Image via 20th Century Studios/courtesy Everett Collection
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Shawn Van Horn
Published 1 minute ago
Shawn Van Horn is a Senior Author for Collider. He's watched way too many slasher movies over the decades, which makes him an aficionado on all things Halloween and Friday the 13th. Don't ask him to choose between Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees because he can't do it. He grew up in the 90s, when Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, and TGIF were his life, and still watches them religiously to this day. Larry David is his spirit animal. His love for entertainment spreads to the written word as well. He has written two novels and is neck deep in the querying trenches. He is also a short story maker upper and poet with a dozen publishing credits to his name. He lives in small town Ohio, where he likes to watch professional wrestling and movies.
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Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents:
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No matter how old you are, the consensus seems to be that movies just aren't as good as they used to be. We live in a world where sequels, family films, and CGI fests dominate the box office, and when the Oscars come around, it's smaller, lesser-known films that get the nominations. The balance is off, especially because it feels that what sells isn't necessarily rewarded.
Talk to someone of a certain age, and they'll tell you that Hollywood peaked in the 1990s, when movies had more passion in them, and both filmmakers and studios were a bit more willing to experiment and take risks on bolder original stories. Moreover, these gambles were not only popular at the box office, but won big at the Academy Awards too. Indeed, the decade gave us some of the greatest acting winners in Academy Awards history. From men and women to leads and supporting roles, these are the best Oscar-winning performances of the '90s based on their legacy, the quality of the performances themselves, and their place in Oscar history.
10 Frances McDormand, 'Fargo (1996)
Frances McDormand as Marge looking up in Fargo.Image via Gramercy Pictures
Joel and Ethan Coen were already successful writers and directors in the mid-'90s, but Fargo became their best film and probably still is today. It had their off-kilter sense of humor, while also being a thrilling mystery about a lowly car salesman named Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy), who pays two criminals to kidnap his wife so he can get extortion money. Of course, that all goes wrong, and with the unique, ice-cold Minneapolis setting, the detailed writing, and Roger Deakins' cinematography, the brothers crafted a huge commercial and critical hit.
None of it works if not for Frances McDormand as Marge Gunderson, the underestimated small-town police chief, who is not only trying to solve a crime but is also dealing with the late stages of pregnancy. With a thick Minnesotan accent and her lovable portrayal of a purposeful and kind yet far from naive woman, McDormand created a new type of hero for the crime genre. At the 69th Academy Awards, she won, beating out the likes of Diane Keaton and Kristin Scott Thomas.
9 Joe Pesci, 'Goodfellas' (1990)
Joe Pesci as Tommy DeVito laughing in a bar in 'Goodfellas'.Image via Warner Bros.
1990 was the biggest year of Joe Pesci's career by far. If you were a kid then, Pesci will always be Harry, one of the Wet Bandits in Home Alone, but as scary as he seemed there, he was even more terrifying in another movie released just a few months earlier. Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas is regarded as one of the best mob movies ever made, with stellar performances from the likes of Hollywood heavyweights such as the late Ray Liotta and Robert De Niro, but it's Pesci who everyone remembers.
As Tommy DeVito, Pesci is as intimidating as he's ever been, especially in the iconic "Funny how?" scene. Volatile but magnetic, DeVito is among Scorsese's best characters, and Pesci injects him with furious purpose. In fact, he's so good in the role that you'll feel sorry for his character in his tragic death scene. Goodfellas was nominated for six Oscars, but the only win went to Joe Pesci for Best Supporting Actor, where he won over impressive names such as Bruce Davison and Al Pacino.
8 Marisa Tomei, 'My Cousin Vinny' (1992)
A close-up shot of Marisa Tomei and Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny.Image via 20th Century Studios
Joe Pesci is in this one too, as the titular Vinny Gambini, a lowly lawyer from New York who has never won in the courtroom. He gets himself in over his head when he moves up from injury cases to defending his cousin from a murder charge. Still, despite Pesci's star power in the lead role, it's a 28-year-old Marisa Tomei, in one of her earliest roles, that is remembered over three decades later.
Tomei plays Vinny's fiancée, Mona Lisa Vito, a quirky woman who's just as odd as her partner. Despite the stereotypes in this Jonathan Lynn film, Mona Lisa is a brilliant and singular creation. With her thick Brooklyn accent and razor-sharp wit, Mona Lisa Vito is a force of nature, and Tomei is unrestrained in her performance. Today, the movie is fondly remembered as not only one of the funniest of the '90s, but also one of the most accurate depictions of trial strategy in cinema. In My Cousin Vinny's only Oscar nod, Tomei was rewarded with the Best Supporting Actress prize over much more famous names like Vanessa Redgrave.
7 Whoopi Goldberg, 'Ghost' (1990)
Sam Wheat, played by actor Patrick Swayze, standing next to Oda Mae Brown, played by actor Whoopi Goldberg, in GhostImage via Paramount Pictures
Ghost could have just been an over-the-top romantic comedy about a dead guy and his girlfriend, but Bruce Joel Rubin's screenplay and Jerry Zucker's direction give us so much more. It is arguably Patrick Swayze's best performance as Sam Wheat, a murdered man who can't let go of his lover (Demi Moore) or the fact that his killer is still out there. With that heartbreaking soundtrack and an unforgettable love story, Ghost was the biggest movie of 1990, bringing in $217 million.
Ghost's popularity was recognized with five nominations at the Academy Awards, including for Best Picture. Rubin won for Best Screenplay, but while Swayze and Moore weren't even nominated, a scene-stealing Whoopi Goldberg won for Best Supporting Actress. Her win was much deserved, as she is very much the film's standout. As a medium named Oda Mae Brown, who helps bring the couple together beyond dimensions, Goldberg delivers a comedic performance for the ages, a triumph of physical humor that seldom gets recognized by the Academy, but thank God it was.
6 Tom Hanks, 'Philadelphia' (1993)
Tom Hanks as Andrew Beckett in 'Philadelphia.'Image via TriStar Entertainment
No actor was bigger than Tom Hanks in the 1990s, a decade when he could do no wrong, whether it was playing anything from a real-life astronaut to an animated sheriff. Hanks actually won the Best Actor Oscar two years in a row, so take your pick on what's best. Rather than going for his now-controversial role in Forrest Gump, we'll honor his work in Philadelphia, which was equally memorable, even if for different reasons.
Directed by Jonathan Demme and co-starring Denzel Washington, Philadelphia is a heartbreaking yet unforgettable experience, with Hanks playing Andrew Beckett, an attorney with AIDS who is fired for being gay and is then forced to fight back in a lawsuit. It's not an easy watch, but Hanks plays Andrew's tragedy without overdoing it, pulling the audience in and getting us to believe, even though we know how this will end. Daniel Day-Lewis, Anthony Hopkins, and Liam Neeson stood no chance against him in 1993.
5 Nicolas Cage, 'Leaving Las Vegas' (1995)
Nicolas Cage drinking a cocktail in 'Leaving Las Vegas.'Image via MGM
Nicolas Cage is going through a much-deserved renaissance over the past few years, but it wasn't long ago that he was seen as the guy who overacted everything and took every horrible movie that was offered to him. It was easy to forget that Cage was one of the best actors in the world, but if you ever need a reminder, check out one of the best movies he ever made, 1995's Leaving Las Vegas.
Written and directed by Mike Figgis, Leaving Las Vegas is about an alcoholic named Ben Sanderson who, having lost everything in life, decides to go to Sin City and drink himself to death. It's there that he meets and falls in love with Sera (Elisabeth Shue), a prostitute who is going through her own hell. Cage gives the most powerful performance of his career, and in the process won Best Actor at the Oscars against the likes of Richard Dreyfuss and Sean Penn.
4 Jodie Foster, 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991)
In 1991, Jodie Foster already knew what Oscar success was like, having won for Best Actress in 1988 with The Accused, after losing out in a supporting role in 1976 for Taxi Driver, when she was only 14. Foster's most famous film is no doubt Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs, based on the popular novel of the same name by Thomas Harris. It was not only the fourth-biggest movie of the year at the box office, but it swept the major categories at the Oscars as well.
The Silence of the Lambs won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay for Ted Tally's script, and Best Actor for Anthony Hopkins' chilling performance as Dr. Hannibal Lecter (don't worry, we haven't forgotten about him). As FBI agent Clarice Starling, Foster holds it all together as the young woman who is constantly doubted yet never loses her resolve. Not only does she go face-to-face with Lecter without backing down, but she also tracks down the serial killer Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine) in one of cinema's most iconic showdowns.
3 Robin Williams, 'Good Will Hunting' (1997)
Matt Damon and Robin Williams sitting on a bench outdoors and looking ahead in Good Will Hunting.Image via Miramax Films
Robin Williams was one of the most gifted and beloved comedians who ever lived, a wild force of chaos who made audiences laugh for decades with everything from Mork & Mindy to Mrs. Doubtfire. However, in 1997, he showed his aptitude for drama with Gus Van Sant's Good Will Hunting, which not only starred but was written by the little-known pair of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.
Williams plays Dr. Sean Maguire, the therapist for Will Hunting, and a man going through his own pain. Williams holds back and stays in the margins, and in his written review, Roger Ebert wrote that he "gives one of his best performances." Robin Williams won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor over popular actors like Anthony Hopkins and Burt Reynolds, but he was much more than a supporting role. Williams was the most memorable part of the whole film, and his much-celebrated monologue about the nature of love is among the decade's most moving.
2 Kathy Bates, 'Misery' (1990)
Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes looking sinister and deranged in Misery (1990).Image via Columbia Pictures
Stephen King, as the master of horror, has crafted many iconic villains over the decades. In his 1987 novel Misery, he invented another one in the form of Annie Wilkes, the obsessed fan of author Paul Sheldon, who holds him hostage when he ends up injured in a snowstorm.
Annie Wilkes was not quite on the level of a Jack Torrance or Pennywise in King's books, but when it was time for Rob Reiner's film adaptation, the casting of Kathy Bates in the role made the character one of the most terrifying ever put to screen. Annie Wilkes might be completely out of her mind, but Bates plays her mostly with a quiet calm, her kindness sucking you in until she snaps and has you jumping in your seat. Julia Roberts was nominated for Best Actress the same year for Pretty Woman, but she had no chance against what Kathy Bates created.
1 Anthony Hopkins, 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1990)
Anthony Hopkins staring intently at a small metal object in The Silence of the Lambs.Image via Orion Pictures
Horror films are very rarely noticed by the Academy and are instead looked down on, but The Silence of the Lambs was the exception. Not only were audiences floored, but critics were impressed, and the members of the Academy took notice, honoring the film in all five major categories. But as good as everyone else was, it's Anthony Hopkins' movie, despite him not being in it all that much.
Hopkins was captivating as Dr. Hannibal Lecter, the genius with a taste for flesh who is able to easily outsmart his prey, but who takes a liking to the young FBI agent (Jodie Foster) who comes to him for help. Lecter is brilliantly sinister, and Hopkins makes the character an absolute icon of film history. Just how much so? Not only did Hopkins win the Best Actor Oscar, but the American Film Institute named Hannibal Lecter as the number one movie villain of all time.
Silence of the Lambs
R
Drama
Crime
Horror
Thriller
Release Date
February 14, 1991
Cast
Scott Glenn, Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald
Runtime
118 minutes
Director
Jonathan Demme
Writers
Ted Tally
Genres
Drama, Crime, Horror, Thriller
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