A Generation Ago

Jesse Walker has put up his top films for 1990.  It wasn't much of a year. I remember two films were released about the non-existent Lambada dance craze, and they were among the better films out.  Here's Jesse's top ten.

1. Miller's Crossing
2. Ju Dou
3. The Reflecting Skin
4. An Angel at My Table
5. Jacob's Ladder
6. Europa Europa
7. The Nasty Girl
8. Sink or Swim
9. Quick Change
10. To Sleep with Anger

Two of these films I don't go for at all.  I've never understood the fondness so many have for Miller's Crossing, which has always seemed an empty exercise to me.  I've given it three separate chances and it hasn't gotten better.  And even ignoring the ending, I've always found Jacob's Ladder an annoying film.

I haven't seen The Reflecting Skin or Sink Or Swim.  I like the rest, and at least Ju Dou, Europa Europa and Quick Change would make my top ten.

Here are the honorable mentions:

11. Metropolitan
12. King of New York 
13. Goodfellas
14. Miami Blues
15. La Femme Nikita
16. The Freshman
17. The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia
18. White Hunter, Black Heart 
19. Close-Up 
20. To Be 

I can't judge Metropolitan objectively since it featured an old friend of mine, Taylor Nichols, plus Chris Eigeman, whom I've since met.

I think Martin Scorsese is generally overrated, but Goodfellas is one of his best.  I also like Miami Blues and King Of New York.  "The Death Of Stalinism" is a fun short.  Numbers 19 and 20 I don't know. The rest I don't feel strongly about.  White Hunter, Black Heart is pretty weak even for a Clint Eastwood film.

There were a number of films I liked that Jesse didn't mention.

Three that would definitely make my top ten:

Life Is Sweet

The Match Factory Girl

Gremlins 2: The New Batch

Here are a bunch that I liked, to one degree or another:

Edward Scissorhands, Back to the Future Part III (weakest of the trilogy, but still fun), The Grifters, House Party, Hamlet (Mel Gibson version), Berkeley In The Sixties, Bullet in the Head (we're in the middle of the great HK years, though 1990 wasn't the greatest), Cry-Baby, Joe Versus the Volcano (the best teaming of Hanks and Ryan), Wild at Heart, The Witches, Longtime Companion (one of the first AIDS films, and one of the best), Reversal of Fortune, Total Recall, Tremors, Trust, The Krays, Daddy Nostalgie, Pump Up the Volume, A Chinese Ghost Story II, Paris Is Burning.

At least of interest (sometimes very little interest, sometimes just to see a horrible flop close up):

The Adventures Of Ford Fairlane, Avalon, Awakenings, The Bonfire of the Vanities, Dick Tracy, Die Hard 2, Eating, Ghost, Home Alone, The Hunt for Red October, The Godfather Part III (sounding pretty good till you get to that III), Men Don't Leave, Mo' Better Blues, Mountains of the Moon, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, Narrow Margin, Opportunity Knocks, Pacific Heights, Postcards from the Edge, Presumed Innocent, Pretty Woman, Problem Child, Q & A, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, The Sheltering Sky, Texasville, Truly, Madly, Deeply, Where the Heart Is, Without You I'm Nothing, Young Guns II (better than the first)