10. MONSIEUR HIRE

The title character in Monsieur Hire spends his days at a shop, where he avoids communication with customers.  In the evenings, he eats hardboiled eggs and watches his neighbors through his binoculars.  His only friends seem to be his pet rats.  He’s a hermit, but even more than that, he’s a creepy hermit, so it’s no surprise that he’s the prime suspect when a beautiful neighbor’s boyfriend is murdered.  Monsieur Hire never gives us a reason to believe the title character is guilty, but it brings out our worst biases and assumptions.  And for that, it’s brilliant.

9. CLOSE-UP

Abbas Kiarostami’s unconventional documentary is not your standard true-crime story.  It tells the story of Hossain Sabzian, a poor Iranian man who pretends to be director Mohsen Makhmalbaf to gain respect and a small sum of cash.  Kiarostami is a director who has made a slew of critical darlings that I simply don’t get.  Fortunately, Close-Up isn’t one of them.  After all, what’s not to like about a true crime story where the crime is petty and payoff is redeeming forgiveness and understanding?

8. MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO

One year before Walt Disney would make a brilliant comeback with The Little Mermaid, Hayao Miyazaki would make one of the great animated films of the decade.  Unfortunately, American audiences would have to wait two additional years for it to be exported to the western hemisphere.  My Neighbor Totoro, however, was well worth the wait.  It remains one of Miyazaki’s sweetest films, telling the story of two daughters who move – along with their dad – to an enchanted area in order to be closer to their ailing mom.  Miyazaki would go on to make several masterpieces, including his most popular film, Spirited Away.  Yet, My Neighbor Totoro remains his most essential film.

7. REVERSAL OF FORTUNE

Much like Monsieur Hire, Barbet Schroeder’s Reversal of Fortune lets viewers play detective as it tells the story of a socialite who may or may not have murdered his incredibly wealthy wife.  The movie relies on the brilliant performance – one of the best in recent memory – from Jeremy Irons, who does the impossible task of creating a character who may be innocent, but is so cold and unlikeable that we may refuse to believe he is.  If there was a better performance in 1990, I didn’t see it.

6. THE GODFATHER, PART III

Had the first two films not set the bar impossibly high, moviegoers would undoubtedly be raving about The Godfather Part III, Francis Ford Coppola’s third and final film that completes the wonderful Corleone family saga.  Instead the reception has been lukewarm, with some critics and audiences nitpicking the film’s minor flaws.  I, too, would have liked to see the film stretch beyond its blueprint screenplay, but it’s a formula that’s been tried and tested.  Let’s not forget that The Godfather Part II received its fair share of criticism when it was released back in 1974.  And who knows, perhaps Part III will join its ranks as an all-time classic 15 years from now, too.

5. CINEMA PARADISO

Cinema Paradiso is Giuseppe Tornatore’s love letter to cinema.  It tells the story of a famous actor who returns to his hometown after the passing of the local projectionist, who was the closest thing to a father figure for the actor.  Filled with flashbacks of classic movies, from It’s a Wonderful Life to Casablanca, Paradiso overflows with its love for cinema, and captures the preciousness of the childhood memories we all have.

4. MILLER’S CROSSING

Filmgoers who miss the good old fashion storytelling of the past will likely find plenty to like in Miller’s Crossing, the third-straight hit for the Minnesota-born Coen brothers.  The film tells the story of a mobster named Tom (Gabriel Byrne) who is assigned the task of killing a dishonest bookie (John Turturro in an Oscar-worthy role) to prove his loyalty.  The only problem is that Tom is in love with the bookie’s sister.  Miller’s Crossing is complex, full of twists, and darkly funny much like a cross between the Coen brother’s first two films, Blood Simple and Raising Arizona.   And like those two films, Miller’s Crossing is not to be missed.

3. DANCES WITH WOLVES

Long past are the days when westerns filled the screens at theaters around the nation.  In a way, the genre is like the frontier than Lieutenant Dunbar (Kevin Costner) requests to see, “before it’s gone.”  And Dances With Wolves reminds us exactly how beautiful the frontier, and the western genre both are.   Apart from being the most beautifully shot film of the year, Dances With Wolves is also an important film that quietly reflects on racism and the preservation of land.  And although it may be too late to save the frontier, Dances With Wolves might just have the power to save the westerns’ genre from extinction. 

2. METROPOLITAN

The finest debut of 1990 belongs to Whit Stillman, who wrote and directed the wittiest, most creative film of the year in Metropolitan.  The film tells the story of a middle-class teenager who is befriended by a group of upper class socialites who spend their days dressed in designer suits and debating everything from Jane Austin novels to the existence of God.  Metropolitan may have the feel of an 80s teenage rom-com but its script channels F. Scott Fitzgerald’s finest works.

1. GOODFELLAS

1990 was supposed to be the year that moviegoers were treated to the finest gangster film since 1974.  And they were, three months earlier than they expected to be.  That’s because Goodfellas, not The Godfather Part III, is undoubtedly the year’s crowning achievement, and a film that ranks alongside first two Godfather films as the essential mobster classics.  The film tells the story of Henry Hill, an Irish New Yorker who gets involved with the mafia at a young age and moves up the rankings through time.  The film’s director, Martin Scorsese, made one of the greatest films of the 80’s with Raging Bull, and with Goodfellas, he has set a high early mark for the 90s.