A variation on the yearly threads we did a few years ago, with these monthly threads we will talk about individual eras of film, from the obvious classics to the forgotten masterpieces to those giants that might need to be re-evaluated. In February-March we see the rise of the indie film and the continued growth of the franchise. Soderbergh might have really started the indie revolution in the 80's but movies like Pulp Fiction, Clerks, and Boogie Nights announced the arrival of a new generation of filmmakers, ones who had been raised in cultivated in the age of easy access to films through home video. While the French New Wave was critics-as-filmmakers, now we had the fanboy-as-filmmaker. Just like how grunge music was absorbed by the record companies, quasi-indie subdivisions of major studios began to absorb the indie films for awards play, leading to the rise of Harvey Weinstein and Miramax. At the same time, the divide between the films for adults and the mega-blockbusters continued to widen, with the rise of filmmakers like Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich, who never saw a monster they couldn't make bigger or a building they couldn't blow up. Other major films include the iconic and recently newsworthy the Silence of the Lambs, the problematic uncle's favorite movie Goodfellas, and the eerily prescient The Truman Show. The Nineties represent the beginning of the gulf between critical darling and popcorn favorite, and we are still seeing this play out today. What are your thoughts? Favorites? Recommendations? Challenges to the canon? Other decades: History of Film, Part 1: 1888-1919 • forum.chorus.fm History of Film, Part 2: 1920-1929 • forum.chorus.fm History of Film, Part 3: 1930-1939 • forum.chorus.fm History of Film, Part 4: 1940-1949 • forum.chorus.fm History of Film, Part 5: 1950-1959 • forum.chorus.fm History of Film, Part 6: 1960-1969 • forum.chorus.fm History of Film, Part 7: 1970-1979 • forum.chorus.fm History of Film, Part 8: 1980-1989 • forum.chorus.fm
1. Dazed and Confused 2. Goodfellas 3. The Big Lebowski 4. Billy Madison 5. Tommy Boy 6. Reservoir Dogs 7. American Movie 8. Boogie Nights 9. Beau Travail 10. Can't Hardly Wait HM: Pulp Fiction Home Alone From Dusk Til Dawn Queen of Diamonds Eyes Wide Shut Ossos Close-Up Scary Movie SLC Punk KIDS Bad Lieutenant Scary Tales Hoop Dreams A Goofy Movie Scream Dirty Work Heavyweights Rushmore Terminator 2 Jackie Brown Lovers on the Bridge Sonatine Starship Troopers Before Sunrise/Set True Romance My Own Private Idaho Clerks Fight Club Gummo Showgirls Gremlins 2 Magnolia Heat Belly Light Sleeper King of New York Idle Hands Paris is Burning The Faculty Silence of the Lambs Sleepers Go Dumb and Dumber Office Space
A wonderful decade for low budget schlock: The Killing Tide Dream Stalker Frostbiter Something of Mine Bloodmoon Death Metal Zombies Hauntedween Slaughter Day Geteven Frankenhooker The Suckling Fuck the Devil Fuck the Devil 2: The Return of the Fucker
I have done top twenty lists for every year since 2000 but I wouldn't feel complete doing any 90's list. I haven't really explored enough of the films. Off the top of my head, without research, my top forty would be: 1. The Thin Red Line 2. The Big Lebowski 3. Starship Troopers 4. Beau Travail (1999 in Europe but 2000 in America) 5. Chungking Express 6. Magnolia 7. Before Sunrise 8. Satantango 9. Histoire du Cinema 10. Secrets and Lies 11. Close-Up 12. Goodfellas 13. Ed Wood 14. Jackie Brown 15. Fargo 16. Terminator 2 17. Schindler's List 18. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me 19. Pulp Fiction 20. Saving Private Ryan 21. Heat 22. Barton Fink 23. Rushmore 24. Edward Scissorhands 25. Husbands and Wives 26. Austin Powers 27. The Cable Guy 28. Election 29. Batman and Robin 30. Malcolm X 31. Safe 32. Naked 33. Slacker 34. True Romance 35. High School High 36. The Insider 37. The Faculty 38. Bottle Rocker 39. Deep Blue Sea 40. The Matrix
Basically the decade I grew up in and the most nostalgic for. I’m just gonna ramble off as many favorites as I can. In no particular order: Pulp Fiction Good Fellas Tremors Shawshank Redemption Bottle Rocket A League of Their Own Jurassic Park Congo Boogie Nights Big Lebowski Fargo Clerks Magnolia Arachnophobia Silence of the Lambs Wayne’s World Casino As Good As It Gets Good Will Hunting Kiss of Death Speed T2 Chasing Amy Point Break Die Hard with a Vengeance Forrest Gump Tremors 2: After Shocks