1989: Movies Sorted By Tier

Submitted by jim on Sun, 09/04/2005 - 03:50
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  • Loved

  • Do the Right Thing

  • Henry V

    ... After watching piles of Olivier Shakespeare, which always bugged me as "too stagey", I really latched onto Branagh's rendtions, which seem to me to love not only the source, but also the medium. This is my favorite Branagh Shakespeare.

  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

    ... I have to see this again before commenting, but I remember really liking it.

  • Kiki's Delivery Service

    ... Behind Spirited Away, possibly my next-favorite Miyazaki movie. Or it could be that he's just growing on me, so this benefits from the recency effect. In any case, this is another one of his wonderful coming-of-age story, beautifully rendered. This time out it's the story of a young witch striking out on her own for the first time. And what better job for a young broom-riding girl to undertake than delivery person? Like other Miyazaki movies, the slower pace takes some getting used to especially if you, like me, are acclimated to Disney-speed, and the characters bursting into sudden hysterical laughter where a mere chuckle would do can be a bit unnerving (along with other anime quirks), but it's definitely worth investing the time to get comfortable in these slightly different surroudings.

  • The Little Mermaid

  • Say Anything...

  • When Harry Met Sally...

  • Really Liked

  • The Abyss

  • Batman

  • Cinema Paradiso

  • Dead Poets Society

  • Driving Miss Daisy

  • Field of Dreams

  • Glory

  • Jesus of Montreal

    ... Has the feel of a Dogme 95 film, but better (probably because the rules hadn't been written yet). A church hires a local actor/director to breathe new life into their passion play, and end up with more than they bargained for. The first half is the setup and the play itself, and the second half is the aftermath. To be honest, the first half is slow and the play is, well, a filmed play. But the aftermath and the conclusion make it all worthwhile.

  • The Killer

  • Lean on Me

  • My Left Foot

    ... I enjoyed this much more the second time around. An uplifting story marked by a couple great performances. I always think of this movie as kicking off the "play a disabled character, win an Oscar" trend, but Daniel Day-Lewis is just terrific, and very deserving.

  • Parenthood

  • Roger & Me

  • Sex, Lies, and Videotape

  • Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out

  • Glad I Saw

  • Born on the Fourth of July

  • The Dream Team

  • Honey, I Shrunk the Kids

  • Prancer

    ... A warm-hearted holiday release, even if it feels like a made-for-TV special. I was a bit disappointed by the ending, but I guess kids movies have to tie things up in a fairly neat package.

  • The War of the Roses

  • Guilty Pleasures

  • Lethal Weapon 2

  • Major League

    ... I dunno. Maybe I don't feel guilty about this one. I'll have to see it again.

  • Road House

  • Could Have Missed

  • Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

  • Should Have Missed

  • The January Man

  • El Sucko Grande

  • Shocker

  • The Tall Guy

    ... After about 30 minutes my wife and I had to go to bed because of some early morning plans, and when I had to decide if I was interested enough to keep it for another day or trade it in sooner for my next Netflix title, it was a no-brainer - back it went. Somehow I was told this was a great comedy, and I've been looking for it in video stores off and on for years. Netflix came through for me. While Rowan Atkinson is in this movie, his part is small. Nonetheless, I expect if you like his brand of humor, you'll like the brand of humor of this movie. I don't like Rowan Atkinson, and even though his role is too small to have any appreciable effect on this movie (or at least what I saw of it) I still felt like I was watching his kind of humor somehow. Jeff Goldblum is a fine supporting comedic actor, but he can't carry the lead, and as tall as he is his physical humor comes up way short.

  • Unranked

  • Always

  • Back to the Future Part II

  • Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

  • Black Rain

  • Ghostbusters II

  • Crimes and Misdemeanors

  • Heathers

  • The Karate Kid, Part III

  • Licence to Kill

  • Look Who's Talking

  • Steel Magnolias

  • Tango & Cash

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1988: Movies Sorted By Tier
192201/20/2006

Ah, finally someone who likes Dead Poets Society. What a great movie.

However my personal favourite for this year would be Cinema Paradiso. A beautiful film with IMO the greatest ending in film history.

jim01/20/2006

I saw Cinema Paradiso when I was 19 or so. I'm betting I'd like it better now.

For that matter, I was also 19 or so when I saw Dead Poets Society. It's harder for me to guess how I'd feel on a rewatch, but probably pretty darn good, as I'm almost as big a sucker for teacher movies as I am for sports movies.