30 From 90: My Favorite Films From 1990

This movie is so totally a chick-flick, from top to bottom and side to side.
I mean, it follows all the fixed formulas for romance flix to the hilt.
But, not only didn't I mind when my girlfriend made me watch it with her,
but, to be honest, I actually kinda enjoyed it.
Yeah, that's right.....
I sed it.

Another total chickflick that I enjoyed.
Yeah, that's right....
I sed it again.



And saying that doesn't make my hardcore pimp-ass any less hairier.
So, y'know.....
shut up.

       A year before this one, another big budget blockbuster, Batman, was released and successfully started a film franchise that is still going strong today. Hoping to repeat that incredibly lucrative level of success, Warren Beatty and a team of producers embarked on creating a film adaptation of the squared-jawed private dick known as Dick Tracy. 
  And they failed. Well, kind of, at least. DT was a moderate success but came nowhere near the kind of smash hit that Batman was. And in my opinion, the reasons for this were obvious. I say that they were obvious because even back in 1990, I didn't think that this was going to be the movie event of the summer that Beatty and crew were shooting for. Because what it all boils down to was that Warren and his people were a bit out of touch with what the tastes were of mainstream audience had become at the time. Movie goers had been accustomed to the darker and grittier tones that many of the movie genres were incorporating into their cinema projects for a little more than a decade up to that point. Horror movies were becoming more gruesome, action movies were becoming more maschismo, crime movies were becoming more hard-hitting, and even humor films were becoming much in your face and cringe0worthy. 
  So that when 1989's Batman came to be fully realized, there were a lot more of the dark elements that had been taking over the comic book version of the character. Gone was the hokey camp and psychedelic approach to the caped crusader and his gizmos. Now, the dark knight detective was living to his label and seriously kicking the ass of any and all of the rogues who made up his now more lunatic binged villains' gallery. These were transformations that had not been occuring to Dick Tracy because, let's face it, very few people were reading any of his adventures that were still being printed in newspapers, but had never been updated to fit Dickie into a more modern setting. He was still stuck in the 1930;s fighting 30's type of ugly looking pinstriped gangsters with kitschy style gadgets that were more hammy than they were cool. 


With the aid of a rogue's gallery of villains that includes the likes of Flatop, Mumbles and Pruneface, leading crime boss "Big Boy" Caprice is looking to become bigger with the city-wide expansion of his crime syndicate.
And from the four-color pages of the newspaper strip, it's the hard-hitting,  who comes to the city's rescue.
With vibrant visuals that tend to lean more towards style than substance, DT is a big budget production that utilizes high end dynamic sets and award-winning make-up jobs to successfully spring to life the comic adventures the famous gumshoe who wears a tele-communicator on his wrist, a fedora on his head and a bright yellow coat on his back.
 Warren Beatty fills the role of both lead actor and director while Madonna co-stars as the breathless femme fatale with a deep yearning for Dick.

 Loosely based on a short story by science fiction super-scribe, Philip K. Dick, Total Recall is a steroid studded sci-fi action flick starring the baron of 90's era blockbusting box office, Ahnold Schwarzenegger. And even though the high-budgeted futuristic roller coaster ride offers not very much in terms of advancing the genre, it does contain enough quality in it's high-tech art direction and enough ruff and tumble kissassery in it's action sequences (which includes a sexy as hell catfight between a young Sharon Stone and always exotic Rachel Ticotin) to keep it highly entertaining.

An American musical set in the 50's and centered around a teenage romance between a leather clad rebel and a teeny-bopping square girl.
No, it's not a remake of Grease. With it's cynical camp and non-formulaic cast of supporting characters, it quickly become quite obvious that it's yet another cult hit film by John Waters (and I use the term "cult hit" very modestly here since this movie never really even came close to making any kind of profit).

In 1990, French actor Gérard Depardieu brings his hefty presence as a romantic leading man to it's full weight as he stars in not just one, but two major rom-coms. Each utilizing a different language and in a year already over flowing with light-hearted love themed movies. The first one, filmed in his home country of France, is the Academy Award nominated Cyrano de Bergerac. Based on the famous French play which, in turn, is based on a real life dramatist of the same name.
This film version of the tale of a large nosed Casanova not only dutifully follows one of the most famous stories to come out of the Land of romance, but also, does a successful job of traversing over the Atlantic, into the cinematic shores of the American Rom-Com.

Leaving the quaint environs of Vermont for the big time concrete spires of New York, film student Clark Kellogg finds himself on a journey involving a Komodo dragon, his unexpected bride-to-be and a Corleone clone.
On a year that produced a pretty fair share amount of mob themed movies (Goodfellas, The Godfather Part III, The Krays, Miller's Crossing, heck, even Dick Tracy....), it seems ironically fitting that someone was able to actually convince Marlon Brando's agent to get the amply askewed actor to do a film where he had to spoof his own Vito Corleone character.

A straight laced and caring physician (played the usually manically looney comedian Robin Williams) discovers that a new experimental drug seems to have beneficial effects on patients who've been in a vegetable state for several years.
Sounds like a drug that could probably come in handy for those of us who spend alot of time on sites like this.
Am I right, guys?

...guys...?

Aw,
what am I asking you people for? Y'all are probably just catatonically browsing through these lists, not even aware of what you're reading, huh?
Hell, why am I even here, wasting time listing stuff like this?

Man....
I need a new drug.

Based on three autobiograhical works of New Zealand's most popular author, An Angel At My Table follows the awkwardly turbulent life of Janet Frame. After being born an incredibly poor, awkward, chubby kid with a messy flop of red hair, Janet grew up to become an unmotivated teacher who ends up being misdiagnosed with severe schizophrenia. After eight years of institutionalized shock treatments, she is then scheduled for a partial lobotomy. However, just days before the procedure, Frame wins a major literary award for the writing she did during her psychiatric hospitalization and is therefore dismissed from the ward. And thus begins a wildly successful career as a writer.
So yeah,
damn straight that Janet Frame had an angel at her table.

A scientist creates an artificial man but dies before he can completely finish him/it. Eventually, it ends up with a pair of giant multi-blade scissors for hands. A year after scoring a massive hit with a modern take of the Batman on the big screen, Tim Burton follows up the 1989 global blockbuster about a hard-edged crime fighter with a "softer" quiet hit about a creature who's cutting edge is more on his "fingers", but crusades a gentle heart in his soul.
Edward Scissorhands is a quirky tale of outcasted abnormality learning to sculpt a niche in a world of suburban conformity.

The movies are filled to the brim with rich, snotty upper class socialites who are so out of touch with the "reel" world that their main purpose to the plot is usually as a foil to the working class hero. Particularly if the well-to-do was a teenager (especially after the 80's influx of John Hughs movies which had a habit of making these types of characters the primary antagonists).
Metropolitan's plot strives for a more honest look at a group of "urban haute bourgeoisie" from the right side of the tracks of Manhattan Island. And through its Oscar nominated script we find that, as adolescents, despite their round table discussions about socialism, philosophy and leather bound authors, even those who are destined for a life with uncalloused hands are susceptible to the romantic heartaches and yearning for social acceptance that tend to plague that time of age.

Yo, the year of mafia-inspired flicks continues, as the British add their own brand of organized crime to the mix with this very excellent biopic on the most famous and infamous twins in all of her majesty's mobster history, Ronald and Reginald Kray.



Two brothers determined to continue the family tradition of violence and corruption through the crumbly grey cast streets of East London, the pair are effectively portrayed by real life sibs Gary and Martin Kemp, the same primary force behind the New Romantic pop of 80's musical group Spandel Ballet.
And for those of who, upon hearing this information for the first time, have responded with the predictable reaction of "WTF...?",
all I can say is,
"Yep. You know it's true".

While Mike Leigh had directed a fair share of television projects and stage plays, Life Is Sweet was, at the time, only his third feature film. Highly acclaimed by many movie critics & his most successful at the box office (up to that point), he would later garner more notability when later works such as Happy-Go-Lucky made it onto to the top ten of most critics' "best of the year" lists. Not to mention when Secret And Lies ended up being nominated for multiple Academy Awards.
Yep,
when it comes to a high respectability within the inner circles of the cinema world, for Mr. Leigh, there's no doubt that life must be pretty damn sweet.

I ain't 'fraid no ghost.
Especially if it takes on the form of a dirty dancing roadhouser like Patrick Swayze.
Ghost is a romance film whose supernatural twist plotline pulls at not only the right heart-strings, but also at the same time, at the just the correct amount of logistical levers of suspended-believibility that are required when entering into the world of cinematic escapism.
Swayze plays the perfect polarly opposite straightman to Whoopi Goldberg, who fills up the screen with her comedic charisma, while Demi Moore exudes the same effect, but with her angelic beauty. All this combined with a story that provides just enough Hollywood-scripted plausibilty to a plot-idea that hovers in implausibilty.
For my tastes, all this was just the right mix of ingredients to allow my otherwise jaded hairy pimp-ass to sit still thru the entire run of this blatant but high quality chick-flick (which, despite the inclusion of Pretty Woman and Green Card on this list, is usually a rarity for me).

In the same year of this movie, Richard Gere starred in the mega-successful chick flick, Pretty Woman, as an indifferent money-grubbing millionaire business man who finds his heart through a lovable hooker with strong morals.
To help prevent getting stereotyped as a leading man in these kinds of goody-goody type of rom-coms, Gere takes up the role of the antagonist in the edgy crime thriller Internal Affairs. As a crooked cop with the kind of corrupted craftiness that allows him to continually weave through and evade a targeted investigation by the IAD, the actor is able to counter the wholesomeness that Pretty Woman bestowed on his image and at the same time, grant him the kind of bad boy rep that will allow him retain the sexually charged affections of his female fans.

Here's a far out fact:
Statistics show that the average human will eat 8 spiders while asleep in their lifetime.
Sleep well tonight, everyone.

Two people with almost nothing in common other than their maladjusted souls come together under the conditions of their fragmented situations. As their relationship begins to take form, for the first time, they each begin to sense a healing in their inner demons. That is, until the dysfunctionality of their respective families begin to intertwine into a miasma of personal chaos, and challenges the trust that began to give the couple hope beyond their combined neuroses.
Directed by Hal Harley, this is an indie film that, with it's subtle sense of humor, quietly observes the kind of social subject matter that can only by tackled by the non-formulaic story-telling of the independent spirit.

I was lucky in that I didn't see any of the Godfather movies til much later in life than most people. I didn't get the chance to watch 'em until sometime during my early college years. And the first one I saw was the third installment. So I got to see it without the comparison of it's 2 predecessors.
And, IMO, on it's own, it's a very good mobster movie. Obviously, it can't compare to the first two, but in the genre of mob-flicks, it kicks it's own particuler brand of mafia ass.
Plus, with it's redemption-themed, politically-charged corporation/Vatican storyline,
it's a pretty goddamn smart movie, too.
Now while I know that I will always be in the minutest of the minority in regards to this film, I don't care, I still like it, b#tchez. And I still find watching the whole series as a trilogy to be quite a fulfilling movie-viewing experience.
Now, if only Sofia Coppola would've gotten shot at the beginning of the film instead of the end, maybe this film would get a little bit more respect.

Since the beginning of civilization, there have been people who struggled to make it to the "promised land". Haydar and Meryem are a couple who have left behind their home in the hopes of exchanging a "turkey" of a country for a small slice of heaven. And even though their trek through a series of heartfelt hardships is a story that ultimately becomes just one out of a million, it is also an inspired tale that, with it's very first step, began as a journey of hope.

 The Hormel meat packing company decides to cut the wages and benefits of its employees, thus igniting not just the ire of the unions, but also revealing the lack of solidarity between the national and local chapters.
Thus begins an in depth look into the various inner political maneuvering and compromised negotiations of workers' rights that more often than not, tend to lead to the methodical unraveling and systematic disintegration of the American Dream.
True inspired film making of the uninspiring makings of true capitalism.

Man, I love these kinds of movies!
Foreign flicks which center around the Jewish persecution during the rise of the Third Reich. Because of the seriousness of the subject matter, lots of effort is usually put into the story, the acting and just overall whole production of the film. The kind of high quality effort that usually results in high quality cinema.
Maybe it's not the kind of escapist fantasy done for "fun" that the majority of mainstream movie goers for, with the intent of just killing a few hours, but it is the type of film that allows for the kind of discussion of celluloid art that lasts long after the movie is over and that connoisseurs crave for.

Reversal Of Fortune is one those "based on a true story" stories in which the names have not been changed to protect the innocent.
And with names like Klaus and Sunny von Bülow, you know that the innocent here are really really rich (notice the two dots over the letter "u"). And if it requires two "really's" to describe how rich they are, you gotta wonder just how "innocent" their innocence is.
Fortunately, this film's script does not reveal the answer and instead allows the viewers to determine that for themselves.



Under normal circumstances, the elements that make up the mystery of this plot don't make for a very interesting story. But when allowed as a backdrop for the actors involved to use as a sort of thespian playground (particularly, by Jeremy Irons,as Klaus) it can be a pretty entertaining and absorbing situation to watch unfold.

Action and shushpensh (insert Connery accent here) within the tension filled and desheption-ridden confines of a red submarine during the month of October.
Well,
to be honest,
I don't remember if this shtory akshewlly (again, Connery accent) took place during the month of October,
it's just an ashumpshen (one more time) based off the movie's title.

The Bros. Coen offer up their usual unstandard slant into the standard themes of corruption, mistrust, betrayal, forbidden love and all the usual factors that tend make up the modern mobster flick.

She's crazy, she's French and she's a hitman. What more can you ask for from a crazy female assassin flick made in France?



And for my money, the American version of La Femme, Point Of No Return (starring Bridgette Fonda as "Nikita"), while not that bad of a film, still does not compare with this original version (which, by this point in time, has become sort of a cinematic icon, as far as French action films go).

While this movie includes the type of grand grift scheme that makes these types of films appealing, it's also has the very dark side that comes along with most confidence games.
The characters aren't as endearing as in most other films of this genre, but they are most certainly interesting, adding a sharp and jagged dimension to a theme that has swayed a little too much on the fluffier side.
Here, all the leads wear their dark sunglasses not so much to look cool, but more to shadow the deceits that lie behind their grifting smiles.

To be quite honest here,
whether she's starring in this movie or not,
the misery that is Kathy Bates is something that always frightens me.
Seeing her standing at the end of your bed with a sledgehammer, and you know that trouble is afoot.

It's the holiday season, and for John McClane that means that it's time for him to become a pain in the collectives asses of a group of sophisticated terrorists, to a police force of typical movie bumblers, not to mention to that one guy who played the dad on Good Times.
Bruce Willis reprises the role of the lone wolf "modern cowboy" cop who always manages to find himself crawling through air-vents, systematically taking out bad guys one by one, and escaping the one clutch after another of death-defying situations that, for some reason he can't grasp, seem always to only happen to him.
IMO, it's always a real joy to write about this movie and/or it's predecessor because it always gives me the chance to use the phrase "Yippy-ky-yay, mother-f#cker".
And let's face it, that's just always fun.

Kevin Costner reaches his career peak in this non-stereotypical tale of how the West was truly won. A really great movie that really was one KC's last great movies.
No, seriously.....
If you were to take all the things that were wrong with Coster's follow-up flicks, like Waterworld and the Postman,
irradiate them with the energies that bind, compose and allow the Bizarro world to exist (i.e. "the opposite"), then what you would get would be this movie.
No, seriously....
you would.
I tried it once.



That's how good this movie is and how bad his follow up movies are.

"You know, we always called each other goodfellas. Like you said to, uh, somebody, 'You're gonna like this guy. He's all right. He's a goodfella. He's one of us. You understand?' We were goodfellas. Wiseguys."



   The year that is the focus of this list is the year that Martin Scorcese released what is generally considered his best work, not to mention one of the greatest movies ever. It marked a sign that the decade was gonna be a good one in terms of cinema. And it was. However, little did we expect that Goodfellas, which came out in the very first year of the 90's, would be the absolute pinnacle of that decade.
However, as much as that may sound like a quibble, it really isn't. The bar had been raised, and as I said, the next ten years was chockful of extraordinary moving pictures. For me, personally, I think it was the last decade of exceptionally well-made films. 
  Taking what Francis Ford Coppola started in the Godfather series, which was a saga that took an inside look into the world of organized crime, Scorcese "moderned" it up, and took us deeper into the dynamics of the Cosa Nostra. However, whereas Coppola's take included a fictionalized code of family honor that was the vehicle of the la Familia Corleone, Martin replaced the fabricated apotheosis of integrity with the more reality based dog-eat-dog attitude apathy hidden behind the thinly veiled fellowship of friendship from a buncha guys who grew up in the same neighborhood. While the liberties MC employed were still present throughout the story, gone was the contrived characterization of a generational inheritance of power, and now we were going from the late 50's to the late 80's, through the decade by decade evolution of a bunch of working class hoodlums and ungraduated grown-up delinquents who liked robbing, enjoyed the mobster lifestyle and knew how ta keep their mouths shut (at least, when it came to the cops).  
  I saw an interview once with the director in which he stated that he suffered quite a physical and emotional toll that from making Raging Bull, because it required a lot of stress and energy in order to include the artistic shots that he wanted in order to add the kind of depth that he wanted into the storytelling. As a result, he decided that he wasn't gonna to make his movies as artistically driven as his did with first ventures into motion pictures.
However, is it really possible to take the art out of the artist? With Goodfellas I would conclude that the answer is no.  With every shot, it's pretty evident that Scorcese did try shoot more to capture the scene for what it was, But it's also plain to see that many of the shots were done with a flair that in distinctive only to someone who tries to add a bit more than what's in front of the camera. Whether it's a zooming shot with an expanding background, or simply a close up of someone slicing a clove of garlic, every image in this movie bristles with the energy of Martin's unique brand of technical expressionism. Add in the magnetic energy of a cast that that come the upper echelons of thespian talent and a soundtrack of the highest quality, and you end up with is a movie that make the viewer excited that it "got made". So happy in fact, that it makes us feel like we wuz all gettin' made. 
  From the very first shot, to the final scene, Goodfellas is filled to the brim with the kind of charisma that can only come from a buncha Wiseguys who, for as long they could remember, always wanted to be gangsters.