1. "The Silence of the Lambs"(1991)
This seminal serial killer thriller gave us TWO iconic movie monsters, and became one of only three films in history to win the "Big Five" Academy Awards. Technically a sequel to 1986's financial flop "Manhunter", Gene Hackman and Michelle Pfeiffer famously turned it down. I'd like to thank them. The movie gods were smiling when Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins met at in dungeon-like Baltimore Mental Hospital. They were BOTH GREAT. The 52 year old, not-yet super-famous Welshman, only needed twenty minutes to make Hannibal Lecter a legend, and is absolutely chilling as the brilliant imprisoned madman. Foster displays vulnerability and strength as FBI trainee Clarice Starling during her search for the gruesome Buffalo Bill(Ted Levine). Director Jonathan Demme took the novel/script of Thomas Harris and Ted Tally and stunned audiences with a depiction of real-world horror after a decade of interminable slasher flicks. This film is wholly deserving of it's status as a modern masterpiece.
2. "Terminator 2: Judgment Day"(1991)
The biggest moneymaker of the year and the greatest sequel of all time(yeah, I said it) is an immense achievement in sci-fi action cinema that surpassed the 1984 original in nearly every respect. The genius of writer-director James Cameron is on full display in the groundbreaking CGI techniques and $100 million budget that would soon force every other filmmaker in the genre to either evolve or get left behind. Sorry, but there's simply no one like the creator of "Avatar" and "Titanic". Is there a cooler sight in movies than a shotgun-wielding, leather-clad Arnie tearing through L.A. on a Harley? How about that mini-gun he uses on those cops gathered outside the Cyberdyne building? Robert Patrick's steely-eyed, unstoppable T-1000 is another awesome invention, and I haven't even mentioned Guns N' Roses and a ripped Linda Hamilton turning Sarah Connor into a badass icon in her own right. To many fans, there are only two REAL "Terminator" movies They're not wrong.
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| "I'm telling you, it could work. The whole world is engulfed in water..." |
3."JFK"(1991)
Oliver Stone capped off an incredible five year run that included "Platoon", "Wall Street", and "Born on the Fourth of July" with this complex and riveting documentary-style thriller that follows New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison(Kevin Costner) as he embarks on an exhaustive investigation into the 1963 JFK assassination. This film immediately became embroiled in controversy for it's unsubtle assertions that Lee Harvey Oswald(nicely played by Gary Oldman) was just a pawn in a massive conspiracy. Whichever side of that endless debate you fall on, there's no question that this is virtuoso filmmaking that combines meticulously researched facts with vivid dramatizations. There are no easy answers, but Stone wasn't afraid to ask the questions that had been gnawing on the nation's collective psyche for nearly three decades. The stellar star-studded supporting cast includes Tommy Lee Jones, Sissy Spacek, Kevin Bacon, Joe Pesci, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, John Candy, and Donald Sutherland.
4. "Thelma & Louise"(1991)
Only a fool would call Ridley Scott's career-saving road movie a 'chick flick'(he wasn't exactly on a roll). Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis are both terrific as a pair of earthy longtime friends rollicking across the Southwest in a '66 Thunderbird. All they wanted was a weekend getaway from the drudgery and lousy men in their lives, but the killing of a rapist turns them into outlaw heroines and a symbol of feminism fiercely personified. Has there ever been a better movie with two women as the leads? I'm drawing a blank here. Brad Pitt got his big break as a thieving hitchhiker, and the shattering finale("Keep going") shouldn't ever be spoiled for the next generation. Callie Khouri's monumental screenplay was supposed to usher in a new era for female-fronted films(sigh).
5. "Beauty and the Beast"(1991)
The first(and to-date last) animated movie EVER to be nominated for Best Picture had to be featured prominently on this list. After a long dry spell in the '70s and '80s, the Mouse House experienced a full-blown renaissance starting with 1989's "The Little Mermaid". A classic, time-honored story(with a message), lush visuals, memorable songs(the title track is an all-timer), and colorful characters comprised the winning formula that no gender or age group could resist. A rejuvenated Disney would astonishingly wield their magic for the next two decades with stunning precision and regularity.
6. "City Slickers"(1991)
A depressed New Yorker(Billy Crystal) and his two best friends(Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby) confront various forms of mid-life crisises on a cattle drive across New Mexico in this hugely-enjoyable fish-out-of-water comedy hit. The story and humor resonates throughout with Crystal as funny and likeable as he was in "When Harry Met Sally". "Slickers" was Billy's idea, but super-screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel turned that germ into a highly-relatable narrative packed with smart dialogue and insight. Veteran tough guy Jack Palance picked up the Best Supporting Actor Oscar as the crusty cowboy from a bygone era who extols the virtues of a simpler life. Not to be confused with the much-less successful(but still fun) 1994 sequel.
7. "Cape Fear"(1991)
The great Martin Scorsese was persuaded by his 7x star Robert De Niro to follow-up their instant classic "Goodfellas", with this intense remake of the 1962 noir that featured Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum(both have clever cameos). De Niro is electrifying as Max Cady, a tattooed and terrifying rapist/ ex-con, in a performance that lingers in the memory right next to Hannibal Lecter in the '90s supervillian hall of fame. Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, and Juliette Lewis are a dysfunctional North Carolina family whose daily dynamic adds depth and interest to what would have been standard, straightforward stalker fare in the hands of any other filmmaker. Elmer Bernstein's edgy score echoes Bernard Herrmann, helping turn "Cape Fear" into a classy, first-rate thriller.
8. "Point Break"(1991)
Before Keanu Reeves became a bona fide action superstar in "Speed" and "The Matrix" trilogy, he got his feet wet in the role of Johnny Utah, the ex-college football star turned F-B-I AGENT(say it loud)! However, Patrick Swayze and his total conviction as the philosophizing, bank-robbing surfer-guru Bodhi, is the main reason that "Break" became a permanent fixture on cable for a good ten years. I swear, you couldn't escape this movie, not that you'd want to. "Terminator 2" was the must-see summer action movie event of 1991, but James Cameron's then-wife, director Kathryn Bigelow's ludicrously-entertaining effort garnered an unexpected legacy in the early 21st Century. No "Point Break", no "Fast and the Furious", got it?
9. "Bugsy"(1991)
We all love mobsters. No honest profession has provided more quality cinema or bolstered as many careers as these well-dressed psychopaths. Warren Beatty is a forgotten legend in Hollywood, and his forceful, charismatic turn as infamous, celebrity gangster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel represents his last stand as a top tier leading man. On the flip side, his future real-life wife Annette Bening left little doubt that she was here to stay as Bugsy's beau, the tough-talking wannabe starlet Virginia Hill. "Rain Man" director Barry Levinson wisely sidesteps most mob movie clichés in his epic telling of Siegel's takeover of the bourgeoning Las Vegas landscape in 1947, while Ben Kingsley and Harvey Keitel both earned Supporting Actor nods as his shadowy cohorts Meyer Lansky and Mickey Cohen.
10(tie). "Boyz 'N The Hood"(1991)
At 23 years of age, John Singleton became the youngest director in history to be nominated for an Academy Award(and the first African-American to do so) for his stark, realistic account of life in South Central, Los Angeles, that he began writing as an ambitious film student. This eye-opening debut paved the way for many other similarly themed films in the early '90s, that further explored the urban black experience. The impressive cast includes Laurence Fishburne, Cuba Gooding Jr., Angela Bassett, and rapper Ice Cube in career-making breakout roles. The multi-talented Singleton died too young(April 2019), and only lived up to the sizzling promise of "Boyz" in one other film, 2001's "Baby Boy".
10(tie). "Frankie & Johnny"(1991)
"Pretty Woman" director Garry Marshall staged a low-key "Scarface" reunion of Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer(now on roughly equal footing in the Hollywood hierarchy), which may be the most underrated film of 1991. Some critics couldn't get past the casting of two world-famous superstars as a pair of lonely, downtrodden people, in a NYC diner-set adaptation of Terrence McNally's off-Broadway play. This sensitive, moving love story is a must see for melancholy romantics. It's a welcome change of pace from crime epics for a loose, likeable Pacino, and a deglamorized Pfeiffer is phenomenal.
Honorable Mentions- "White Fang"(1991) Ethan Hawke and an Alaskan wolf dog. "Not Without My Daughter"(1991) Sally Field is stuck in Iran. "L.A. Story"(1991) Steve Martin's quirky love letter to the City of Angels. "Sleeping with the Enemy"(1991) Julia Roberts rules in this dramatic thriller. "Guilty by Suspicion"(1991) Robert De Niro deals with the Hollywood blacklist of the early 1950s. "The Hard Way"(1991) Michael J. Fox and James Woods in John Badham's energetic action comedy. "New Jack City"(1991) Wesley Snipes and Chris Rock light up this drug dealer drama. "Defending Your Life"(1991) Albert Brooks in the afterlife. "The Doors"(1991) Jim Morrison is depicted by Oliver Stone and Val Kilmer. "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze"(1991) The TMNT craze continues. "Toy Soldiers"(1991) Sean Astin stars in this 'teens vs. terrorists' flick. "Switch"(1991) Ellen Barkin elevates this Blake Edwards sex comedy.
"Soapdish"(1991) Sally Field leads this lively soap opera spoof. "One Good Cop"(1991) Michael Keaton cares for his dead partner's three daughters. "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead"(1991) Christina Applegate cares for her unruly siblings. "Only the Lonely"(1991) Chris Columbus directs John Candy in this "Marty" update. "Jungle Fever"(1991) Spike Lee's ensemble look at race relations. "What About Bob?"(1991) Bill Murray makes Richard Dreyfuss mad. "Backdraft"(1991) Kurt Russell fights fires. "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves"(1991) The Kevin Costner version of the storied swashbuckler. "The Rocketeer"(1991) Kids should like this live-action Disney adventure. "Doc Hollywood"(1991) Michael J. Fox is a hotshot surgeon. "The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear"(1991) More deadpan laughs with Lt. Frank Drebin. "Dutch"(1991) Ed O'Neill hits the road for John Hughes. "The Doctor"(1991) is in, and he's played by William Hurt. "Dying Young"(1991) Julia Roberts is a nurse in love with a leukemia patient. "Slacker"(1991) Writer-director Richard Linklater turns $23,000 into $1.2 million. "Regarding Henry"(1991) Harrison Ford gets serious with Mike Nichols. "Hot Shots!"(1991) This "Top Gun" spoof was a top grosser. "Life Stinks"(1991) Mel Brooks said it best.
"Dead Again"(1991) Mystery thriller with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. "Class Action"(1991) Gene Hackman headlines this courtroom drama. "The Fisher King"(1991) Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams are an unlikely pair in Terry Gilliam's offbeat tale. "Rambling Rose"(1991) Laura Dern is great in this Depression-set drama. "Little Man Tate"(1991) Jodie Foster(who also directed) as the mother of a child prodigy. "Other People's Money"(1991) Danny DeVito's favorite thing. "Hearts of Darkness"(1991) Frances and Eleanor Coppola recall the making of "Apocalypse "Now". "Billy Bathgate"(1991) Dustin Hoffman as 1930s gangster Dutch Schultz. "Curly Sue"(1991) John Hughes hates directing. "The Addams Family"(1991) The gothic TV clan hits the big screen. "For the Boys"(1991) Bette Midler was a Best Actress nominee. "My Girl"(1991) Anna Chlumsky and Macauley Culkin in a coming-of-age charmer. "Star Trek IV: The Undiscovered Country"(1991) The final voyage for the original Enterprise crew. "Hook"(1991) Robin Williams plays the adult Peter Pan for Steven Spielberg. "Rush"(1991) Jason Patric is a narc and Jennifer Jason Leigh is his partner/love interest. "Grand Canyon"(1991) Lawrence Kasdans's L.A. ensemble has a large cast. "Shadows and Fog"(1991) So does Woody Allen's bizarre, black-and-white curiosity. "Father of the Bride"(1991) Steve Martin stars in Nancy Meyers' beloved remake. "The Prince of Tides"(1991) Barbra Streisand analyzes Nick Nolte. "Fried Green Tomatoes"(1991) Jessica Tandy tells Kathy Bates about the 1930s.
Oliver Stone capped off an incredible five year run that included "Platoon", "Wall Street", and "Born on the Fourth of July" with this complex and riveting documentary-style thriller that follows New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison(Kevin Costner) as he embarks on an exhaustive investigation into the 1963 JFK assassination. This film immediately became embroiled in controversy for it's unsubtle assertions that Lee Harvey Oswald(nicely played by Gary Oldman) was just a pawn in a massive conspiracy. Whichever side of that endless debate you fall on, there's no question that this is virtuoso filmmaking that combines meticulously researched facts with vivid dramatizations. There are no easy answers, but Stone wasn't afraid to ask the questions that had been gnawing on the nation's collective psyche for nearly three decades. The stellar star-studded supporting cast includes Tommy Lee Jones, Sissy Spacek, Kevin Bacon, Joe Pesci, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, John Candy, and Donald Sutherland.
4. "Thelma & Louise"(1991)
Only a fool would call Ridley Scott's career-saving road movie a 'chick flick'(he wasn't exactly on a roll). Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis are both terrific as a pair of earthy longtime friends rollicking across the Southwest in a '66 Thunderbird. All they wanted was a weekend getaway from the drudgery and lousy men in their lives, but the killing of a rapist turns them into outlaw heroines and a symbol of feminism fiercely personified. Has there ever been a better movie with two women as the leads? I'm drawing a blank here. Brad Pitt got his big break as a thieving hitchhiker, and the shattering finale("Keep going") shouldn't ever be spoiled for the next generation. Callie Khouri's monumental screenplay was supposed to usher in a new era for female-fronted films(sigh).
5. "Beauty and the Beast"(1991)
The first(and to-date last) animated movie EVER to be nominated for Best Picture had to be featured prominently on this list. After a long dry spell in the '70s and '80s, the Mouse House experienced a full-blown renaissance starting with 1989's "The Little Mermaid". A classic, time-honored story(with a message), lush visuals, memorable songs(the title track is an all-timer), and colorful characters comprised the winning formula that no gender or age group could resist. A rejuvenated Disney would astonishingly wield their magic for the next two decades with stunning precision and regularity.
6. "City Slickers"(1991)
A depressed New Yorker(Billy Crystal) and his two best friends(Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby) confront various forms of mid-life crisises on a cattle drive across New Mexico in this hugely-enjoyable fish-out-of-water comedy hit. The story and humor resonates throughout with Crystal as funny and likeable as he was in "When Harry Met Sally". "Slickers" was Billy's idea, but super-screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel turned that germ into a highly-relatable narrative packed with smart dialogue and insight. Veteran tough guy Jack Palance picked up the Best Supporting Actor Oscar as the crusty cowboy from a bygone era who extols the virtues of a simpler life. Not to be confused with the much-less successful(but still fun) 1994 sequel.
7. "Cape Fear"(1991)
The great Martin Scorsese was persuaded by his 7x star Robert De Niro to follow-up their instant classic "Goodfellas", with this intense remake of the 1962 noir that featured Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum(both have clever cameos). De Niro is electrifying as Max Cady, a tattooed and terrifying rapist/ ex-con, in a performance that lingers in the memory right next to Hannibal Lecter in the '90s supervillian hall of fame. Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, and Juliette Lewis are a dysfunctional North Carolina family whose daily dynamic adds depth and interest to what would have been standard, straightforward stalker fare in the hands of any other filmmaker. Elmer Bernstein's edgy score echoes Bernard Herrmann, helping turn "Cape Fear" into a classy, first-rate thriller.
8. "Point Break"(1991)
Before Keanu Reeves became a bona fide action superstar in "Speed" and "The Matrix" trilogy, he got his feet wet in the role of Johnny Utah, the ex-college football star turned F-B-I AGENT(say it loud)! However, Patrick Swayze and his total conviction as the philosophizing, bank-robbing surfer-guru Bodhi, is the main reason that "Break" became a permanent fixture on cable for a good ten years. I swear, you couldn't escape this movie, not that you'd want to. "Terminator 2" was the must-see summer action movie event of 1991, but James Cameron's then-wife, director Kathryn Bigelow's ludicrously-entertaining effort garnered an unexpected legacy in the early 21st Century. No "Point Break", no "Fast and the Furious", got it?
9. "Bugsy"(1991)
We all love mobsters. No honest profession has provided more quality cinema or bolstered as many careers as these well-dressed psychopaths. Warren Beatty is a forgotten legend in Hollywood, and his forceful, charismatic turn as infamous, celebrity gangster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel represents his last stand as a top tier leading man. On the flip side, his future real-life wife Annette Bening left little doubt that she was here to stay as Bugsy's beau, the tough-talking wannabe starlet Virginia Hill. "Rain Man" director Barry Levinson wisely sidesteps most mob movie clichés in his epic telling of Siegel's takeover of the bourgeoning Las Vegas landscape in 1947, while Ben Kingsley and Harvey Keitel both earned Supporting Actor nods as his shadowy cohorts Meyer Lansky and Mickey Cohen.
10(tie). "Boyz 'N The Hood"(1991)
At 23 years of age, John Singleton became the youngest director in history to be nominated for an Academy Award(and the first African-American to do so) for his stark, realistic account of life in South Central, Los Angeles, that he began writing as an ambitious film student. This eye-opening debut paved the way for many other similarly themed films in the early '90s, that further explored the urban black experience. The impressive cast includes Laurence Fishburne, Cuba Gooding Jr., Angela Bassett, and rapper Ice Cube in career-making breakout roles. The multi-talented Singleton died too young(April 2019), and only lived up to the sizzling promise of "Boyz" in one other film, 2001's "Baby Boy".
10(tie). "Frankie & Johnny"(1991)
"Pretty Woman" director Garry Marshall staged a low-key "Scarface" reunion of Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer(now on roughly equal footing in the Hollywood hierarchy), which may be the most underrated film of 1991. Some critics couldn't get past the casting of two world-famous superstars as a pair of lonely, downtrodden people, in a NYC diner-set adaptation of Terrence McNally's off-Broadway play. This sensitive, moving love story is a must see for melancholy romantics. It's a welcome change of pace from crime epics for a loose, likeable Pacino, and a deglamorized Pfeiffer is phenomenal.
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