Inspired by this blog at Fin de cinema I thought I'd make a list of my own.
This is very personal and based on those titles I have actually seen. I've limited it to 10, since it is a selection and I needed to set some priorities. In the end I assume the omits are more interesting than what I have listed...
My criteria are what these movies meant to me at the time I saw them and whether they still have relevance to me today.
So here they are listed by date of release:
Goodfellas (1990)
When the release date for this Scorsese movie was announced expectations were extremely high: Martin Scorsese did a new gangster movie! I wasn't disappointed, I watched it 3 days in a row and numerous times since. It's long, but fast-paced with great acting and bundles of memorable scenes and dialogue. Scorsese has since done more great work, but this one sticks out among his later movies.
Topâzu (1992) aka Tokyo Decadence
I played this movie at my cinema with quite some success. The trailer had announced a weird Japanese erotic movie and probably lured a lot of curious people to watch it. However, I've never screened a movie in which so many guests left the theater after the first 5 minutes. None of them even tried to get their money back. They just ran out of the house.
The movie itself truly does not spare you with drastic sex scenes, but it is more a melancholic tale about a girl trying to find true fulfillment in life. Definitely unforgettable.
Crumb (1994)
Of course this is a documentary, but rarely will you see one giving you so much insight into these odd characters, 50s family life, the pop art of the 60s, brothers' relations. There's so much to find, and in the end it is a very sad experience. Most moving and tragic is to see Robert Crumb's genius brother Charles, maybe more talented than he is, never get ahead of himself. In an afterword we are told that he committed suicide.
There's a good review of the film here.
Yin shi nan nu (1994) aka Eat Drink Man Woman
I must admit that I like most of Ang Lee's works, his The Wedding Banquet was one of the great successes we had at our cinema. However, considering his movies in the 90s I count Eat Drink Man Woman my favorite. I often pull out the DVD just to watch the first 15-20 minutes, the greatest cooking sequence in movie history, IMHO. But then I find myself watching the movie till the end. It is a wonderful family story, the father reminds me very much of my German grandfather, and the director manages to create empathy for him and the fates of his beautiful 3 daughters. In a way it is a wonderful, but thoughtful fairy tale.
Duo luo tian shi (1995) Fallen Angels
Considering Wong Kar-Wai in the 90s I could have mentioned Chungking Express and In the Mood For Love with having more relevance in 90s cinema. But I especially prefer this aesthetic daydream of a movie especially for the participation of the endlessly beautiful Michelle Reis. I watch all 3 movies every so often, this one is special to me.
Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)
Yeah, again I could have mentioned Todd Solondz' Happiness, but this one came first! Like the latter it is advertized as a black comedy, but I wasn't really prepared for the grimness of its humour. A very unusual experience and certainly a quite influential movie.
Fargo (1996)
Well, this is probably the title that is the least surprising, but let me mention that I did not include Pulp Fiction in this list. Although I like the latter and you can hardly underestimate its influence, the movie is just too cool for its own good. In comparison Fargo is not simply cool, but truly a little masterpiece, and the Coen Bros. still need to prove that they can do it again, No Country For Old Men came close, though. Nevertheless, you can watch Fargo over and over again and still find some details you missed the other time around. Definitely an instant classic.
The Funeral (1996)
Abel Ferrara's work has always been bumpy, and there are probably less hits than misses, but this regretfully half-forgotten movie is one of his true masterpieces. I must admit it was hard to watch the first time I saw it, and the ending pretty much hits you in the stomach. If there ever was a swan song to the gangster genre, this is it. The ensemble is incredible, and the plot and mise en scene is meticulous.
Lost Highway (1997)
I've always been a David Lynch fan, almost from the very beginning, so it was so far a disappointment, when he came up with something less than great. Lost Highway was the movie that got me reconciled with Lynch after years of disappointments, and he actually went on strong with The Straight Story and Mulholland Dr. Lost Highway is special for several reasons, not the least one is that I was immensely proud that I got this movie for my cinema, and it was successful. The movie itself is a wonderful noir dream adding more facets to the Lynch universe and leaving the audience even more puzzled than ever before. (OK, I agree he can hardly surpass the Eraserhead in that aspect).
The General (1998)
John Boorman's career has also been quite patchy, but with The General I think he did his late masterpiece. I first saw the movie as a preview at the Munich Film Festival and was instantly thrilled. I certainly wanted it for my cinema and went through some pains to get it. I did, but the movie was not a success with our audience.
The movie is highly entertaining, but the humour is never in the way of depicting the complex character of this Irish criminal who was something like the king of the Dublin gangster world. It's a true story, and allegedly Boorman got the idea for the movie after the general had robbed his own Dublin home. A movie I have watched numerous times.
This is very personal and based on those titles I have actually seen. I've limited it to 10, since it is a selection and I needed to set some priorities. In the end I assume the omits are more interesting than what I have listed...
My criteria are what these movies meant to me at the time I saw them and whether they still have relevance to me today.
So here they are listed by date of release:
Goodfellas (1990)
When the release date for this Scorsese movie was announced expectations were extremely high: Martin Scorsese did a new gangster movie! I wasn't disappointed, I watched it 3 days in a row and numerous times since. It's long, but fast-paced with great acting and bundles of memorable scenes and dialogue. Scorsese has since done more great work, but this one sticks out among his later movies.
Topâzu (1992) aka Tokyo Decadence
I played this movie at my cinema with quite some success. The trailer had announced a weird Japanese erotic movie and probably lured a lot of curious people to watch it. However, I've never screened a movie in which so many guests left the theater after the first 5 minutes. None of them even tried to get their money back. They just ran out of the house.
The movie itself truly does not spare you with drastic sex scenes, but it is more a melancholic tale about a girl trying to find true fulfillment in life. Definitely unforgettable.
Crumb (1994)
Of course this is a documentary, but rarely will you see one giving you so much insight into these odd characters, 50s family life, the pop art of the 60s, brothers' relations. There's so much to find, and in the end it is a very sad experience. Most moving and tragic is to see Robert Crumb's genius brother Charles, maybe more talented than he is, never get ahead of himself. In an afterword we are told that he committed suicide.
There's a good review of the film here.
Yin shi nan nu (1994) aka Eat Drink Man Woman
I must admit that I like most of Ang Lee's works, his The Wedding Banquet was one of the great successes we had at our cinema. However, considering his movies in the 90s I count Eat Drink Man Woman my favorite. I often pull out the DVD just to watch the first 15-20 minutes, the greatest cooking sequence in movie history, IMHO. But then I find myself watching the movie till the end. It is a wonderful family story, the father reminds me very much of my German grandfather, and the director manages to create empathy for him and the fates of his beautiful 3 daughters. In a way it is a wonderful, but thoughtful fairy tale.
Duo luo tian shi (1995) Fallen Angels
Considering Wong Kar-Wai in the 90s I could have mentioned Chungking Express and In the Mood For Love with having more relevance in 90s cinema. But I especially prefer this aesthetic daydream of a movie especially for the participation of the endlessly beautiful Michelle Reis. I watch all 3 movies every so often, this one is special to me.
Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)
Yeah, again I could have mentioned Todd Solondz' Happiness, but this one came first! Like the latter it is advertized as a black comedy, but I wasn't really prepared for the grimness of its humour. A very unusual experience and certainly a quite influential movie.
Fargo (1996)
Well, this is probably the title that is the least surprising, but let me mention that I did not include Pulp Fiction in this list. Although I like the latter and you can hardly underestimate its influence, the movie is just too cool for its own good. In comparison Fargo is not simply cool, but truly a little masterpiece, and the Coen Bros. still need to prove that they can do it again, No Country For Old Men came close, though. Nevertheless, you can watch Fargo over and over again and still find some details you missed the other time around. Definitely an instant classic.
The Funeral (1996)
Abel Ferrara's work has always been bumpy, and there are probably less hits than misses, but this regretfully half-forgotten movie is one of his true masterpieces. I must admit it was hard to watch the first time I saw it, and the ending pretty much hits you in the stomach. If there ever was a swan song to the gangster genre, this is it. The ensemble is incredible, and the plot and mise en scene is meticulous.
Lost Highway (1997)
I've always been a David Lynch fan, almost from the very beginning, so it was so far a disappointment, when he came up with something less than great. Lost Highway was the movie that got me reconciled with Lynch after years of disappointments, and he actually went on strong with The Straight Story and Mulholland Dr. Lost Highway is special for several reasons, not the least one is that I was immensely proud that I got this movie for my cinema, and it was successful. The movie itself is a wonderful noir dream adding more facets to the Lynch universe and leaving the audience even more puzzled than ever before. (OK, I agree he can hardly surpass the Eraserhead in that aspect).
The General (1998)
John Boorman's career has also been quite patchy, but with The General I think he did his late masterpiece. I first saw the movie as a preview at the Munich Film Festival and was instantly thrilled. I certainly wanted it for my cinema and went through some pains to get it. I did, but the movie was not a success with our audience.
The movie is highly entertaining, but the humour is never in the way of depicting the complex character of this Irish criminal who was something like the king of the Dublin gangster world. It's a true story, and allegedly Boorman got the idea for the movie after the general had robbed his own Dublin home. A movie I have watched numerous times.
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