90's Films: Your Top 10.

I'm of the opinion that the 90s were a better decade of films than the 2000s and I couldn't find any threads about 90s films, so I figured I'd start a conversation up.

Here are my top ten films of the 1990s.

1. Saving Private Ryan (1998): My favorite movie of all time. Performances are excellent and the directing by Spielberg is some of the best I've ever seen.

2. L.A. Confidential (1997): The noir style is effecting and performances by Crowe, Pearce, Spacey, and Cromwell make the film work.

3. The Shawshank Redemption (1994): One of the most inspiring films I've ever seen. You know a movie works when it makes hardened criminals sympathetic.

4. Schindler's List (1993): When the movie is at its best, I actually think it's one of, if not the greatest film ever. I think the movie drags on in certain spots, but the parts that shine make up for that and more. Neeson and Fiennes give two of the best performances of the decade.

5. American History X (1998): I love films that give me some sort of emotion at the end. This film probably gives me more emotion at the end that any other, save for Private Ryan. The relationship between Derek and Danny was very similar to a relationship I had with a relative that ended in a terrible way. For me, I love American History X not for the racism angle, but for the story of fucking up, but trying to save the ones you love from going down a similar road.

6. Good Will Hunting (1997): Started my man crush on Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. The movie is light and fluffy stuff at some parts and at others, it crushes you like a ton of bricks just fell on your nuts. Robin Williams is the standout performance.

7. JFK (1991): I'm a huge Kevin Costner fan. If this was an 80s movies list, I'd probably have three or four from him in it. JFK represents a lot of things to me. It shows the good of America along with the bad. Perhaps the best thing about JFK is that it takes the story of the Kennedy assassination and it turns it into a truly American detective story. Costner is fantastic and the scene of Garrison and X remains one of the greatest scenes in movie history, IMO.

8. The Big Lebowski (1998): Coen Brothers' best work. It's hilarious and it's light. The movie flies by and it makes you feel like you watched it in 30 minutes. I can't get enough of it. One of the longest laughs I've ever had came from John Goodman's "Anti-Semite!" punch to Peter Stormare.

9. Braveheart (1995): Despite it's poor historical accuracy, this movie was one of the first movies I had seen that made me fall in love with movies. From the scenery to the epic scope of the story to the battles and Mel Gibson himself, Braveheart works for me. I dig it. The ending is one of the greatest I've ever seen.

10. Pulp Fiction (1994): Number 10 was tough for me. I like Tarantino, but I don't love him like I do other directors. I can think of a couple flicks that could also belong here. Se7en, Fight Club, The Truman Show. I think one of the reasons why I put this here is because of Sam Jackson and John Travolta. I'm a huge fan of both of these actors and this is their best work. Whenever it's on, I always watch it.

Honorable Mentions: The already said of Se7en, Fight Club, and The Truman Show. Unforgiven.

I realize these lists are really arbitrary, but I figured a little conversation amongst friends couldn't hurt.

In your opinion. In my opinion, they were.

I can understand that point on a universal level, but most of the movies on my list I didn't really see until the 2000s. I didn't really become much of a movie buff until I turned 16-17, which was around 2000. My consciousness for those films in my list are just as well if they were made in the 2000s. The only movies I saw on that list in the 90s were Schindler's List and Private Ryan.