#11 — The Player (Robert Altman, 1992) The Player is regularly described as Robert Altman’s poison pen letter to Hollywood. Hell, I’ve probably used that phrasing a few times myself. That sells it short, however, reducing the film’s artistry to an … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Eleven
#12 — Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999) Charlie Kaufman has his screenwriting Oscar for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and he has plenty of swooning admirers ready to step forward and declare either of his metanarrative Möbius bands, Adaptation. or Synecdoche, New York, the purest distillation of his own unique form of absurdist existentialism. There are things to admire in all of those works, to be sure. Kaufman concocts crazy, complicated cinematic puzzles, and the offbeat invention that is seemingly second nature to him gives him one of the most distinct voices in modern movie-making. But from my … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Twelve
#13 — Short Cuts (Robert Altman, 1993) At its most distinctive and accomplished, Robert Altman’s signature style, marked by overlapping dialogue and sprawling assemblies of pointed characters, makes his films feel like they emerge rather than start. A fully-realized shared existence … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Thirteen
#14 — The Sweet Hereafter (Atom Egoyan, 1997) I tend to be hard on films that present narratives with fractured chronologies, but that’s only because I’ve seen the technique done perfectly, exactly right. Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter is based … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Fourteen
#15 — The Ice Storm (Ang Lee, 1997) I should probably start by acknowledging that any film which uses an old issue of the Marvel Comics series The Fantastic Four to illustrate how dysfunction can envelop and cripple a family is playing directly to my soft spot. The idea is introduced via voiceover narration by the character Paul Carver as he sits on a stalled train bound for New Canaan, Connecticut. He goes to school in Manhattan, but it’s Thanksgiving weekend and he’s headed home, a place that’s held by a chill as deep as the one produced by the … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Fifteen
#16 — Apollo 13 (Ron Howard, 1995) There’s never any doubt about the outcome of Apollo 13. It’s not just that the troubled NASA mission it depicts is a part of history, and anyone with a cursory knowledge of the … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the — Number Sixteen
#17 — Searching for Bobby Fischer (Steven Zaillian, 1993) There are so many things that movies do wonderfully well, arguably better than any other medium, and those naturally tend to be the elements that grab the attention more forcefully and … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Seventeen
#18 — The English Patient (Anthony Minghella, 1996) Almost every movie has a love story, but surprisingly few of them get love right. They have couplings by convenience, characters drawn together to fulfill the requirements of the plot, and to … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Eighteen
#19 — Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg, 1998) During the first part of his career, Steven Spielberg made the sort of movies he could have dreamed up as a kid. Like may good artist finding his way, he was making … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Nineteen
#20 — Smoke (Wayne Wang, 1996) Smoke is about the power and pleasure of stories. The film is enamored with the very act of spinning a tale, whether it be complete concoctions, embellishments on personal histories, or even the fictions people create about themselves as buffers against the sadness of the world. The mere craft of it is admirable enough, and there’s perhaps no better indicator of its value than the smile that irresistibly rises to the visage of a teller who has completed their task particularly well. The film is centered around a Brooklyn cigar shop, the perfect setting … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Twenty
Coffee for Two 