Top 100 Overlooked Films of The 1990's

El Vez · Post by **El Vez** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 11:44 pm

http://ofcs.rottentomatoes.com/pages/pr/1990overlooked

They did a good job with this one.

Post by **BlueChair** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 11:13 am

That Thing You Do! overlooked? That was very popular at the time. Great to see Bob Roberts, The Limey, Cradle Will Rock, and Waiting for Guffman on there though.

pophead2k · Post by **pophead2k** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 2:40 pm

Maybe its the east-coast intellectual leftist elite circles I travel in, but there were a few here that I don't think of as overlooked at all (including #1, Miller's Crossing). Still, as a list of fantastic films of the '90s its a gem- had me thinking about lots of good movies I hadn't see for awhile and got me interested in seeing some I haven't seen at all. Thanks Vez.

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 4:43 pm

I think Miller's Crossing is one of the top 5 gangster films of all time, and one of the best noir films, too. It's well-respcted, but I don't thinkt he movie-viewing public at large is aware of it. At least, they aren't as aware of it as they are of The Godfather or Goodfellas. And most seem to regard less worthy films like Scarface or The Untouchables with the same respect that Miller's Crossing really deserves. On those grounds, I'd have to agree that it's criminally underappreciated.

However, I don't get October Sky's inclusion. It's a very fluffy film, which makes two glaring errors. First, the "West Virginia" drawl everyone has sounds exactly nothing like anyone from West Virginia. And second, Werner von Braun--who made V-2 rockets for the Nazis before working for NASA--is treated as a great man, with no indication that he migt not have actually been worthy of Homer's hero worship.

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 5:09 pm

El Vez has re-entered the building!

Several of these films were, I'm fairly, quite successful but usually in modest, art-housy (or video sleeper) sort of a way.

The only real shocker is "Very Bad Things" -- I movie I haven't seen but which was, as far as I can remember, was universally reviled (and I mean with a capital RE) when it came out.

Nice to remember a bunch of these movies. Of the ones I've seen, not one of them bored, with the exception of about 2/3 of "Jesus' Son". Some of them weren't neccessarily great but, like "Zero Effect" just kind of nice in a low key way. Not every movie needs or wants to be a classic. Movies like "Dick" and "Mystery Men" aren't going to rock too many people's world, but I'm really glad I saw them.

I think my two absolute favorites of films that actually remain overlooked, as far as I know (in that even a lot of film fans barely remember them) are "Bottle Rocket", which I think remains obscure despite Wes Anderson's and the Wilson Brothers' success. Why, I have no idea. (It was one of Martin Scorsese's four top films of the 1990s.)

The other is "The Butcher Boy" -- a move which I loved a lot the one time I saw it and I think it might actually be Neil Jordan's best movie. Really, really want to see that again.

alexv · Post by **alexv** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 5:13 pm

Great list. Thanks for posting, Vez. The Last Days of Disco and Searching for Bobby Fischer are the only ones I would omit. I always hated Whit Stillman's movie (Metropolitan, Barcelona and this). Found his preppy characters to be complete bores. The chess movie I found plain maudlin.

When you see the list you realize how good Branagh was during this period, with Dead Again and Hamlet. I can't remember the last good movie he directed, at least that made it to the US, and his acting rivals Kevin Kline in hamminess. Two great theater actors that go nuts on screen.

The IFC channel is doing its part in keeping a lot of these movies in front of the movie-watching public: Bound, Topsy Turvy, Glengarry, the Limey, Ghost Dog, In the Company of Men, Priscilla, the Spanish Prisoner and others on the list are all staples of that channel.

El Vez · Post by **El Vez** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 9:32 pm

I was very glad to see Safe and Flirting With Disaster, two of my fave 90's films, on the list along with extremely well done, critically underappreciated commercial stuff like The Ref and Sneakers. I was a little suprised that Citizen Ruth, Alexander Payne's first major film, did not make the list. One of the best and ballsiest films of any decade.

Boy With A Problem · Post by **Boy With A Problem** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 5:35 pm

bobster wrote:

The only real shocker is "Very Bad Things" -- I movie I haven't seen but which was, as far as I can remember, was universally reviled (and I mean with a capital RE) when it came out.

This is really a great film - Daniel Stern is absolutely hilarious.....I think this was reviled because it's a comedy with realistic graphic violence...people have a tough time with that....I saw this on video after it was panned and had really low expectations, but I recommend it.

LittleFoole · Post by **LittleFoole** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 1:13 pm

Boy With A Problem wrote:bobster wrote:

The only real shocker is "Very Bad Things" -- I movie I haven't seen but which was, as far as I can remember, was universally reviled (and I mean with a capital RE) when it came out.
This is really a great film - Daniel Stern is absolutely hilarious.....I think this was reviled because it's a comedy with realistic graphic violence...people have a tough time with that....I saw this on video after it was panned and had really low expectations, but I recommend it.

Totally agree...I found it to be one of the funniest movies I've ever seen - it's hilarious, if you are able to laugh at very bad things

My wife even laughed her @$$ off !!! Of course, she's bad

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 3:05 pm

bobster wrote:Of the ones I've seen, not one of them bored, with the exception of about 2/3 of "Jesus' Son".

Having endured the first imo pretty boring and amateurish first 15 minutes of Jesus' Son, I'd be intrigued to know what could redeem that movie for me.

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:16 pm

bambooneedle wrote:
bobster wrote:Of the ones I've seen, not one of them bored, with the exception of about 2/3 of "Jesus' Son".
Having endured the first imo pretty boring and amateurish first 15 minutes of Jesus' Son, I'd be intrigued to know what could redeem that movie for me.

Full frontal nudity?

El Vez · Post by **El Vez** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 8:47 am

Oh, a pm exchange with Noiseradio reminded me that they missed a pretty obvious pick with Noah Baumbach's wonderful Kicking & Screaming which ranks as one of the funniest, smartest and most perceptive films about the emotional fallout of graduating college and figuring out what the hell is next that I've ever seen. Granted, that makes it sound like a pretty narrow genre but my goodness is that film terrific with endlessly quotable dialogue ("High school...yeah I miss that like a bitch now too") and the quintessential Eric Stoltz performance.

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 2:41 pm

miss buenos aires wrote:
bambooneedle wrote:Having endured the first imo pretty boring and amateurish first 15 minutes of Jesus' Son, I'd be intrigued to know what could redeem that movie for me.
Full frontal nudity?

What do you think I am, a sex maniac?!