By 1990, I thought I was grown. I was in the Army, made it to Hawaii to serve at the only duty station I would ever know, and just started to get into a little bit of trouble. It was nothing major, just a lot of hanging out with a bunch of different people while trying to figure out where I fit in. Despite not having a car and not really finding any movie buffs, I somehow managed to see 8 movies in theaters. Since I did spend a fair number of nights alone in the barracks, not fitting in, there was no slippage in the amount of movies I watched from year to year. Let's see what tickled my fancy in the first year of this new decade.
My Top 10 Movies of 1990
- According to my Letterboxd account I watched 53 films released during 1990.
- Of the 8 movies I watched in theaters, 3 made my top 10, 3 others are honorable mentions.
- I've seen 3 of the 5 Best Picture Nominees. 1 made the top 10, 1 is an honorable mention, the third is The Godfather Part III.
- 3 of my top 10 are straight up gangster flicks while 2 more feature organized crime in some way, and 2 more have criminals for lead characters.
- For the second straight year both Spike Lee and Tim Burton have films in my top 10.
10. Marked For Death
Yes, I'm starting the decade off with a Steven Seagal movie. This one is just so nutty I can't help but love it. Our pony-tailed hero gives us his best Aikido, breaks bones like twigs, or slices them off with a sword. Throughout, we get some of the best/worst/cheesiest dialogue and a deliciously bonkers performance by Basil Wallace as the bad guy. It may not be a technically "good" movie, but I can't get enough of it. Ironically, it was his other 1990 movie, Hard to Kill that I saw in theaters.
9. Mo' Better Blues
Spike Lee's follow-up to Do the Right Thing is comparatively light, focusing on a would-be great jazz musician played by Denzel Washington in Lee's first pairing with the actor. It's also the first time I saw Washington in a lead role (he led 1989's The Mighty Quinn, which I did not see until after this). There is still a good deal of social commentary, all propped up by great performances from Washington, John Turturro, and a soon-to-be seen on this list again Wesley Snipes.
8. King of New York
I'm a sucker for a good gangster flick. I'm also a sucker for a good 'hood movie. This one is both. Here's Wesley Snipes again. This time he plays a detective and is but a small part that includes David Caruso in a bigger role. Both are good, but upstaged by the bad guys. Laurence Fishburne is 'hood-tastic as a loose-cannon drug dealer and Christopher Walken steals the show from everybody as the titular king, Frank White. Whenever Walken's name comes up, this is the performance I think of first.
7. Miller's Crossing
Speaking of gangster flicks, here's another. I didn't see this until about 20 years after it came out and I was entranced. The story is great, but it's the 1940s noir-inspired dialogue that really blew me away. Of course, the performances that go with it are amazing. And the cinematography is better than them both.
6. The Grifters
Apparently, 1990 is the year of the crime movie, for me. This one, about a pair of con artists who happen to be mother and son, strikes me different than most of the ones I like, though. It's a dark comedy than ventures into some weird areas. It's also possibly Anjelica Huston and Annette Benning at their best.
5. Edward Scissorhands
Believe it or not, this is another movie I didn't see until pretty recently despite being a fan of Tim Burton's work. It might be the most perfect representation of the director's gothic quirkiness juxtaposed with the world at large. And it's the most heartwarming one, too.
4. Misery
Unlike many of the horror movies adapted from Stephen King, this one sizzles from the start while still being faithful to the novel it's based on. And it's proof that casting matters because Kathy Bates is perfect and terrifying.
3. Total Recall
I grew up on Arnold Schwarzenegger's eighties movies so I had a certain expectations when I sat down in the theater to watch this. Of course, I had seen him do sci-fi before, but this was a different type of sci-fi. It still the type of action Arnie excels at, but it's also quite a bit more cerebral than those previous efforts. And there are just so many iconic shots in this movie, it's still a visual treat to this day.
2. House Party
We all have those movies that speak directly to us. This is one of those movies. Like the main character, Kid of rap group Kid-n-Play, I loved writing, loved hip hop, had a strict but loving single parent, and wasn't the smoothest around the ladies. In other words, the movie is relatable to me in every way. I have no choice but to love it.
1. GoodFellas
This is one of the most quotable movies of all-time. As far as I'm concerned, it's Martin Scorsese's magnum opus. It's based on a true story and Scorsese does the impossible with it. He makes it sensational, yet simultaneously grounded. Every character is amazing is imbued with massive personalities, even if you only meet them once for a just a few seconds. I mean, I swear I could have, and maybe have had a whole conversation with Jimmy Two Times because he's gonna go get the papers, get the papers. And you best believe anytime anyone anywhere says that I'm funny, my response is "Funny how?"
Honorable Mentions (alphabetically listed): Back to the Future III, Cry-Baby, Darkman, Dick Tracy, Die Hard 2, Ghost, Predator 2, Robocop 2
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar