1989
Looking through the list, there weren't a lot of great "movies" released this year. The better ones include Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, When Harry Met Sally... and Say Anything. The best one may be Weird Al Yankovic's masterpiece: UHF. Yes, a flick featuring an ad for Spatula City was probably the best movie of the year.
The film side, on the other hand, was loaded: Mystery Train, Heathers and Sex, lies and videotape. Much as Soderbergh's debut still holds up well, no film that year could top Do The Right Thing. It is quite likely that Spike Lee will never make a better non-documentary film.
1990
This year saw a lot of interesting movies. King of New York has an awesome Christopher Walken performance. Total Recall has ridiculous sets, a chick with three boobs and a fun convoluted plot. Gremlins 2 takes what should have been a crappy sequel of a mediocre fantasy movie and turns it into a funny satire on Ted Turner and Donald Trump.
However, the obvious best film of the year was also its best movie, the endlessly rewatchable Goodfellas. While it seemed kind of dumb picking the obviously inferior Dances With Wolves for best picture at the time, it seems completely insane now. What, you think I'm funny? Funny how?
1991
Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey actually improved on the original, the whole idea of playing Twister with Death is still funny as hell. Terminator 2 gets pretty close to bettering the original, simply because the larger budget allows for more stuff getting blow'd up. The best movie, and that's really all it is, was The Silence of the Lambs.
Boyz N the Hood, Slacker and Night on Earth are good films in stretches but are too uneven. The best film is thus Delicatessen which combines an intriguing plot, innovative visuals and the rubbery features of Dominique Pinon into a great French take on the it's-the-future-and-everything-sucks genre.
1992
This was a bit of a crappy year for movies as I have no desire to revisit some of the better ones like Singles and Reservoir Dogs. The best movie, The Player, still holds up pretty well even if they did end up making a sequel (of sorts) to The Graduate.
On the other hand it was a great year for films. Bob Roberts is still a realistic depiction of a conservative manipulating rebellious imagery. Thankfully that sort of thing doesn't happen anymore. Glengarry Glen Ross captured exactly the essence of one of my previous employers, except for the whole Alec Baldwin bit. Malcolm X is actually a pretty impressive portrayal and Denzell is solid as usual. The best film, though, was Unforgiven, which in a just world should have been the last Western ever made.
1993
Two absolute classic movies were released this year. I've watched Addams Family Values dozens of times and it is still funny. The sequel more than made up for the boring original. Every single day I turn on the TV and Groundhog Day is playing. With good reason: it is fantastic (even if it stars notorious non-entity Andie MacDowell.)
I'm certain that Schindler's List is a significant film achievement and all, but who is ever in the mood for a three-hour black-and-white film about the Holocaust? Not me. Short Cuts is interesting but inconsistent and What's Eating Gilbert Grape? is pretty well done too. The best film of the year is thus Dazed and Confused, one of the best recent depictions of the 70s experience featuring a great soundtrack and Matthew McConaughey in his signature role.
1994
No matter how well-filmed or edited, Pulp Fiction is basically a movie. It wasn't even the best movie made that year, as Serial Mom is even more enjoyable. You can have your stupid conversations about Scottish restaurants in Paris, I'll stick with famous heiresses being beaten to death with a phone for daring to wear white shoes after Labor Day. Honorable mention to the relentlessly stupid yet rewatchable PCU.
The finest film of the year was Ed Wood. Cut, print it!
1995
Two fantastic movies were released this year, the kind that make you glad that studios try to make crowd-pleasing projects every so often. Get Shorty stars a fat Scientologist and seemingly every awesome character actor available (Hackman, Farina, Gandolfini, Sandoval.) Slightly better is The Usual Suspects which was probably the peak of Kevin Spacey 90s hot streak and is actually still rewatchable even after knowing the ending.
Scorsese's Casino was excellent but paled in comparison to Goodfellas. My selection for best film was Almodovar's The Flower of My Secret, which tones down the wacky comedy and pumps up the melodrama in his usual formula. This gets bonus points from me for realistically portraying overly dramatic families. Not that I would know or anything.
1996
The movie choices for this year were pretty crappy except for the unfairly maligned Mars Attacks! which finally fulfills the audience's desire to see numerous movie stars die horrible deaths and shows a utopian fantasy of a world repopulated by the likes of James Brown, Pam Grier and Tom Jones.
The film side is much tougher. A strong debut like Bottle Rocket wasn't even one of the top two films of the year. The wacky but intelligent Schizopolis is the rare experimental film that holds together and is enjoyable. It is truly a miracle that a movie with a character named simply Nameless Numberhead Man could be any good. The best film was Trainspotting even though it was made in some incomprehensible dialect.
1997
This year saw the realease of two consistently funny comedies: Romy and Michele's High School Reunion and Waiting for Guffman. In most years, either would have been a fine choice. But this year saw the release of the even funnier The Fifth Element, the first (and likely last) big-budget gay sci-fi epic starring Bruce Willis.
L.A. Confidential is a strong retro film noir. Boogie Nights is funny, scary and always entertaining. Burt Reynolds' dad has never been better. But the best film was Spain's Abre los Ojos, an engrossing and challenging sci-fi film on a much tighter budget that the best movie of the year.
1998
Ronin was a rare case: an intelligent and exciting action movie. It is hardly a match for Out of Sight. It has a great cast, loads of comedy, fast-paced action and is beautifully shot. It is about as good as a mainstream movie can be.
I loved Terry Gilliam's take on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, particularly Depp and Del Toro's mumbled and slurred conversations. But Rushmore was a career high point for Wes Anderson and firmly established Bill Murray as the face of dramatic middle-age angst today.
Next time: Wait, I have to cover 2008? But I haven't been to the movies all year!
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