Well, we’re finally in the 90’s, the decade of my
youth. For all the great movies that
came out in this decade, it was honestly a huge sci-fi slump. There were hardly any genre movies worth watching
after Terminator 2, and the trend
persisted until The Matrix and (seriously) Episode I put an end to it. These movies started a visuals-heavy era in
cinema that we’re actually still going through.
18. Shapeshifter
D: Philippe Browning
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It has some amusingly cheesy moments, but I felt like I
had passed through a whole lifetime just sitting through this insufferably
boring movie.
17. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
D: Jay Roach
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Despite the addition of a couple memorable characters,
most of the attempts at humor in this movie die pretty painfully.
16. Deep Blue Sea
D: Renny Harlin
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Late 90’s Monster Movie with sharks. Yeah, we were just making the same monster
movie over and over again at the time.
15. Virus
D: John Bruno
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Despite having some interesting and distinctive gore
effects, it was just another Late 90’s Monster Movie.
14. The World Is Not Enough
D: Michael Apted
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When this came out, it was my favorite Bond movie. When I revisited it as an adult, I couldn’t
take all the terrible double entendres.
Shame, because otherwise it’s a solid action movie and has one of the better Bond themes.
13. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
D: George Lucas
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This movie has a lot of flaws, but it still has nostalgia
value for me. It has a lot of great
scenery, atmosphere, action and music.
It was the first movie I could think of where so much CGI had been used
so convincingly, and it’s aged pretty well.
This is why I wasn’t as impressed by the “revolutionary” CGI in Transfomers and Avatar; the Star Wars
prequels already set the standard while being more fun to boot.
D: Troy Duffy
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Another flawed movie.
It’s message is sullied by the fact that Troy Duffy kind of believes in
this vigilante justice and the movie takes itself too seriously toward the
end. The movie is still enjoyable for
its comic relief.
11. Toy Story 2
D: John Lasseter, Ash Brannon, Lee Unkrich
**********
This is often seen as a weak link between Toy Story and Toy Story 3, and it isn’t really as great as they are. Still, despite some repetitive themes amd annoying distractions, it’s a good movie. I like the opening sequence and Kelsey Grammer’s Stinky Pete.
10. Galaxy Quest
D: Dean Parisot
**********
Much better than I remember.9. A Christmas Carol
D: David Jones
**********
This movie in which Captain Picard reenacts the Christmas classic on the Holodeck is definitely the best TNG movie I have seen.
8. Payback
D: Brian Helgeland
**********
A fun, humorous noir with a distinctive monochromatic
visual style.
7. eXistenZ
6. Fantasia 2000
D: David Cronenberg
**********
This year had a lot of this movies with this general
premise. This is one with Cronenberg’s
distinctive sexual gore.
6. Fantasia 2000
D: Various
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Though it doesn’t have quite the impact or edge of the
original, it does its job. Great
classical songs with animated accompaniment.
While I do agree with others that the celebrity cameos are annoying (except James Earl Jones), but
I actually do like the flamingos.
5. The Iron Giant
D: Brad Bird
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An animated movie that’s original while still having a
child-like sense of wonder.
4. Sleepy Hollow
D: Tim Burton
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The story is a bit complicated for the source material,
but it’s fun and the dark visuals of this movie are among the best in Burton’s
movies.
3. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
D: Trey Parker
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The animation isn’t very impressive, but the satire and
humor more than make up for that. The
songs may be foulmouthed and humorous, but they’re still genuinely good and catchy.
2. Fight Club
D: David Fincher
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An excellent dark comedy with great visual style.
1. The Matrix
D: The Wachowski Bros.
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It has some implications that are ambiguously disturbing,
but it’s visuals, story and pacing make it one of the most watchable movies
ever. The themes have been done before,
but this movie refreshed them by telling it in compelling and well-paced story.
Its action and style took filmmaking to
a new level, though the visual movies that followed it don’t have the same
mystique it does.
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