Top 10 Films of the 1990s

1) Dazed and Confused ¹ (1993, dir. Richard Linklater)

2) Reservoir Dogs (1992, dir. Quentin Tarantino)

3) Goodfellas (1990, dir. Martin Scorsese)

4) Chungking Express (1994, dir. Wong Kar-Wai)

5) Being John Malkovich (1999, dir. Spike Jonze)

6) Pulp Fiction (1994, dir. Quentin Tarantino)

7) Ed Wood (1994, dir. Tim Burton)

8) Rushmore (1998, dir. Wes Anderson)

9) Boogie Nights (1997, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)

10) Election (1999, dir. Alexander Payne)

Inspired by The A.V. Club's exhaustive three-part 50 best films of the '90s list, I compiled my own personal list of films from the twentieth century's last decade. As a child of the '90s, I was a VHS kid growing up during the height of the American independent film movement before the digital age of the 2000s.

So many new filmmakers were set free, challenging the Hollywood studio system of storytelling. The years 1994 and 1999 in particular were full of groundbreaking themes and conventions in film. This era was driven by strong directors influenced by re-watching films from the 1970s New Hollywood period on home video.

¹ I just absolutely adore Dazed and Confused. Richard Linklater's sophomore effort perfectly captures a single day in teen life from the 1970s on the last day of high school. Full of young, burgeoning actors, the film is timeless in its execution. It has one of the best soundtracks, full of rock anthems and medleys. The overhead shot framing the big party winding down set to "Tuesday's Gone" is flawless. Linklater meticulously explores youth culture superbly using social touchstones.

You can read all my film reviews here.


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