Top Ten Films of 1990- "Goodfellas" is My Choice for Best Film

I am continuing my series which looks at the Best Films of each year that started a decade from 1950-2000.

Today, we look at the Best Films of 1990, which in cinematic terms was a fairly tepid one though it produced some great films from Martin Scorsese, The Coen Brothers, Pedro Almodovar and David Lynch.

I first saw "Goodfellas" (pictured here) at an outdoor cinema on the island of Buyukada, off the coast of Istanbul, Turkey. A friend of mine who I ran into at the cinema left during intermission (in Turkey to this day, they insert a ten-minute intermission to all films which can at times be a bit awkward) because he thought the film was 'too violent.'

But, irregardless of what the guy (I believe his name was Ali or Ahmet) thought the film by Scorsese is a genuine masterpiece which complements his other superlative films like "Raging Bull" (my choice for the best film of 1980) and "Taxi Driver."

My choice for the best foreign-language film is the Iranian classic "Close-Up" by Abbas Kiarostami, which merits a second look (alas, my Netflix que is full!). Kiarostami has also directed great films like "Ten," and he helped define the surprising film movement in Iran. With the recent arrest of Jafar Panahi (director of "Offsides"), Iran is alas still not a place where artistic expression, especially ones with political overtones, come easily.

Two films which lead to the NC-17 rating came out in 1990, including Almodovar's "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" and Philip Kaufman's "Henry and June." Both films were also as good as they were provocative and hence both make my top ten:


1. "Goodfellas" (Martin Scorsese)

2. "Miller's Crossing" (Coen Bros.)

3. "Close-Up" (Iran. Abbas Kiarostami)

4. "The Grifters" (Stephen Frears)

5. "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" (Spain. Pedro Almodovar)

6. "Wild at Heart" (David Lynch)

7."Edward Scissorhands" (Tim Burton)

8. "Europa, Europa" (Germany. Agnieszka Holland)

9. "Henry and June" (Philip Kaufman)

10. "Trust" (Hal Hartley)

Other films of merit from 1990 include the indie film "Metropolitan," "The Godfather III," "Dances With Wolves" and "Misery."

My choice for the Best Films of 2000 will be listed on our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time."