100 Favorite Films of 1990-1999

So Michael Jordan isn't the best actor, still how could someone not have fun watching him and Bill Murray play basketball against and with cartoon characters?

One of Burton's few truly dark tales. He seriously needs to be doing more stuff like this again.

I haven't watched this in years, but I grew up LOVING the hell out of natural disaster films. I really wish Disney Nature would release a doc about tornadoes or that someone today would attempt to make another picture like this using updated tech.

Image wise I love the film, on a technical level it still probably holds up. I love that they use CGI in a much classier way and import as much practical effects and stunts as possible. I love that every shot of the tornado is taken from the human perspective and not from the cinematic eye in the sky. The highest shots of them in the film are taken right over the vehicles.

All this said in reality Paxton and Hunt should have died in the end. There's ZERO chance of anybody surviving what they survived. But simply a minor quip, I suppose.

Gotta have one of those glorious raunchy comedies on this list right? Honestly I do dig this film, but mainly for Matt Dillion's character. He plays the perfect slim-ball and glosses the role up nicely. Seeing this everything time makes me wonder what the fuck happened to the Farely brothers. Did they peak and that was all they had? Hopefully some day they can live down 'The Heartbreak Kid'.

Re-watched this last week and GOD... I completely forgot how batshit crazy the fight scenes were. This is what needs to be seen in action films today. If 'Prince of Persia' had sequences like this, I could've lived with the boring ass story.

Guillermo Del Toro loves kids in danger stories. 'Cronos' (which will soon be on Criterion) is a very original look at the creation of a vampire shown through the eyes of a child and his grandfather.

As a whole the film is really good, but it's Pacino and O'Donnell that elevates it to greatness. Their chemistry is top notch and it makes so much of the film fun to watch.

A hard nosed Oliver Stone drama that proved that despite his politics he could make a film about a man he wasn't too keen on and not make him out to be a villain.

In addition to that it's got all the tech flair of his previous films plus some great performances.

A very quirky and funny Woody Allen picture that bends between drama, comedy, romance and fantasy.

I watched this six times straight when I got the VHS as a child. Nuff' said.

Really 'Terminator' made for the graphic novel, neo punk crowd. Lifted the standards for action films and science fiction films while asking us to think a tad bit.

I've come to discover that I'm in the minority in liking the sequels MORE than the original. For me I'm not someone who needs or always wants gunfights and rain soaked city streets for three movies. I actually liked that they went from a qusi-metaphysical, sci-fi shoot em' up to full blown sci-fi kung-fu study of theology with more questions than answers. But that's just me.

An interesting Soderbergh experiment film. I love the writings of Franz Kafka and Jeremy Irons' performance is superb, but elements of the film do somewhat get muddled up and sometimes the shift in tone is off putting, but there's tons of creativity and subtly to the film that it all ends up working quite well.

Not on DVD in the U.S., Soderbergh did announce recently that in a few years he would be releasing a directors cut. So that's something I really look forward to having.

DVD gave it a second chance at life and now it's a cult phenomenon lead by rebellious youths. Fitting I suppose.

Paranoid science fiction at it's finest! For those of you who liked this summers "Splice", here's one of the director's prior and overlooked gems.

Wolfgang Petersen's turn as an American filmmaker has been... tipsy. For me this is his best and most interesting film, filled with nice performances and really playing into the fear of a pandemic.

The beauty of it is it's subtly and it not turning into an action film or a straight horror film. Petersen may have screwed up with some other genre pictures, but not this one.

Jackie Chan's first darker cop film. When I say dark I mean... ehh... fairly dark. It broods as much as a mid-level crime drama in the U.S. does. However it's action sequences are among the craziest and most explosive he's done.

'Crime Story' is one of the few action films where the action overlapping the importance of the story worked out in it's favor.

Every time I watch this I love it a bit more. Tarantino wrote some extremely interesting and likable characters who get deeper and deeper into shit to where you're not possible they can get out. It's a lot like an Elmore Leonard novel.

Director Tony Scott's style helps make it a little more than a simply ultra-hip crime film and actually manages to push more into the emotion and love of the two leads.

Hasn't aged well, but is still a really fun and exciting cat and mouse adventure film. Tommy Lee Jones is still my favorite part of the whole film though. Anytime he's on screen he plays Samuel Gerard as razor sharp as possible making him far more fun to watch than Ford.

Not an easy film, but a powerful one. Long before Peter Jackon's 'LotR' days he took a stab at a true story of love and violence and youth.

It's 'Die Hard' on a bus, but actually made as (and somewhat more) entertaining and thrilling as 'Die Hard'.

I really find it funny how feelings have changed on this film so much. Upon it's release it was slammed and called the worst film the Coen bros ever made; now it's hailed as a comic classic of the decade.

Why'd this happen? My only thought is that people weren't ready for this sort of dark comedy and being that the Coens are who they are, people kept seeing it here and there and finally it eventually clicked.

I love DePalma's classic spy film directing and the ensemble talents that worked well for it. Even more so is Zillian and Koepp's complex, but exciting screenplay that pushed everything forward.

Danny Boyle's debut about three horrible, but likable people that find a case of money in their dead roommates room and the paranoia that followed. Seriously SEE THIS FILM. It's fucking great and I won't tell you a single thing more.

Plays like a lighter PKD story.

Fincher's follow up to 'Se7en' is a classy paranoid thriller that's got a B-feel to it, but elevated due to directed and the one-two punch of Michael Douglas and Sean Penn.

Words can't quite explain the madness of Cronenberg's film. Nor can they the book for which it's based on. Somethings are better left discovered.

James Cameron's epic romance and all that jazz...

It's like a french 'Mean Streets'.

While I'm no lover of Spike Lee the man, Spike Lee the filmmaker can do some pretty damn impressive stuff. 'Clockers' probably got stuck in the shuffle of 90's crime dramas, but is one that deserves viewing.

Made with a lot of style and dignity, it's among the best of the 90's New York crime stories.

I can't tell you one thing I don't love about 'Rushmore'.

A more studio friendly Gilliam film and Brad Pitt's first Oscar nominated performance. Personally I think the film deserves much more praise than it gets. It's different looking and feeling and flowing; Gilliam really made his best dramatic work with this film.

I could watch this just about every single day it's that enjoyable.

No easy task to make heroin addicts likable or funny and yet here it is.

A strong piece of emotional and pleasant American cinema comfort food. Not said as an insult, but as the two main things I feel could be said about it.

Probably one of the best high school films I've seen.

Guy Ritchie's stylish and funny debut.

One of the few submarine thrillers I love. Tony Scott creates a taunt and exciting thriller that plays heavily with inner character subtext as well as the (at the time) current military fears.

My favorite movie as a child. Nothing will take that away from me.

Great stunts, great fights and as fun as Chan's 'Police Story'.

Christopher Nolan's first film; a noir thriller made with the kind of class and intelligence we've come to expect from him. And with 'Inception' right around the corner now is a great time to seek out this little known gem.

John Woo's BEST American film by far. Travolta and Cage play off each perfectly and there's not one action sequence that doesn't get you pumped. A true, FUCK YES action movie if ever there was one.

One of the Sundance film festival's first success stories. Kevin Smith's little comedy has noticeably paved the way for many others.

A beautiful looking Malick picture (as they all are) that's an interesting, but unrealistic meditation on war.

Wanna see Harvey Kietel's dick?! Well here you go!

Also it should be noted that this is a great drama that is... hard to watch at times, but worth all the tension and grit.

Not my favorite Shyamalan picture (that still goes to 'Unbreakable'), but still a well crafted thriller with it's classic ending.

One hell of a crime epic.

Though somewhat pretenious, it's still a harrowing adventure yarn that (for me at least) never felt boring.

Remember 'Clockers' and 'Bad Lieutenant'? Meet the best of the 90's New York crime dramas. Written and directed by David fuckin' Mamet.

Both versions of 'Payback' are awesome to me. The original cut plays like a late 80's early 90's action noir, while the director's cut is like a real gritty pieces of 70's crime noir.

Honestly it's a win-win.

Von Trier's best film in my opinion. It works like a story far Kafka more than Soderbergh's film did.