Slant Magazine's The 100 Best Films of the 1990s

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The further one sifts through the decade's offerings, the more surprising its highlights seem. This is, after all, the decade during which Terrence Malick broke his two-decade-long sabbatical from filmmaking, a fugue only Stanley Kubrick came close to rivaling, both creating masterworks well worth the wait. The decade when all sorts of Eastern cinema broke through, from sensual Hong Kong mixtapes to cerebral Iranian puzzle boxes. The decade where Robert Altman, Brian De Palma, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, David Cronenberg, Steven Spielberg, and others who made their names during the American New Wave of the '70s all broadened their horizons and confirmed their artistry, even with next-generation filmmakers like Gus Van Sant, David Fincher, Todd Haynes, and Quentin Tarantino all nipping at their heels. The decade where a commercial tie-in to a hit TV show could also be perhaps the strangest, most confounding wide-release film of its era (which should've surprised no one, given David Lynch's involvement). The decade that saw a talking pig (Babe) competing against another one (Mel Gibson) for the Best Picture Oscar. The '90s were all that and still found room for Aleksandr Sokurov holding a landscape shot for 40 minutes, James Cameron breaking the $100-million-budget ceiling, Chantal Akerman people-watching, and at least two anarchic, if not downright Marxist, sequels to hit children's movies. Dated? This decade is daft punk.

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  1. 1 new

    The Thin Red Line

    1998, in 14 top lists Check
  2. 2 new

    Eyes Wide Shut

    1999, in 11 top lists Check
  3. 3 new

    Nema-ye Nazdik

    1990 — a.k.a. Close-Up, in 21 top lists Check
  4. 4 new

    Guling jie shaonian sharen shijian

    1991 — a.k.a. A Brighter Summer Day, in 19 top lists Check
  5. 5 new

    Goodfellas

    1990, in 31 top lists Check
  6. 6 new

    Sátántangó

    1994 — a.k.a. Satantango, in 12 top lists Check
  7. 7 new

    Safe

    1995, in 8 top lists Check
  8. 8 new

    Underground

    1995, in 9 top lists Check
  9. 9 new

    Ta'm e guilass

    1997 — a.k.a. Taste of Cherry, in 17 top lists Check
  10. 10 new

    Crash

    1996, in 9 top lists Check
  11. 11 new

    Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

    1992, in 6 top lists Check
  12. 12 new

    Naked

    1993, in 9 top lists Check
  13. 13 new

    Pulp Fiction

    1994, in 38 top lists Check
  14. 14 new

    Showgirls

    1995, in 6 top lists Check
  15. 15 new

    Dead Man

    1995, in 12 top lists Check
  16. 16 new

    Short Cuts

    1993, in 9 top lists Check
  17. 17 new

    Heat

    1995, in 23 top lists Check
  18. 18 new

    Dekalog

    1989, in 11 top lists Check
  19. 19 new

    Being John Malkovich

    1999, in 14 top lists Check
  20. 20 new

    Starship Troopers

    1997, in 9 top lists Check
  21. 21 new

    Noon o Goldoon

    1996 — a.k.a. A Moment of Innocence, in 9 top lists Check
  22. 22 new

    Rushmore

    1998, in 11 top lists Check
  23. 23 new

    Jackie Brown

    1997, in 5 top lists Check
  24. 24 new

    Husbands and Wives

    1992, in 6 top lists Check
  25. 25 new

    Mat i syn

    1997 — a.k.a. Mother and Son, in 7 top lists Check
  26. 26 new

    Zire darakhatan zeyton

    1994 — a.k.a. Through the Olive Trees, in 9 top lists Check
  27. 27 new

    Hoop Dreams

    1994, in 15 top lists Check
  28. 28 new

    Chung Hing sam lam

    1994 — a.k.a. Chungking Express, in 19 top lists Check
  29. 29 new

    Lektionen in Finsternis

    1992 — a.k.a. Lessons of Darkness, in 6 top lists Check
  30. 30 new

    Carlito's Way

    1993, in 5 top lists Check
  31. 31 new

    The Long Day Closes

    1992, in 9 top lists Check
  32. 32 new

    The Big Lebowski

    1998, in 26 top lists Check
  33. 33 new

    Lat sau san taam

    1992 — a.k.a. Hard Boiled, in 12 top lists Check
  34. 34 new

    Boogie Nights

    1997, in 12 top lists Check
  35. 35 new

    Breaking the Waves

    1996, in 14 top lists Check
  36. 36 new

    Fargo

    1996, in 27 top lists Check
  37. 37 new

    Bitter Moon

    1992, in 3 top lists Check
  38. 38 new

    Irma Vep

    1996, in 7 top lists Check
  39. 39 new

    My Own Private Idaho

    1991, in 10 top lists Check
  40. 40 new

    Bad Lieutenant

    1992, in 6 top lists Check
  41. 41 new

    Groundhog Day

    1993, in 22 top lists Check
  42. 42 new

    Les amants du Pont-Neuf

    1991 — a.k.a. The Lovers on the Bridge, in 10 top lists Check
  43. 43 new

    Exotica

    1994, in 7 top lists Check
  44. 44 new

    Histoire(s) du cinéma: Toutes les histoires

    1989, in 0 top lists Check
  45. 45 new

    D'Est

    1993 — a.k.a. From the East, in 5 top lists Check
  46. 46 new

    Before Sunrise

    1995, in 14 top lists Check
  47. 47 new

    Magnolia

    1999, in 17 top lists Check
  48. 48 new

    He liu

    1997 — a.k.a. The River, in 8 top lists Check
  49. 49 new

    The Last Days of Disco

    1998, in 1 top list Check
  50. 50 new

    Zendegi va digar hich

    1992 — a.k.a. And Life Goes On, in 10 top lists Check
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Last updated on Nov 6, 2012; source