| 1.
Breaking the Waves – von Trier |
| 2. Goodfellas – Scorsese |
| 3. Pulp Fiction – Tarantino |
| 4. The Thin Red Line- Malick |
| 5. Magnolia – P.T. Anderson |
| 6. Heat- M. Mann |
| 7. JFK – Stone |
| 8. Boogie Nights – P.T. Anderson |
| 9. Dead Man – Jarmusch |
| 10. Chungking
Express – Kar-Wai Wong |
| 11. Fargo –
Coen |
| 12. Eyes Wide
Shut – Kubrick |
| 13. Fight
Club – Fincher |
| 14. The Big
Lebowski – Coen |
| 15. Schindler’s
List – Spielberg |
| 16. Blue –
Kieslowski |
| 17. Malcolm X
– S. Lee |
| 18. The Piano
– Campion |
| 19. Red –
Kieslowski |
| 20. The
Silence of the Lambs – Demme |
| 21. Raise the
Red Lantern – Yimou Zhang |
| 22. Rushmore
– W. Anderson |
| 23. Unforgiven
– Eastwood |
| 24. Seven –
Fincher |
| 25. L.A.
Confidential – Hanson |
| 26. Crash –
Cronenberg |
| 27. Saving
Private Ryan – Spielberg |
| 28. Lost
Highway – Lynch |
| 29. Casino –
Scorsese |
| 30. Groundhog
Day – Ramis |
| 31. Wild at
Heart – Lynch |
| 32. Barton
Fink – Coen |
| 33. Reservoir
Dogs – Tarantino |
| 34. The Last
of the Mohicans – M. Mann |
| 35. The
Shawshank Redemption – Darabont |
| 36. American
Beauty – Mendes |
| 37. Out of
Sight – Soderbergh |
| 38. Miller’s
Crossing – Coen |
| 39. Twelve
Monkeys – Gilliam |
| 40. Jurassic
Park – Spielberg |
| 41. Terminator
2: Judgement Day – Cameron |
| 42. Naked
Lunch – Cronenberg |
| 43. The
English Patient – Minghella |
| 44. The
Celebration – Vinterberg |
| 45. The Lion
King – Allers & Minkoff |
| 46. Satan’s
Tango – Tarr |
| 47. The
Talented Mr. Ripley – Minghella |
| 48. Trainspotting
– Boyle |
| 49. The Age
of Innocence – Scorsese |
| 50. Naked-
Leigh |
| 51. Husbands
and Wives – Allen |
| 52. Dazed and
Confused – Linklater |
| 53. Twin
Peaks: Fire Walk with Me – Lynch |
| 54. The
Insider – M. Mann |
| 55. Safe –
Haynes |
| 56. The Usual
Suspects – Singer |
| 57. Titanic –
Cameron |
| 58. Being
John Malkovich – Jonze |
| 59. Dick
Tracy – Beatty |
| 60. La Haine
– Kassovitz |
| 61. Taste of
Cherry – Kiarostami |
| 62. Days of
Being Wild – Kar-Wai Wong |
| 63. Election-
Payne |
| 64. The
Player – Altman |
| 65. The
Matrix – Wachowski |
| 66. Slacker –
Linklater |
| 67. Forrest
Gump – Zemeckis |
| 68. Natural
Born Killers- Stone |
| 69. Topsy-
Turvy – Leigh |
| 70. Rosetta –
Dardenne |
| 71. Fear and
Loathing in Las Vegas – Gilliam |
| 72. Ed Wood –
Burton |
| 73. A Little
Princess – Cuaron |
| 74. Howard’s
End – Ivory |
| 75. Run Lola
Run – Tykwer |
| 76. Pi –
Aronofsky |
| 77. The
Virgin Suicides – S. Coppola |
| 78. Flowers
of Shanghai – Hsiao-Hsien Hou |
| 79. Short
Cuts – Altman |
| 80. Jackie
Brown – Tarantino |
| 81. The
Fisher King – Gilliam |
| 82. The
Double Life of Veronique – Kieslowski |
| 83. The
Lovers on the Bridge – Carax |
| 84. Funny
Games – Haneke |
| 85. Toy Story
– Lasseter |
| 86. Before
Sunrise- Linklater |
| 87. La
Promesse – Dardenne |
| 88. Bad
Lieutenant – Ferrara |
| 89. Orlando –
Potter |
| 90. Beau
travail – Denis |
| 91. Great
Expectations- Cuaron |
| 92. Good Will
Hunting – Van Sant |
| 93. Face/Off
– Woo |
| 94. Thelma
and Louise – R. Scott |
| 95. Nixon –
Stone |
| 96. Ratcatcher
– Ramsay |
| 97. Ghost
Dog: The Way of the Samurai – Jarmusch |
| 98. Solo con
Tu Pareja – Cuaron |
| 99. Heavenly
Creatures – Jackson |
| 100. In the Name of the Father – Sheridan |
Oh it looks like we have our 3rd #1 difference, but having gone through your writing it looks like it will be the last 🙂
1. Pulp Fiction
2. Satantango
3. Schindler’s List
4. Goodfellas
5. Fargo
6. Breaking the Waves
7. Three Colors: Red & Blue
8. The Silence of the Lambs
9. Magnolia
10. Fight Club
I would include “Close-Up” on the list and pretty high, but it’s technically a documentary.
Tremendous top 10, Leo and of course “Pulp Fiction”— I have zero problems with that as your #1. I think the world of Tarr’s other works “Werckmeister Harmonies” and “The Turin Horse” so it’s very possible a second viewing of “Satan’s Tango” or “Satantango” will change my list. And yes- I’ll grant that “Close-up” blurs the documentary line but don’t have it in the archives at all for that reason.
Very possible, obviously you already know that it’s a bit of a challenging watch, being 7 and a half hours long and all, but to me there’s just something about it that seems so, not self-important, but actually important if that makes sense. Also, I agree, even though I have Breaking the Waves at 6 it could easily be higher depending on the time of day, movies honestly don’t get too much better than that if you ask me.
Well done! Very thorough list. It’s always so amusing to debate best/worst movies. My 90’s top ten: (I’m not including my best animations because I personally feel those deserve their own category of greatness)
1. Forrest Gump
2. Schindler’s List
3. A Few Good Men
4. Mrs. Doubtfire
5. Maverick
6. Sense & Sensibility
7. Contact
8. The Green Mile
9. The Truman Show
10. A League of Their Own
Most apparitions in the « Best Performances of the Year » category, in the 90’s :
Johnny Depp (4) :
} 4# en 1990.
} 5# en 1994.
} 2# en 1995.
} 4# en 1998.
Tom Cruise (2) :
} 1# en 1996.
} 1# en 1999.
Robert De Niro (2) :
} 3# en 1990.
} 1# en 1995.
Ralph Fiennes (2) :
} 2# en 1993.
} 2# en 1996.
Brad Pitt (2) :
} 3# en 1995.
} 2# en 1999.
Bill Murray (2) :
} 3# en 1993.
} 3# en 1998.
John Goodman (2) :
} 4# en 1991.
} 2# en 1998.
Matt Damon (2) :
} 3# en 1997.
} 5# en 1999.
Russell Crowe (2) :
} 4# en 1997.
} 4# en 1999.
Daniel Day-Lewis (2) :
} 5# en 1992.
} 4# en 1993.
Al Pacino (2) :
} 5# en 1990.
} 4# en 1999.
John Turturro (2) :
} 6# en 1990.
} 3# en 1991.
Edward Norton (2) :
} 6# en 1998.
} 3# en 1999.
Joe Pesci (1) :
} 1# en 1990.
Anthony Hopkins (1) :
} 1# en 1991.
Denzel Washington (1) :
} 1# en 1992.
Liam Neeson (1) :
} 1# en 1993.
John Travolta (1) :
} 1# en 1994.
Mark Wahlberg (1) :
} 1# en 1997.
Jeff Bridges (1) :
} 1# en 1998.
Ray Liotta (1) :
} 2# en 1990.
Arnold Schwarzenegger (1) :
} 2# en 1991.
Harvey Keitel (1) :
} 2# en 1992.
Samuel L. Jackson (1) :
} 2# en 1994.
Burt Reynolds (1) :
} 2# en 1997.
Clint Eastwood (1) :
} 3# en 1992.
Morgan Freeman (1) :
} 3# en 1994.
Steve Buscemi (1) :
} 3# en 1996.
Gene Hackman (1) :
} 4# en 1992.
Bruce Willis (1) :
} 4# en 1994.
Kevin Spacey (1) :
} 4# en 1995.
Ewan McGregor (1) :
} 4# en 1996.
Jeff Bridges (1) :
} 5# en 1991.
Tom Hanks (1) :
} 5# en 1993.
Sean Penn (1) :
} 5# en 1995.
Elias Koetas (1) :
} 5# en 1996.
George Clooney (1) :
} 5# en 1998.
Jud Law (1) :
} 5# en 1999.
Willem Dafoe (1) :
} 6# en 1990.
River Phoenix (1) :
} 6# en 1991.
Jack Nicholson (1) :
} 6# en 1992.
Vincent Cassel (1) :
} 6# en 1995.
Timothy Spall (1) :
} 6# en 1996.
Jim Broadbant (1) :
} 6# en 1999.
Kevin Spacey (1) :
} 7# en 1999.
Peter Sarsgaard (1) :
} 8# en 1999.
Denis Lavant (1) :
} 9# en 1999.
Hey drake. Still believe breaking the waves is the best movie of 1990s or has your opinion changed?
I’m asking because you mentioned on your best actors page that Goodfellas may well be the best film of the last 35 years…
@Azman- it’s virtually tied with Breaking the Waves- I think I have them 1 spot apart, In the Mood for Love is there, too- a few others but it’s in the really short conversation for best
Here’s a World of Reel 1990s List
https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2020/5/1990s