Andy's Friday Five: 1990

The blogging community is made up of some rather brilliant people. Currently, there's this thing called "A Life in Movies" where bloggers pick their favorite movies of each year of their existence. Pretty cool idea. Then let's take Fletch, who also does this equally brilliant thing where he makes a post for each year - e.g., '[2003] in film'. Well, in an attempt to get back into the groove of things blogging-wise and not become stale, and also cos these two ideas are pretty interesting, I'm going to try my hand at ranking the top five favorite movies of each year of my ancient age of 20. Let's do this thing!

1990

So, my first year on earth and what movies do I end up liking this year? Mostly horror films. And one really, really, really enjoyably bad film. No wonder I ended up so weird. Overall, not a whole lot to love in 1990, but I still have plenty to see and catch up on (see below). Also, a final note, if you haven't had the pleasure of seeing any of the films listed in my top five, do so pronto, dudes and lady dudes. You will not regret it.

Films I Really Ought to See
Dances with Wolves
Pretty Woman
The Hunt for Red October
GoodFellas
Misery
The Guyver
Darkman

Andy's Favorite Five of 1990

5. Troll 2

It was only very recently that I had the pleasure of watching the universally heralded "worst movie ever made", and although I can think of films that are very much worse, boring, and intolerable, Troll 2 is most definitely the funnest and most unique "worst movie ever made." Read the review linked above to get a clearer idea of what Troll 2 is, but I beg you, by the Powers That Be, please, please see this brilliant, hilariously inept film. Make a party out of it. I watched the flick on Netflix Streaming, and was laughing loud enough that my roommate wanted in on the commotion. He loved it, I loved it, there's no reason why you shouldn't love it. I applaud the filmmakers because they clearly believed in their script and tried their damnest to make a good film; the sucky thing is, the script and actors were rubbish, and the film ends up being a huge, garbled mess as a result. But it's so damn fun and amusing, to the point you can't turn away. I'm proud to say I was born the year Troll 2 was made.

4. Home Alone

Really, what needs to be said about this? I love the whole movie, don't get me wrong, but c'mon, we know where the awesomeness of Home Alone resides: the final 20 minutes when Kevin screws with the Wet Bandits. It's difficult to come up with twenty minutes that match the insane quantity of fun Home Alone and Home Alone 2 offer. Watching Harry and Marv suffer Kevin's traps that would make Jigsaw happy is 80% of the reason I love these flicks so much...hopefully that doesn't make me sadistic. Anywhoozles, I don't discount how awesome Macaulay Culkin is in the role of Kevin McCallister - I can't imagine anyone else in the role (although it is sorta humorous to envision Haley Joel Osment as Kevin). Whether it be Christmas or just some random day in some random week, Home Alone is always loads of fun and never fails to make me happy. Word. Marv getting the nail up his foot - priceless.

3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

I remember being utterly mesmerized by the turtles in this live-action adaptation. For all intents and purposes, there they were - Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo in the flesh! It was as if a film crew were invited to chronicle the Ninja Turtles' origin and rise to greatness in New York City. Of course, as the years went on, I sorta realized that wasn't so much the case, but that doesn't lessen the exquisitely crafted suits for the characters. To this day I am still amazed by how brilliantly they pulled off the whole enterprise. May not seem like a big deal, really, but as a wee little lad, this was nothing short of magic. Suits aside, the film adaptation still has some great qualities - staying true to the source material, some very nicely choreographed and filmed fight scenes, a finely written script, and, most importantly, highly enjoyable thus necessitating a few dozen rewatches. And yes, I'll defend the sequels, too. But give me a bit of time, I need to rewatch them. It's been a while.

2. Predator 2

One of the rare instances in this universe where the sequel of a damn good movie is just as damn good as the original. I'm not going to do a compare/contrast here, but I find Predator 2 just as riveting, inventive, and frightening as the Schwarzenegger vehicle. Danny Glover may not be my favorite actor in the universe, but hell if I wasn't glued into his chase with the Predator (especially when the Predator crashes into a apartment to address his severed arm), or freaked the hell out by the Predator slicing off the Jamaican voodoo guys head. And how can one discredit a movie that did a tremendous fan service by giving a Alien nod in the climax? There's lots of love in Predator 2, and most remarkably, it stays true in style and tone to the original.

1. Tremors

Like, OMGodtz, this is like, the awesomest movie evahz! Like totally! Not even lyin'! When I think of awesome Creature Features, I instantaneously think of this gorgeous thing. On the opposite side of that spectrum I give you Roger Corman's Carnosaur, but we'll talk about that in a different year...1993 (coincidence? I think not!). So what's the big dealio about Tremors? For me, personally, there ain't one wrong note in this flick's body. The writing is solid, with loads of funny one-liners and perfect Creature Featury-y dialogue; some super cool creature designs and effects; the sheer awesomeness that is Kevin Bacon in the first role I ever saw him in; the greatness of Burt; the last five minutes; and the overall enjoyment factor unmatched by the other flicks on this list are just a few reasons why Tremors is freakin' awesome. I still dig the sequels, even those two damn direct-to-DVD ones (although I hated the series), and can't wait to see the franchise continued. Tremors is absolutely one of those rare movies one can throw into the player at any given time and still fall completely in love with every second of it even if it's your 553rd time seeing it. And whenever the Syfy channel plays something worthy here and there, such as Tremors, I end up watching it all the way through. Beautiful awesomeness.

Stop by next time for 1991!