Another list of movies has appeared, this time the Online Film Critics Society’s “Top 100 Overlooked Films of the 1990s“. Michael at eclecticism and his friend DeAnna started a meme (oh my). I’ve cleaned up the list, and changed the links to the films’ appropriate IMDb pages. The ones I’ve seen are emboldened, and I’ve included some comments. I also created a copy without my edits for you to use on your own page.
- Miller’s Crossing – Amazing film, one of the Coen Brothers’ best.
- Safe
- The Sweet Hereafter – Atom Egoyan is extremely overlooked, although this one at least gained a lot of buzz. Probably his best film.
- Lone Star
- Heavenly Creatures – The movie that proves Jackson can tell a great story that doesn’t rely on the special effects (yes, I’m including LOTR in that comment)
- Waiting for Guffman – Personally I think this is overrated. I’m kind of tired of Guest‘s work, I don’t think any of them have compared to This Is Spinal Tap.
- The Hudsucker Proxy – Along with The Man Who Wasn’t There, the Coens’ most overlooked films.
- Babe: Pig in the City – Loved the first one, had no interest in the second.
- Dead Man – The one that got me into Jarmusch. Surreal visuals and dialogue backed by an acid trip of a soundtrack.
- Fearless – Came across this movie one Saturday and found that I couldn’t turn it off. Impressive.
- Bound – Forget the hot lesbian sex, this film is driven by the compelling story.
- Chungking Express
- The Straight Story – Touching and amazing. Everyone should watch this film and then call up their family afterward in tears.
- Searching for Bobby Fischer
- Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai
- That Thing You Do! – Surprisingly good. A realistic take on the music industry of that time.
- Dead Again
- Sneakers – I love this film. Outside of WarGames, probably the only decent “hacker” movie.
- Zero Effect – This film has been in my Netflix queue since day one, and I still haven’t gotten to it.
- The Butcher Boy – Disturbingly brilliant. A harsh movie that takes a lot to make it through.
- Truly, Madly, Deeply
- In the Company of Men
- Devil in a Blue Dress
- The Red Violin – Beautiful, and well told.
- Cemetery Man – Very bizarre film, but definitly one to check out. I’m looking forward to the DVD.
- Hamlet – Still haven’t seen this version, a must.
- Breakdown – Ha, just watched this one recently. Great concept, and well executed (even if it gets a tad Hollywoodish at points).
- Welcome to the Dollhouse – My vote for most overrated indie film of all time. My companion for this film kept begging me to turn it off, but I forced us to watch the whole thing. Just plain bad.
- The Apostle – Difficult film, and not one I could make it through again. But Duvall’s performance is amazing.
- Eve’s Bayou
- Hard Eight
- Defending Your Life
- A Little Princess – These last two are ones that I’ve seen parts of, but still haven’t seen in the entirety.
- Bringing Out the Dead – I really wanted to like this. Really.
- Fireworks
- Jacob’s Ladder
- The Spanish Prisoner – I like Mamet, so I really should see this.
- Pump Up The Volume – Fun, although a tad dated.
- Beautiful Girls
- The Double Life of Veronique
- Very Bad Things
- Richard III – An amazing modernization of Shakespeare.
- October Sky
- Strange Days – And another one – I wanted to like it… I just didn’t.
- My Neighbor Totoro
- L.A. Story – I saw this when I was younger and didn’t quite get it. Deserves a rewatch.
- Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
- A Bronx Tale
- The Limey – Yet another’s that’s been on my queue forever.
- A Perfect World – Flawed, but still an intriguing movie. I liked it inspite of itself.
- Before Sunrise
- Bob Roberts
- Dick – Great performances by the adult cast members couldn’t save this mess.
- Raise the Red Lantern – The tape is sitting on my desk, waiting to be watched.
- One False Move
- The Ref
- Exotica – Another great Egoyan film, but where’s Felicia’s Journey?
- Sonatine
- Joe Versus the Volcano – I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who liked this film.
- Matinee – Aww, my very first date with my first girlfriend was to see this film. I still think it was brilliant.
- The Ice Storm – Ugh, a stellar cast (especially of young and upcoming stars), but I just couldn’t get into it.
- The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
- Croupier
- The Winslow Boy – See #37
- The Girl on the Bridge
- Bullet in the Head
- Darkman – Raimi’s brilliant comic book movie – forget his somewhat bland, Hollywood fare. This one’s dark and twisted.
- Cannibal! The Musical – This one’s a must see.
- Fast, Cheap & Out of Control
- Smoke
- The Last Days of Disco
- Fresh
- Eye of God
- Flirting With Disaster – So much funnier than it should have been. Great ensemble, and Stiller’s best work.
- Bottle Rocket – I really must see this.
- Ashes of Time
- Fallen Angels
- Great Expectations – Enh, didn’t do anything for me.
- Kundun
- A Midnight Clear
- Deep Cover
- Ravenous – Too many people have told me to see this. It jumps to the top of the queue.
- Twin Falls Idaho – I missed a part of the middle, but loved the majority that I did see.
- The People vs. Larry Flynt
- Quick Change
- The Secret of Roan Inish – Why is this not in the top 10? Absolutely beautiful film.
- Beloved
- Big Night – Great cast, great film. See it if you haven’t.
- Topsy-Turvy – I even rented it, and I still haven’t had the chance to watch it.
- Living in Oblivion – Same as #83.
- Jesus’ Son
- Glengarry Glen Ross – I can’t praise this movie enough. One of the greatest ensemble pieces ever. Stage acting on the big screen.
- Chaplin
- Dead Alive – Not a big gore fan, I had trouble making it through this.
- Jude
- Cradle Will Rock
- Proof
- The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl
- Titus
- Mystery Men – And I thought I was the only one who appreciated this gem.
A lot of these will be making it onto my Netflix queue sometime soon. I’m trying to think of other movies I’d put up there (remember, we’re just talking about the 90s). Any ideas/opinions?
Thanks for the list! I’ll be taking some time soon and going through it.