The Best of the 1990s: 81 - 90

81) SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE
Director: John Madden
Another film magnetic to estrogen. A sweet love story, well written and witty.

82) AS GOOD AS IT GETS
Director: James Brooks
The ironists probably hate this film. Screw them. It's sweet and straightforward and well done throughout.

83) MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE
Director: Brian DePalma
I'm probably in a minority loving this action adventure film, but I did nonetheless. It's one of the few spy stories to even come close to the early Bond films.

84) THE GODFATHER III
Director: Francis Ford Copolla
Yes, this movie was really awful in places (Sophia Coppolla was embarassingly bad as an actress), but it was really great in others.

85) CONTACT
Director: Robert Zemeckis
A late addition to the list for me. I realized just how rare it is for film to applaud science, and how truly important. I guess it's easier to sell the Passion of the Christ than astrophysics.

86) NATURAL BORN KILLERS
Director: Oliver Stone
A near work of genius. Too bad that when it sucked, it REALLY sucked. I really, really wish this would have been a better movie, if only to contradict those who hate it.

87) THE ICE STORM
Director: Ang Lee
A great little Ang Lee film about the bored and successful.

88) QUIZ SHOW
Director: Robert Redford
A really good little film that came in under the radar. Like The Winslow Boy, this is a subject that I find surprising how well it worked.

89) EDWARD SCISSORHANDS
Director: Tim Burton
Nothing like it on film. Absolutely nothing.

90) CLUELESS
Director: Amy Heckerling
The best teenage movie of the decade. Maybe not Fast Times at Ridgemont High, or Ferris Bueller good, but still a quality flick.

11/22/2005