The 100 Greatest movies of the 1990s #29. The Big Lebowski (30 Viewers)

[Dr. Octopus]

I like Dazed and Confused - it's a fun movie, but seems a bit over-ranked here. It doesn't have much substance.

 

[El Floppo]

I like Dazed and Confused - it's a fun movie, but seems a bit over-ranked here. It doesn't have much substance.

Similar to your face

 

[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.

Raiders wasn't romantic enough for you.

Lol. Definitely not.

 

[Zow]

I like Dazed and Confused - it's a fun movie, but seems a bit over-ranked here. It doesn't have much substance.

Similar to your face

"Wipe that face off your head, *****."

 

[Dr. Octopus]

I like Dazed and Confused - it's a fun movie, but seems a bit over-ranked here. It doesn't have much substance.

Similar to your face

My face is fun.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

I like Dazed and Confused - it's a fun movie, but seems a bit over-ranked here. It doesn't have much substance.

****ing fascist!

 

[Don Quixote]

I like Dazed and Confused - it's a fun movie, but seems a bit over-ranked here. It doesn't have much substance.

I agree with it lacking substance. I never really thought it was that much fun either. It mostly just reminded me why I hated high school. Hopefully Linklater’s much better film from this decade shows up here.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I like Dazed and Confused - it's a fun movie, but seems a bit over-ranked here. It doesn't have much substance.

I agree with it lacking substance. I never really thought it was that fun either. It mostly just reminded why I hated high school. Hopefully Linklater’s much better film from this decade shows up here.

I liked it a bit better after the DotM rewatch, but this is mostly my take as well. I get that much was stuff he encountered growing up, and i do like that its a movie set during day, but the movie is littered with people i tried to avoid in HS.

 

[zamboni]

I like Dazed and Confused - it's a fun movie, but seems a bit over-ranked here. It doesn't have much substance.

I don’t think the intent was to have much substance - just showing a bunch of kids having a good time before going off to college/facing the real world. It’s a fun watch and the soundtrack is awesome.

I also agree with the above that it reminds me of why I hated high school - I was the complete opposite of the cool kids in the flick. Probably a big reason I do like it so much, as with many HS movies, is that allows me to live vicariously through them as though I was in the “in” crowd.

 

[Zow]

I like Dazed and Confused - it's a fun movie, but seems a bit over-ranked here. It doesn't have much substance.

I agree with it lacking substance. I never really thought it was that fun either. It mostly just reminded why I hated high school. Hopefully Linklater’s much better film from this decade shows up here.

I liked it a bit better after the DotM rewatch, but this is mostly my take as well. I get that much was stuff he encountered growing up, and i do like that its a movie set during day, but the movie is littered with people i tried to avoid in HS.

I was in high school when I first saw this movie and I didn't like it because I wouldn't have hung out with those characters. I grew to like the film more the older I got.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

I like Dazed and Confused - it's a fun movie, but seems a bit over-ranked here. It doesn't have much substance.

****ing fascist!

What actually happens in the movie? Not much really. I liked it - its fun and nostalgic, It's not one of the 50 best movies in the 90s though.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

I don’t think the intent was to have much substance - just showing a bunch of kids having a good time before going off to college/facing the real world. It’s a fun watch and the soundtrack is awesome.

So it doesn't have substance by design. Is that better?

 

[zamboni]

I don’t think the intent was to have much substance - just showing a bunch of kids having a good time before going off to college/facing the real world. It’s a fun watch and the soundtrack is awesome.

So it doesn't have substance by design. Is that better?

That’s fair. I never considered it high cinema either, but just a really fun watch with some memorable lines/scenes.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

I don’t think the intent was to have much substance - just showing a bunch of kids having a good time before going off to college/facing the real world. It’s a fun watch and the soundtrack is awesome.

So it doesn't have substance by design. Is that better?

That’s fair. I never considered it high cinema either, but just a really fun watch with some memorable lines/scenes.

Yes, I like the movie - just think it's over ranked here, especially with some of the heavy weights tim ranked lower.

 

[Joey Wright]

35. The Player (1992)

Directed by: Robert Altman

Starring: Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Peter Gallagher, Fred Ward

Synopsis: A threatened Hollywood studio executive murders a screenwriter.

What an interesting concept it would be to eliminate the writer from the artistic process. - Tim Robbins as Griffin Mills.


Although he went on to make many more films (including 1993’s superb Short Cuts which just missed out being on this list, I think this black comedy might be Robert Altman’s last classic work, along with M*A*S*H* and Nashville. It’s funny, disturbing, and one of the best movies I’ve seen about Hollywood. (Though it’s really a commentary on the cutthroat elements of American society in general.) Outstanding movie.

We rented a movie theater auditorium out on a Friday afternoon for my 37th birthday and I intro'd this movie and watched it with 12 of my closest film buddies. It is my favorite movie about Hollywood.

 

[El Floppo]

35. The Player (1992)

Directed by: Robert Altman

Starring: Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Peter Gallagher, Fred Ward

Synopsis: A threatened Hollywood studio executive murders a screenwriter.

What an interesting concept it would be to eliminate the writer from the artistic process. - Tim Robbins as Griffin Mills.


Although he went on to make many more films (including 1993’s superb Short Cuts which just missed out being on this list, I think this black comedy might be Robert Altman’s last classic work, along with M*A*S*H* and Nashville. It’s funny, disturbing, and one of the best movies I’ve seen about Hollywood. (Though it’s really a commentary on the cutthroat elements of American society in general.) Outstanding movie.

We rented a movie theater auditorium out on a Friday afternoon for my 37th birthday and I intro'd this movie and watched it with 12 of my closest film buddies. It is my favorite movie about Hollywood.

Did you see The Big Picture?

Nowhere near as good, but another fun insider film.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I like Dazed and Confused - it's a fun movie, but seems a bit over-ranked here. It doesn't have much substance.

****ing fascist!

What actually happens in the movie? Not much really. I liked it - its fun and nostalgic, It's not one of the 50 best movies in the 90s though.

I don't think people would like it nearly as much if the soundtrack wasn't as kick ***.

 

[timschochet]

32. Clerks (1994)

Directed by: Kevin Smith

Starring: Kevin Smith, Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson

Synopsis: Retail clerks work, hang out and discuss life in a convenience store.

This job would be great if it wasn’t for the ****ing customers- Jeff Anderson as Randall Graves

So it concerns me a little bit that some people complained that Dazed and Confused “lacks substance”- lol. Because this black and white sparse comedy has even less substance. Basically just a group of dudes shooting the ****, talking chicks and killing time. The thing is I felt like I KNEW these guys. I was pretty much ONE of these guys.

I’ve never been the biggest Kevin Smith fan. This to me was the best film of his career. All of the others I’ve seen were disappointing to me, not nearly as good. And then years later he scripted 8 issues of one of my favorite comics, Daredevil. That was disappointing too.

 

[Todem]

Clerks…..Clerks!!!! God this countdown is a classic Tim dumpster fire.

Was it amusing? Sure.

Better than a ton of movies mentioned a long time ago? Dear god man…… lmao.

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

Love Clerks

• Dante Hicks: 37! My girlfriend sucked 37 *****!
• Customer with Diapers: In a row?

Edit - how does that escape the language filter? Self edited.

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

Clerks was pretty good but 32? Should it be on this list? Yes but in the 70's.

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

In other news, I tried to watch Clerks 3 and turned it off after 20 minutes

 

[B Maverick]

Clerks was pretty good but 32?

Right? Should have been 37 at best....

Love Clerks

• Dante Hicks: 37! My girlfriend sucked 37 *****!
• Customer with Diapers: In a row?

Edit - how does that escape the language filter? Self edited.

 

[B Maverick]

In other news, I tried to watch Clerks 3 and turned it off after 20 minutes

I watched it. Not sure if Clerks 2 or 3 is better, but I did enjoy it. Nostalgia does get me at times.

Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob, Mallrats, Chasing Amy

His best of the comedies is DOGMA

 

[KarmaPolice]

Clerks was pretty good but 32? Should it be on this list? Yes but in the 70's.

Nah, 32 is about right for the 4th best Kevin Smith movie of the 90s.

 

[KarmaPolice]

In other news, I tried to watch Clerks 3 and turned it off after 20 minutes

How about the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot?

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

I would totally put Mallrats, Dogma and Chasing Amy on my 90's list

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

In other news, I tried to watch Clerks 3 and turned it off after 20 minutes

How about the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot?

I've never seen it

 

[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.

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.

Didn't Annette Bening get you all riled up while you were watching the movie?
Ask TripItUp.

 

[KarmaPolice]

In other news, I tried to watch Clerks 3 and turned it off after 20 minutes

How about the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot?

I've never seen it

Me neither. I did Clerks 2 and didn't like it much so I haven't bothered with any others with those characters since. I've seen some of this others like Tusk and Red State though.

 

[Zow]

I enjoyed Clerks and find it properly rated I think. Definitely in the Dazed and Confused tier. I was in my early teens at the time they came out and both movies were pretty influential and were regularly watched by my peers through college.

That said, these were more influential and more heavily viewed for me and my peer group around that time:

Spoiler

Old School
American Pie
Boondock Saints
Reservoir Dogs
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

 

[northern exposure]

In other news, I tried to watch Clerks 3 and turned it off after 20 minutes

How about the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot?

I've never seen it

Me neither. I did Clerks 2 and didn't like it much so I haven't bothered with any others with those characters since. I've seen some of this others like Tusk and Red State though.

Tusk is one strange movie.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I enjoyed Clerks and find it properly rated I think. Definitely in the Dazed and Confused tier. I was in my early teens at the time they came out and both movies were pretty influential and were regularly watched by my peers through college.

That said, these were more influential and more heavily viewed for me and my peer group:

Spoiler

Old School
American Pie
Boondock Saints
Reservoir Dogs
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

At least two of those definitely don't belong on this list.

 

[Zow]

I enjoyed Clerks and find it properly rated I think. Definitely in the Dazed and Confused tier. I was in my early teens at the time they came out and both movies were pretty influential and were regularly watched by my peers through college.

That said, these were more influential and more heavily viewed for me and my peer group:

Spoiler

Old School
American Pie
Boondock Saints
Reservoir Dogs
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

At least two of those definitely don't belong on this list.

I didn't say they were great movies. Just that they stood out for me more as movies my friends and I watched in HS and college. For reference, I graduated HS in 2001 and college in 2005.

That said, I'm confident I know of one of the two (the Star Wars themed one) but I'm curious as to the second. The second one from a Don MacLean song?

 

[dgreen]

I remember Clerks being highly recommended. I watched it. Don’t remember anything about it. It was meh, at best, for me.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I enjoyed Clerks and find it properly rated I think. Definitely in the Dazed and Confused tier. I was in my early teens at the time they came out and both movies were pretty influential and were regularly watched by my peers through college.

That said, these were more influential and more heavily viewed for me and my peer group:

Spoiler

Old School
American Pie
Boondock Saints
Reservoir Dogs
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

At least two of those definitely don't belong on this list.

I didn't say they were great movies. Just that they stood out for me more as movies my friends and I watched in HS and college. For reference, I graduated HS in 2001 and college in 2005.

That said, I'm confident I know of one of the two (the Star Wars themed one) but I'm curious as to the second. The second one from a Don MacLean song?

I was more being an *** because 2 are from the 00s.

Boondock is the one on the list I personally don't like at all. Any others I'd for sure have a blast watching tonight.

 

[TripItUp]

33. Dazed And Confused (1993)

Directed by: Richard Linklater

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

Synopsis: [/B]High school students in Austin Texas in 1976 face the last day of school.

Trip's Official Ruling: Appropriately Ranked

 

[TripItUp]

32. Clerks (1994)

Directed by: Kevin Smith

Starring: Kevin Smith, Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson

Synopsis: [/B]Retail clerks work, hang out and discuss life in a convenience store.

Unliked Dazed and Confused, This Smith stuff hasn't aged well for me. Not very funny and really just kind of mediocre. I get that the nerds like it...good for them.

Trip's Official Ruling: Overranked (not in my top 100)

 

[Dan Lambskin]

I enjoyed Clerks and find it properly rated I think. Definitely in the Dazed and Confused tier. I was in my early teens at the time they came out and both movies were pretty influential and were regularly watched by my peers through college.

That said, these were more influential and more heavily viewed for me and my peer group:

Spoiler

Old School
American Pie
Boondock Saints
Reservoir Dogs
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

At least two of those definitely don't belong on this list.

I didn't say they were great movies. Just that they stood out for me more as movies my friends and I watched in HS and college. For reference, I graduated HS in 2001 and college in 2005.

That said, I'm confident I know of one of the two (the Star Wars themed one) but I'm curious as to the second. The second one from a Don MacLean song?

I was more being an *** because 2 are from the 00s.

Boondock is the one on the list I personally don't like at all. Any others I'd for sure have a blast watching tonight.

I worked at a Blockbuster in college. I loved Boondock Saints and would recommend it to everyone. Curious how it holds up 25 years later

 

[TripItUp]

I remember Clerks being highly recommended. I watched it. Don’t remember anything about it. It was meh, at best, for me.

"meh, at best" is a perfect description.

 

[Zow]

I enjoyed Clerks and find it properly rated I think. Definitely in the Dazed and Confused tier. I was in my early teens at the time they came out and both movies were pretty influential and were regularly watched by my peers through college.

That said, these were more influential and more heavily viewed for me and my peer group:

Spoiler

Old School
American Pie
Boondock Saints
Reservoir Dogs
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

At least two of those definitely don't belong on this list.

I didn't say they were great movies. Just that they stood out for me more as movies my friends and I watched in HS and college. For reference, I graduated HS in 2001 and college in 2005.

That said, I'm confident I know of one of the two (the Star Wars themed one) but I'm curious as to the second. The second one from a Don MacLean song?

I was more being an *** because 2 are from the 00s.

Boondock is the one on the list I personally don't like at all. Any others I'd for sure have a blast watching tonight.

Ohhhh.

I should have clarified that I wasn't limiting my list to the actual 90s. Simply to my teenage into early adulthood years where movies like Dazed and Confused and Clerks were a big deal.

 

[shuke]

We watched Clerks in college like once a week. Probably ranked too low here.

 

[General Malaise]

I don't have any issues with Tim's rankings on these. Say whatever you will about their "greatness" they are both memorable and get quoted ALL. THE. TIME. Clerks is the epitome of a cult classic that helped provide a runway for Kevin Smith to provide the world with some really great movies, one of which I fully expect to see later.

Dazed wasn't a masterpiece but it did well capturing 70s America and all it's high school antics and different social groups. I hear Matthew McConaughey's character quoted all the time, 30 years after the movie release so it had an impact.

Contrast that to some of Tim's movies I've never even heard of and it stands to reason where it's ranked.

 

[pollardsvision]

Clerks is awesome. Dazed and Confused is awesome.

Keep up the good work, Tim.

 

[pollardsvision]

If you don't regularly drop an 'in a row?" on somebody to make sure they are cool, I don't know what to tell you.

 

[B Maverick]

If you don't regularly drop an 'in a row?" on somebody to make sure they are cool, I don't know what to tell you.

Or yell "I'm not even supposed to be here today"!

 

[General Malaise]

If you don't regularly drop an 'in a row?" on somebody to make sure they are cool, I don't know what to tell you.

Exactly!

Alright alright alright.......

These are indelible films.

 

[General Malaise]

If you don't regularly drop an 'in a row?" on somebody to make sure they are cool, I don't know what to tell you.

Or yell "I'm not even supposed to be here today"!

"Try not to suck any Richard on the way to the parking lot!"

 

[KarmaPolice]

We watched Clerks in college like once a week. Probably ranked too low here.

Yo, watch the shukelist spoilers!

 

[KarmaPolice]

I don't have any issues with Tim's rankings on these. Say whatever you will about their "greatness" they are both memorable and get quoted ALL. THE. TIME. Clerks is the epitome of a cult classic that helped provide a runway for Kevin Smith to provide the world with some really great movies, one of which I fully expect to see later.

Dazed wasn't a masterpiece but it did well capturing 70s America and all it's high school antics and different social groups. I hear Matthew McConaughey's character quoted all the time, 30 years after the movie release so it had an impact.

Contrast that to some of Tim's movies I've never even heard of and it stands to reason where it's ranked.

He said all the other movies were disappointing from Smith, so you might have to wait for shuke.