1994
Pulp Fiction
This film comes from one of the greatest directors in the modern era Quentin Tarantino. Pulp Fiction connects the intersecting storylines of Los Angeles mobsters, fringe players, small-time criminals, and a mysterious briefcase. Considerable screen time is devoted to conversations and monologues that reveal the characters senses of humor and perspectives on life. I love this film and Tarantino is one of my favorite directors of all-time and I love his non-linear storytelling by presenting the story in non-chronological order.
Pulp Fiction was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting, Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay and Film Editing while only winning 1 (Best Original Screenplay) and has a rating of 95% on rottentomatoes.com.
1995
Jumanji
As a kid I enjoyed this film and I still do to this day. The film takes place in 1969, when 12-year-old Alan Parrish (played by Adam Hann Byrd) is trapped in Jumanji whilst playing the game with his friend Sarah(played by Laura Bell Bundy). 26 years later siblings Judy (played by Kirsten Dunst) and Peter (played by Bradley Pierce) begin playing and unwittingly release the now adult Alan (played by Robin Williams). After tracking down the older Sarah (played by Bonnie Hunt), the quartet resolve to finish the game in order to undo all its consequences. This is an awesome film and this is one of Robin Williams top performances IMO. Jumanji has a rating of 50% on rottentomatoes.com.
1996
Scream
This film restarted the slasher films and is the best horror film of the modern era. Sydney Prescott (played by Neve Campbell) is having a rough time lately: she's still getting over the brutal rape and murder of her mother a year ago, and now on of her friends has been killed by a lunatic who harassed her with terrifying phone calls, then stabbed her to death while wearing a Halloween costume. Soon Sydney is receiving similar phone calls, quizzing her on the arcane details of such films as Friday the 13th and Prom Night, and is attacked by the same cloaked maniac With her father missing, she has hardly had anyone on her side except her best friend Tatum (played by Rose McGowan) and Tatum's brother Dewey (played by David Arquette), a half-bright cop. As for the murderer, it could be any number of people: Syd's father, her boyfriend Billy (played by Skeet Ulrich), Tatum's boyfriend Stu (played by Matthew Lillard) or Randy (played by Jamie Kennedy), who works at the local video store and seems to like horror movies just a little too much. Scream has a rating of 83% on rottentomatoes.com.
1997
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
This film is one of the best sequels to an awesome movie and it is one of the highest grossing sequels of all-time. Four years after the events of Jurassic park, dinosaurs have secretly survived and been allowed to roam free on a deserted island. In between the two films, John Hammond (played by Richard Attenborough) loses control of his company (InGen), to his nephew, Peter Ludlow (played by Arliss Howard). Ludlow assembles a team to bring the animals back to the mainland to bring in revenue and restore the company. Hammond sees a chance to redeem himself for his past mistakes and sends an expedition led by Dr. Ian Malcolm to reach the island before InGen's team can get there. The two groups confront each other in the face of danger and must team up for their own survival. I would argue that this film is almost better than the original. The Lost World: Jurassic Park was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and it also has a rating of 52% on rottentomatoes.com.
1998
Armageddon
Eventhough he film is directed by Michael Bay, I still think this is his best movie. The film follows a group of blue-collar deep-core drillers sent by NASA to stop a gigantic asteroid on a collision course with Earth.. It features an ensemble cast including Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Owen Wilson, Will Patton, Michael Clark Duncan, Keith David and Steve Buscemi. Armageddon was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects and Original Song, it also has a rating of 40% on rottentomatoes.com.
1999
American Beauty
This film is magnificent and it really dives in the emotions of romantic and paternal love, sexuality, beauty, materialism, self-liberation, and redemption. Lester Burnham (played by Kevin Spacey) is a gainfully employed suburban husband and father. Fed up with his boring, stagnant existence, he quits his job and decides to reinvent himself as a pot-smoking, responsibility-shirking teenager. What follows is at once cynical, hysterical, and, eventually, tragically uplifting. American Beauty was nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Cinematography, Director, Actor, Actress, Film Editing, Original Screenplay and Original Score while winning 5 awards (Best Picture, Director, Actor, Original Screenplay and Cinematography) and it also has a rating of 88% on rottentomatoes.com.
2000
Traffic
This film is one of the best films that has an ensemble cast that I have ever seen. The film explores the illegal drug trade from a number of different perspectives: a user, an enforcer, a politician and a trafficker, Their stories are edited togehter throughout the film, although some of the characters do not meet each other. The cast includes Benicio del Toro, Michael Douglas, Topher Grace, James Brolin, Albert Finney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Dennis Quaid, Clifton Collins Jr. Don Cheadle, Luis Guzman, Benjamin Bratt ans Selma Hayek. Traffic was nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay and Film Editing while winning 4 (Best Director, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay and Film Editing) and has a rating of 92% on rottentomatoes.com.
2001
Shrek
This film is absolutely hilarious and has it also a lot of adult humor. When a green ogre called Shrek (played by Mike Myers) discovers his swamp has been 'swamped' with all sorts of fairy tale creatures by the scheming Lord Farquaad (played by John Lithgow), Shrek sets out, with a very loud donkey (played by Eddie Murphy) by his side, to 'persuade' Farquaad to give his swamp back. Instead, a deal is made. Farquaad, who wants to become the King, sends Shrek to rescue Princess Fiona (played by Cameron Diaz, who is waiting for her one true love. But Once they head back with Fiona, it starts to becomes apparent that not only does Shrek like Fiona, but Fiona has been keeping a dark secret. I absolutely love this film and it all makes us beg the question of what could have been. I say that because before he passed Chris Farley was originally signed on to voice the character Shrek but as a tribute to his late friend the role went to Mike Myers. Shrek was the first film to win the Award for Best Animated Film and it was also nominated for the academy award for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film also has three sequels entitled Shrek 2, Shrek the Third and Shrek Forever After as well as a spin-off entitled Puss in Boots. Shrek currently holds a rating of 89% on rottentomatoes.com.
2002
8 Mile
This film is awesome and is a biopic of my favorite rapper. The film is an account of a young white rapper named Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith Jr. (played by Eminem) living in inner city Detroit, Michigan set in 1995, and his attempt to launch a rap career in a genre dominated by African Americans. This film is amazing and has one of the best soundtracks ever. 8 Mile was nominated for and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and has a rating of 76% on rottentomatoes.com.
2003
Lord of The Rings: Return of The King
In what is the best film in my favorite trilogy off all-time and one of the my favorite films of all-time, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King continues the story of the fellowship as they have gone their separate ways in the quest to destroy the one ring. As Sauron launches the final stages of his conquest of Middle-earth, Gandalf the Wizard (played by Sir Ian McKellen) and Theoden King of Rohan (played by Bernard Hill) rally their forces to help defend Gondors capital Minas Tirith from the looming threat. Aragron (played by Viggo Mortensen) finally claims the throne of Gondor and, with the aid of Legolas the Elf (played by Orlando Bloom) and Gimli the Dwarf (played by John Rhys-Davies) summons the army of the Dead to help him defeat Sauron. Ultimately, even with full strength of arms, they realize they cannot win; so it comes down to the Hobbits Frodo (played by Elijah Wood) and Sam (played by Sean Astin), to bear the burden of the Ring and deal with the treachery of Gollum (played by Andy Serkis). After a long journey they finally arrive in the dangerous lands of Mordor, seeking to destroy the One Ring in the place it was created , the volcanic fires of Mount Doom. I loved the trilogy and this film in particular and it was the film that made me absolutely love movies. The Lord of the Rings was nominated for 11 Acdemy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Sound Mixing, Original Song, Original Score, Visual Effects, Art Direction, Costume Design, Make-Up and Film Editing, while winning all 11 and has a rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com.
Sideways
This film is hilarious and is great buddy film. Miles (played by Paul Giamatti), who is distressed about his lack of success as a novelist, and Jack(played by Thomas Haden Church), an equally unsuccessful actor with a rapidly approaching wedding. In a last-ditch effort to sow their wild oats, Jack and Miles take off on a final road trip to California's win country the week prior to Jack's wedding. Both men have goals for the vacation (Miles wants to turn Jack on to the art of wine tasting, while Jack is concerned with exploiting his last days as a bachelor) but when the two men come across two fascinating women Maya and Stephanie (played by Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh), the duo is forced to examine their morality, and if maturity isn't such a depressing prospect. This film was very entertaining and I could not stop laughing. Sideways was nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Writing, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress while winning only 1 (Best Writing) and has a rating of 96% on rottentomatoes.com.
2005
Spider-Man 2
This film is one f the rare cases in which a sequel is better than the original. Spider-Man 2 is directed by Sam Raimi and it stars Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson, James Franco as Harry Osborn, and Alfred Molina as Dr. Otto Octavius/Dr. Octopus. Set two years after the events of Spider-Man, the film focuses on Peter Parker struggling to manage both his personal life and his duties as Spider-Man. Meanwhile Dr. Otto Octavius has turned diabolical following a failed experiment and his wife's death. Using mechanical tentacles, Octavius is dubbed "Doctor Octopus" and threatens to endanger the lives New York City's residents forcing Spider-Man to stop him from destroying the city. This is by far the best Spider-Man movie so far and i'll continue to say it until something else happens to make me say otherwise. Spider-Man 2 was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Visual Effects, while winning 1 (Best Visual Effects) and it has a rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com.
The Departed
This film is very thrilling and heart-poundingly awesome. As the police force attempts to reign in the increasingly to powerful Irish mafia, authorities are face with the prospect of sending in an undercover agent or seeing their already frail grip on the criminal underworld slip even further away. Billy Costigan (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) is a young cop looking to make a name for himself in the world of law enforcement. Collin Sullivan(played by Matt Damon) is a street-smart criminal who has successfully infiltrated the police department with the sole intention of reporting their every move t ruthless criminal syndicate head Fran Costello (played by Jack Nicholson). When Costigan is assigned the task of working his way into Costello's tightly guarded inner circle, Sullivan is faced with the responsibility of rooting out the informer before things get out of hand. As I said before this film is amazing and one of the best ever made. The Departed was nominated for 6 Academy Award including Best Director, Picture, Actor, two nominations for Supporting Actor and Screenplay, while winning one (Best Director) and has a rating of 93% on rottentomatoes.com.
2007
There Will Be Blood
This film is simply amazing and is modern day masterpiece. Daniel Plainview (played by Daniel Day-Lewis), a miner who happens upon black gold during a disastrous excavation that ends in a broken leg. Pulling himself up from the bowels of the earth, both literally and metaphorically, Plainview embarks on a systematic and steadfast approach to mastering the oil buisness. Using plain-spoken and straightforward language, Plainview launches a campaign to convince small-town property owners they should let him drill their land. Without him, they won't have the equipment to access the profit beneath their feet. He builds an empire this way and gradually becomes obsessed with the intrinsic value of power, growing increasingly irascible and paranoid in the process. Plainview meets his match in Eli Sunday (played by Paul Dano), a teenager preacher in the small California town of Little Boston, whose brother tipped Plainview off to the town's plentiful supply of untapped oil. To fully reap the benefits of the land, Plainview must suffer the opposing whims of this "prophet," whose legitimacy is questionable and it unclear if either man prepared to pay the humiliating price the other wants to exact. This film is heart-stopping and in just magnificent. There Will Be Blood was nominated for 8 Acdemy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, Film Editing, Sound Editing and Cinematography, while winning 2 (Best Actor and Cinematography) and has a rating of 91% on rottentomatoes.com.
2008
The Dark Knight
Batman is my favorite superhero and a Batman tops my list. The Dark Knight is directed by Christopher Nolan and it stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Heath Ledger as The Joker, Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, Gary Oldman as James Gordan, Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two-Face, Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox. In this film Batman raises the stakes on hi war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordan and D.A. Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind know to the terrified citizens of Gotham as The Joker. This film is amazing and it is a masterpiece and Leger gave an Oscar winning performance this was also his last film to be completed from beginning to end. The Dark Knight was nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Supporting Actor, Art Direction, Cinematography, Film Editing, Make_Up, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Visual Effects, while winning 2 (Best Supporting Actor and Sound Editing) and it has a rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com.
2009The Hangover
One of the biggest surprises of 2009, The Hangover tells the story of 3 friends Phil (played by Bradley Cooper), Stu (played by Ed Helms) and Alan (played by Zack Galifianakis) as the travel to Las Vegas to have a bachelor party for their friend Doug (played by Justin Bartha). Things go from good to bad as the morning after the first night partying leaves the three friends hungover and cannot remember anything from the night before. This sets in motion a manhunt for Doug as they have lost him and cannot find him. The Hangover has a rating of 79% on rottentomatoes.com.
2010
Toy Story 3
This is the film that probably has one of the most emotional endings in cinematic history and I absolutely love this film. The focuses on the toys Woody (played by Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (played by Tim Allen), and their friends dealing with an uncertain future as their owner, Andy (played by John Morris), prepares to leave for college. This film is absolutely heartwarming and is one of the best films of all-time. Toy Story 3 was nominated for 4 Acdemy Awards including Best Original Song, Pictured, Adapted Screenplay and Sound Editing, while winning 1 (Best Original Song) and has a rating of 99% on rottentomatoes.com.
2011
Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2
This film brings an end to one of the greatest books of all-time and one of the greatest film series of all-time. The final chapter in the Harry Potter film series follows Harry (played by Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (played by Rupert Grint) and Hermione (played by Emma Watson) as they prepare for the final battle with Lord Voldemort (played by Ralph Fiennes), who is determined to destroy harry once and for all. In order to defeat the powerful wizard, they must find and destroy Voldemort's last and most elusive Horcrux (that is, the enchanted piece of soul allowing him to remain immortal) before his nefarious plans come to fruition. This film is awesome and it was sad to see this franchise go. harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Art Direction, Makeup and Visual Effects, the film also has a rating of 96% on rottentomatoes.com.
2012
The Avengers
In what is the greatest comic book movie of all time Marvel brings some of its major characters and puts them in to one huge film. The Avenger is directed by Joss Whedon and it stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as Dr. Bruce Banner/Hulk, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff, Tom Hiddleston as Loki and Samuel L.Jackson as Nick Fury. In the film Nick Fury, director of the peacekeeping organization S.H.I.E.L.D., recruits Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and Thor to form a team that must stop Thor's adoptive brother Loki from subjugating Earth. The Avengers was nominated for the Acdemy Award for Best Visual Effects and has a rating of 92% on rottentomatoes.com.
So ladies and gentlemen what do you think of the list and what are your favorite films from each of these years? Let me know in the comments and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
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