proximoception (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
proximoception) wrote2012-10-13 03:33 pm
proximoception) wrote2012-10-13 03:33 pm
(no subject)
Stirred by the AV Club best '90s movie list to wonder whether I could make one, the '90s being roughly the time when I watched almost everything decent-sounding that became available. So I'll try. Taste caveats here include that I of course haven't seen most of these in 12.8 to 22.8 years, and that I've missed everything relevant by Yang, Tarr, Kiarostami, Hsao-Hsien (sp?) and others I've lacked access to.
Loved enough that I still watch them now and then:
The Straight Story, Lost Highway, eXistenZ, The Ninth Gate, Titus, My Best Fiend, Glengarry Glen Ross, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, 42 Up, 35 Up, Showgirls, the Big Lebowski, Barton Fink, Miller's Crossing, Fire Walk With Me, Dazed and Confused, The Edge, Waiting for Guffman, Office Space
Was highly affected by at the time (not necessarily a lesser category - some of these feel too precious or traumatic to revisit):
Heavenly Creatures, An Angel at My Table, Slacker, Schindler's List, Nil by Mouth, Saving Private Ryan, All About My Mother, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Dreamlife of Angels, The Ice Storm, Quiz Show, The Thin Red Line, Eyes Wide Shut, Secrets and Lies, Naked, Goodfellas, Age of Innocence, The Sweet Hereafter, Exotica, Before Sunrise, Short Cuts, Toy Story, Election, Jesus' Son, Howard's End, Not One Less
Admired but a bit less, or less personally: American Movie, Time Regained, The Piano, Schizopolis, Bulworth, Naked Lunch, Fargo, Lone Star, White, Topsy-Turvy, The Player, Homicide, Twelve Monkeys, Ride with the Devil, Sense and Sensibility, Jackie Brown, Toy Story 2, The Insider, Henry Fool, Red Rock West
So that's more like sixty. A similar number of others got into a question mark pile, whether because my reaction had been more mixed, or I didn't remember them well enough or couldn't assume I'd still like them. And I'm probably getting some years wrong, forgetting tons of movies - none of this was science. Nice to remember, though.
Loved enough that I still watch them now and then:
The Straight Story, Lost Highway, eXistenZ, The Ninth Gate, Titus, My Best Fiend, Glengarry Glen Ross, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, 42 Up, 35 Up, Showgirls, the Big Lebowski, Barton Fink, Miller's Crossing, Fire Walk With Me, Dazed and Confused, The Edge, Waiting for Guffman, Office Space
Was highly affected by at the time (not necessarily a lesser category - some of these feel too precious or traumatic to revisit):
Heavenly Creatures, An Angel at My Table, Slacker, Schindler's List, Nil by Mouth, Saving Private Ryan, All About My Mother, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Dreamlife of Angels, The Ice Storm, Quiz Show, The Thin Red Line, Eyes Wide Shut, Secrets and Lies, Naked, Goodfellas, Age of Innocence, The Sweet Hereafter, Exotica, Before Sunrise, Short Cuts, Toy Story, Election, Jesus' Son, Howard's End, Not One Less
Admired but a bit less, or less personally: American Movie, Time Regained, The Piano, Schizopolis, Bulworth, Naked Lunch, Fargo, Lone Star, White, Topsy-Turvy, The Player, Homicide, Twelve Monkeys, Ride with the Devil, Sense and Sensibility, Jackie Brown, Toy Story 2, The Insider, Henry Fool, Red Rock West
So that's more like sixty. A similar number of others got into a question mark pile, whether because my reaction had been more mixed, or I didn't remember them well enough or couldn't assume I'd still like them. And I'm probably getting some years wrong, forgetting tons of movies - none of this was science. Nice to remember, though.
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I didn't see it until last year, but for me the best movie of the 90s is Derek Jarman's Blue. Back in the day I put quite a lot of stock in Kieslowski's Blue. The Thin Red Line is also great, but I didn't see it until 2003.
I remember doing the same thing you did, watch everything that seemed any good, but I can't remember whether there was any movie that made me think, yes, this is the stuff. I was very into the Coen brothers, but I didn't love them as much as appreciate them. Egoyan, Lynch, Cronenberg, Campion, Hartley, Leigh. Yes. I'd add Greenaway, though I know his limitations. Haynes, Wong. I fell for and rejected Trier. But what was the stuff? I can't recall. Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control? Magnolia?
Now I'm looking at all these 90s best-of lists, and no, I don't seem to be forgetting anything. But I loved movies back then. I lived for them. But what was the stuff?
Maybe it's just that these movies are very, very good, but I expect more from them now. I don't know. Maybe I'm just in a mood.
It's very strange to read through these lists and see how clearly there was a before and after with Pulp Fiction.
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I think if anything I'm overrating the fun White because I feel I should like something by Kieslowski. He wasn't bad or anything, but I've never understood the awe.
Haven't seen The Baby of Macon but Prospero's Books and 8 1/2 Women both amused me. I don't think I ever made it very far into a Jarman movie. Wong I'm not sure.
I'm not sure I see the influence of Pulp Fiction on non-crime films? It and Magnolia have some great scenes, despite some annoying aspects; perhaps they should be on here. And maybe Velvet Goldmine.
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Ever see Sydney/Hard Eight? It's arguably better than Magnolia, but in a completely different way. Both beat Boogie Nights.
I love Prospero's Books, but I turned 8 1/2 Women off in the middle.
City of Lost Children I've been meaning to rewatch. There.
On the best-of lists, the pre-Pulp movies are these slightly staid, slightly literate well-shot Hollywood films, maybe period pieces, maybe on important topics, with respectable actors. After Pulp, the movies, Hollywood or not, tend to be stylized, edgy, youthful, and wrestling with genre. This could be a reflection of a change in the listmakers as much as in the films being made.
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Five-dollar milkshake
When I rewatched Reservoir Dogs last year, what really struck me was not the torture scene, or Mr. Orange's agonizing, but the paint-peeling racism of the characters. It's very weird now to think about how it was just supposed to be the height of cool.
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