10. FIELD OF DREAMS

The latest baseball flick to take the field may straddle the line between being oversentimental and downright ridiculous, but it also manages to be the most unique baseball movie ever made – one that is less about the sport than it is about following your dreams and overcoming regrets.  And that, along with the film’s uniqueness, makes Field of Dreams a winning hit.

9. GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES

My Neighbor Totoro, which would be released in America one year later, would have never been made if it weren’t for Grave of the Fireflies.  Studios greenlit both films together, because they felt so strongly about Grave of the Fireflies.  However, by the time of its release, Isao Takahata’s film was mostly overlooked by My Neighbor Totoro.  Too bad, because although both films are great, Grave of the Fireflies may be the greatest anime film ever made.  It’s certainly the most emotional, as it tells the story of an older brother who goes great distances to protect his little sister from the tragedies of World War II.  Its animation may not be as strong as Hayao Miyazaki’s film, but its beauty still shines when the fireflies are around.  More importantly the film always shines.

8. WHEN HARRY MET SALLY…

Rob Reiner – the director who turned mockumentaries up to an 11 with This Is Spinal Tap and turned fantasy into comedy gold with The Princess Bride is at it again with an equally funny and complex subject: the difficulties of maintaining a lifelong friendship with an attractive member of the opposite sex.  Obviously, Reiner has once again proven he’s far from the meathead that his father-in-law claimed him to be in All in the Family. Of course, he gets some help from Meg Ryan, the loveable breakout star who gives undoubtedly the most memorable performance at a diner ever.  When Harry Met Sally is sweet, truthful and the funniest romantic comedy in years.

7. THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS

The story of The Fabulous Baker Boys is simple: two brothers who make up a struggling pianist duet are saved when a beautiful and talented singer joins them on stage.  And, ironically, the movie is also saved when a beautiful and talented actress joins the Bridges’ brothers in the film.  That actress is Michelle Pfeiffer, and she gives the best performance I saw all year.  The actress, who has been on a bit of a hot streak after starring in Married to the Mob and Dangerous Liaisons in 1988, propels The Fabulous Baker Boys from being a good film, into being one of the very best films of the year.

6. CASUALTIES OF WAR

In a year where films were overly concerned about doing the right thing, few characters had a stronger conscience than Michael J. Fox’s character, Eriksson, in Casualties of War.  Eriksson is a Vietnam war soldier who quickly gets exiled from his team after verbally opposing the kidnapping of a female villager.  Brian De Palma’s Vietnamese story may not have been as stylish or as popular as Oliver Stone’s Born on the Fourth of July, but it was certainly more entertaining and asked its audience much more thought-provoking questions.

5. THE LITTLE MERMAID

There’s no denying that Disney – the studio that once produced classics like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio – has been in a bit of a dry spell.  Perhaps that’s why The Little Mermaid feels so refreshing.  Or perhaps it’s because we get to spend 83 minutes under the beautiful sea.  Regardless of the reason, The Little Mermaid is Disney’s best animated film in nearly fifty years.

4. ROGER & ME

Forget the complaints that it’s impartial and unfair – the only complaint one should have after watching Roger & Me is that your stomach may hurt from laughing too much.  That’s because Michael Moore’s look at General Motor’s impact on Detroit’s financial state is the most original and funniest documentary ever made.  Much like last year’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Roger & Me is a film that refuses to follow the standard framework of a single genre.  And like Roger Rabbit, this Roger feels like the future of filmmaking.

3. DRUGSTORE COWBOY

With all the recent focus on crack addicts and the stricter regulations on marijuana possession, it’s easy to forget that addiction extends far beyond the typical street drugs.  And with all of the negative stereotypes that come with addicts, it’s easy to forget that many of them are not necessarily bad people, but rather good people with a very bad addiction.  That’s what Gus Van Sant’s brilliant prescription pill addiction opus reminds us.  Drugstore Cowboy tells the story of four young addicts in the early 1970s whose addiction to prescription drugs keeps them paranoid and on the run from the law.  Drugstore Cowboy isn’t just another drug opus, it’s one of the best – and one that finally tries to understand addicts rather than just portraying them as mindless criminals. 

2. SEX, LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, many East Germans flocked to theaters in West Germany to see sex, lies, and videotape, which the hopes of catching the type of frisky adult entertainment that was banned in East Germany.  Instead, they received so much more.  That’s because Steven Soderberg’s debut picture isn’t just cheap entertainment, but a real thinker – one that is willing to speak frankly about sex and relationships in a way that has seldomly been analyzed before.  sex, lies, and videotape may be a small picture, but it has some very big characters played by a slew of actors who already seem destine to become the biggest stars of the nineties.

1. DO THE RIGHT THING

Although 1989 had a slew of good films, there was only one that can be called a masterpiece, and that film is Spike Lee’s unforgettable study of racism and hate in America, Do the Right Thing.  Lee, who proves to be wise beyond his years, wrote, directed and starred in the film as Mookie, a lazy but likeable delivery boy at a popular Italian pizza place in Brooklyn.  Do the Right Thing isn’t simply the easy choice as the year’s best film, but it’s arguably one of the best and most important films ever made about racism and class in America.