The History of Film: The Best Movies of the 1990s

I’ve come to terms with the fact that there’s no artful way of prefacing these posts. Making a list that objectifies art is inherently silly, nonsensical, and artless. Alas, we do it anyway.

After the wild success of the first installment into the “History of Film” catalog, we continue this month by discussing the 1990s. The goal of these posts, as previously stated, is to unite staff, friends, and readers of Movie Mezzanine together, forming an eclectic “top 10” from from each decade in cinema.

Everyone has a month to construct and post their list in the comment section below. When that’s complete, we’ll tally up the films and release the results (with analysis) to you all.

Again, we appreciate your endless support folks.

The Movie Mezzanine Staff

Sam Fragoso, Editor-In-Chief

1.) The Shawshank Redemption

2.) Groundhog Day

3.) Hoop Dreams

4.) The Player

5.) Boogie Nights

6.) Casino

7.) Jackie Brown

8.) Good Will Hunting

9.) The Fugitive

10.) The Truman Show

Tom Clift, Co-Founder

1.) Terminator 2

2.) The Matrix

3.) Three Kings

4.) Pulp Fiction

5.) Fight Club

6.) Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels

7.) Con Air

8.) Being John Malkovich

9.) Fargo

10.) Pleasantville

Corey Atad, Everything

1.) Close-Up

2.) The Truman Show

3.) Magnolia

4.) Chungking Express

5.) Beauty and the Beast

6.) Rushmore

7.) South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut

8.) Before Sunrise

9.) Dumb and Dumber

10.) Se7en

Jake Cole, Senior Editor

1.) Close-Up

2.) Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

3.) Chungking Express

4.) Dead Man

5.) The Double Life of Veronique

6.) Carlito’s Way

7.) Beau Travail

8.) From the Journals of Jean Seberg

9.) Bringing Out of the Dead

10.) End of Evangelion

Danny Bowes, NYC Correspondent

1.) GoodFellas

2.) Jackie Brown

3.) Pulp Fiction

4.) Orlando

5.) Out of Sight

6.) Point Break

7.) L.A. Confidential

8.) Dil Se

9.) Hard-Boiled

10.) The Matrix

Natalie Zutter, NYC Correspondent

1.) My Best Friend’s Wedding

2.) Scream

3.) Noises Off

4.) Robin Hood: Men in Tights

5.) The Bodyguard

6.) Jurassic Park

7.) Before Sunrise

8.) The Birdcage

9.) Dogma

10.) The Shawshank Redemption

Andreas Stoehr, DVD/Streaming Reporter

1.) Chungking Express

2.) Barton Fink

3.) Heavenly Creatures

4.) Satantango

5.) Safe

6.) Naked

7.) The Rapture

8.) Paris Is Burning

9.) Breaking the Waves

10.) Batman Returns

Tina Hassannia, Toronto Correspondent

1.) Close-Up

2.) Safe

3.) Hoop Dreams

4.) Eyes Wide Shut

5.) Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

6.) The Big Lebowski

7.) Chungking Express

8.) Paris Is Burning

9.) Showgirls

10.) Heat

Russell Hainline, LA Correspondent

1.) Groundhog Day

2.) Fargo

3.) Malcolm X

4.) Jerry Maguire

5.) Toy Story

6.) Barton Fink

7.) Hoop Dreams

8.) Total Recall

9.) After Life

10.) Boogie Nights

Kristen Sales, LA Correspondent

1.) Breaking the Waves

2.) Barton Fink

3.) Crumb

4.) Jackie Brown

5.) Silence of the Lambs

6.) Fargo

7.) L.A. Confidential

8.) The Sweet Hereafter

9.) Unforgiven

10.) Short Cuts

Kevin Ketchum, Austin Correspondent

1.) Schindler’s List

2.) The Thin Red Line

3.) The Insider

4.) Pulp Fiction

5.) Se7en

6.) The Matrix

7.) Unforgiven

8.) Princess Mononoke

9.) Topsy-Turvy

10.) GoodFellas

Odie Henderson, Contributor

1.) Pulp Fiction

2.) Malcolm X

3.) Hoop Dreams

4.) Schindler’s List

5.) The Shawshank Redemption

6.) Central do Brasil

7.) The Crying Game

8.) Boyz N’ The Hood

9.) Eve’s Bayou

10.) Lone Star

Alex Huls, Contributor

1.) Close-Up

2.) Three Colors Trilogy

3.) Chungking Express

4.) Groundhog Day

5.) GoodFellas

6.) Before Sunrise

7.) Being John Malkovich

8.) Election

9.) The Limey

10.) Lone Star

Christopher Runyon, Contributor

1.) Three Colors: Red

2.) The Thin Red Line

3.) Fight Club

4.) Schindler’s List

5.) Groundhog Day

6.) Dead Alive

7.) The Truman Show

8.) The Shawshank Redemption

9.) Double Life of Veronique

10.) Close-Up

Alex Withrow, Contributor

1.) Pulp Fiction

2.) The Thin Red Line

3.) GoodFellas

4.) Leaving Las Vegas

5.) Boyz N’ The Hood

6.) Magnolia

7.) Eyes Wide Shut

8.) Sling Blade

9.) Se7en

10.) Three Colors: Blue

Friends of Movie Mezzanine

Jordan Hoffman, ScreenCrush

1.) GoodFellas

2.) Fast, Cheap & Out of Control

3.) Miller’s Crossing

4.) Trees Lounge

5.) The Girl on the Bridge

6.) The Sweet Hereafter

7.) Starship Troopers

8.) Beau Travail

9.) The Thin Red Line

10.) To Live

Ryan McNeil, The Matinee

1.) Saving Private Ryan

2.) The Thin Red Line

3.) GoodFellas

4.) Out of Sight

5.) L.A. Confidential

6.) Pulp Fiction

7.) Groundhog Day

8.) The Matrix

9.) The Iron Giant

10.) Magnolia

Rob Hunter, Film School Rejects

1.) Audition

2.) Closet Land

3.) Defending Your Life

4.) Election

5.) Happiness

6.) L.A. Confidential

7.) Se7en

8.) The Shawshank Redemption

9.) True Romance

10.) The Truman Show

Jordan Raup, The Film Stage

1.) The Thin Red Line

2.) Eyes Wide Shut

3.) Chungking Express

4.) Pulp Fiction

5.) The Sweet Hereafter

6.) Goodfellas

7.) The Matrix

8.) Before Sunrise

9.) Terminator 2

10.) Fargo

Chris Stuckmann, Film Critic/Filmmaker

1.) Schindler’s List

2.) Se7en

3.) The Shawshank Redemption

4.) Jurassic Park

5.) The Matrix

6.) The Terminator 2

7.) Pulp Fiction

8.) Toy Story

9.) Braveheart

10.) Silence of the Lambs

David Ehrlich, Film.com

1.) Close-Up

2.) After Life

3.) Three Colors: Blue

4.) Breaking the Waves

5.) Schindler’s List

6.) Good Will Hunting

7.) Irma Vep

8.) Eyes Wide Shut

9.) Chungking Express

10.) Underground

Matt Goldberg, Collider

1.) The Iron Giant

2.) Beauty and the Beast

3.) Miller’s Crossing

4.) Jurassic Park

5.) The Usual Suspects

6.) Unforgiven

7.) The Big Lebowski

8.) Pulp Fiction

9.) A Few Good Men

10.) BASEketball

 Andrew Parker, Dork Shelf

1.) Chungking Express

2.) Breaking the Waves

3.) L.A. Confidential

4.) Close-Up

5.) Magnolia

6.) Schindler’s List

7.) Bringing Out the Dead

8.) The Sweet Hereafter

9.) Miller’s Crossing

10.) Toy Story

Jack Giroux, Film School Rejects

1.) L.A. Confidential

2.) Shawshank Redemption

3.) JFK

4.) Barton Fink

5.) The Truman Show

6.) Magnolia

7.) Ed Wood

8.) Jackie Brown

9.) Bringing Out the Dead

10.) Jerry Maguire

Lucas McNelly, Filmmaker

1.) The Double Life of Veronique

2.) Magnolia

3.) Fight Club

4.) GoodFellas

5.) Rushmore

6.) Boogie Nights

7.) Three Colors: Blue

8.) The Thin Red Line

9.) Pulp Fiction

10.) Swingers

Alex Billington, First Showing

1.) The Matrix

2.) Saving Private Ryan

3.) The Fifth Element

4.) Starship Troopers

5.) Jurassic Park

6.) Fight Club

7.) Terminator 2

8.) Groundhog Day

9.) Home Alone

10.) Mighty Ducks

Michal Oleszczyk, Roger Ebert’s Far-flung Correspondent

1.) The Thin Red Line

2.) The Long Day Closes

3.) Topsy-Turvy

4.) Jackie Brown

5.) Rosetta

6.) Pulp Fiction

7.) L.A. Confidential

8.) The Shawshank Redemption

9.) Satantango

10.) Being John Malkovich

James Ward, Visalia Times-Delta

1.) Pulp Fiction

2.) Schindler’s List

3.) Saving Private Ryan

4.) GoodFellas

5.) L.A. Confidential

6.) Magnolia

7.) Fargo

8.) Short Cuts

9.) Toy Story and Toy Story 2

10.) The Silence of the Lambs

Allison Loring, Film School Rejects

1.) Fight Club

2.) Jurassic Park

3.) Romeo + Juliet

4.) Jerry Maguire

5.) Father of the Bride

6.) The Big Lebowski

7.) Forrest Gump

8.) Home Alone

9.) Toy Story

10.) Cruel Intentions

Germain Lussier, SlashFilm

1.) Swingers

2.) Boogie Nights

3.) The Sandlot

4.) Terminator 2: Judgement Day

5.) Jurassic Park

6.) Fargo

7.) Rushmore

8.) GoodFellas

9.) Rudy

10.) Pulp Fiction

Ethan Anderton, First Showing

1.) The Shawshank Redemption

2.) Saving Private Ryan

3.) Jurassic Park

4.) A Few Good Men

5.) Silence of the Lambs

6.) Pulp Fiction

7.) Good Will Hunting

8.) Se7en

9.) American Beauty

10.) Wayne’s World

Laremy Legel

Author of “Film Critic: A Decade Behind the Scenes in the Movie Industry“

1.) Magnolia

2.) The Fifth Element

3.) Trainspotting

4.) True Romance

5.) Waiting for Guffman

6.) Hunt for the Red October

7.) Gross Pointe Blank

8.) Falling Down

9.) The Big Lebowski

10.) 12 Monkeys

Steve Greene, CriticWire

1.) Reservoir Dogs

2.) Glengarry Glen Ross

3.) Before Sunrise

4.) The Iron Giant

5.) Fargo

6.) Close-Up

7.) Se7en

8.) Run Lola Run

9.) The Silence of the Lambs

10.) La Haine

…

Now it’s your turn to contribute readers. In the comment section below, provide your top ten of the 1990s (1990-99), ordered from 1 – 10. Again, we thank you.