Top 10 Films of 1990

1. "GoodFellas" (Martin Scorsese, USA)

2. "Metropolitan" (Whit Stillman, USA)

3. ''Singapore Sling'' (Nikos Nikolaidis, Greece)

4. ''The Nasty Girl'' (Michael Verhoeven, Germany)

5. "Cyrano de Bergerac" (Jean-Paul Rappeneau, France)

6. ''Milou en mai'' (Louis Malle, France)

7. ''The Grifters'' (Stephen Frears, USA)

8. "Mermaids" (Richard Benjamin, USA)

9. ''Freeze - Die - Come To Life" (Vitali Kanevsky, Soviet Union)

10. "Bullet In The Head" (John Woo, Hong Kong)

Other great films:

Adam's Rib (Soviet Union)

The Ages Of Lulu (Spain)

Alice

Barbarian Queen 2

La Baule-les-Pins (France)

Le Chateau de ma mère (France)
A Chinese Ghost Story 2 (Hong Kong)
Close-Up (Iran)

Conte de printemps (France)
Cry-Baby
Dances With Wolves
Darkman
Days Of Thunder

La Discrète (France)
Edward Scissorhands

The Forbidden Dance

The Freshman
Ghost

Glimpse 1
La Gloire de mon père (France)
The Gods Must Be Crazy II (South Africa)
Gremlins 2: The New Batch

H (Canada)

Une Histoire inventée (Canada)
Home Alone
The Hunt For Red October
Joe Versus The Volcano
Ju Dou (China)
King Of New York
Korczak (Poland)
Lambada

Life Is Sweet (UK)

Longtime Companion

The Match Factory Girl (Finland)
Miller's Crossing
Misery
Mr And Mrs Bridge

Nikita (France)
Nouvelle vague (Switzerland)

Nuit d'été en ville (France)

Porno (Poland)

Puta del Rey (Italy)
The Reflecting Skin
The Rescuers Down Under
Reversal Of Fortune
Ripoux contre Ripoux (France)
Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead

Secrets

Simon les nuages (Canada)
Swordsman (Hong Kong)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Tiger Cage 2 (Hong Kong)

Total Recall
Tremors
Uranus (France)
Vincent And Me (Canada)
White Hunter Black Heart

The Witches


Top 10 Guilty Pleasures of 1990:

1. "Pump Up The Volume" (Allan Moyle, New Line)

2. "Wild At Heart" (David Lynch, USA)

3. "Beautiful Dreamers" (John Kent Harrison, Canada)

4. "Halfaouine l'enfant des terrasses" (Férid Boughedir, Tunisia)

5. "The Sheltering Sky" (Bernardo Bertolucci, Warner)

6. "The Big Steal" (Nadia Tass, Australia)

7. "Le Party" (Pierre Falardeau, Canada)

8. "Forbidden Love" (Helmut Dziuba, East Germany)

9. "La Désenchantée" (Benoît Jacquot, France)

10. "Pont de Varsovia" (Pere Portabella, Spain)

Short Top 3:

1. "12:01 PM" (Jonathan Heap, USA)

2. "The Lunch Date" (Adam Davidson, USA)

3. "The Evil Cameraman" (Richard Kern, USA)

Top 3 Music Videos:

1. "Vogue" (David Fincher, Madonna)

2. "Groove Is In The Heart" (Hiroyuki Nakano, Deee-Lite)

3. "Nothing Compares 2 U" (John Maybury, Sinead O'Connor)

Other great music videos:

Freedom 90

Top Commercial:

"Turbocharged Dream" (Ridley Scott, Nissan)

TV Top 5:

1. "Twin Peaks" (David Lynch, ABC)

2. "Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Bal" (Olga Lipinska, Poland)

3. "From Moscow To Pietushki" (Pawel Pawlikowski, BBC, UK)

4. "Northern Exposure: Pilot" (Joshua Brand, CBS)

5. "Miami Vice: Too Much Too Late" (Richard Compton, NBC)

Other great TV shows:

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Kablowa (Poland)

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Kandydat (Poland)

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Polskie danie (Poland)

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Program na dzis (Poland)

Kabaret Olgi Lipinskiej: Strus (Poland)

Cartoon Top 3:

1. "Roller Coaster Rabbit" (Rob Minkoff, Disney)

2. "The Prince And The Pauper" (George Scribner, Disney)

3. "Creature Comforts" (Nick Park, Aardman, UK)

Other great cartoons:

About The Tap Who Sang At The Opera (Czechoslovakia)
A Grand Day Out (UK)

Grasshoppers (Italy)

Guy: Double Target (Japan)

Hen His Wife (Soviet Union)

Plymptoons
To Be (Canada)

Weak films of 1990:

The Adventures Of Ford Fairlane
Avalon
Awakenings

Ay Carmela (Spain)
Back To The Future III

Bird On A Wire
The Bonfire Of The Vanities
Cadillac Man
Cargo (Canada)
Creative Process: Norman McLaren (Canada)
Daddy nostalgie (France)
Days Of Being Wild (Hong Kong)
Dick Tracy
Die Hard 2: Die Harder

Dreams (Japan)

Erotic Ghost Story (Hong Kong)

The Godfather, Part III
God Of Gamblers 2 (Hong Kong)
Hamlet
Hardware

Henry And June
I Love You To Death
Island Of Fire (Hong Kong)
Journey Of Hope (Switzerland)
Julia Has Two Lovers
Kill Me Again
The Little Devil (Italy)
Man Behind The Sun (China)
Le Mari de coiffeuse (France)
Men Don't Leave
A Moment Of Romance (Hong Kong)
Nanni Moretti (Italy)
Nuns On The Run
Presumed Innocent
Pretty Woman
Quick Change
Robocop 2
Song Of The Exile (Hong Kong)
Tatie Danielle (France)
Taxi Blues (Russia)
Three Men And A Little Lady
Tilai (Burkina Faso)
Ucieczka z kina "Wolnosc" (Poland)
La Vengeance d'une femme (France)
La Voce della luna (Italy)

Without You I'M Nothing

Weak shorts:

Le Baiser (France)
Bronx Cheers
Dear Rosie
Escapades Of The One Particular Mr Noodle (Canada)
Fierrot le Pou (France)
New Shoes (Canada)

Weak cartoons:

Jours de plaine (Canada)

Top Musical of 1990

"Cry-Baby" (John Waters, Universal)

Milou en mai (1990) *****

The Nasty Girl (1990) *****

Singapore Sling (1990) *****

This Greek film directed by Nikos Nikolaidis is among the most perverse and deranged comedies ever made. Michelle Valley plays a demented mother and Meredith Herold - her equally disturbed daughter. Together, they torture a young man who shows up at their house. Every scatology imaginable, as well as bondage, torture and many other perversions are explored in this unique film, whose story is actually inspired, believe it or not, by a magnificent Hollywood film noir, "Laura" (1944), directed by Otto Preminger. Shot in beautiful black and white, "Singapore Sling" is a fetishist's dream-come-true, with plenty of nudity and sexual situations. To quote from a French review of the film, "tel une mouche qui se prend dans la toile de l'araignée, Singapore Sling va tomber entre les mains de ces deux femmes démoniaques qui vont se livrer sur lui à des jeux cruels du plaisir. Ligoté, violé et torturé, son sort sera amer. Elles iront au bout de leurs fantasmes sexuels, jusqu'à ce que plaisir et souffrance se confondent, dans un rituel incestueux, lesbien et sadomasochiste." Note: Do not confuse it with a dreadful Shannon Tweed film of the same title, made in 2000.

GoodFellas (1990) *****

Martin Scorsese's masterpiece and arguably the greatest American film of all time ("Citizen Kane" included). This is movie storytelling at its best, capturing the viewer's imagination and involving him in the story in an active and exciting way. A cinematic miracle of the highest order.

Metropolitan (1990) *****

Jane Austen in Manhattan. Wonderfully witty film about rich young preppies attending Christmas parties on the Upper East Side.

Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) *****

Flamboyant and dynamic adaptation of the classic tale, starring Gerard Depardieu as the long-nosed swashbuckler who falls in love with his beautiful cousin, Roxanne (Anne Brochet). A superbly directed, brilliantly written and flawlessly acted film, with magnificently orchestrated crowd movements and beautiful, poetic dialogue, full of charm and humor. A great achievement.

Life Is Sweet (1990) ****

Freeze - Die - Come To Life (1990) ****

'The Grifters (1990) ****

Mermaids (1990) ****

Winona Ryder gives one of her best performances as a young girl growing up in the early 1960's. Cher plays her excentric mother.

Bullet In The Head (1990) ****

An unusual picture for John Woo. It's a crime film, but one set in South Vietnam in the late 60's. It also bears some striking similarities to Michael Cimino's "The Deer Hunter" (1978).

Conte de printemps (1990) ***

Charming and intelligent comedy directed by Eric Rohmer. Great dialogues.

Wild At Heart (1990) ***

Total Recall (1990) ***

Lambada (1990) ***

Fine musical film with excellent dance numbers.

Adam's Rib (1990) ***

A Soviet film, clearly inspired by "Moscow Doesn't Believe In Tears".

Ghost (1990) ***

Fantasy melodrama about undying love.

Days Of Thunder (1990) ***

A race car driver (Tom Cruise) has a serious accident, but he manages to overcome his fears to win the Daytona 500 race. A fairly conventional story by Robert Towne has some original touches, but the film is most memorable for its razon-sharp editing, great score and a fine performance by Robert Duvall.

The Forbidden Dance (1990) ***

Musical film about an Amazonian princess who wants to dance and save the rainforest. A certain priscillagrrr took this film a bit too seriously, making this comment on imdb.com:

I feel ashamed of being Brazilian after watching this movie! This is a ridiculous film! Not only is there no good dancing, as the title suggests, and moronic dialog, but the writers obviously did not research Brazilian culture whatsoever before making this crappy movie. I'm Brazilian, born and raised, and believe me on this one, there are NO princesses there. Not even anything close! It makes me angry that this movie portrays my country and culture so wrong. Asides from that, the movie makes me laugh because everything is so exaggerated and corny!

Yes, we are aware, dear Priscilla, that there are no princesses in Brazil. But you are apparently unaware that this is a fairy-tale musical, and not a serious documentary.

Edward Scissorhands (1990) ***

Very original fantasy fable from Tim Burton.

La Discrète (1990) ***

Fabrice Luchini stars in this French drama about relationships between men and women.

Darkman (1990) ***

Directed by Sam Raimi, it's an effective action/horror movie about a masked avenger.

Dances With Wolves (1990) ***

It will be forever remembered as that overpraised western that stole the best picture Oscar from "GoodFellas", but otherwise it's not a bad movie at all.

Close-Up (1990) ***

An Iranian drama directed by Abbas Kiarostami. It's based on a true story of a fraud artist who pretended to be a famous Iranian filmmaker, Mohsen Makhmalbaf.