The Lists Project

[Michael]

The 90s List:

1. Rushmore (Wes Anderson, 1998) 692
2. Goodfellas (Scorsese, 1990) 632
3. Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994) 587
4. The Big Lebowski (Coen, 1998) 572
5. Red (Kieslowski, 1994) 529
6. Magnolia (PT Anderson, 1999) 498
7. Chungking Express (Wong, 1994) 483
8. Fargo (Coen, 1996) 464
9. Dead Man (Jarmusch, 1995) 453
10. Blue (Kieslowski, 1993) 439
11. The Thin Red Line (Malick, 1998) 405
12. Close Up (Kiarostami, 1990) 399
13. Wild at Heart (Lynch, 1990) 375
14. Short Cuts (Altman, 1993) 366
15. Boogie Nights (PT Anderson, 1997) 365
16. Ed Wood (Burton, 1994) 352
17. Eyes Wide Shut (Kubrick, 1999) 351
18. Fight Club (Fincher, 1999) 350
19. Unforgiven (Eastwood, 1992) 330
20. Safe (Haynes, 1995) 323
21. 12 Monkeys (Gilliam, 1995) 322
All About My Mother (Almodovar, 1999) 322
23. Barton Fink (Coen, 1991) 316
Jackie Brown (Tarantino, 1997) 316
25. Taste of Cherry (Kiarostami, 1997) 311
26. Breaking the Waves (von Trier, 1996) 305
27. Groundhog Day (Ramis, 1993) 304
28. Beau Travail (Denis, 1999) 293
29. Lost Highway (Lynch, 1997) 283
30. American Beauty (Mendes, 1999) 282
31. The Silence of the Lambs (Demme, 1991) 277
32. Se7en (Fincher, 1995) 275
33. The Player (Altman, 1992) 272
34. Being John Malkovich (Jonze, 1999) 271
35. The Wind Will Carry Us (Kiarostami, 1999) 259
36. LA Confidential (Hanson, 1997) 256
37. The Double Life of Veronique (Kieslowski, 1991) 254
38. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (Lynch, 1992) 239
39. Miller's Crossing (Coen, 1990) 235
40. Schlinder's List (Spielberg, 1993) 233
41. Underground (Kusturica, 1995) 232
42. Rosetta (Dardenne, 1999) 230
43. Husbands and Wives (Allen, 1992) 229
44. The Celebration (Vinterberg, 1998) 220
45. Twin Peaks: Pilot (Lynch, 1990) 213
46. Election (Payne, 1999) 211
Three Kings (Russell, 1999) 211
48. The Nightmare Before Christmas (Selick, 1993) 202
49. Happy Together (Wong, 1997) 200
50. Crash (Cronenberg, 1996) 193
51. Naked Lunch (Cronenberg, 1991) 190
52. Happiness (Solondz, 1998) 184
53. Heavenly Creatures (Jackson, 1994) 177
Lessons of Darkness (Herzog, 1992) 177
55. Life and Nothing More (Kiarostami, 1991) 176
56. JFK (Stone, 1991) 175
Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers (Park, 1993) 175
58. Heat (Mann, 1995) 174
59. Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino, 1992) 170
60. Casino (Scorsese, 1995) 169
61. Princess Mononoke (Miyazaki, 1997) 166
The Straight Story (Lynch, 1999) 166
63. La Belle Noiseuse (Rivette, 1991) 165
64. Bottle Rocket (Wes Anderson, 1996) 160
65. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Gilliam, 1998) 155
66. Before Sunrise (Linklater, 1995) 152
67. Glengarry Glen Ross (Foley, 1992) 151
68. Secrets & Lies (Leigh, 1996) 149
69. Fallen Angels (Wong, 1995) 145
70. Out of Sight (Soderbergh, 1998) 143
71. Irma Vep (Assayas, 1996) 142
The Shawshank Redemption (Darabont, 1994) 142
73. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (Jarmusch, 1999) 141
Raise the Red Lantern (Yimou, 1991) 141
75. The Truman Show (Weir, 1998) 134
76. Hoop Dreams (James, 1994) 133
The Kingdom (Arnfred/von Trier, 1994) 133
78. Satantango (Tarr, 1994) 131
79. Show Me Love (Moodysson, 1998) 130
80. My Own Private Idaho (Van Sant, 1991) 128
81. The Hudsucker Proxy (Coen, 1994) 127
82. Naked (Leigh, 1993) 126
83. Lone Star (Sayles, 1996) 125
84. Saving Private Ryan (Spielberg, 1998) 122
85. La Promesse (Dardenne, 1996) 121
The Limey (Soderbergh, 1999) 121
87. To Live (Yimou, 1994) 120
White (Kieslowski, 1994) 120
89. Edward Scissorhands (Burton, 1990) 117
90. Run Lola Run (Tykwer, 1998) 115
Welcome to the Dollhouse (Solondz, 1995) 115
Wallace & Gromit: A Close Shave (Park, 1995) 115
93. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (Cameron, 1991) 113
94. Ashes of Time (Wong, 1994) 111
95. Flowers of Shanghai (Hou, 1998) 109
96. The Virgin Suicides (Coppola, 1999) 107
97. Ratcatcher (Ramsay, 1999) 106
98. Lovers of the Arctic Circle (Medem, 1998) 104
The Matrix (Wachowski, 1999) 104
100. Crumb (Zwigoff, 1994) 103
Toy Story (Lasseter, 1995) 103

[kieslowski_67]

I would have been much more comfortable if either "red" or "blue" or "goodfellas" or "breaking the waves" top the 90s' list.

[zedz]

You're a machine, Michael! Thanks for doing the work.

Oh, well, my initial reaction is one of dismay that this list is so safe and American. You'd hardly suspect that the 90s were such a great time for Asian cinema on the strength of this. If you removed the US films and the foreign directors beginning with K (maybe people thought Kar-wai was Wong's surname?) it'd be pretty slim pickings.

At least I've got plenty of Darlings to defend!

[Michael]

Scorsese loves Rushmore!

[kieslowski_67]

Oh, well, my initial reaction is one of dismay that this list is so safe and American. You'd hardly suspect that the 90s were such a great time for Asian cinema on the strength of this. If you removed the US films and the foreign directors beginning with K (maybe people thought Kar-wai was Wong's surname?) it'd be pretty slim pickings.

At least I've got plenty of Darlings to defend!

I guess that with the exception of master K's works, there lacks name recognition for the European directors in the US in the 90s, and also lots of interesting movies were never distributed in the US/released on region 1 DVD. As such, mediocre US features dominate the 90s' list. Also agree that it's a pity that lots of great Asian movies are either missing from the list or ranked way too low.

[Hrossa]

Defend yourself here.

I have to admit that this is a pretty sad-sack list, and, sadly, most of the films I voted for are on it.

[Dylan]

No Jeunet & Caro? No "Girl on the Bridge?" One Woody Allen?

Thanks for the effort Michael, I (and the others I'm sure) commend your devotion to the lists project. However, this list is an obvious seal of the fact that the 90s are my least-favorite decade for cinema. Not to say it wasn't a good decade, just my least favorite.

I'm very surprised that "Rushmore" took the top spot. Personally, it barely made my list (#49), and while I do like it, I'm surprised of the immense appreciation here.

Dylan

[Penny Dreadful]

I never thought much of the 90s until I really took stock of it. The 90s were good for Dogme 95, Kieslowski, Tarantino, The Coen Bros, Wes Anderson, Jim Jarmusch, Tarantino, Lynch and Cronenberg, among others. The problem is that the list isn't balanced. Some people voted for Fire Walk With Me while others voted for the Twin Peaks pilot, so both ended up on the list. We've got back-to-back Cronenbergs. Two of the Three Colors films in the top 20 but neither at #1. And so forth.

Meanwhile I'm wondering where's the Svankmeyer, the Kusturica, or some of the great 90's documentaries like Paradise Lost? Time to defend my darlings...

[scotty]

I guess Peter Greenaway stopped making films in the 90s . . . or something. I don't think Rushmore is a bad choice. It is akin to Annie Hall in that it probably ranked high on a lot of lists but not often at the very top. I only had it at #24 and it deserved to be higher, judging by the results. I expected Pulp Fiction to be at the top (#22 for me). What is strange is to see the progression of films at number 4 through the decades: Potemkin, Grand Illusion, Citizen Kane, Ordet, L'Avventura, Taxi Driver, The Decalogue, and (drum roll please) The Big Lebowski. I like the film, but it did not make my list.

On the other hand, the closer one is to the time period, the more difficult it is to determine classic status. This is complicated further when one has "come to consciousness" in a particular time period--it is easy to see one's own time as unable to measure up. For me, that was the 80s--I can't believe how many bad films I saw when everything was new.

[Michael]

Now for the 2000s list, the rules and the format remain the same. List the top 50 films and send it to me by December 31st.

Someone proposed to me that we do the All-Time list after we're done with the 2000s list and before we make another round with the Lists Project. Anyone object to that idea? If not, then we will make that for January and February.

[kieslowski_67]

Meanwhile I'm wondering where's the Svankmeyer, the Kusturica, or some of the great 90's documentaries like Paradise Lost? Time to defend my darlings...

Thanks again for mentioning Kusturica, the master film maker who has made some of the most beatiful films during the last two decades. Anyway, I cannot believe that the 90s list comes from the criterion board. It looks more like something directly coming from the imdb.

[denti alligator]

Someone proposed to me that we do the All-Time list after we're done with the 2000s list and before we make another round with the Lists Project. Anyone object to that idea? If not, then we will make that for January and February.

I do. We did something similar to this on the old board and matt tallied them up every week or so. It was pretty boring, since it was the same-ol' same-ol' "top films ever" (you know: Kane, 8 1/2, 2001). With so many films to chose from the list is going to favor the ones that everyone loves anyway (and we know what these are), or some of us will vote for lesser-known titles, but these won't off-set the predictable votes. Maybe if we changed the rules so that each film needn't get two votes to make the list we'd see some more interesting results, but still.

I say we go back around to the silent era, which I'm thrilled to participate in this time around.

[Kambei]

Thanks again for mentioning Kusturica, the master film maker who has made some of the most beatiful films during the last two decades.

He was on my list! And he made the top 100 (#41) with his most politically controversial film...

Anyway, I cannot believe that the 90s list comes from the criterion board. It looks more like something directly coming from the imdb.

This is hyperbole, i hope. There was an embarrassment of riches from all parts of the world in this decade, and our list is certainly different from anything that would ever be generated on imdb. Rushmore isn't even on their top 250. There have been films in our top 100 in every decade that i would question, I'm not sure the 1990s are any different. I was expecting Red or Chungking at #1, so the list certainly surprised me!

Also interesting, this was the first list in which i'd seen the majority of the films in the theatre!

[kieslowski_67]

Thanks again for mentioning Kusturica, the master film maker who has made some of the most beatiful films during the last two decades.

He was on my list! And he made the top 100 (#41) with his most politically controversial film...

For a guy who has made "underground", "time of the gypsies", and "when father was away on business", among others, and one of the well repsected leading European directors since the early 80s, to have only one movie listed in the top 100 (only at #41) for the last two decades is a little bit embarassing. That was my complaint.

[scotty]

This decade generated, by my count, more than 500 entries from 18 or 19 lists (maybe more; Michael would know). So there are more than 400 films submitted that didn't make the list. The top vote getters had far fewer total points than in the 1980s list. That diversity doesn't come through in the final 101, but the sheer variety of the overall submissions does represent the board rather well. Michael, will you be providing a list of the two-vote also rans?

[Michael]

This decade generated, by my count, more than 500 entries from 18 or 19 lists (maybe more; Michael would know). So there are more than 400 films submitted that didn't make the list. The top vote getters had far fewer total points than in the 1980s list. That diversity doesn't come through in the final 101, but the sheer variety of the overall submissions does represent the board rather well. Michael, will you be providing a list of the two-vote also rans?

30 lists were submitted in total. Is the list of the "two-vote also rans" really necessary? It's quite long and I think the "Defend Your Darlings" thread represents the diversity more than enough.

[scotty]

Michael--that's fine, leave it as is. You've done enough good work. The fact that 30 lists were submitted makes it even more remarkable that the top spots garnered so few points relative to the 1980s. What looks like consensus may not be so.

[Andre Jurieu]

Maybe if we changed the rules so that each film needn't get two votes to make the list we'd see some more interesting results...

I don't think changing the rule would necessarily change the results that much. Even if we eliminated the 2-vote rule, the point totals are generally too high to allow for the inclusion of a one-vote title. Even if two people awarded a film their #1 spot, it would only give the film 100 points and that isn't quite enough to allow for a film to be included on the list. If one person votes for a film at #1, the 50 points doesn't really matter that much when more lists are submitted. I guess this is when campaigning helps.

[Michael]

Andre, absolutely! You couldn't explain it better. Thanks.

[scotty]

There will be Lord of the Rings votes. Will they be for one film or for three?

[Michael]

There will be Lord of the Rings votes. Will they be for one film or for three?

The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King are to be treated as three separate films.

[Kambei]

There will be Lord of the Rings votes. Will they be for one film or for three?

The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King are to be treated as three separate films.

Of any multi-part movie, this one really is just one movie. They were (almost) all filmed at once, and only edited into separate movies after it became clear how successful the first one was. having sat through Trilogy Tuesday, i think that should earn me the right to vote for them as one movie (apart from them trying to take up multiple spots on my alread-overcrowded 00s list)!

If the Dekalog was one movie, this should be.

[toiletduck!]

They were (almost) all filmed at once, and only edited into separate movies after it became clear how successful the first one was.

You lost me on that one -- the first one was a success before being edited into its own separate being?

Michael, I'm a Lists Project lurker only, but if I were participating, I'd be with you on this one.

[Kambei]

From the rules:

4. Serials will be counted as one film. Films like Ivan the Terrible and Die Niebelungen will be considered one film. Trilogies such as the Apu Trilogy, the Godfather trilogy, and the Three Colors trilogy will be counted as three different films, and must be separated as such.

I guess we need to decide if LOTR is a serial or a trilogy of separately filmed movies.

I think they left themselves open to making it a two part or three part movie depending on how well the first one did. and if it had tanked, they weren't going to film any extra scenes. i could be completely wrong, though! i probably am...

[Andre Jurieu]

I think they left themselves open to making it a two part or three part movie depending on how well the first one did. and if it had tanked, they weren't going to film any extra scenes. i could be completely wrong, though! i probably am...

I had to send out the promotional materials for the first film (stupid gigantic-ass calendars as Christmas gifts for filthy rich executives) and had to sit through some pretty boring meetings on the how these films would be a huge financial success, so I would have to say that these films were planned to be a trilogy no matter what happened to the first. If they were ever planning a two part series instead of three, those plans had been scrapped within 8 months prior to the first film opening. There is also the fact that they call it the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.