Scarecrow Video's BEST OF THE 1990s

Our latest special rental section is up now. Each employee was asked to list ten films released during the 1990s. It was up to each individual to determine if  BEST meant "critically acclaimed and generally considered great" (like Goodfellas) or "personal favorite" (like one of mine The Commitments) or "representative of the decade's culture and trends" (like Hype!), hence the fairly eclectic group of titles. Here's the list, compiled by year and then by title. Take a look and let us know what you think.  FYI: A * means it is also available on Blu-ray.

 

1990  

Boiling Point  dir. Takeshi “Beat” Kitano

Brain Dead    dir. Adam Simon, written by Charles Beaumont

Darkman *   dir. Sam Raimi

Dreams  dir. Akira Kurosawa

The Exorcist 3   dir. William Peter Blatty, who wrote the first film

Frankenhooker   dir. Frank Henenlotter

Goodfellas *   dir. Martin Scorsese

The Handmaid’s Tale   dir. Volker Schlondorff

The Hunt For Red October *   dir. John McTiernan, based on the novel by Tom Clancy. 

 

Jacob’s Ladder *   dir. Adrian Lyne

Joe Versus The Volcano   dir. John Patrick Shanley

Miami Blues   dir. George Armitage, based on the novel by Charles Willeford

Miller’s Crossing   dir. Coen Brothers  

RoboCop 2    dir. Irvin “Empire Strikes Back” Kershner

The Sheltering Sky    dir. Bernardo Bertolucci

Total Recall *    dir. Paul Verhoeven

Tremors    dir. Ron Underwood

Wild at Heart     dir. David Lynch

 

1991

Barton Fink  dir. Coen Brothers

Begotten   dir. E. Elias Merhige

The Commitments   dir. Alan Parker, based on the novel by Roddy Doyle

Days of Being Wild    dir. Wong Kar Wai

Delicatessen *   dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Dogfight   dir. Nancy Savoca

The Fisher King   dir. Terry Gilliam

Impromptu   dir. James Lapine

JFK—Director’s Cut *   dir. Oliver Stone

Kafka   dir. Steven Soderbergh   Available on VHS & PAL DVD

The Last Boy Scout   dir. Tony Scott

My Own Private Idaho   dir. Gus Van Sant

Naked Lunch   dir. David Cronenberg

Point Break   dir. Kathyrn Bigelow

Raise The Red Lantern  dir. Zhang Yimou

The Silence of The Lambs *    dir. Jonathan Demme

Slacker   dir. Richard Linklater

Stone Cold   dir. Craig R. Baxley

Terminator 2: Judgment Day *   dir. James Cameron

Thelma & Louise    dir. Ridley Scott

Until The End of The World--Director's Cut   dir. Wim Wenders

 

1992

American Heart   dir. Martin Bell

Baraka *    dir. Ron Fricke

Batman Returns *   dir. Tim Burton

The Crying Game    dir. Neil Jordan

Dead Alive   dir. Peter Jackson

Encino Man   dir. Les Mayfield

Flirting With Disaster   dir. David O. Russell

Full Contact   dir. Ringo Lam

Glengarry Glen Ross    dir. James Foley, based on the play by David Mamet

Hard Boiled *    dir. John Woo

Howard’s End  *    dir. James Ivory 

In The Soup    dir. Alexandre Rockwell

A League of Their Own   dir. Penny Marshall

Lessons of Darkness   dir. Werner Herzog

Orlando   dir. Sally Potter, based on the novel by Virginia Woolf

Supercop   dir. Stanley Tong

Reservoir Dogs *    dir. Quentin Tarantino

The Resurrected   dir. Dan O’Bannon, based on the story by H.P. Lovecraft

Romper Stomper   dir. Geoffrey Wright

Sneakers   dir. Phil Alden Robinson

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me    dir. David Lynch

Unforgiven *    dir. Clint Eastwood

 

1993

G.G. Allin: Hated    dir. Todd Phillips (who went on to direct The Hangover)

Cannibal! The Musical   dir. Trey Parker

Bad Boy Bubby *   dir. Rolf de Heer

Cemetery Man   dir. Michele Soavi

Dazed & Confused   dir. Richard Linklater

Farewell My Concubine    dir. Chen Kaige

Fearless   dir. Peter Weir, based on the novel by Rafael Yglesias

Groundhog Day *    dir. Harold Ramis

Iron Monkey  *   dir. Yuen Woo Ping

Jurassic Park   dir. Steven Spielberg

Like Water For Chocolate   dir. Alfonso Arau, based on the novel by Laura Esquivel  

Matinee   dir. Joe Dante

Menace II Society   dir. Hughes Brothers

Naked    dir. Mike Leigh

Ninja Scroll   dir. Yoshiaki Kawajiri

The Piano    dir. Jane Campion

The Sandlot   dir. David M. Evans

The Scent of Green Papaya   dir. Anh Hung Tran

Schindler’s List    dir. Steven Spielberg

Searching for Bobby Fischer   dir. Steven Zaillian  

The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb   dir. Dave Borthwick

Short Cuts   dir. Robert Altman

So I Married an Axe Murderer   dir. Thomas Schlamme

True Romance *    dir. Tony Scott, written by Quentin Tarantino

 

1994

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert   dir. Stephan Elliott

Bandit Queen   dir. Shekhar Kapur

Blue: Trois Couleurs   dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski

Chungking Express *   dir. Wong Kar Wai

Ed Wood   dir. Tim Burton

Fist of Legend  *   dir. Gordon Chan, starring Jet Li

Go Fish   dir. Rose Troche

Hoop Dreams   dir. Steve James

The Last Seduction   dir. John Dahl

Leon: The Professional *   dir. Luc Besson

Mi Vida Loca   dir. Allison Anders

Natural Born Killers  *   dir. Oliver Stone

Pulp Fiction *   dir. Quentin Tarantino

Queen Margot   dir. Patrice Chereau

Red: Trois Couleurs   dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski

Satantango   dir. Bela Tarr

Swimming With Sharks   dir. George Huang

True Lies   dir. James Cameron

White: Trois Couleurs   dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski

Wild Reeds   dir. Andre Techine

 

1995

Babe   dir. Chris Noonan

Beyond Rangoon   dir. John Boorman

Casino *  dir. Martin Scorsese

Ceremonie  dir. Claude Chabrol

The City of Lost Children   dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Clueless  dir. Amy Heckerling

Crumb *   dir. Terry Zwigoff

Cyclo   dir. Anh Hung Tran

The Day of The Beast   dir. Alex de la Iglesia

Dead Man   dir. Jim Jarmusch

Ghost in The Shell   dir. Mamoru Oshii

La Haine   dir. Mathieu Kassovitz

Heat *   dir.  Michael Mann

Heavenly Creatures   dir. Peter Jackson

Kids   dir. Larry Clark

Land and Freedom   dir. Ken Loach

Leaving Las Vegas  *   dir. Mike Figgis

Mortal Kombat   dir. Paul W.S. Anderson

Notes From Underground   dir. Gary Walkow, based on the novel by  Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Player  *   dir. Robert Altman

Safe   dir. Todd Haynes

Sense and Sensibility   dir. Ang Lee

Tommy Boy   dir. Peter Segal

Toy Story   dir. John Lasseter

Underground   dir. Emir Kusturica

 

1996

Bottle Rocket *   dir. Wes Anderson

Bound    dir. The Wachowski Brothers

Breaking The Waves    dir. Lars von Trier

Capitaine Conan    dir. Bertrand Tavernier

Crash   dir. David Cronenberg

Fargo *    dir. Coen Brothers

Fear    dir. James Foley

From Dusk ‘Till Dawn   dir. Robert Rodriguez

Hype!   dir. Doug Pray

Kingpin   dir.  The Farrelly Brothers

Lone Star   dir. John Sayles

Mission: Impossible *   dir. Brian DePalma

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills  dir. Joe Berlinger & Burce Sinofsky

The Pillow Book   dir. Peter Greenaway

The Rock *   dir. Michael Bay

Seven *   dir. David Fincher

Swingers    dir. Doug Liman, written by Jon “Money” Favreau

Thesis  dir. Alejandro Amenabar

Trainspotting   dir. Danny Boyle

When We Were Kings   dir. Leon Gast

 

1997

Bounce Ko Gals   dir. Masato Harada

Boogie Nights *    dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

The Eel    dir. Shohei Imamura

Face/Off  *    dir. John Woo

Fireworks   dir. Takeshi “Beat” Kitano

Freeway   dir. Matthew Bright

Funny Games    dir. Michael Haneke

Grosse Pointe Blank    dir. George Armitage

Gummo     dir. Harmony Korine

Jackie Brown    dir. Quentin Tarantino

Kundun   dir. Martin Scorsese

L.A. Confidential   dir. Curtis Hanson, based on the novel by James Ellroy

Live Flesh   dir. Pedro Almodovar

Lost Highway   dir. David Lynch

Men in Black    dir. Barry Sonnenfeld

Pi    dir. Darren Aronofsky

Princess Mononoke   dir. Hayao Miyazaki

Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion  dir. David Mirkin, based on the play by Robin Schiff

Scream *   dir. Wes Craven, written by Kevin Williamson

Spice World   dir. Bob Spiers

Starship Troopers   dir. Paul Verhoeven

The Sweet Hereafter   dir. Atom Egoyan

Taste of Cherry   dir. Abbas Kiarostami

Year of the Horse   dir. Jim Jarmusch

 

1998

Armageddon *   dir. Michael Bay

Babe: Pig In The City    dir. George Miller

The Big Lebowski   dir. Coen Brothers

Blade    dir. Stephen Norrington, written by David S. Goyer

Buffalo 66    dir. Vincent Gallo

Dark City *    dir. Alex Proyas

Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas   dir. Terry Gilliam

Fudoh: A New Generation   dir. Takashi Miike

Happiness    dir. Todd Solondz

Henry Fool    dir. Hal Hartley

Little Dieter Needs To Fly    dir. Werner Herzog

Out Of Sight *   dir. Steven Soderbergh

Ringu   dir. Hideo Nakata

Run Lola Run *   dir. Tom Twyker

Rushmore  dir. Wes Anderson

The Slums of Beverly Hills   dir. Tamara Jenkins

The Terrorist    dir. Santosh Sivan

The Thin Red Line    dir. Terrence Malick

Velvet Goldmine   dir. Todd Haynes

Zero Effect    dir. Jake Kasdan

 

1999

All About My Mother   dir. Pedro Almodovar

American Movie   dir. Chris Smith

Being John Malkovich    dir. Spike Jonze, written by Charlie Kaufman

Blair Witch Project *    dir. Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez

Book of Life   dir. Hal Hartley

The Emperor and The Assassin   dir. Chen Kaige

Eyes Wide Shut  *    dir. Stanley Kubrick

Fight Club   dir. David Fincher

Gamera III: Revenge of Iris   dir. Shusuke Kaneko

Ghost Dog: The Way of The Samurai   dir. Jim Jarmusch

The Insider   dir. Michael Mann

The Iron Giant   dir. Brad Bird

The Limey   dir. Steven Soderbergh

Magnolia *   dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

The Matrix  *    dir. The Wachowski Brothers

Office Space  *    dir. Mike Judge

The Straight Story   dir. David Lynch

Sweet and Lowdown   dir. Woody Allen

Three Kings *   dir. David O. Russell 

Topsy-Turvy *   dir. Mike Leigh

 

You'll find these films alphabetically by title on the shelves facing the last column of shelves in the director's section. Just look for the BEST OF 1990s sign.