I will not attempt to put this era into any kind of historical context, since it isn't over yet. Only the future can put the present into proper context.
This overview is also incomplete, since I am writing it in June 2014, only half way through the last year discussed below.
Biggest Movies of 2010: Toy Story 3, Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Inception, Shrek Forever After, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Iron Man 2, Tangled, Despicable Me, How to Train Your Dragon
Inception is a great movie. Maybe Christopher Nolan's best.
Honorable Mentions: The King's Speech, Black Swan, The Fighter, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Book of Eli, Edge of Darkness, Shutter Island, Brooklyn's Finest, Hot Tub Time Machine, The Losers, The Human Centipede (First Sequence), A Nightmare on Elm Street, Get Him to the Greek, Predators, Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, Machete, The Town, Red, Due Date, I Love You Philip Morris, True Grit
Black Swan is an excellent film. Perhaps the best film of that year.
I know a few people who can't stand the idea of the Human Centipede movies, but I liked this film. Dieter Laser is super creepy.
I Love You Philip Morris was overlooked at the time, but it is one of the few Jim Carrey vehicles in which he's not completely irritating.
Biggest Movies of 2011: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1, Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Kung Fu Panda 2, Fast Five, The Hangover Part II, The Smurfs, Cars 2
None of these movies are very good, though Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol was alright. With the exception of The Smurfs, all the other blockbusters of 2011 were sequels.
Honorable Mentions: Barney's Version, The Company Men, The Adjustment Bureau, Limitless, Source Code, The King's Speech, X-men: First Class, Super 8, Bad Teacher, Larry Crowne, Horrible Bosses, Captain America: The First Avenger, Crazy Stupid Love, Contagion, Moneyball, The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence), Tower Heist, The Descendants, A Dangerous Method, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
I found The Company Men particularly moving. I was in the States when the economic implosion was well underway, and this movie reminded me of many things from that time.
The Adjustment Bureau is a great film.
I didn't think I'd like Moneyball (I'm not a baseball fan), but I liked this one a lot.
The Descendants is an excellent film starring George Clooney.
A Dangerous Method is one of the lesser-known movies from that year. It is another Cronenberg picture.
Biggest Movies of 2012: The Avengers, Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Ice Age: Continental Drift, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2, The Amazing Spider-Man, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, The Hunger Games, Men in Black 3
Judged by its blockbusters, it was a good year for film. The Avengers, Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Men in Black 3 were all very watchable.
In case you were somehow incapacitated, The Avengers was a very popular film.
Honorable Mentions: Haywire, The Cabin in the Woods, The Dictator, Antiviral, Prometheus, Searching for Sugar Man, The Master, End of Watch, Argo, Wreck-It Ralph, Silver Linings Playbook, Killing Them Softly, Promised Land
I really liked Haywire. That actress should feature in a Wonder Woman film (if one ever gets made). I realize that another actress (Gal Gadot) has already been cast in this role for the Batman V. Superman film, but the woman from Haywire would be so much better.
Antiviral introduces a future where we're all dying to get the most famous disease.
Prometheus isn't that good, but there's some good gore in it. I'm hoping the sequel will be better thought out.
I've seen The Master many times. I've always been fascinated by L. Ron Hubbard, and the performances in this movie were exceptional.
Argo was a terrific film, based on real events. Affleck won the Oscar for it, and I think his win was well-deserved. This film, and the film it is about, has a fascinating backstory.
Anyone who grew up in the 80s will find a lot to like in Wreck-It Ralph.
Biggest Movies of 2013: Frozen, Iron Man 3, Despicable Me 2, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Fast and Furious 6, Monsters University, Gravity, Man of Steel, Thor: The Dark World
Iron Man 3 wasn't very good. What? Is he Tony Stark or Jackie Chan?
I liked Gravity, but anyone who raves about that movie should see Apollo 13. I think that as a story of space survival, the latter movie has much more to offer.
Thor: The Dark World was a vast improvement over the first Thor. I am eagerly awaiting Thor 3.
Honorable Mentions: Gangster Squad, Broken City, Evil Dead, Oblivion, Pain & Gain, The Purge, Jodorowsky's Dune, Only God Forgives, This is the End, The Bling Ring, The Wolverine, Jobs, Rush, Prisoners, Captain Philips, 12 Years a Slave, Dallas Buyers' Club, Philomena, Nebraska, Inside Llewyn Davis, American Hustle, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, Her, The Wolf of Wall Street, August: Osage County
Gangster Squad and Broken City are in some ways very similar movies that would go well together. That scene where Mark Wahlberg finds out the truth about his girlfriend really hit me in the chest.
Many despise the Evil Dead remake. I don't. Honestly, the original wasn't that good anyway.
Jodorowsky's Dune is a documentary about the greatest science fiction movie never made. I don't agree with the conclusion drawn by the film makers, but it's still interesting.
That bar confrontation in Only God Forgives is so over-the-top it's worth seeing. That is one policeman I wouldn't want to fuck with.
Prisoners features Hugh Jackman and Jack Gyllenhaal. It's a great (and at times profound) movie.
The Wolf of Wall Street has some truly hilarious scenes.
August: Osage County is one of the best movies to come along in years. Meryl Streep deserved another Oscar for that one.
Biggest Movies of 2014 (so far): Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, X-men: Days of Future Past, Rio 2, The Lego Movie, Maleficent, Godzilla, Noah, 300: Rise of an Empire, Divergent
I thought Captain America 2 was good, but not as good as some made it out to be. That movie was just trying too hard to make a point.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was decent but forgettable. Too much CGI for my taste.
I think X-men: Days of Future Past was one of the best superhero movies ever. I say this as someone who was not a big fan of previous installments.
The Lego Movie is the most hyperactive movie I've ever seen, and that's saying a lot.
Godzilla is terrible. It is so terrible it makes the Roland Emmerich version look good.
I'd like to see Noah, though judging by the previews I don't think I'll like it as much as other films by Darren Aronofsky.
Honorable Mentions: Edge of Tomorrow, Cesar Chavez, Robocop
I thought Edge of Tomorrow was quite good. Not spectacular, mind you, but good. Who doesn't want to see Tom Cruise killed over and over again?
Cezar Chavez is a good movie, but it's not great. It seems to me that it could have touched more upon contemporary themes, and upon problems that continue to plague our society today. As it is, it gets bogged down in the details of Chavez's life.
The Robocop remake could have been much better. I think that if they'd dispensed with the family drama, they might have made a much deeper film. The scene where Michael Keaton and Gary Oldman discuss whether he's a man who thinks he's a machine or a machine that thinks its a man could have been expanded upon, to much greater effect.
In 2005 I moved to the city in Taiwan where I still reside. I began working at a Junior High School, and also teaching some university classes. The younger of my two daughters was born the same year.
In 2007 I attempted to move back to the United States, only to have that attempt end in failure. After living and working in Taiwan for so long, I found life in America confining... and difficult... and depressing. We moved back to Taiwan in 2008, and after that I began work in the elementary school where I am still a teacher.
It's difficult to pinpoint a defining moment in this era. Perhaps not enough time has passed between those years and 2014. America's economy continued to struggle, the US grew steadily more embroiled in both its War on Terror and its dependence on Chinese manufacturing, and Barack Obama was elected president.
Biggest Movies of 2005: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Star Wars III: The Revenge of the Sith, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, War of the Worlds, King Kong, Madagascar, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Batman Begins, Hitch
War of the Worlds, King Kong, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Batman Begins were good blockbusters from that year. King Kong was a bit too long, but I liked it much better than Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies.
I really don't understand how people can sit through the Star Wars prequels. They are all so terrible. Ditto for Harry Potter.
Honorable Mentions: Brokeback Mountain, Walk the Line, Crash, Capote, Transamerica, Cinderella Man, Syriana, Unleashed, Constantine, The Jacket, Sin City, Fantastic Four, The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Good Night, and Good Luck, Lord of War, A History of Violence, North Country, Jarhead, The Ice Harvest, Munich
Crash is a film by David Cronenberg. It is about people who get turned on by automobile accidents. Definitely worth seeing.
Transamerica is about a man in the process of becoming a woman. This film was overlooked at the time, perhaps because of the somewhat formulaic road trip plot structure.
I think Unleashed is Jet Li's best movie. That fight at the end is great.
Sin City was (and is) freaking AWESOME. I've seen that movie so many times.
I believe that The 40 Year-Old Virgin was the most talked-about move from that year. Everyone I knew loved it.
Biggest Movies of 2006: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, The Da Vinci Code, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Casino Royale, Night at the Museum, Cars, X-men: The Last Stand, Mission Impossible III, Superman Returns, Happy Feet
Casino Royale was a fantastic movie. This was 007 as I always wanted to see him. Superman Returns wasn't bad.
X-men: The Last Stand has to be one of the worst superhero movies ever made. A truly abysmal effort.
Honorable Mentions: Babel, The Departed, United 93, Borat, The Last King of Scotland, The Devil Wears Prada, Hostel, Glory Road, The Hills Have Eyes, V for Vendetta, Inside Man, The Descent, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Idiocracy, The Black Dahlia, All the King's Men, The Prestige, Stranger Than Fiction, Let's Go to Prison, The Fountain, Apocalypto, Blood Diamond, The Pursuit of Happyness, Rocky Balboa, Children of Men
I have seen The Departed so many fucking times. I just can't get tired of that movie.
The Last King of Scotland was an excellent movie. Forrest Whitaker deserved the Oscar he won for it.
The remake of The Hills Have Eyes restored my faith in horror movies. The director, Alexandre Aja, is one of the directors often grouped within "The New French Extremity."
Talladega Nights marks the point where Will Ferrell became a household name. This movie and the few that followed were all hilarious, culminating in Step Brothers, which came out two years later.
Idiocracy is another of those movies that I can watch over and over again. Modern life often descends to the level of that movie.
Let's Go to Prison is an overlooked comedy. I didn't think it was that funny the first time I saw it, but it really grew on me.
Rocky Balboa is a tremendous guy film. I have that speech he delivers to his son nearly memorized.
Biggest Movies of 2007: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, Transformers, Ratatouille, I Am Legend, The Simpsons Movie, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, 300
The only good movie listed above is The Simpsons Movie. All the rest are crap. 300 might be a stylistic victory, but it throws historical accuracy into the trashcan.
Honorable Mentions: No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Gone Baby Gone, American Gangster, Smokin' Aces, Black Snake Moan, Zodiac, Reign Over Me, Blades of Glory, Sicko, Rescue Dawn, Sunshine, The Bourne Ultimatum, Hot Rod, Superbad, 3:10 to Yuma, Eastern Promises, In the Valley of Elah, We Own the Night, 30 Days of Night, Charlie Wilson's War, The Bucket List
There Will Be Blood is one of my favorite movies. Daniel Day-Lewis is terrific in it. I like Javier Bardem's performance in No Country for Old Men almost as much.
Gone Baby Gone is the first film directed by Ben Affleck, who went on to win the Oscar for Argo. Affleck is also present in Smokin' Aces, which is a very good movie.
Sicko is a documentary about the American health care system by Michael Moore. One of his less preachy movies. Quite good, too.
Rescue Dawn pairs the legendary Werner Herzog with Christian Bale. Sadly overlooked at the time.
Sunshine is an great science fiction movie, somewhat reminiscent of the earlier Event Horizon.
Superbad is hilarious.
Eastern Promises is another Cronenberg film. This one follows the doings of the Russian Mafia in England. Viggo Mortenson is riveting as one of the Russian gangsters.
Biggest Movies of 2008: The Dark Knight, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Kung Fu Panda, Hancock, Mamma Mia!, Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa, Quantum of Solace, Iron Man, WALL-E, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Hell yes the Dark Knight. Quite possibly the best comic book movie ever.
Iron Man was another great comic book movie, though in my opinion not as good as The Dark Knight.
Of the above-listed movies, I'd rank WALL-E third. It's a cute film, and it also has a lot to say.
Honorable Mentions: Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, The Wrestler, Cloverfield, Rambo, The Other Boleyn Girl, Stop-Loss, Street Kings, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Speed Racer, The Incredible Hulk, Boy A, Step Brothers, Mirrors, Bangkok Dangerous, Burn After Reading, Lakeview Terrace, Changeling, Frost/Nixon, Gran Torino, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Wrestler is another all-time favorite. Between Sin City and this movie, Mickey Rourke was experiencing a career revival.
A lot of people are down on Speed Racer, but I liked it. Yes, it's hyperactive. Yes, the colors can give you a headache. But that was the point, wasn't it?
The Incredible Hulk might be my favorite of the Marvel Studios films. It's a little bit dark, but I think that works. Edward Norton is still my favorite Bruce Banner.
Andrew Garfield, who would go on to fame and fortune as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, is excellent in Boy A.
I have the dialogue from Step Brothers nearly memorized. Possibly Will Ferrell's best movie.
Biggest Movies of 2009: Avatar, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, 2012, Up, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Sherlock Holmes, Angels and Demons, The Hangover
Avatar was a good movie, even if much of the plot was borrowed from Frank Herbert's "The Jesus Incident" and the short story "They Call Me Joe."
The appeal of the Transformers movies is lost on me.
Sherlock Holmes is good. I also liked the sequel. Perhaps not in keeping with the original stories, but a good update nevertheless.
I liked The Hangover (it was the best of the three by far), but I don't think it deserved to make that much money.
Honorable Mentions: The Hurt Locker, Precious, Up in the Air, Taken, The International, Anvil! The Story of Anvil, Watchmen, Observe and Report, Star Trek, Bruno, Ong Bak 2: The Beginning, The Box, The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Precious is a movie everyone should see. The book is also great.
Anvil! The Story of Anvil is a documentary about an aging Canadian metal band. If you liked Spinal Tap, you really should see this one.
Watchmen remains the peak of Zack Snyder's career. I didn't care that much for Man of Steel, not to mention Sucker Punch.
Bruno is hilarious.
The Box is a horror movie. Very atmospheric and worth seeing.
The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans features Nicholas Cage. It was also directed by the eminent Werner Herzog. This is actually another version of Abel Ferrara's Bad Lieutenant, a movie featuring Harvey Keitel. Ferrara was reportedly furious that Herzog had dared to "remake" his movie, but I think both films are good.
In 2000 I was 25 years old, and in 2004 I was 29. I spent the first three of these years in Taiwan, and the last two in the USA. I also got married and became a father.
I suppose the defining moments of these years were the bursting of the dot-com bubble and 9/11. Post-WWII America, previously an unchallenged economic superpower, went into a serious depression that the George Bush presidency did little to alleviate. Many trade barriers between the US and China were lifted, with the result that China became what it is today: the center of world manufacturing. The paranoia following 9/11 didn't help matters any, nor did the subsequent Iraq War/Invasion. While allowing the economy to coast downhill, the Bush administration all but repealed many individual freedoms and rights to privacy in the name of security. Our enemies, it seemed, were everywhere, and the price of our vigilance was our own freedom.
Biggest Movies of 2000: Mission: Impossible II, Gladiator, Cast Away, What Women Want, Dinosaur, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Meet the Parents, The Perfect Storm, X-men, What Lies Beneath
Gladiator, Cast Away, and Meet the Parents were good movies. Cast Away is probably my favorite among the hits of that year.
The second Mission: Impossible was a terrible movie. I really wanted to like that one, since it shared the same director with Face/Off, but it was a disaster from beginning to end.
The first X-men film wasn't very good, but it was nice to see them finally make a movie out of that comic book. This was perhaps the beginning of the superhero movie fad, which would really pick up steam with 2008's Iron Man. Two years later Sam Raimi's Spider-Man would appear, and after that Ang Lee's Hulk, and after that the floodgates were truly open.
Honorable Mentions: Traffic, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Billy Elliot, Girlfight, The Beach, Pitch Black, The Ninth Gate, American Psycho, The Cell, Remember the Titans, Men of Honor, Unbreakable, Chocolat, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Family Man
Traffic was an excellent movie about the drug trade. The Ninth Gate and American Psycho were two other classics from this year. Of the three films, The Ninth Gate is probably the most overlooked. It offers a moody, atmospheric story of a man searching for a lost book.
The Cell and Unbreakable were not in the same league as the other movies listed above, but I thought they explored some interesting ideas.
Biggest Movies of 2001: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, Monsters, Inc., Shrek, Ocean's Eleven, Pearl Harbor, The Mummy Returns, Jurassic Park III, Planet of the Apes, Hannibal
Harry Potter! I still hate those movies. I probably always will.
The first Lord of the Rings film was good, and relatively faithful to the book. I take issue with subsequent installments in the series. Those subsequent installments bear little resemblance to Tolkein's creation, and are quite boring besides.
Kind of a depressing year if one were to judge it by the blockbusters. The forgettable Ocean's Eleven was probably the best of the bunch, and even that wasn't very good.
Honorable Mentions: A Beautiful Mind, Training Day, Monster's Ball, Memento, The Pledge, Blow, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, America's Sweethearts, Zoolander, From Hell, K-Pax, Shallow Hal
Training Day is a great cop movie. Both Ethan Hawke and Denzel Washington are amazing in it. This movie spawned a slew of imitators.
Monster's Ball offers yet another reason to hate Billy Bob Thornton - he spends a large part of it having sex with the super hot Halle Berry. I don't know if that sex was simulated or not, but it sure looked real enough to me.
Memento is an excellent movie, and one of Christopher Nolan's first. Guy Pierce stars as a man with some serious memory issues.
A.I. is one of my favorite science fiction movies. I know people who can't stand it, but I think it offers the best of both Kubrick and Spielberg.
I have seen Zoolander so many times.
Biggest Movies of 2002: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Spider-Man, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Die Another Day, Signs, Ice Age, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Minority Report
The best movie here is Minority Report. A good combination of Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg, utilizing a story idea from the great Philip K. Dick. Certainly one of the best movie adaptations of a PKD story.
I can remember being very disappointed by Spider-Man. I thought Tobey Maguire was good as Spider-Man, but the Green Goblin looked ridiculous and the movie seemed too long. The sequel was a vast improvement.
Honorable Mentions: The Hours, The Pianist, Catch Me if You Can, Gangs of New York, About Schmidt, Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Frida, Kung Pow! Enter the Fist, John Q, The Time Machine, Resident Evil, Blade II, Ali G Indahouse, The Bourne Identity, Road to Perdition, One Hour Photo, 8 Mile, Solaris
Which is the best movie about the Holocaust? The Pianist or Schindler's List? It's a tough call, but I'd have to go with Schindler's List. The Pianist is excellent however.
This year marks the point at which Leonardo DiCaprio's career really started to pick up steam. He stars in both Catch Me if You Can and Gangs of New York. Both good films.
Adaptation is one of Nicholas Cage's best movies. It is the kind of movie he should do more often. At his age, and with his level of talent, he should do more serious movies.
Blade II is still one of the best superhero movies ever.
One Hour Photo is a less-remembered movie from that year, but Robin Williams is good in it. This would make an excellent double feature with another of his films, The Final Cut, or even the film he did later with Christopher Nolan, Insomnia.
Biggest Movies of 2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Finding Nemo, The Matrix Reloaded, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Bruce Almighty, The Last Samurai, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, The Matrix Revolutions, X2, Bad Boys II
The Matrix Reloaded was a disappointment. They should have left the Matrix alone. It didn't need a sequel. The Matrix Revolutions was slightly better, but it also appropriated elements from Frank Herbert's Dune Messiah, and never gave him credit.
The Last Samurai, another Tom Cruise picture, was probably the best of the hits from this year.
Honorable Mentions: Lost in Translation, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Mystic River, Monster, Dark Blue, Old School, Hulk, Bend it Like Beckham, Cabin Fever, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, The Rundown, Intolerable Cruelty, Kill Bill Vol. 1, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Elf, Bad Santa,
Mystic River and Monster are both excellent movies. I believe Charlize Theron won the Oscar for Monster, and she certainly deserved it. Clint Eastwood directed Sean Penn in Mystic River.
Dark Blue is an overlooked entry from that year. Kurt Russell shines in that movie.
Both Old School and Elf mark the rise of Will Ferrell. He's a household name now, but at the time he was just "that guy from SNL."
Intolerable Cruelty is a good movie on its own merits, but I could turn the sound off and just stare at Catherine Zeta-Jones. My God she is beautiful.
If you haven't seen Bad Santa you should.
Biggest Movies of 2004: Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Spider-Man 2, The Incredibles, The Passion of the Christ, The Day After Tomorrow, Meet the Fockers, Troy, Shark Tale, Ocean's Twelve
Spider-Man 2 is hands down the best movie of 2004. It is also one of the best superhero movies ever.
There was a great deal of controversy over The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson's film about Christ's final days. I saw it in the theater, and audience reactions were interesting. I thought it was a good film, but not as good as The Last Temptation of Christ.
Honorable Mentions: The Aviator, Million Dollar Baby, Ray, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Butterfly Effect, Dawn of the Dead, Hellboy, Kill Bill Vol. 2, 13 Going On 30, Napoleon Dynamite, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, The Terminal, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Garden State, The Manchurian Candidate, Collateral, Saw, Kung Fu (Hustle), Hotel Rwanda, In Good Company
I have seen Million Dollar Baby so many times.
Napoleon Dynamite and Dodgeball were both hilarious movies. Anchorman, however, trumps them both. I have large sections of Anchorman committed to memory.
The Manchurian Candidate should have done better at the box office. Perhaps it was too dark for most people. Meryl Streep and Liev Schreiber are great in that movie.
I parenthesize the "Hustle" in Kung Fu Hustle because that movie was known simply as Kung Fu in Asia. I'm not sure why they added the "Hustle" for American audiences.
Hotel Rwanda is an excellent film featuring Don Cheadle.
In 1995 I was twenty, and in 1999 I was twenty-four. During all this time I was a college student. In 1999 I graduated, and two weeks later I moved to Taiwan, where I still live.
For me it was a time of discovery. I had many jobs, I went to many parties, and yes, I had my share of girlfriends. I can remember a lot of novel experiences from those years. I was stoned or drunk quite often, I had my heart broken more than once, I saw a dead guy, and I began to see my hometown differently.
Seattle was doing very well at the time. There were tech jobs aplenty, many local companies were making names for themselves, and our lives were far removed from the political and economic turmoil awaiting us after 9/11. In 1999 you could still confidently assert that America was the greatest country in the world. In 2014 it's a little harder to make that statement.
Biggest Movies of 1995: Die Hard with a Vengeance, Toy Story, Apollo 13, GoldenEye, Pocahontas, Batman Forever, Se7en, Casper, Waterworld, Jumanji
The Die Hard movies were never very good.
The best of the above movies would have to be Apollo 13 and Se7en. Se7en is still classic.
Waterworld is often described as one of the worst films ever made, but I thought it was alright. No, the quality of the film didn't justify the amount of money spent, but I've seen much worse.
Honorable Mentions: Braveheart, Leaving Las Vegas, Murder in the First, Casino, Dead Man Walking, Twelve Monkeys, The Usual Suspects, Rob Roy, Trainspotting, In the Mouth of Madness, The Quick and the Dead, Tommy Boy, The Basketball Diaries, Kids, Lord of Illusions, Showgirls, Heat
Yes, Showgirls was terrible. But it is so terrible that it should be seen at least once.
I have seen Leaving Las Vegas so many times. Something about that film keeps pulling me back. I downloaded it (again) just the other day.
In the Mouth of Madness and Lord of Illusions are two underrated horror movies from that year. In the Mouth of Madness is a tribute to H.P. Lovecraft, and Lord of Illusions isn't a terrible film from Clive Barker. It presented a few interesting ideas, anyway.
Most guys will like Casino and Heat. Both very manly, both very operatic crime films.
Murder in the First should have been a more successful movie. Anyone down on Kevin Bacon should really see it. He is a terrific actor at times.
Biggest Movies of 1996: Independence Day, Twister, Mission: Impossible, The Rock, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 101 Dalmations, Ransom, The Nutty Professor, Jerry Maguire, Eraser
All of the above movies are fairly retarded, with the exception of Ransom. Ransom is one of those dark, brooding films that Mel Gibson used to do so well. What the hell happened to that guy?
Honorable Mentions: The English Patient, Fargo, The Birdcage, The People Vs. Larry Flynt, Sling Blade, Lone Star, The Fan, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Box of Moonlight
I liked the movie of The English Patient more than the book. The book was good, but the movie was better.
I've probably seen Sling Blade and The Fan more than the other movies listed above. I have a lot of the dialogue from Sling Blade memorized, and The Fan is a great baseball movie featuring Wesley Snipes and Robert de Niro.
Box of Moonlight was a lower budget movie from that year. It is worth seeking out.
Biggest Movies of 1997: Titanic, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Men in Black, Tomorrow Never Dies, Air Force One, As Good as it Gets, Liar Liar, My Best Friend's Wedding, The Fifth Element, The Full Monty
As Good as it Gets, The Fifth Element, and The Full Monty were good movies. The rest? Not quite as good.
Honorable Mentions: L.A. Confidential, Boogie Nights, Amistad, Good Will Hunting, In & Out, The Ice Storm, Donnie Brasco, Breakdown, Face/Off, Cop Land, Event Horizon, G.I. Jane, The Edge, Gattaca, Starship Troopers, Jackie Brown, The Apostle, Cube
The Ice Storm is probably my favorite movie from this year. It is one of Ang Lee's first films.
L.A. Confidential was my introduction to James Ellroy, an author I still enjoy. Russell Crowe was great in this one.
Anyone who questions Stallone's acting ability should see Cop Land.
Event Horizon and Cube were two lesser known movies from that year. Event Horizon is still one of my favorite horror films, and Cube, although not nearly as good, featured an interesting concept.
I have seen the Apostle more times than I can remember. Like Leaving Las Vegas, that movie keeps pulling me back.
Biggest Movies of 1998: Armaggedon, Saving Private Ryan, Godzilla, There's Something About Mary, A Bug's Life, Deep Impact, Mulan, Dr. Dolittle, Shakespeare in Love, Lethal Weapon 4
Saving Private Ryan has to be the best of the films listed above, and Lethal Weapon 4 is undoubtedly the worst. Armaggedon and Deep Impact were very similar movies, though Armaggedon was slightly better.
The 1998 version of Godzilla was widely panned at the time, but I like it more than the 2014 version. It has its flaws, but the makers of the 98 version seemed to better understand the point of a Godzilla movie.
Honorable Mentions: The Truman Show, Gods and Monsters, Elizabeth, A Simple Plan, American History X, The Big Lebowski, Blade, Buffalo 66, Dark City, The Legend of 1900, The Thin Red Line, Velvet Goldmine
The Big Lebowski is one of those movies that you can watch over and over again.
Gods and Monsters and Buffalo 66 were two overlooked movies from that year. The former features Ian McKellan and Brendan Fraser, and the most famous person in the latter is Christina Ricci.
I saw Velvet Goldmine in the theater. It is a very homoerotic movie, and it was fun to see the discomfort on many moviegoer's faces as Christian Bale engaged in anal sex with Ewan McGregor. It's also about the glam music scene in the early 70s - one of my favorite music periods.
Biggest Movies of 1999: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, The Sixth Sense, Toy Story 2, The Matrix, Tarzan, The Mummy, Notting Hill, The World is Not Enough, American Beauty, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
The Phantom Menace was a historically disappointing movie. Anyone who can sit through those Star Wars "prequels" is a bigger fan than I am.
The Matrix and American Beauty were probably the best two hits from this year. The lackluster nature of the two sequels obscures how awesome the first Matrix was, but at the time it was a revelation. Kevin Spacey was also great in American Beauty.
Honorable Mentions: The Insider, Boys Don't Cry, The Green Mile, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Office Space, Election, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Arlington Road, Eyes Wide Shut, Mystery Men, Stir of Echoes, Three Kings, Fight Club, The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, Any Given Sunday, Galaxy Quest, Audition
Boys Don't Cry launched the career of Hillary Swank. It is the story of a girl living as a boy in a small town. The ending is really hard to watch, but it's a great film.
Office Space and Ghost Dog are two other movies that I can watch over and over again.
A lot of people will tell you that the Fight Club movie isn't as good as the book. I would disagree with those people. I think the movie was far superior.
Audition is a Japanese horror film. It is one of the most disturbing things ever.
In 1990 I was 15 years old, and in 1994 I was 19. For most of this time period I was a miserable high school student, and during 1994 I was a recent graduate, jobless and uncertain as to what future path my life might take. It was, in other words, not the best of times for me, though I do cherish some memories of friends and family from that time.
1990-1994 was the era of George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton, it was the era in which glam metal gave way to grunge, and it was the era in which my hometown, Seattle, became synonymous with everything fashionable. The Sega Genesis had replaced the Sega Master System, and the Super Nintendo had replaced the NES. The Internet was becoming a fact of daily life, and dot-com companies were on their way up... and up... and up... until...
Biggest Movies of 1990: Ghost, Home Alone, Pretty Woman, Dances with Wolves, Total Recall, Back to the Future Part III, Die Hard 2: Die Harder, Presumed Innocent, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kindergarten Cop
Ghost. Man, I despised that movie. Girls liked it though, and I suppose if I had been old enough to really date I would have been dragged into a movie theater to see it. As bad as it was, however, it wasn't as bad as the Home Alone movies, which grew more insipid with each installment.
Back to the Future III was forgettable, as were Die Hard 2, Presumed Innocent, and the first live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Dances with Wolves and Totall Recall were good movies from that year. Kevin Costner won many awards for Dances with Wolves, and Total Recall was one of Schwarzenegger's best films.
Schwarzenegger's Kindergarten Cop, which came out the same year, was (like the Goonies) set in Astoria, Oregon, where I spent time growing up. I watched it again yesterday, and even though I'd have to say that it's NOT a good movie, I still enjoyed the exterior shots of Astoria.
Honorable Mentions: Misery, Goodfellas, Wild at Heart, Nightbreed, Lord of the Flies, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Navy Seals, The Exorcist III, Darkman, King of New York, Avalon
Both the book and the movie of Misery were good. I say this as someone who is not a big fan of Stephen King. The movie adaptation of Lord of the Flies was also equal to the beloved novel.
Goodfellas is one of the classic mob movies. It's also a classic guy film. Equally violent was David Lynch's Wild at Heart, which was one of the best films from that year. Anyone who likes Goodfellas will probably also like King of New York, featuring Christopher Walken in the lead role and Laurence Fishburne and Wesley Snipes in very early performances. Avalon is another great drama from 1990, though it's not violent like the films mentioned above.
Nightbreed, Exorcist III, and Darkman were great horror offerings from the same year. Sam Raimi created Darkman after failing to secure the rights for The Shadow. Exorcist III was genuinely scary, and helped people forget Exorcist II. Nightbreed shows Clive Barker in his prime, the cult favorite who also gave us Hellraiser and the underrated Rawhead Rex.
Ford Fairlane and Navy Seals are not especially good films, but I remember them being popular among guys my age. The guys in my high school German class talked about Ford Fairlane endlessly, and Michael Biehn had another brush with fame in Navy Seals.
Biggest Movies of 1991: Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Beauty and the Beast, Hook, The Silence of the Lambs, JFK, The Addams Family, Cape Fear, Hot Shots!, City Slickers
I can remember seeing Terminator 2 in the theater on the first day it came out. That theater was jam packed full of people.
I liked JFK and City Slickers, and Silence of the Lambs was great. Cape Fear was possibly my favorite movie of that year. The other hit movies of 1991 are probably better forgotten. Both Robin Hood and Hot Shots! could be considered missteps in otherwise fruitful careers.
Honorable Mentions: Barton Fink, The Fisher King, Thelma and Louise, The Doors, New Jack City, Backdraft, The Rocketeer, Boyz n the Hood, Point Break, Little Man Tate, Rush, Once Upon a Time in China, Raise the Red Lantern
Of the movies listed above, The Doors and Rush are my favorites. I'm not even sure why I like Rush so much. Jason Patric was amazing in it. That guy never got as much attention as he deserved.
Anyone who liked Captain America: The First Avenger will undoubtedly find a lot to like in The Rocketeer. The two movies are similar in many respects, and they share the same director!
Raise the Red Lantern, a Chinese film, marked the emergence of China's film industry from the shadow of Hong Kong. The beautiful Gong Li is the star of this film. Once Upon a Time in China, which is really more of a Hong Kong production, was one of Jet Li's early hits.
Biggest Movies of 1992: Aladdin, The Bodyguard, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Basic Instinct, Lethal Weapon 3, Batman Returns, A Few Good Men, Sister Act, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Wayne's World
God, another Home Alone. The Bodyguard, Lethal Weapon 3, Sister Act, and Wayne's World were also terrible. Just about anything featuring Whoopi Goldberg should be avoided.
Basic Instinct and Batman Returns were decent movies, but far from spectacular.
A Few Good Men and Bram Stoker's Dracula were two good films from that year. A Few Good Men featured Tom Cruise and Demi Moore, and Gary Oldman shined in Dracula. That movie was so much better than the vastly overrated novel.
Honorable Mentions: Scent of a Woman, Unforgiven, Chaplin, American Me, The Cutting Edge, Thunderheart, Deep Cover, Boomerang, A League of Their Own, Honeymoon in Vegas, Pet Sematary 2, School Ties, The Last of the Mohicans, Hero, Of Mice and Men, A River Runs Through It, Candyman, Reservoir Dogs, Malcolm X, Bad Lieutenant, A Few Good Men, The Crying Game, Day of Atonement, Hard Boiled, Orlando, Romper Stomper
Unforgiven - hell yes! One of Clint Eastwood's best. I have seen that move more times than I can recall.
Robert Downey Jr. almost experienced a renaissance with Chaplin, but unfortunately his substance abuse put a quick end to that. He wouldn't really break into the big time until sobriety and Iron Man. A late bloomer for sure.
The Cutting Edge is not a good movie, but that actress who plays the ice skater is so freaking hot. What was her name? It's escaping me at the moment.
If you squint your eyes while watching School Ties you can just make out Ben Affleck and Matt Damon as Brendan Fraser's classmates.
The Last of the Mohicans was a fantastic movie, and it was as good as the novel. It wasn't Daniel Day-Lewis' best performance (I would bestow that honor upon Let There Be Blood), but it was up there.
Malcolm X was an excellent historical drama, and Bad Lieutenant was probably Harvey Keitel's best film. The remake with Nicholas Cage was also good.
Thunderheart, Deep Cover, Day of Atonement, and Orlando are overlooked films from that year. Anyone who likes gangster films ought to like the Jewish take on the genre found in Day of Atonement.
Biggest Movies of 1993: Jurassic Park, Mrs. Doubtfire, The Fugitive, Schindler's List, The Firm, Indecent Proposal, Cliffhanger, Sleepless in Seattle, Philadelphia, The Pelican Brief
I have never understood why Mrs. Doubtfire was popular.
Schindler's List and Philadelphia were undoubtedly the best hits from this year. In Schindler's List Spielberg tackles the Holocaust, and in Philadelphia Tom Hanks turns in a strong performance as an AIDS patient.
Cliffhanger was one of those movies you had to see in the theater. It doesn't look half as cool on a small screen.
Honorable Mentions: The Piano, What's Love Got to Do with It, Groundhog Day, Farewell My Concubine, The Wedding Banquet, Dave, Rising Sun, The Man Without a Face, Kalifornia, True Romance, Demolition Man, Fearless, The Remains of the Day, Carlito's Way, Tombstone, Boxing Helena, A Bronx Tale, The Crush, Falling Down, In the Name of the Father, Menace II Society, Ninja Scroll, The Saint of Fort Washington, Sommersby, Stalingrad, Wide Sargasso Sea
Michael Douglas is awesome in Falling Down. That movie is classic.
The Saint of Fort Washington is another movie that is sadly overlooked. Both Danny Glover and Matt Dillon turned in great performances.
The German movie Stalingrad is grim, but like Das Boot it is one of the great WWII movies.
I realize that Quentin Tarantion only wrote True Romance, but it is still one of my favorite Tarantino films. The critics might love his most recent films, but I haven't liked a Tarantino movie since Kill Bill Vol. 2.
Groundhog Day and The Man Without a Face are two movies from this year that I have watched more times than I can count.
Biggest Movies of 1994: The Lion King, Forrest Gump, True Lies, The Mask, Speed, The Flintstones, Dumb and Dumber, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Interview with a Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, Clear and Present Danger
Damn Forrest Gump got annoying. It was good, but it wasn't that good. My favorite of this year's hits would be Interview with a Vampire. I can remember reading a lot of Anne Rice at the time.
Honorable Mentions: Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, The Hudsucker Proxy, The Ref, The Paper, Surviving the Game, The Crow, Maverick, Little Buddha, Wyatt Earp, Natural Born Killers, The Shawshank Redemption, Stargate, The Professional, Clerks, Crumb, Immortal Beloved, Priest, Wolf
Pulp Fiction, Natural Born Killers, The Shawshank Redemption, The Professional, and Clerks were excellent movies from 1994. Gary Oldman was even better in The Professional than he was in Bram Stoker's Dracula. Clerks was the first and only reason to watch a Kevin Smith movie. That guy really got lost in his desire for attention.
Crumb is a documentary about the comic strip (comic book?) artist. It is an interesting documentary.
Now the late 80s I remember much better. I was between ten and fourteen at the time, and I could see just about anything I wanted. This was also when VHS tapes were easier to rent, and films were transferred to tape much quicker.
1984-89 saw the rise of the big action stars like Stallone and Schwarzenegger, the continued dominance of Spielberg, and the appearance of newer directors such as Oliver Stone, James Cameron, and Tim Burton.
Many of today's biggest movie stars can also trace their careers back to this time. Robert Downey Jr. inhabited the teen comedy ghetto, a young Christian Bale featured in Empire of the Sun, and Tom Cruise was really making a name for himself with a string of hit movies. Tom Hanks, who had earlier hits with Splash and Bachelor Party, had another hit with Big.
Biggest Films of 1985: Back to the Future, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Rocky 4, The Color Purple, Out of Africa, Cocoon, The Jewel of the Nile, Witness, The Goonies, Spies Like Us
I can remember Back to the Future being very popular at the time. I can't help but think that Christopher Lloyd (and not Michael J. Fox) was a big reason those movies were successful. I watched this film again recently.
Rambo II was the movie that every ten year old yearns for. That scene where he runs up the hill (just before his capture by the Vietnamese) is so ridiculous that it's fantastic. Stallone would also face off against Dolph Lundgren in Rocky 4 the same year. "Eye of the Tiger" baby!
I can remember watching Cocoon and The Goonies in the theater that year. I had an easier time relating to The Goonies. Much of the Goonies was also filmed in and around Astoria, Oregon, where I spent a lot of time as a kid. I also loved the Nintendo game!
Honorable Mention(s): American Ninja, Better Off Dead, Brazil, Commando, Day of the Dead, Enemy Mine, Fright Night, Invasion U.S.A., The Last Dragon, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Mask, Pale Rider, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Police Story, Ran, Re-Animator, Real Genius, Summer Rental, Weird Science
American Ninja, Commando, The Last Dragon, and Invasion U.S.A. are all terrible movies, but they are indicative of the times. Most boys in the 80s were obsessed with ninjas and survivalist white dudes. One of the posters for Commando features Schwarzenegger brandishing the same gun and striking exactly the same pose as Stallone did in the Rambo II poster.
Better Off Dead, Real Genius, Summer Rental, and Weird Science were your average teen comedies, but they featured early performances by John Cusack, Val Kilmer, and Anthony Michael Hall. If you look closely you can see Robert Downey Jr. as one of the bullies in Weird Science.
Day of the Dead, Fright Night, and Re-Animator were good horror films from the era. I thought a remake of Fright Night was unnecessary (especially since Chris Sarandon was the only reason the original was cool). Re-Animator was probably the best horror movie that year.
Pale Rider is one of Clint Eastwood's best films. Great movie. Seen it many times.
1985 was also when Jackie Chan started to make his presence felt. Police Story is still one of his best movies.
Biggest Films of 1986: Top Gun, Crocodile Dundee, Platoon, The Karate Kid Part II, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Back to School, Aliens, The Golden Child, Ruthless People
Top Gun was a colossal hit, in part due to the soundtrack. Man that movie was everywhere. I saw it again recently, and I'd have to say it isn't all that great.
Platoon was one of the best Vietnam films, right up there with Apocalypse Now, The Deer Hunter, Full Metal Jacket, and Hamburger Hill.
Back to School brings back a lot of memories. Rodney Dangerfield was having a good time in 1986! Again, there is Robert Downey Jr.
Aliens was so awesome. Of course the first movie scared the piss out of me, but Aliens managed to up the ante. Michael Biehn was always almost a big movie star.
Honorable Mention(s): The Mission, Howard the Duck, Armor of God, A Better Tomorrow, Big Trouble in Little China, Blue Velvet, Cobra, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Fly, Gung Ho!, Highlander, Sid and Nancy, Stand By Me
The Mission is an excellent movie. At the other end of the spectrum, Howard the Duck is so bad that it should be seen at least once.
Armor of God and A Better Tomorrow were two classic Hong Kong films that came out the same year. That fight scene at the end of Armor of God is one of the best ever.
Big Trouble in Little China was a different kind of film from John Carpenter. Now that I live in Taiwan, it's hard not to view it in racial terms, but if you don't think about it too hard it's a good movie.
Cobra, featuring Stallone and soon-to-be ex-wife Bridget Nielson, is also so bad it's good.
David Cronenberg's The Fly is epic. Not only is it Cronenberg's best film, but it's one of the all-time classic horror movies. David Lynch's Blue Velvet is equally great, but weird in a different way.
Biggest Films of 1987: Three Men and a Baby, Beverly Hills Cop 2, Fatal Attraction, Good Morning Vietnam, Moonstruck, The Untouchables, The Secret of My Success, Stakeout, Lethal Weapon, The Witches of Eastwick
Oh Christ, Three Men and a Baby. Forgot all about that one (perhaps I repressed the memory). Directed by Spock!
As you might have guessed from the presence of both Stakeout and Lethal Weapon, 1987 ushered in the era of the buddy cop film.
If you judged this year by the highest-grossing films, it was a depressing year for movies.
Honorable Mention(s): The Last Emperor, Wall Street, Angel Heart, Bad Taste, Empire of the Sun, Evil Dead II, Full Metal Jacket, Hamburger Hill, Hellraiser, Innerspace, Masters of the Universe, Nekromantik, Overboard, Planes Trains and Automobiles, Predator, Prince of Darkness, Raising Arizona, Robocop, The Running Man, Street Trash
The Last Emperor is a great film, and Joan Chen is/was super hot. Wall Street, Angel Heart, Spielberg's Empire of the Sun, Full Metal Jacket, Hamburger Hill, and Raising Arizona were other great "serious" (arty) films from the same year. Empire of the Sun was one of Christian Bale's first movies.
A lot of good horror this year. A remake of Prince of Darkness, given our current understanding of quantum theory, would almost write itself. Bad Taste, a horror movie about homeless people, was sadly overlooked at the time. Hellraiser looks kind of corny now, but I suppose they were working with a small budget.
Also a good year for Schwarzenegger, with Predator and the Running Man released the same year. The original Robocop, which competed for the same audience, is far better than the remake.
Perhaps the strangest release of 1987 was the Masters of the Universe movie. By 1987 no one was buying the toys that inspired the film, and the movie was, as expected, a dismal failure.
Biggest Films of 1988: Rain Man, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Coming to America, Big, Twins, Crocodile Dundee II, Die Hard, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, Cocktail, Beetlejuice
Rain Man went some way to proving that Tom Cruise could really act, though it was certainly Dustin Hoffman that made that film a success.
Who would bother to see Who Framed Roger Rabbit now? At the time the mixture of real people and cartoon characters seemed state-of-the-art, but with the modern prevalence of CGI it seems downright old-fashioned.
I can remember seeing Die Hard in the theater. I never understood the popularity of those movies. Whatever Stallone or Schwarzenegger were doing the same year(s) always seemed cooler.
Crocodile Dundee. Ahhhh... exotic Australia. "Now that's a knife!"
Honorable Mention(s): The Accused, Rambo III, The Abyss, Akira, Alien Nation, The Blob, Bloodsport, Colors, The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, The Great Outdoors, The Last Temptation of Christ, License to Drive, Mississippi Burning, Scrooged, They Live, Willow, Young Guns
Rambo III! In Afghanistan! Bet you didn't know that Stallone films often prophesize the future!
The Abyss is a great James Cameron film. Both Michael Biehn and Ed Harris are great in it.
Akira really blew my mind when I first saw it. Back then there was no way to legally acquire the movie, so we were all trading VHS tapes of it.
The Blob wasn't all that great, but that blob thing sure was freaky.
Bloodsport marks the arrival of Jean Claude Van Damme, who was always ready to do some "Van Dammage." (Sorry, couldn't help myself).
The Decline of Western Civilization Part II was right in line with the music I liked back then. Metal was in full force, and I was an avid listener. Dave Mustaine has all the best lines in this movie. Remember when that guy wasn't a right-wing asshole?
License to Drive SUCKS, but it does features the two Coreys, Haim and Feldman, who will be familiar to all who grew up in the 80s. Corey Haim died from drug-related complications not long ago, and Feldman has (unfortunately) survived to front a ska band. I'm not wishing anyone dead here, but I sure do hate ska.
The Last Temptation of Christ and They Live are probably my favorite movies from this time. The former was a controversial film starring Willem Defoe and Harvey Keitel, while the latter is one of John Carpenter's best.
Why bother with those Lord of the Rings movies when you could see Willow? Also a cool arcade game!
Biggest Films of 1989: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Batman, Back to the Future Part II, Look Who's Talking, Dead Poet's Society, Lethal Weapon 2, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Ghostbusters II, The Little Mermaid, Born on the Fourth of July
I never thought Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was that wonderful. Same with Batman. Both movies were severely overhyped.
Lethal Weapon 2 was even more annoying that the first movie, and Ghostbusters II was kind of a disappointment.
Born on the Fourth of July was the second film in Oliver Stone's Vietnam trilogy, following Platoon. It was also a good movie. The last film in this trilogy, Heaven and Earth, was BAD.
Honorable Mention(s): Glory, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Black Rain, Casualties of War, Erik the Viking, God of Gamblers, Leviathan, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Pet Sematary, Tetsuo: the Iron Man
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure is one of the reasons people bother with Keanu Reeves. Not a good reason, but one of the reasons.
God of Gamblers continues to enjoy enormous popularity in Asia. I'm not sure how many sequels they made to this movie, but the first is undoubtedly the best.
Leviathan and Pet Sematary were good horror movies from that year. There was another movie that year, Deepstar Six, which was very similar to Leviathan.
Testuo: the Iron Man is one of the strangest films you'll ever see. In some respects similar to Eraserhead.
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