I have the most boring top 5 of the 90s ever.

Pulp Fiction
American Beauty
Schindler's List
Magnolia
Goodfellas

zzz. I swear I am not usually this boring. For example, you should see my top 10 of the '60s, as well as of the '80s. They're deathly sexy lists. In fact... I may post them right after this.

Morituri te salutamos.

"Okay."

"Man, oh man. Man oh man oh man."

boohoo.

but can you
save me
c'mon and save me
if you could
save me
from the ranks
of the freaks

who suspect
they could never love anyone.

"Look...at...me..."

Dear No Reservations,

You actually look like kind of a cute romcom, probably because your cast is actually good. However, your trailer pretty blatantly rips off the music for both American Beauty and Love Actually. I just thought, you know. You'd like to know.

Love,
Me.

AFI's 100 Years, 100 Movies

yes, this is probably my only opportunity for an "I LOVE YOU!" moment tomorrow night

As anyone reading this (anyone out there?) would probably know, AFI's 100 Years, 100 Movies series is being updated, and the new list will be revealed tomorrow! I am ridiculously excited. No, the AFI really doesn't make the best choices. They favor bland Best Picture winners over true originals and trailblazers (1996: Forrest Gump was #71. Pulp Fiction, 95. Ewww.). Still, if you're not at least interested, you're lying (I've got my eye on you, certain bloggers). I tried to find just a plain list of the movies and their ranking back in 1996; here's the Wikipedia page, which won't copy and paste correctly, grr. Anyway, my search made me realize just how much I hate filmsite.org, which whines about how OMG THERE ARE THREE MODERN CRIME MOVIES ON IT (yeah, at #84, 94, and 95.) AND THERE NEED TO BE MORE SILENT MOVIES OMG OMG OMG. Also, the, for lack of a better term, stupid fuckers said Amadeus could be replaced with "better movies." Yes, "stupid fuckers" are rather harsh terms, but insult Amadeus in front of me and THAT'S WHAT YOU GET. Anyway. Here are the post-1997 movies on the ballot:

American Beauty *
As Good As It Gets
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery -
The Aviator
A Beautiful Mind * (ew?)
Being John Malkovich -
Boogie Nights
Brokeback Mountain
Chicago
Crash
Erin Brockovich
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -
Fight Club -
Finding Nemo
Gladiator
Good Night, and Good Luck
Good Will Hunting
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban -
Hotel Rwanda
The Hours
The Insider -
L. A. Confidential
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring *
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King *
Lost in Translation
The Matrix -
Memento -
Million Dollar Baby * (this will probably replace Unforgiven)
Moulin Rouge! -
Mystic River
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl -
Ray
Requiem for a Dream -
Rushmore -
Saving Private Ryan *
Shakespeare in Love
Shrek
Sideways
The Sixth Sense
Spider-Man 2 -
There’s Something About Mary -
Three Kings -
Titanic *
Traffic

I put dashes next to the movies that have no chance of making it onto the top 400, because they are just far too weird for AFI. I starred the ones with the very best chances. I'm amazed Three Kings even freaking made it onto the ballot. I would cry of happiness if Lost in Translation or Eternal Sunshine made it onto the list, but I doubt either of them will. Still, my third or so favorite movie on there, American Beauty, will make it onto the list, and quite high, I'm hoping. Saving Private Ryan will be on the list, and quite high, because they are so wet for Spielberg (a note: I love Spielberg. A post in defense of Spielberg is coming soon, because today at work I was reading his Wikipedia article [I work so hard], and the "criticism" section pissed me off so goddamn much. It reminds me of the reason why I refuse to interact with my fellow bloggers. But I'll get into that in another entry. But anyway, the AFI loves him EVEN MORE. Like, if they ever heard someone dissing him, they would KILL THAT PERSON.). Titanic will be the highest debut. At least one of the Lord of the Rings movies will be on there (Return of the King having the highest likelihood), but please God not two/three because I don't want that to clog the list. If Crash is on there I will be thrilled and laugh a lot, especially if it is above Brokeback Mountain (or if the latter isn't even on the list!).

As far as the movies that are on the list...
Things that will probably do better: Goodfellas, Schindler's List (there's no way it's getting ranked below The Graduate now), Pulp Fiction, Annie Hall, The Godfather Part II, Amadeus better go up in the rankings you assholes, Network because it's become more than just a great movie, it's become bizarrely prophetic, anything Eastwood because since 1996, he's gone from being Legendary Actor, Okay Director with One Really Really Good Movie to The Greatest Director Of Our Time (And By That, We Mean Ever). Though if Unforgiven drops off the list totally and Million Dollar Baby is on it fairly high up, I won't be surprised.
Things that will probably fall in the rankings: The Graduate (boohoo), Dances with Wolves, Giant, Tootsie (waaaah), The Sound of Music, The African Queen (this is the same case as The Graduate - ranked incredibly high, but nobody talks about it!)

Coming tomorrow: my ballot based on the 400 movies, for what it would be worth. And of course, bitchy commentary on the new list, and much more complaining about stupid filmsite.org.

* Entry disclaimer: I can't say I really like the Lord of the Rings movies, but I recognize that they are great-to-good movies.

Whaaaat???

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/spacey%20im%20finished%20with%20acting_1034158
How did I not read about this before? Like I've said before, since 1999 and (not totally coincidentally, I think) his second Oscar, his career hasn't really been the greatest, but... I don't care. His 1990s work alone deserves him a place in the pantheon. He was like Pacino or Nicholson in the 70s (I fuckin' said it, deal with it). Even now, there is the occasional hint at what he was before - The Life of David Gale, Superman Returns... I kept waiting for his big comeback. And now, I guess, it's not gonna come. I'll always support theater and people doing what they feel is necessary, but I'm gonna miss Lester Burnham, Kevin.

top performances of the '90s

he's pissed off cuz he knows he was robbed.

to go along with the '80s one.

Male
10. Tom Cruise as Frank T.J. Mackey in Magnolia (1999)
9. Edward Norton as Derek Vinyard in American History X (1998)
8. River Pheonix as Mike Waters in My Own Private Idaho (1992)
7. Kevin Spacey as Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects (1995)
6. Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth in Schindler's List (1993)
5. Ian McKellen as James Whale in Gods and Monsters (1998)
4. Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
3. Jack Lemmon as Shelley Levene in Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
2. Samuel L. Jackson as Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction (1994)
1. Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham in American Beauty (1999)
Oscar nominees: 8 (all except Pheonix and Lemmon)
Oscar winners: 3 (Spacey x2 and Hopkins)

Female
10. Victoire Thivisol as Ponette in Ponette (1997)
9. Kate Winslet as Ruth Barron in Holy Smoke! (1999)
8. Jodie Foster as Ellie Arroway in Contact (1997)
7. Sarah Polley as Nicole in The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
6. Frances McDormand as Marge Gunderson in Fargo (1996)
5. Hilary Swank as Brandon Teena in Boys Don't Cry (1999)
4. Holly Hunter as Ada in The Piano (1993)
3. Emily Watson as Bess in Breaking the Waves (1996)
2. Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
1. Elisabeth Shue as Sera in Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
Oscar nominees: 6 (not Thivisol, Winslet, Contact Foster, and Polley)
Oscar winners: 4 (McDormand, Swank, Hunter, Foster Silence)

here i go again. '99

'99 was pretty damn fantastic, maybe the best year of the 99-06 time period. it's not every year you get movies as life-affirmingly brilliant as american beauty and magnolia and films as uproariously daring and hilarious as south park: bigger, longer, and uncut and election and being john malkovich (which doesn't even make my top 10 list!)

Best Picture
1. American Beauty
2. Magnolia
3. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
4. Election
5. Fight Club
6. The Talented Mr. Ripley
7. Toy Story 2
8. All About My Mother
9. The Insider
10. Titus

Best Director
1. Sam Mendes for American Beauty
2. P.T. Anderson for Magnolia
3. David Fincher for Fight Club
4. Michael Mann for The Insider
5. Spike Jonze for Being John Malkovich
6. Anthony Minghella for The Talented Mr. Ripley
7. David Lynch for The Straight Story
8. Kevin Smith for Dogma
9. Pedro Almodovar for All About My Mother
10. M. Night Shamaylan for The Sixth Sense

Best Actor
1. Kevin Spacey in American Beauty (period. Best performance of the '90s easy.)
2. Russell Crowe in The Insider
3. Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense
4. Richard Farnsworth in The Straight Story
5. Jim Broadbent in Topsy-Turvy
6. Edward Norton in Fight Club
7. Sean Penn in Sweet and Lowdown
8. Terrence Stamp in The Limey
9. Brad Pitt in Fight Club
10. Matt Damon in The Talented Mr. Ripley

Best Actress
1. Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry
2. Kate Winslet in Holy Smoke!
3. Reese Witherspoon in Election
4. Julianne Moore in The End of the Affair
5. Cecilia Roth in All About My Mother
6. Annette Bening in American Beauty
7. Elodie Bouchez in The Dreamlife of Angels
8. Franka Potente in Run Lola Run
9. Heather Donahue in The Blair Witch Project
10. Janet McTeer in Tumbleweeds

Best Supporting Actor
1. Tom Cruise in Magnolia
2. Jude Law in The Talented Mr. Ripley
3. John Malkovich in Being John Malkovich
4. Peter Sarsgaard in Boys Don't Cry
5. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Magnolia
6. Alan Rickman in Dogma
7. Christopher Plummer in The Insider
8. Wes Bentley in American Beauty
9. Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Talented Mr. Ripley
10. Jason Robards in Magnolia

Best Supporting Actress
1. Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut (the only Oscar she's ever deserved, but I'd nominate her a whole hell of a lot)
2. Toni Collette in The Sixth Sense
3. Lara Belmont in The War Zone
4. Catherine Keener in Being John Malkovich
5. Melora Walters in Magnolia (oddly enough, she appealed to me far more than Julianne, who's my #11...)
6. Cameron Diaz in Being John Malkovich
7. Chloe Sevigny in Boys Don't Cry (I hate Chloe, but she was really good here.)
8. Sarah Polley in Go
9. Mena Suvari in American Beauty (OWNED Thora Birch)
10. Jessica Lange in Titus

Best Screenplay
1. American Beauty
2. Election
3. Being John Malkovich
4. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
5. Fight Club
6. All About My Mother
7. The Talented Mr. Ripley
8. Three Kings
9. Go
10. The Sixth Sense

only 01, 04, and 06 to go? I kind of rule sometimes.

life-affirming masterpiece of the day

a man looks at a photo.

the camera pulls away.

gunshot. blood splatter.

a boy looks at the dead man. he's smiling.


try as i may i cannot do justice to american beauty. unlike, um, everyone else that keeps a blog on the internet, i think it's easily one of the best movies of the '90s and...ever. it's certainly a favorite. that image above is what i think of when i think cinema, honestly. it is a brilliant film. "look closer."