Laremy Legel,
Sep 10, 2007
I'm not going to sugarcoat it, 1991 was kind of a rough year. A guy
named Jeffrey Dahmer came to prominence for eating people. American
Icon Pee Wee Herman was caught pleasuring himself at the movies. Magic
Johnson announced he had AIDS and retired from the NBA. The Rodney King
beating was aired in households across the globe. Do I even need to
mention Iraq War version 1.0? And looking at my list, the films of 1991
had an overall edge to them too. Of the ten listed I'd say only three
would qualify as "lighthearted."
The good news? Well, for you Chicagoans out there the Bulls won
their first championship with some guy named Michael Jordan playing
shooting guard. And the Cold War came to an end as the Soviet Union
officially dissolved. But the best news of all came in August when Tim
Berners-Lee released files describing his idea for the "World Wide
Web." Hmmm, I wonder how that all panned out?
But enough hullabaloo, let's look at the top ten of 1991!
10.) Thelma
& Louise
Director: Ridley Scott
Stars: Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Brad Pitt
Why a fave? This is the first recollection I have of
Brad Pitt on the big screen. If I'd have known then what I know now I'd
have made sure Brad adopted me early. But of course the real story here
was the ending of Thelma and Louise which nobody could have
seen coming. Sadly Hollywood no longer greenlights this sort of script
due to sequel considerations.
9.) Boyz in the
Hood
Director: John Singleton
Stars: Laurence Fishburne, Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube,
Angela Bassett
Why a fave? There was a time when middle America
wasn't aware of what the "hood" was. John Singleton changed all that.
The film hasn't aged as well as some of the others on the list but it
was innovative as hell for the era.
8.) Father
of the Bride
Director: Charles Shyer
Stars: Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, Martin Short
Why a fave? Yeah, I'm a sap, but this was a really
lovely movie. I just want that family, with that basketball court, with
that amount of equity.
7.)
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Director: Kevin Reynolds
Stars: Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, Alan Rickman,
Christian Slater
Why a fave?`This was the first time I remember
noticing Morgan Freeman. No, I wasn't a big Electric Company
fan. I loved Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves because it was a
gritty version of a classic tale. Heck, they even showed Mr. Costner's
bare bottom on the big screen (trust me, it was all the rage back
then). Between this and Die Hard (for Alan Rickman) has there
ever been a better three year villainous run? I vote no.
6.) Terminator
2: Judgment Day
Director: James Cameron
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward
Furlong, Robert Patrick
Why a fave? It still shocks me that the same human
directed T2: Judgment Day and Titanic. That is epic
range. This isn't so much a great story as it is an entertaining and
visually impressive concept, but I went to the theater multiple times
to catch every nuance.
5.) Regarding
Henry
Director: Mike Nichols
Stars: Harrison Ford, Annette Bening, Bruce Altman
Why a fave? Sappy rears its head again! I loved seeing
this side of Harrison Ford, and the dynamic between Nurse Bradley and
Harrison was well-played. It's interesting to note that this was J.J.
Abrams first big splash; now he's tackling Star Trek. See kids?
Get on the right side of Harrison Ford and your career is set.
4.) What About
Bob?
Director: Frank Oz
Stars: Bill Murray, Richard Dreyfuss
Why a fave? This is the best mental health
movie of all time in my book. Bill Murray is so good in this - it was
here he started showing comedy range past the slapstick stuff. I've
heard that Richard Dreyfuss is a bit prickly in real life, but he's
perfect here. It's when he finally goes loco that the film transitions
from comedy to dark comedy, my favorite genre out there.
3.) The
Silence of the Lambs
Director: Jonathan Demme
Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster
Why a fave? Well Clarice - have the lambs stopped
screaming? Tony Hopkins terrified me here, but his captivation factor
was off the charts. I would watch a whole televised season of Hannibal
Lecter.
2.) JFK
Director: Oliver Stone
Stars: Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Bacon,
Joe Pesci, John Candy, Sissy Spacek
Why a fave? I maintain that this is the scariest movie
ever. If you watch this alone you will start thinking up reasons as to
why the government is probably out to get you. But man is it riveting.
Costner is the perfect everyman hero here and the movie has outstanding
dramatic tension throughout.
1.) Point
Break
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Stars: Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Gary Busey, Lori
Petty
Why a fave? You could make a case that this movie is
far too silly/cheesy to merit serious consideration but you would be
wrong. Point Break is silly, cheesy, and fully awesome in the
same way that Keanu Reeves himself is. Later in movie history he would
learn Kung-Fu, but here he paired with Captain Insano Gary Busey to
take down a bank-robbing gang. The tagline alone makes this golden.
Ready for it? 100% Pure Adrenaline. Man, that hit you hard, didn't it?
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