sobre Mi Madre

My fav 90s movies:
The Matrix
The Talented Mr Ripley
The Ice Storm
L.A. Confidential
Se7en
Three Colours: Blue
Funny Games
The Celebration
Breaking the waves
The Thin Red Line

Almost there: The Insider, The Kingdom, The Lion King, Elizabeth, L¨Appartement, Trainspotting, Pulp Fiction, Being John Malkovich, Kenneth Branagh¨s Hamlet

No Bad Movies said...

@ Daryn

Sharon Stones career best performance in Casino as well. You can call it a retread all you want but Good Fellas and Casino are two totally different storylines and I don't confuse the two just because Joe Pesci plays a gansgter. I also like that there were multiple and intricate storylines going on at once and many characters covered other than the leads; like Dick Smothers politico, Don Rickles as Ace's right hand man, the lawman played by LQ Jones, the leach James Woods plays.
I just think it was well done from a acting standpoint, with snappy, sure fire dialgoue and Robert Richardson's impressive camera work on top of it all.

NATHANIEL R said...

Manuel -- only 10 films are listed so the odds were against it. I also didn't use to see as many foreign films as i do now. my top tens for each year now generally include 2 or 3 foreign efforts. But this is 10 for a full decade.

I think you'd probably like the top 100 best of the Aughts a lot more. Much more foreign fare listed.

Trophy Husband said...

Devo's version of Satisfaction in Casion is funny and brilliant ( possibly catchier than the original ? )

No Bad Movies said...

Hey Nathaniel...come back at me with some of your issues with Private Ryan. I want to see what you were seeing that you thought were problematic in your eyes.

The Pretentious Know it All said...

If it wasn't so unbearably long, I guess Casino might be worth another view for Sharon Stone's performance alone, which I still can't quite wrap my head around (I don't mean that in a good way). That she manages to overact circles around Joe Pesci, who pretty much has overacting down to an exact science (sorry, I'm not a fan. Never have been) is kind of amazing. Am I wrong in my assertion that Madonna was originally up for the role of Ginger McKenna?

Shtajner said...

Best Actress:

Holly Hunter in The Piano
Stoskard Channing in Six Degrees of Separation
Meryl Streep in The Bridges of Madison County
Jennifer Jason Leigh in Georgia
Marianne Jean-Baptist in Secrets & Lies
Brenda Blethyn in Secrets and Lies
Emily Watson in Breaking the Waves
Tilda Swinton in Female Perversions
Fernanda Montenegro in Central Station
Kate Winslet in Holy Smoke!

Best Picture:

Six Degrees of Separation
The Remains of the Day
The Piano
Bullets over Broadway
The Bridges of Madison County
Secrets & Lies
Titanic
Central Station
Eyes Wide Shut
Being John Malkovich

Best Actor:

Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs
Anthony Hopkins in The Remains of the Day
Leslie Cheung in Farewell, My Concubine
Oleg Menshikov in Burnt by the Sun
Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas
Sean Penn in Dead Man Walking
William H. Macy in Fargo
Timothy Spall in Secrets & Lies
Daniel Day-Lewis in The Crucible
Jim Carrey in Man on the Moon

Best Supporting Actress:

Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost
Judy Davis in Husbands and Wives
Anna Paquin in The Piano
Dianne Wiest in Bullets over Broadway
Jennifer Tilly in Bullets over Broadway
Kate Winslet in Sense and Sensibility
Katrin Cartlidge in Breaking the Waves
Joan Allen in The Crucible
Paprika Steen in Celebration
Antonia San Juan in All about My Mother

Best Supporting Actor:

Ted Levine in The Silence of the Lambs
Jaye Davidson in The Crying Game
Gene Heckman in The Unforgiven
Sam Neil in The Piano
Martin Landau in Ed Wood
Kevin Spacey in Se7en
Steve Buschemi in Fargo
Hening Moritzen in Celebration
Jude Law in The Talented Mr. Ripley

MHerzog said...

Do you still think Deconstructing Harry is one of Woody's worst?

I think is one of Woody's last great films right behind Husbands and Wives.

SoSueMe said...

A great film is one you want to revisit...it doesn't have to reinvent cinema or be high concept, just totally rewatchable...films are ephemeral with so much product on the market these days, so if a movie makes you want to devour it over and over again, that's special ...these are some of my faves from the 90's.

Thelma and Louise
Pretty Woman
The Silence of the Lambs
Goodfellas
Edward Scissorhands
As Good As It Gets
Clueless
Titanic
Howard's End
Terminator 2

NATHANIEL R said...

sosueme -- good point about rewatchability. i hadn't thought about it in quite that context before.

mherzog -- i haven't revisited deconstructing harry. I just remember not laughing at all and feeling it was terribly meanspirited. I know that some of woody's harshest critics think he's quite a misanthrope. And i think that film was the first time i saw where those people were coming from.

nobad -- i don't have any earthshattering feelings about it that haven't been said many times. I just think the framing device is incredibly awkward and facile (i'm not a big fan of framing devices in general because they often cheapen what's inbetween them) and i don't like the message that someone who is already a soldier that presumably fought in the war has to somehow do yet more to "earn" being rescued by fellow soldiers? isn't that just part of the code... don't leave a man behind?

Plus the characters felt like types more than characters to me.

and i felt that other than the incredible opening action sequence it was a very very standard movie that was lifted up like it was one of the best movies ever made.

NATHANIEL R said...

pretentious -- i think that's true but i don't really remember.

Brian Tayour said...

Best of the 90's...

Film ( no order )

Unforgiven
Fargo
Boogie Nights
In The Name Of The Father
Saving Private Ryan
Good Fellas
Silence Of The Lambs
Affliction
Sling Blade
The Shawshank Redemption

Actor

Danzel Washington- Malcolm X
Daniel Day-Lewis- In The Name Of The Father
Billy Bob Thornton- Sling Blade
Tom Hanks- Philadelphia
Robert DeNiro- Awakenings
Morgan Freeman/Tim Robbins- Shawshank Redmption
Jeff Bridges- The Big Lebowski
Anthony Hopkins- The Silence Of The Lambs
Nicolas Cage- Leaving Las Vegas
Sean Penn- Dead Man Walking

Actress

Frances McDormand- Fargo
Emily Watson- Breaking The Waves
Jodie Foster- Silence Of The Lambs/Nell
Hilary Swank- Boys Don't Cry
Debra Winger- Shadowlands
Emma Thompson- Howard's End
Holly Hunter- The Piano
Joan Alen- The Contender
Julie Christie- Afterglow

Supporting actor

William H. Macy- Fargo
James Coburn- Affliction
Gene Hackman- Unforgiven
Denzel Washington- Philadelphia
Ted Levine- Silence Of The Lambs
Robin Williams-Good Will Hunting
Pete Postlethwaite- In The Name Of The Father
John Goodman- The Big Lebowski
Matin Landau- Ed Wood
Kevin Spacey- The Usual Suspects

Supporting Actress

Annette Bening- The Grifters
Kathy Bates- Primary Colors
Kate Nelligan- The Prince Of Tides
Mira Sorvino- Mighty Aphrodite
Emma Thompson- In The Name Of The Father
Toni Collette- The Sixth Sense
Julianne Moore- Boogie Nights
Lorraine Bracco- Good Fellas
Juliette Lewis- Cape Fear
Marisa Tomei- My Cousin Vinny

No Bad Movies said...

I guess we'll agree to disagree Nathaniel. Maybe I felt " something " more from it because I was in the military. But I also did not think of the characters as " types " at all. I was invested in every member of their group. Each member has their own personality. Mellish and Reiben had their NY attitude. Barry Pepper as the redneck but christian sharpshooter, he had a terrible and hard job but his faith in God never waivered till the end, you could identify with Reiben wanting to quit to save just one man, you seethe at the chicken shit that Cpl. Uphum is like, especially in the scene where he easily could have saved Mellish's life in that stairwell just cowering. For a second there you think Mellish is going to win that fight and the Nazi ends up killing him. So there's a revenge factor brewing for the viewer in hopes they get another crack at him again ( Which is fitting that Uphum do the job )
Then it's heartbreaking to see Medic Wade die. He himself is just a kid. In his last moments he's crying out for his mom. That gutted me. And last but not least, I think Hanks played Captain Miller to great effect. A man not made for the Army but has to do his job regardless. I thought he played that angle real well. Someone too sensitive for the military but is patriotic all the same.
It was tough to hold back tears watching it with my grandpa, when his eyes welled up more than once.

aracir said...

Men don't leave! yay! I love the soundtrack, too. =)

Dimitra said...

I agree about Velvet Goldmine, but I could barely sit through [safe] -(watching it at midnight didn't help a lot). And I've seen J.Moore playing this character 3 times, enough already!

Ahhh, The Piano...one of my favorites of all time.

Manuel said...

No Bad Movies: I also really really liked Sharon Stone in Casino. She was actually my fav to win that year but Sarandon so deserved her Oscar. Im hoping for a strong comeback for Stone though. She would have been perfect in the remake of Sunset Bouleward or what its called he he

s26 said...

my favorites from the 90s have changed a lottttt
you are ging to seea huge diference

back then
my favorite movies from the 90s

1 the mask of zorro
2 titanic
3 my best friends weding
4 beauty and beast
5 the lion king
6 pretty woman

my favorite actresses back then

catherien z jones- the mask of zorro
i loved her in zorro she was the reason i watched the entrapment l a year later, i was so exietd to watch her in a movie for a second time


Julia Roberts-my best friends weding and pretty woman
i wanted to give julia an oscar forher performance in my best friends weding

kate Winslet- titanic
favorite actors back then
Anotnio Banderas-i liked him just because he was in zorro

loenardo dicaprio loved him because he was the good guy in titanic




now my favorite movies from the 90s


basic instinct
the silence of the lambs
indecent propossall
ghost
casino
disclossure
pretty woman
my best freinds weding
Air Force one
the mask of zorro
titanic
scent of a woman

they are my favorite actresses right now
sharon stone
1 Basic instinct 1&2 casino and some other preformances i like as guilty pleasures
2 Demi moore-disclosure indecnet propossall
3 nicole kidman- Moulin Rouge
4 Amanda Seyfried- Chloe

i still like
julia roberts
catherien z jones

i like but dont love
kate hudosn
catherien higel
and many more
Reese Witherspoon

favorite actors right now

1 michael douglas: basic instinct, fatal atraction, disclosure, wallstreet, dont say a word the sentinell

2 Liam Nesson- Taken, Chloe

Anthony Hopkins the silnce of the lambs and meet joe Black

AlPaccino scent of a woman and the devils advocate

Russell Crowe: gladiator and robin hood

i still like
leonardo dicaprio

s26 said...

i also love
the sixth sense

and everyone in this movie made an amazing performance

and the actress i like now
Jodie foster in the silnce of the lambs