Best of the 1990s (By Year)

You can probably blame Joseph B. for this - though I've been planning to do it for a while. Let's take the list-making business, back a decade: let's do the 1990s. I haven't revisited those films in any detail in a while - I'm seeing names I've completely forgotten - films that have been completely erased from any collective memory I'm aware of. An interesting process...

Top 25 of the Decade:

1. Rushmore - USA - Wes Anderson
2. Breaking the Waves - Denmark - Lars von Trier
3. Fallen Angels - Hong Kong - Wong Kar-wei
4. Goodbye South, Goodbye - Taiwan - Hou Hsiao Hsien
5. Satantango - Hungary - Bela Tarr
6. Flowers of Shanghai - Taiwan - Hou
7. Beijing Bastards - China - Zhang Yuan
8. White - France/Poland - Krystof Kieslowski
9. Through the Olive Trees - Iran - Abbas Kiarostami
10.Hapy Together - Hong Kong - Wong Kar-wei
11. Once Upon a Time in China - Hong Kong - Tsui Hark
12. The Sweet Hereafter - Canada - Atom Egoyan
13. Naked - UK - Mike Leigh
14.A Moment of Innocence - Iran - Mohsen Makhmalbaf
15. Dead Man - USA - Jim Jarmusch
16. The River - Taiwan - Tsai Ming-liang
17. Thirty-two Short Films About Glenn Gould - Canada - Francois Girard
18. To Sleep With Anger - USA - Charles Burnett
19. The Puppetmaster - Taiwan - Hou Hsiao Hsien
20. Slacker - USA - Richard Linklater
21. Cure - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa
22. Pulp Fiction - USA - Quentin Tarantino
23. Swordsman II - Hong Kong - Ching Siu-tung/Raymond Lee (?)
24. Jeanne la Poucelle - France - Jacques Rivette
25. Groundhog Day - USA - Harold Ramis

1999:
1. Charisma - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa
2. L'Humanite - France - Bruno Dumont
3. Rosetta - Belgium - Dardenne brothers
4. Lies - South Korea - Jang Sun-woo
5. Straight Story - US - David Lynch
6. American Movie - USA - Chris Smith & Sara Price
7. Audition - Japan - Takashi Miike
8. The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun - Senegal - Djibril Membety
9. Sicilia! - France - Straub & Huillet
10. Office Space - USA - Mike Judge

1998:
1. Rushmore - US - Wes Anderson
2. Flowers of Shanghai - Taiwan - Hou
3. Babe Pig in the City - US/Australia - George Mller
4. After Life - Japan - Kirokazu Kore-eda
5. The Big Lebowski -USA - Coen Brothers
6. The Silence - Iran - Mohsen Makhmalbaf
7. Henry Fool - USA - Hal Hartley
8. Tren de Sombres - Spain - Jose Luis Guerin
9. Freaksand Men - Russia - Alexei Balabanov
10. Expect the Unexpected - Hong Kong - Patrick Yau

1997:
1. Happy Together - Hong Kong - Wong Kar-wei
2. The Sweet Hereafter - Canada - Atom Egoyan
3. The River - Taiwan - Tsai Ming-liang
4. Cure - Japan - Kiyoshi Kurosawa
5. Xiao Wu - China - Jia Jiang-ke
6. Taste of Cherry - Iran - Abbas Kiarostami
7. Too Many Ways to be Number One - Hong Kong - Wai Ka-fei
8. Without Memory - Japan - Hirokazu Kore-eda
9. Kingdom II - Denmark - Lars Von Trier (mostly)
10. Ossos - Portugal - Pedro Costa

1996:
1. Breking the Waves - Denmark - Lars von Trier
2. Goodbye, South, Goodbye - Taiwan - Hou Hsiao Hsien
3. Dead Man - USA - Jim Jarmusch
4. My Sex Life or How I Got into an Argument - France - Arnaud Desplechins
5. Portrait of a Lady - USA - Jane Campion
6. Fargo - USA - Coen brothers
7. Drifting Clouds - Finland - Aki Kaurismaki
8. The Delta - USA - Ira Sachs
9. A True Story - Iran - Abolfazi Jalili
10. Comrades Almost a Love Story - Hong Kong - Peter Chan

1995:
1. Fallen Angels - Hong Kong - Wong Kar-wei
2. A Moment of Innocence - Iran - Mohsen Makhmalbaf
3. Good Man, Good Woman - Taiwan - Hou Hsiao-hsien
4. Gate of Heavenly Peace - USA - Carma Hinton & RichardGordon
5. Sons - China - Zhang Yuan
6. Hau/Bas/Fragile - France - Jacques Rvette
7. Crumb - USA - Terry Zqigoff
8. Forgotten Silver - New Zealand - Peter Jackson
9. Safe - USA - Todd Haynes
10. Red Cherry - China - Ye Ying

1994:
1. Satantango - Hungary - Bela Tarr
2. Through the live Trees - Iran - Abbas Kiarostami
3. white - France/Poland - Krystof Kieslowski
4. Pulp Fiction - USA - Tarantino
5. Jeanne la Poucell - France - Rivette
6. Viva L'Amour - Taiwan - Tsai Ming-liang
7. Blue LKite - China - Tian Zhuang-zhuang
8. Cold Water - France - Olivier Assayas
9. Chungking Express- Hong Kong - Wong Kar-wei
10. The Kingdom Denmark - Lars von Trier

1993:
1. Beijing Bastards - China Zhang Yuan
2. Naked - UK - Mike Leigh
3. The Puppetmaster - Taiwan - Hou Hsiao Hsien
4. Thirty-two Short films About Glen Gould - Canada - Francois Girard
5. Groundhog Day - USA - Harold Ramis
6. Short Cuts - USA - Robert Altman
7. The East is Red [Swordsman III] - Hong Kong - Ching Siu-tung & Raymond Lee
8. Nightmare before Christmas - USA - Henry Selick (not Tim Burton)
9. Lessons of Darkness - Germany - Werner Herzog
10. Abraham's Valley - Portugal - Manoel de Oliveira

1992:
1. One False Move USA - Carl Franklin
2. Careful - Canada - Guy Maddin
3. Actress - Hong Kong - Stanley Kwan
4. And Life Goes On - Iran - Abbas Kiarostami
5. Glengarry Glen Ross - USA - James Foley
6. Benny's Video - Austria - Michael Haneke
7. Autumn Moon - Hong Kong - Clara Law
8. Hard Boiled - Hong Kong - John Woo
9. Dragon Inn - Hong Kong - Raymond Lee (Ching Siu-tung in there somewhere)
10. My New Gun - Stacey Cochran [I wonder if this would hold up? I've seen it a couple times after it came out, though not in ages - no one else seems to remember it exists.]

1991:
1. Once Upon a Time in China - Hong Kong - Tsui Hark
2. Slacker - USA - Richard Linklater
3. Swordsman II - Hong Kong - Ching Siu-tung (at least)
4. Days of Being Wild - Hong Kong - Wong Kar-wei
5. Belle Noiseuse - France - Rivette
6. Rebels of a Neon God - Taiwan - Tsai Ming-liang
7. Life of the Dead - France - Arnaud Desplechins
8. Reservoir Dogs - USA - Taratino
9. Bullet in the Head - Hong Kong - John Woo
10. Europa Europa - Agnieska Holland

1990: [I find back here I am guessing about a lot of these films: it's been a long time since I have seen them. The 80s and early 90s are something of a dead zone for me...]
1. To Sleep With Anger - USA - Charles Burnett
2. Goodfellas - USA - Scorsese
3. Match Factory Girl - Finland - Kaurismaki
4. Life is Sweet - UK - Mike Leigh
5. Swordsman - Hong Kong - IMDB credits 5 directors: King Hu, Ann Hui, Andrew Kam, Tsui Hark and Ching Siu-tung. I don't think that is a complete list...
6. Superstar - USA - Todd Haynes
7. Sure Fire - USA - Jon Jost
8. Metropolitan - USA - Whit Stillman
9. Trust - USA - Hal Hartley
10. Vincent and Theo - USA - Robert Altman