My Five Favorite Films From...1990

Honorable Mention – Dances with Wolves: This film gets cut on more often than not these days. But I still think it was a powerful movie that killed a lot of myths about the Old West.

5. La Femme Nikita: Another Luc Besson film, another favorite of mine. Great movie. The remake with Bridget Fonda was “meh” at best.

4. Total Recall: Probably my favorite Arnie film after The Terminator. Fun action/sci-fi romp with lots of insanity and a nice “what is reality?” undercurrent that isn’t insulting or tacked-on.

3. Misery: A scary movie that doesn’t rely on cheap “scare moments” but revels in the pure horror of how people can mistreat people. In some ways the movie’s sledgehammer scene is more visceral and cringe-inducing than King’s original “whisper of the axe.”

2. The Hunt for Red October: Sure, Connery’s Scottish accent is kind of misplaced as the Russian sub captain. But this is one of the best Cold-War thrillers ever made.

1. Goodfellas: As gangster movies go, only the first two Godfather movies surpass this one. And if someone wanted to argue Goodfellas was the best, I wouldn’t think they were out of line. Note-perfect the entire way through.

Films I Like But Didn't Make The List: Air America, Cadillac Man, Back to the Future III, Arachnophobia, Cyrano de Bergerac, Europa Europa, The Freshman, Diehard 2, The Grifters, Jacob’s Ladder, Miller’s Crossing, The Krays, Pump Up The Volume, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, The Godfather Part III, Hamlet, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Kindergarten Cop, The Russia House, Joe Versus the Volcano

Underappreciated x2 – Tremors and Dreams: Tremors probably doesn’t belong here, because a lot of people know about it. But it is such a good pulp horror film I still think it doesn’t get enough love. And Kurosawa’s Dreams rarely gets mentioned when people discuss his films, but it is one of my favorites. The imagery is remarkable.

Guilty Pleasure – Blind Fury: Rutger Hauer. As a martial-arts expert. Who is blind. How can you not love a setup like that?

Insane Film That Must Be Mentioned – Wild at Heart: No surprise here, as almost any David Lynch film could qualify as “insane” in some fashion. Here you have a violent road movie with crazy Elvis allusions. Yes, that sounds like the “insane” label is justified.