The 100 Greatest movies of the 1990s #28. Ed Wood (55 Viewers)

[zamboni]

American President IMO is a nice, watchable, innocuous movie. To me, it lacks the acting chops or interesting enough plot line to be considered one of the decade’s best, but as always, it’s up to Tim.

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

Tim knows best

 

[northern exposure]

Looking at the full list so far, here are the ones that I have no memory of:

93. Guilty By Suspicion
92. The Commitments
88. Defending Your Life
87. Reversal of Fortune
77. Crumb
68. The Witches
64. Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert
35. The Player

Most of those I’m not surprised by The Witches was pretty big at least to kids and I would think adults with kids. That movie scared the crap out of me. I think they recently did a remake of it. The Player is just perfect though. It’s very much locked into its early 90s Hollywood world but it still works perfectly imo. The cameos are incredible, Bruce Willis, Julia Robert’s, Nick Nolte,Cher, Johh Cusack, Jeff Goldblum, Burt Reynolds, etc. - they totally immerse you into the idea that this is really Hollywood even while being so ridiculous it couldn’t be. Or could it?

I remember really liking The Player but haven't seen it since I watched it in '92. Would like to watch this one again.

Anytime I really like a movie….like really really like……I see it again plenty.

If you have not seen it in 33 years……how good could have it been?

Obviously not top 100 in the 90’s for you.

I've only seen Schindler's List once. I think that's an incredible movie, but I'm in no hurry to see it again and again. I could say this about plenty of films. I've seen Saving Private Ryan once. That was great. That was also enough for me.

Plus, most of my rewatches in life come from TNT or USA or whatever the free cable channels were in the 90s/00s that just showed movies like Shawshank Redemption on constant loop, so if I were in a hotel room with nothing to do, I'd watch again and again just because.

How exactly would I watch a movie like The Player again and again? Never on free cable, I don't own the DVD and I'm surely not going out of my way to pay for the experience again when other movies I haven't seen are out there.

I am a movie head I guess.

I own hindredsnof DVD/Blue Ray/4K discs.

Yes one of my weaknesses like vinyl and cds lol.

I ha e seen Schindlers list half a dozen times…..obviously a very personal movie for me.

But I get it…..not everyone views movies over and over.

It as a movie buff I watch my favorite flicks a lot….lol.

I'm more interested in your guitar collection.

My childhood friend is a guitar nerd and we were talking about Jim Irsay's collection. Holy moly is that thing incredible.

Hahaha yeah I have a decent amount of great axes. And play em all.

My prized possession is my Alex Lifeson Custom Shop 355

Only 300 were ever made.

I have #207

I have #206.












I don't. I just wanted to be "one upper" guy.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Personally, I have a lot of trouble finding things on streamers that I want to watch so that is one barrier

1st world problems but yeah, I agree. Scrolling and searching can be a chore unless you know specifically what you want to watch. From time to time I'll do a little research on things movies/shows I'd like to watch. I tend to watch a lot of what's expiring.

I do too, then I try to find the movies I want to watch on the streaming options I have and get grumpy all over again. This happened all the time last year when we were doing director of the month stuff, or now when I am wanting to review or watch one for a list. It feels like 75% of the time I have to get it through the library or rent it if I want to watch it. It's bizarre - each service has 1000s of movie as well.

 

[El Floppo]

American President IMO is a nice, watchable, innocuous movie. To me, it lacks the acting chops or interesting enough plot line to be considered one of the decade’s best, but as always, it’s up to Tim.

I thought the acting was quite good tbh, but innocuous feels about right.

 

[northern exposure]

BS (before streaming) you were FORCED to rewatch movies since that's what cable did. Now that I have streaming I much rather watch something that I've not seen a dozen times already. I mean, one day I might go back and watch something I haven't seen in a long time and I occasionally rewatch Psych episodes but with so much new to see why would you opt to not try something new?

Sure, if you didn't have access to a video rental store. I was always there because it felt like the same 10 movies played over and over on the few channels we had.

Personally, I have a lot of trouble finding things on streamers that I want to watch so that is one barrier. Already seeing waaaaay too many movies is another barrier on streamers, as often ones that would interest me I have already gotten to. Not so much this year, but because I didn't watch shows or sports for about a decade, I was probably watching 300+ movies a year. If I watched all new ones, chances are I am watching a ton of stuff that I will not like.

I really enjoy the process of rewatching a movie to see if it means something different now or rethink it after a first watch. I am a much different person I was vs. 20 years ago so my opinion on movies have changed as I do for better or worse.

Yeah. I mentioned in the rental thread (and thanks to Punt for the link) that I rewatched one of my old favorite underappreciated comedies, So I Married an Axe Murderer. I still quote a bunch of lines from it, despite not having seen it maybe since it came out.

It's not good.

the bits I remembered were still great, but everything else was...not.

I still like it. Not top shelf, but still good.

 

[General Malaise]

Plus, with 5 kids, I don't exactly have all the free time in the world to re-watch movies. I'd say over the last two decades + of fatherhood, I've seen an average of 5 new movies a year, tops. The golden era of series like Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Bear, etc provided me with far more entertainment than movies did during that same time.

Then you aren't that big of a movie fan. Not a criticism, just saying that you did have time to watch more you just chose to watch TV series instead. Like Todem, I don't get people not watching movies over when they say they loved them, but that is also more the people I hung around with - we watched a lot of movies and multiple times. Even brutal watches like Requiem for a Dream, Schindler's, or Hereditary I have seen multiple times.

As I've said in multiple movie threads numerous times, I used to be a very big fan of movies. I used to set my VCR to record "Siskel & Ebert" every Sunday and own two of Roger Ebert's books. I would read movie reviews in newspapers religiously and only fork over money to see the ones that were well received.

Your characterization of me couldn't be further off base. I was (and will always be) an educated movie consumer. I love movies.

But I will not waste my time - nor my money - on crap. Life is a value proposition and I won't wast what little time I have on Hollywood drek. I've been burned too many times. Why would I gamble on a movie expense when an episode of Sopranos is available to me as part of my cable package? This was my thought process once I started pumping out kids.

Some of you people in here will watch anything. You'll spend your time and your money doing it and then say "geeee, you know, that Mission Impossible 28 was pretty lame". Well no ****ing duh! Do you even care about your time and how fast it slips away? Why feed into this system when better choices abound? I don't get it.

I've seen many movies several times on a rewatch - I can quote Goodfellas line for line. Clockwork Orange? At least 10 times.

I've never once watched a Marvel movie. Many movies I see in passing just look like video games. Complete waste of time.

Not sure where my characterization was wrong. You even used the phrase "used to be", so maybe that is the phrase I should have used as well. Also part of that HBO package was access to their movies, correct? No extra $ needed to watch movies vs. shows. You chose to watch Sopranos and other stuff instead of a movie. I get your frustration, but I guess I have had the opposite experience - I have been burned way too many times by TV shows falling off in quality and feeling like I wasted my time there. As you said, it's a value proposition. Do I spend 40+ hours on a show that may or may not continue in quality or not get cancelled, or do I watch 20-25 movies? That is where my calculations have landed me. Even if I didn't like the movie, it's basically 2 episodes of an HBO show, and not a big deal.

What I don't understand about you is that what you ***** about is what I largely ***** about for movies in the last couple decades. But I am currently trying to whittle down a list of about 300 movies from the last couple decades that I would probably grade at 7.5/10 or higher for a "best of" list. IMO you are focused waaaay to much on the big budget blockbuster movies in the theater and not trying to find the awesome recent movies, which IMO there are a ton of. Yes, there is too much attention paid to sequels, known IP, and reboots, but that is a small % of overall movies. I would say the % is a little higher, especially on an average day at the theater in the last decade, than it was in the 90s or earlier but let's not pretend we weren't getting bombarded with horror and action sequels at that time as well. There has always been a lot of crap to avoid in the realm of movies.

ETA: if you search up critics' lists now in the same way you would use S&E in the day and read their reviews, I find it very hard to believe that they would be suggesting a ton of Marvel movies, Jurassic World 4, or Mission Impossible 28 - which are the types of movies you seem to be railing against and trying to avoid.

I'm going to ask you a very simple question, one not steeped in anything other than curiosity:

Where you live right now, today - how far away is it from where you graduated from high school?

 

[KarmaPolice]

Plus, with 5 kids, I don't exactly have all the free time in the world to re-watch movies. I'd say over the last two decades + of fatherhood, I've seen an average of 5 new movies a year, tops. The golden era of series like Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Bear, etc provided me with far more entertainment than movies did during that same time.

Then you aren't that big of a movie fan. Not a criticism, just saying that you did have time to watch more you just chose to watch TV series instead. Like Todem, I don't get people not watching movies over when they say they loved them, but that is also more the people I hung around with - we watched a lot of movies and multiple times. Even brutal watches like Requiem for a Dream, Schindler's, or Hereditary I have seen multiple times.

As I've said in multiple movie threads numerous times, I used to be a very big fan of movies. I used to set my VCR to record "Siskel & Ebert" every Sunday and own two of Roger Ebert's books. I would read movie reviews in newspapers religiously and only fork over money to see the ones that were well received.

Your characterization of me couldn't be further off base. I was (and will always be) an educated movie consumer. I love movies.

But I will not waste my time - nor my money - on crap. Life is a value proposition and I won't wast what little time I have on Hollywood drek. I've been burned too many times. Why would I gamble on a movie expense when an episode of Sopranos is available to me as part of my cable package? This was my thought process once I started pumping out kids.

Some of you people in here will watch anything. You'll spend your time and your money doing it and then say "geeee, you know, that Mission Impossible 28 was pretty lame". Well no ****ing duh! Do you even care about your time and how fast it slips away? Why feed into this system when better choices abound? I don't get it.

I've seen many movies several times on a rewatch - I can quote Goodfellas line for line. Clockwork Orange? At least 10 times.

I've never once watched a Marvel movie. Many movies I see in passing just look like video games. Complete waste of time.

Not sure where my characterization was wrong. You even used the phrase "used to be", so maybe that is the phrase I should have used as well. Also part of that HBO package was access to their movies, correct? No extra $ needed to watch movies vs. shows. You chose to watch Sopranos and other stuff instead of a movie. I get your frustration, but I guess I have had the opposite experience - I have been burned way too many times by TV shows falling off in quality and feeling like I wasted my time there. As you said, it's a value proposition. Do I spend 40+ hours on a show that may or may not continue in quality or not get cancelled, or do I watch 20-25 movies? That is where my calculations have landed me. Even if I didn't like the movie, it's basically 2 episodes of an HBO show, and not a big deal.

What I don't understand about you is that what you ***** about is what I largely ***** about for movies in the last couple decades. But I am currently trying to whittle down a list of about 300 movies from the last couple decades that I would probably grade at 7.5/10 or higher for a "best of" list. IMO you are focused waaaay to much on the big budget blockbuster movies in the theater and not trying to find the awesome recent movies, which IMO there are a ton of. Yes, there is too much attention paid to sequels, known IP, and reboots, but that is a small % of overall movies. I would say the % is a little higher, especially on an average day at the theater in the last decade, than it was in the 90s or earlier but let's not pretend we weren't getting bombarded with horror and action sequels at that time as well. There has always been a lot of crap to avoid in the realm of movies.

ETA: if you search up critics' lists now in the same way you would use S&E in the day and read their reviews, I find it very hard to believe that they would be suggesting a ton of Marvel movies, Jurassic World 4, or Mission Impossible 28 - which are the types of movies you seem to be railing against and trying to avoid.

I'm going to ask you a very simple question, one not steeped in anything other than curiosity:

Where you live right now, today - how far away is it from where you graduated from high school?

About a 20 min drive down the road.

 

[General Malaise]

I can bail on an HBO/streaming service show 10 minutes in if I'm not feeling it. I've done that countless times.

Bailing on a movie I paid for to watch in its entirety? Different story.

And please, for decades, the HBO movies available on rewatch were not best in breed. We can all agree on this. So while there are movie AND show options on HBO, the quality was not always aligned and the streaming choice was not always there.

I don't need to defend myself further on the influx of overdone sequels in here. I need only point to Mission Impossible 17, Fast and Furious 87 and another super hero movie the world never wanted. This wasn't a hallmark of the 90s, full stop. The 90s had what, 2 Batmans? 3? How many since we hit 2000? 8 at least. I'm probably off by a few.....dozen.

I look forward to you opening my eyes to all the great movies being made today. I mean that. I thought "Holdovers" was a fantastic recent movie made. I rather enjoyed "Complete Unknown". I even enjoyed "Maverick" as cheesy and plot-dumb as it was. But when I look around at what's available in the theater for $13 a throw, I just shake my head. What's the best movie out there right now that I should rush out and see?

 

[General Malaise]

Plus, with 5 kids, I don't exactly have all the free time in the world to re-watch movies. I'd say over the last two decades + of fatherhood, I've seen an average of 5 new movies a year, tops. The golden era of series like Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Bear, etc provided me with far more entertainment than movies did during that same time.

Then you aren't that big of a movie fan. Not a criticism, just saying that you did have time to watch more you just chose to watch TV series instead. Like Todem, I don't get people not watching movies over when they say they loved them, but that is also more the people I hung around with - we watched a lot of movies and multiple times. Even brutal watches like Requiem for a Dream, Schindler's, or Hereditary I have seen multiple times.

As I've said in multiple movie threads numerous times, I used to be a very big fan of movies. I used to set my VCR to record "Siskel & Ebert" every Sunday and own two of Roger Ebert's books. I would read movie reviews in newspapers religiously and only fork over money to see the ones that were well received.

Your characterization of me couldn't be further off base. I was (and will always be) an educated movie consumer. I love movies.

But I will not waste my time - nor my money - on crap. Life is a value proposition and I won't wast what little time I have on Hollywood drek. I've been burned too many times. Why would I gamble on a movie expense when an episode of Sopranos is available to me as part of my cable package? This was my thought process once I started pumping out kids.

Some of you people in here will watch anything. You'll spend your time and your money doing it and then say "geeee, you know, that Mission Impossible 28 was pretty lame". Well no ****ing duh! Do you even care about your time and how fast it slips away? Why feed into this system when better choices abound? I don't get it.

I've seen many movies several times on a rewatch - I can quote Goodfellas line for line. Clockwork Orange? At least 10 times.

I've never once watched a Marvel movie. Many movies I see in passing just look like video games. Complete waste of time.

Not sure where my characterization was wrong. You even used the phrase "used to be", so maybe that is the phrase I should have used as well. Also part of that HBO package was access to their movies, correct? No extra $ needed to watch movies vs. shows. You chose to watch Sopranos and other stuff instead of a movie. I get your frustration, but I guess I have had the opposite experience - I have been burned way too many times by TV shows falling off in quality and feeling like I wasted my time there. As you said, it's a value proposition. Do I spend 40+ hours on a show that may or may not continue in quality or not get cancelled, or do I watch 20-25 movies? That is where my calculations have landed me. Even if I didn't like the movie, it's basically 2 episodes of an HBO show, and not a big deal.

What I don't understand about you is that what you ***** about is what I largely ***** about for movies in the last couple decades. But I am currently trying to whittle down a list of about 300 movies from the last couple decades that I would probably grade at 7.5/10 or higher for a "best of" list. IMO you are focused waaaay to much on the big budget blockbuster movies in the theater and not trying to find the awesome recent movies, which IMO there are a ton of. Yes, there is too much attention paid to sequels, known IP, and reboots, but that is a small % of overall movies. I would say the % is a little higher, especially on an average day at the theater in the last decade, than it was in the 90s or earlier but let's not pretend we weren't getting bombarded with horror and action sequels at that time as well. There has always been a lot of crap to avoid in the realm of movies.

ETA: if you search up critics' lists now in the same way you would use S&E in the day and read their reviews, I find it very hard to believe that they would be suggesting a ton of Marvel movies, Jurassic World 4, or Mission Impossible 28 - which are the types of movies you seem to be railing against and trying to avoid.

I'm going to ask you a very simple question, one not steeped in anything other than curiosity:

Where you live right now, today - how far away is it from where you graduated from high school?

About a 20 min drive down the road.

Yeah, that's about what I figured.

I've got a working theory and this helps my confirmation bias on the conclusion.

ETA: I didn't mean this to sound mean or snarky, I just have a working theory on how different people view the movie experience.

 

[zamboni]

And please, for decades, the HBO movies available on rewatch were not best in breed. We can all agree on this

I remember as a kid when we first got HBO in the late ‘70s, this Oscar-caliber flick seemed to be on constant rotation:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

 

[General Malaise]

And please, for decades, the HBO movies available on rewatch were not best in breed. We can all agree on this

I remember as a kid when we first got HBO in the late ‘70s, this Oscar-caliber flick seemed to be on constant rotation:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

I remember that one! Back when HBO would show those and then after 10pm, movies not suitable for young GM (who watched them anyway). My next door neighbor's dad was a bookie who had all the advanced TV options and the first VCR. I practically lived over there to watch stuff like this and maybe see some nudity.

 

[zamboni]

And please, for decades, the HBO movies available on rewatch were not best in breed. We can all agree on this

I remember as a kid when we first got HBO in the late ‘70s, this Oscar-caliber flick seemed to be on constant rotation:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

I remember that one! Back when HBO would show those and then after 10pm, movies not suitable for young GM (who watched them anyway). My next door neighbor's dad was a bookie who had all the advanced TV options and the first VCR. I practically lived over there to watch stuff like this and maybe see some nudity.

A few others I remember fondly from those days:

It’s Alive - scared the bejeebus out of me - couldn’t drape my arm over the side of the bed
Audrey Rose
Alice Sweet Alice

 

[KarmaPolice]

I can bail on an HBO/streaming service show 10 minutes in if I'm not feeling it. I've done that countless times.

Bailing on a movie I paid for to watch in its entirety? Different story.

And please, for decades, the HBO movies available on rewatch were not best in breed. We can all agree on this. So while there are movie AND show options on HBO, the quality was not always aligned and the streaming choice was not always there.

I don't need to defend myself further on the influx of overdone sequels in here. I need only point to Mission Impossible 17, Fast and Furious 87 and another super hero movie the world never wanted. This wasn't a hallmark of the 90s, full stop. The 90s had what, 2 Batmans? 3? How many since we hit 2000? 8 at least. I'm probably off by a few.....dozen.

I look forward to you opening my eyes to all the great movies being made today. I mean that. I thought "Holdovers" was a fantastic recent movie made. I rather enjoyed "Complete Unknown". I even enjoyed "Maverick" as cheesy and plot-dumb as it was. But when I look around at what's available in the theater for $13 a throw, I just shake my head. What's the best movie out there right now that I should rush out and see?

You could be right, I didn't have HBO until the last decade or so. More just pushing back a little on this weird point you seem to keep circling back around that the only way you can watch a movie is to go pay $20 for it in the theater. There are ways to watch stuff that isn't that much of a money commitment.

I basically agree with you on most points, so it's odd that these posts seem so contentious. I agree on most of your points except for the quality of movies that have been available for the last 20 years. I agreed in my post above that there is definitely more focus on known properties in the movies during that stretch. But just give an honest look at the movies from the 90s - we definitely were not lacking in sequels for Die Hard, Jurassic Park, Gremlins, Back to the Future, Terminator, Robocop, Batman, Ace Ventura, Austin Powers, Rocky, Predator, Bond, etc, etc. I don't know what specific genres you like, but horror movies were absolutely terrible in the 90s as they hammered crappy sequels and franchises. There was a ton of terrible crap in the theater.

The types of movies overall haven't changed much, just what is pushed into the theater on average because the masses don't go to see all types of movies in the theater anymore - they mostly go for big budget stuff that they feel is still worth seeing on the big screen since most of our set ups at home are 1000x what they were 20 years ago. You are probably not going to see a Ghost, Pretty Woman, or Mrs. Doubtfire type of movie in the top 20 grossing movies anymore like you did in the 90s. Hell, Notting Hill was in the top 40 in the 90s. That is what is the biggest change, IMO and again where we agree. I just looked, an the theater I go to in Madison has 5 whole movies: Lilo & Stitch, Mission Impossible, Final Destination 6, a Marvel movie I haven't heard of, and The Accountant 2 (which made me laugh seeing that just now). No, you should not rush out and see any of those. I will watch Final Destination at some point because I have fun with that franchise, but I am not spending $20 on it.

I feel we agree on movies more than our posts seem to indicate - The Holdovers was one of my favorite movies last year and Maverick I have seen several times now. I can't comment on the other one because I don't like Bob Dylan so I didn't think that one was for me. We are working on a countdown of newer movies which we will hopefully have ready in about a month, so I am not going to give away too many of my newest selections (I am also behind a little and need to watch a couple this month). But HERE is a random list I saw when I searched for "best movies of the 2020s". That has quite a variety on it. There are a few on there I loved and will be on my list, several I haven't seen, and only a couple I really disagree about. Definitely a decent starting point to find some high quality movies.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Plus, with 5 kids, I don't exactly have all the free time in the world to re-watch movies. I'd say over the last two decades + of fatherhood, I've seen an average of 5 new movies a year, tops. The golden era of series like Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Bear, etc provided me with far more entertainment than movies did during that same time.

Then you aren't that big of a movie fan. Not a criticism, just saying that you did have time to watch more you just chose to watch TV series instead. Like Todem, I don't get people not watching movies over when they say they loved them, but that is also more the people I hung around with - we watched a lot of movies and multiple times. Even brutal watches like Requiem for a Dream, Schindler's, or Hereditary I have seen multiple times.

As I've said in multiple movie threads numerous times, I used to be a very big fan of movies. I used to set my VCR to record "Siskel & Ebert" every Sunday and own two of Roger Ebert's books. I would read movie reviews in newspapers religiously and only fork over money to see the ones that were well received.

Your characterization of me couldn't be further off base. I was (and will always be) an educated movie consumer. I love movies.

But I will not waste my time - nor my money - on crap. Life is a value proposition and I won't wast what little time I have on Hollywood drek. I've been burned too many times. Why would I gamble on a movie expense when an episode of Sopranos is available to me as part of my cable package? This was my thought process once I started pumping out kids.

Some of you people in here will watch anything. You'll spend your time and your money doing it and then say "geeee, you know, that Mission Impossible 28 was pretty lame". Well no ****ing duh! Do you even care about your time and how fast it slips away? Why feed into this system when better choices abound? I don't get it.

I've seen many movies several times on a rewatch - I can quote Goodfellas line for line. Clockwork Orange? At least 10 times.

I've never once watched a Marvel movie. Many movies I see in passing just look like video games. Complete waste of time.

Not sure where my characterization was wrong. You even used the phrase "used to be", so maybe that is the phrase I should have used as well. Also part of that HBO package was access to their movies, correct? No extra $ needed to watch movies vs. shows. You chose to watch Sopranos and other stuff instead of a movie. I get your frustration, but I guess I have had the opposite experience - I have been burned way too many times by TV shows falling off in quality and feeling like I wasted my time there. As you said, it's a value proposition. Do I spend 40+ hours on a show that may or may not continue in quality or not get cancelled, or do I watch 20-25 movies? That is where my calculations have landed me. Even if I didn't like the movie, it's basically 2 episodes of an HBO show, and not a big deal.

What I don't understand about you is that what you ***** about is what I largely ***** about for movies in the last couple decades. But I am currently trying to whittle down a list of about 300 movies from the last couple decades that I would probably grade at 7.5/10 or higher for a "best of" list. IMO you are focused waaaay to much on the big budget blockbuster movies in the theater and not trying to find the awesome recent movies, which IMO there are a ton of. Yes, there is too much attention paid to sequels, known IP, and reboots, but that is a small % of overall movies. I would say the % is a little higher, especially on an average day at the theater in the last decade, than it was in the 90s or earlier but let's not pretend we weren't getting bombarded with horror and action sequels at that time as well. There has always been a lot of crap to avoid in the realm of movies.

ETA: if you search up critics' lists now in the same way you would use S&E in the day and read their reviews, I find it very hard to believe that they would be suggesting a ton of Marvel movies, Jurassic World 4, or Mission Impossible 28 - which are the types of movies you seem to be railing against and trying to avoid.

I'm going to ask you a very simple question, one not steeped in anything other than curiosity:

Where you live right now, today - how far away is it from where you graduated from high school?

About a 20 min drive down the road.

Yeah, that's about what I figured.

I've got a working theory and this helps my confirmation bias on the conclusion.

ETA: I didn't mean this to sound mean or snarky, I just have a working theory on how different people view the movie experience.

Care to share this theory? I have a guess in mind, but it is pretty snarky.

 

[rockaction]

34. The American President (1995)

Directed by: Rob Reiner

Starring: Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox, Richard Dreyfus

Synopsis: Widower President decides to date an environmental lawyer.

(Long pause after he asks her out on a date) Sydney, Congress doesn’t take this long.- Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shepherd.

Written by Aaron Sorkin, this movie is basically a prelim for The West Wing. It’s got many of the same themes, the same humor, the same subject matter, many of the same actors, and it’s a liberal fantasy. It’s also a delightful romantic comedy and the leads are charming. In that sense it’s old fashioned Hollywood and it works.

This was a terrible movie and The West Wing was a terrible show.

This is Aaron Sorkin at his finest—completely misunderstanding the world while giving us an arrogant, condescending, tendentious lecture. This is about that scene in The Newsroom you've probably all seen and that I'm not giving more views to by reposting it. Typical Sorkin, whose political and social outlook are two things I loathe.

How Aaron Sorkin manages to **** up and not explain basic statistics from the CIA Factbook.

Break the news

In the speechiest moment of tonight’s speech-clogged pilot of Aaron Sorkin’s new HBO show “The Newsroom,” a bland news anchor played by Jeff Daniels is sitting between two stentorian TV pundits (a …

nypost.com

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

I'll likely watch this tonight since I've never seen it (but I have heard of it!) but even without seeing it 34 seems pretty high for a movie that isn't insanely popular or well known like a JP or Office Space. Maybe I'm wrong but that's the perception I get.

 

[shuke]

Haven’t seen these:

99. Madonna: Truth Or Dare
94. Les Miserables
93. Guilty By Suspicion
92. The Commitments
90. The Sandlot
88. Defending Your Life
87. Reversal of Fortune
84. Babe
81. Mulan
77. Crumb
76. A Time to Kill
68. The Witches
63. The Rainmaker
56. The Lion King
55. Life Is Beautiful
54. To Die For
53. Mr. Holland’s Opus
42. What’s Love Got To Do With It
35. The Player
34. The American President

I got berated for saying something similar. After some further research, it seems I've seen plenty of 90's movies. They're just different than this list. Stay tuned.

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Good watch, good movie... But yeah- being the germ for a really good TV still wouldn't push this into my consciousness for a "best of" list.

Oh, for sure - but when the counter is “Dave was a better movie” that’s just an absurd premise. And I liked the movie Dave a lot — they just aren’t on a comparable level.

 

[Alex P Keaton]

I loved American President and have watched it several times. It does not crack my top 100 of the decade.

And look at some of the movies ranked way way behind it

If Tim wasn’t so consistent in his head scratching moments I would assume these rankings are trolling. But alas, Tim is nothing if not genuine in his views.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Haven’t seen these:

99. Madonna: Truth Or Dare
94. Les Miserables
93. Guilty By Suspicion
92. The Commitments
90. The Sandlot
88. Defending Your Life
87. Reversal of Fortune
84. Babe
81. Mulan
77. Crumb
76. A Time to Kill
68. The Witches
63. The Rainmaker
56. The Lion King
55. Life Is Beautiful
54. To Die For
53. Mr. Holland’s Opus
42. What’s Love Got To Do With It
35. The Player
34. The American President

I got berated for saying something similar. After some further research, it seems I've seen plenty of 90's movies. They're just different than this list. Stay tuned.

We getting a shukelist??

 

[El Floppo]

Good watch, good movie... But yeah- being the germ for a really good TV still wouldn't push this into my consciousness for a "best of" list.

Oh, for sure - but when the counter is “Dave was a better movie” that’s just an absurd premise. And I liked the movie Dave a lot — they just aren’t on a comparable level.

Ok?

 

[TripItUp]

34. The American President (1995)

Directed by: Rob Reiner

Starring: Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox, Richard Dreyfus

Synopsis: Widower President decides to date an environmental lawyer.

(Long pause after he asks her out on a date) Sydney, Congress doesn’t take this long.- Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shepherd.

Written by Aaron Sorkin, this movie is basically a prelim for The West Wing. It’s got many of the same themes, the same humor, the same subject matter, many of the same actors, and it’s a liberal fantasy. It’s also a delightful romantic comedy and the leads are charming. In that sense it’s old fashioned Hollywood and it works.

Entertaining, movie. I actually liked Douglas as the POTUS and it was probably the first movie where I thought Benning was bangable(not my generation). I've probably watched it 5 times. That being said, top 40...absolutely not.

Trip's Official Ruling: Significantly Overranked(Probably makes my top 100)

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

I'd rent a few things from the library but that's like a 20 min drive so I never did it much.

That's hilarious. I assume you live in a tiny state. If people here in Texas didn't drive at least twenty minutes, nothing would ever get done.

 

[northern exposure]

34. The American President (1995)

Directed by: Rob Reiner

Starring: Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox, Richard Dreyfus

Synopsis: Widower President decides to date an environmental lawyer.

(Long pause after he asks her out on a date) Sydney, Congress doesn’t take this long.- Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shepherd.

Written by Aaron Sorkin, this movie is basically a prelim for The West Wing. It’s got many of the same themes, the same humor, the same subject matter, many of the same actors, and it’s a liberal fantasy. It’s also a delightful romantic comedy and the leads are charming. In that sense it’s old fashioned Hollywood and it works.

Entertaining, movie. I actually liked Douglas as the POTUS and it was probably the first movie where I thought Benning was bangable(not my generation). I've probably watched it 5 times. That being said, top 40...absolutely not.

Trip's Official Ruling: Significantly Overranked(Probably makes my top 100)

I bet you have really put Ms. Benning's mind at ease with this post.
She would never admit it, but there was concern.

 

[tri-man 47]

I really, really enjoy The American President. It’s one of those movies that, when I come across while channel flipping, I’ll always watch. (Same for Dave.). Big fan.

 

[Todem]

I loved American President and have watched it several times. It does not crack my top 100 of the decade.

And look at some of the movies ranked way way behind it

If Tim wasn’t so consistent in his head scratching moments I would assume these rankings are trolling. But alas, Tim is nothing if not genuine in his views.

“It’s a Tim thing”

 

[timschochet]

33. Dazed And Confused (1993)

Directed by: Richard Linklater

Starring: Jason London, Ben Affleck, Parker Posey, Matthew McConaughey, Milla Jojovich, Adam Goldberg

Synopsis: High school students in Austin Texas in 1976 face the last day of school.

All right all right all right! - Matthew McConaughey as Wooderson.

The parallels to American Graffiti, made 20 years earlier, are enormous: last day (and night) of high school. Teenage angst. Ensemble cast filled with numerous future stars. Both are great great films and have become iconic representations of the eras they were set in: respectively, the early 60s and mid 70s.

This one has numerous great scenes. It always struck me that actors like Parker Posey and McConaughey made such a huge impression with so little screen time. Adam Goldberg is also terrific.

 

[Ilov80s]

Love Dazed but the kid who played Mitch is a definite weak spot. Great movie though.

 

[El Floppo]

I love love love D&C. Zeitgeist deluxe.

And so many young actors that became stars in it.

 

[El Floppo]

Love Dazed but the kid who played Mitch is a definite weak spot. Great movie though.

How dare you!

He's not great....but better than the 8th grade girl. I kind of enjoy his goofy not great acting chops as coming across as a sincere goofy kid (but never the "cool/chosen-one" kid they make him out to be). And I always lol at his pitching... Apparently never played baseball before, and it shows.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Boy did I miss a lot of movies in the 90s.

 

[Ilov80s]

Love Dazed but the kid who played Mitch is a definite weak spot. Great movie though.

How dare you!

He's not great....but better than the 8th grade girl. I kind of enjoy his goofy not great acting chops as coming across as a sincere goofy kid (but never the "cool/chosen-one" kid they make him out to be). And I always lol at his pitching... Apparently never played baseball before, and it shows.

Yeah some people pick on the tick he has does over and over again with his hair but that doesn’t bother me. That’s actually a pretty realistic thing for his age but yeah his baseball is some of the worst ever put on screen which surprises me since I believe Linklater played college baseball.

 

[zamboni]

Love Dazed but the kid who played Mitch is a definite weak spot. Great movie though.

How dare you!

He's not great....but better than the 8th grade girl. I kind of enjoy his goofy not great acting chops as coming across as a sincere goofy kid (but never the "cool/chosen-one" kid they make him out to be). And I always lol at his pitching... Apparently never played baseball before, and it shows.

Yeah some people pick on the tick he has does over and over again with his hair but that doesn’t bother me. That’s actually a pretty realistic thing for his age but yeah his baseball is some of the worst ever put on screen which surprises me since I believe Linklater played college baseball.

Imagine Mitch Kramer instead of Kevin Costner having a catch with Costner’s dad at the end of Field of Dreams. The nightmare of every high school gym teacher who’s ever lived.

 

[BlackCrowes]

party at the moon tower

 

[B Maverick]

Love Dazed but the kid who played Mitch is a definite weak spot. Great movie though.

How dare you!

He's not great....but better than the 8th grade girl. I kind of enjoy his goofy not great acting chops as coming across as a sincere goofy kid (but never the "cool/chosen-one" kid they make him out to be). And I always lol at his pitching... Apparently never played baseball before, and it shows.

Yeah some people pick on the tick he has does over and over again with his hair but that doesn’t bother me. That’s actually a pretty realistic thing for his age but yeah his baseball is some of the worst ever put on screen which surprises me since I believe Linklater played college baseball.

His hair? If you drink every time he touches the bridge of his nose you won't finish the movie....

I like the movie, will watch when its on. A lot of actors in it who went on to bigger things but were relatively unknown at the time.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Dazed is one of my all time favorite movies

 

[Todem]

Dazed is one of my all time favorite movies

Overrated POS.


JK lol.......but that's the effect of stating some iconic films of their respective genres are overrated......LOL.

eg: Halloween.

Anyway....just busting yer balls Dan.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Dazed is one of my all time favorite movies

Its fitting that you have an overrated movie as your favorite.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I'll do an official count at the end, but I glanced at 80s' and my list, and from the first almost 70 movies, I am not sure we had even 20 on our list.

 

[Ilov80s]

Love Dazed but the kid who played Mitch is a definite weak spot. Great movie though.

How dare you!

He's not great....but better than the 8th grade girl. I kind of enjoy his goofy not great acting chops as coming across as a sincere goofy kid (but never the "cool/chosen-one" kid they make him out to be). And I always lol at his pitching... Apparently never played baseball before, and it shows.

Yeah some people pick on the tick he has does over and over again with his hair but that doesn’t bother me. That’s actually a pretty realistic thing for his age but yeah his baseball is some of the worst ever put on screen which surprises me since I believe Linklater played college baseball.

His hair? If you drink every time he touches the bridge of his nose you won't finish the movie....

I like the movie, will watch when its on. A lot of actors in it who went on to bigger things but were relatively unknown at the time.

Yeah that’s it the nose, knew it was something with his head. Got mixed up.

 

[Ilov80s]

I'll do an official count at the end, but I glanced at 80s' and my list, and from the first almost 70 movies, I am not sure we had even 20 on our list.

And people hated our list just as much lol. Though that’s the fun. How interesting would it be if it was just 90s movies sorted by their IMDB score?

 

[KarmaPolice]

I'll do an official count at the end, but I glanced at 80s' and my list, and from the first almost 70 movies, I am not sure we had even 20 on our list.

And people hated our list just as much lol. Though that’s the fun. How interesting would it be if it was just 90s movies sorted by their IMDB score?

I can't remember the ones we got roasted for the most on the 90s one - probably stuff like Dazed and Goodfellas, which were my fault anyway.

 

[Ilov80s]

I'll do an official count at the end, but I glanced at 80s' and my list, and from the first almost 70 movies, I am not sure we had even 20 on our list.

And people hated our list just as much lol. Though that’s the fun. How interesting would it be if it was just 90s movies sorted by their IMDB score?

I can't remember the ones we got roasted for the most on the 90s one - probably stuff like Dazed and Goodfellas, which were my fault anyway.

I know our 90s list was more well received than our 80s.

 

[shuke]

Haven’t seen these:

99. Madonna: Truth Or Dare
94. Les Miserables
93. Guilty By Suspicion
92. The Commitments
90. The Sandlot
88. Defending Your Life
87. Reversal of Fortune
84. Babe
81. Mulan
77. Crumb
76. A Time to Kill
68. The Witches
63. The Rainmaker
56. The Lion King
55. Life Is Beautiful
54. To Die For
53. Mr. Holland’s Opus
42. What’s Love Got To Do With It
35. The Player
34. The American President

I got berated for saying something similar. After some further research, it seems I've seen plenty of 90's movies. They're just different than this list. Stay tuned.

We getting a shukelist??

Yes.

 

[nirad3]

Love Dazed & Confused.

I used to live pretty close to many of the neighborhoods in Austin where it was filmed. I think they also did a scene or two at one of the burger joints I used to go to all the time. Top Notch?

 

[KarmaPolice]

I'll do an official count at the end, but I glanced at 80s' and my list, and from the first almost 70 movies, I am not sure we had even 20 on our list.

And people hated our list just as much lol. Though that’s the fun. How interesting would it be if it was just 90s movies sorted by their IMDB score?

I can't remember the ones we got roasted for the most on the 90s one - probably stuff like Dazed and Goodfellas, which were my fault anyway.

I know our 90s list was more well received than our 80s.

Again, probably more my fault and lack of Raiders love.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

I'll do an official count at the end, but I glanced at 80s' and my list, and from the first almost 70 movies, I am not sure we had even 20 on our list.

And people hated our list just as much lol. Though that’s the fun. How interesting would it be if it was just 90s movies sorted by their IMDB score?

I can't remember the ones we got roasted for the most on the 90s one - probably stuff like Dazed and Goodfellas, which were my fault anyway.

I know our 90s list was more well received than our 80s.

Again, probably more my fault and lack of Raiders love.

Raiders wasn't romantic enough for you.

 

[Zow]

I actually think of Kurt Russel in Stargate since I love that movie since I'm not a huge fan of the Escape films and never seen little trouble. not a huge thing fan and it's been a while since I've seen Tombstone

Stargate was my favorite movie as a kid.

 

[Zow]

34. The American President (1995)

Directed by: Rob Reiner

Starring: Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox, Richard Dreyfus

Synopsis: Widower President decides to date an environmental lawyer.

(Long pause after he asks her out on a date) Sydney, Congress doesn’t take this long.- Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shepherd.

Written by Aaron Sorkin, this movie is basically a prelim for The West Wing. It’s got many of the same themes, the same humor, the same subject matter, many of the same actors, and it’s a liberal fantasy. It’s also a delightful romantic comedy and the leads are charming. In that sense it’s old fashioned Hollywood and it works.

My first ever date was to this movie.

I don't even think we physically touched the entire time and I realized pretty quickly that movies were awful date activities.