1990--The Year in Review

1990 was an unremarkable year for film, though its primary note, Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, was easily the movie of the year, and the entire decade, judging by its clear influence three decades hence. Two other gangster related films, The Coen Brothers' regal Miller's Crossing and Stephen Frears' The Grifters, were similarly terrific. Mike Leigh's Life is Sweet was the most humanistic work of the year, while Kevin Costner's Dances With Wolves took all the awards. But it's Scorsese's film that remains the most memorable and widely loved. NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and are only occasionally reflective of the selections made by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (aka The Oscars). When available, the nominee that actually won the Oscar will be highlighted in bold.

PICTURE: GOODFELLAS (US, Martin Scorsese)
(2nd: Europa Europa (Germany/France/Poland, Agnieszka Holland)
followed by: Life is Sweet (UK, Mike Leigh)
Miller’s Crossing (US, Joel Coen)
Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (US/UK, James Ivory)
The Grifters (US, Stephen Frears)
American Dream (US, Barbara Kopple)
The Reflecting Skin (Canada, Philip Ridley)
Mindwalk (US, Bernt Capra)
Men Don’t Leave (US, Paul Brickman)
Quick Change (US, Howard Franklin and Bill Murray)
Strangers in Good Company (Canada, Cynthia Scott)
An Angel at My Table (New Zealand, Jane Campion)
C’est la Vie (France, Diane Kurys)
White Hunter, Black Heart (US, Clint Eastwood)
Wild at Heart (US, David Lynch)
Mountains of the Moon (US, Bob Rafelson)
Dances With Wolves (US, Kevin Costner)
The Godfather Part III (US, Francis Ford Coppola)
Begotten (US, E. Elias Merhige)
Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (Japan, Akira Kurosawa)
Miami Blues (US, George Armitage)
Edward Scissorhands (US, Tim Burton)
La Femme Nikita (France, Luc Besson)
Close-Up (Iran, Abbas Kiarostami)
Truly, Madly, Deeply (UK, Anthony Mingella)
The Freshman (US, Andrew Bergman)
To Sleep With Anger (US, Charles Burnett)
Henry and June (US, Philip Kaufman)
The Krays (UK, Peter Medak)
After Dark, My Sweet (US, James Foley)
Ju Dou (China, Zhang Yimou)
Tatie Danielle (France, Etienne Chatiliez)
Alice (US, Woody Allen)
Christo in Paris (US, Deborah Dickson, Susan Fromke, David Maysles and Albert Maysles)
Awakenings (US, Penny Marshall)
King of New York (US, Abel Ferrara)
Jacob’s Ladder (US, Adrian Lyne)
Paris is Burning (US, Jennie Livingston)
Riff Raff (UK, Ken Loach)
Dick Tracy (US, Warren Beatty)
Tremors (US, Ron Underwood)
The Sheltering Sky (US, Bernardo Bertolucci)
Days of Being Wild (Hong Kong, Wong Kar-Wai)
Reversal of Fortune (US, Barbet Schroeder)
Vincent and Theo (US, Robert Altman)
A Shock to the System (US, Jan Egleson)
Berkeley in the Sixties (US, Mark Kitchell)
Cyrano de Bergerac (France, Jean-Paul Rappeneau)
Metropolitan (US, Whit Stillman)
Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol (US, Chuck Workman)
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (US, John McNaughton)
Mo' Better Blues (US, Spike Lee)
White Palace (US, Luis Mandoki)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (UK/US, Tom Stoppard)
The Witches (UK/US, Nicolas Roeg)
The Field (Ireland, Jim Sheridan)
Boiling Point (Japan, Takeshi Kitano)
Avalon (US, Barry Levinson)
Pump Up The Volume (US, Allan Moyle)
Joe Versus The Volcano (US, John Patrick Shanley)
Back to the Future: Part III (US, Robert Zemeckis)
Stanley and Iris (US, Martin Ritt)
State of Grace (US, Phil Joanou)
Bad Influence (US, Curtis Hanson)
Nouvelle Vague (France, Jean-Luc Godard)
Postcards from the Edge (US, Mike Nichols)
Trust (US, Hal Hartley)
Lord of the Flies (US, Harry Hook)
The Hot Spot (US, Dennis Hopper)
Internal Affairs (US, Mike Figgis)
Presumed Innocent (US, Alan J. Pakula)
Green Card (US, Peter Weir)
Texasville (US, Peter Bogdanovich)
Pretty Woman (US, Garry Marshall)
Darkman (US, Sam Raimi)
Total Recall (US, Paul Verhoeven)
Hardware (US, Richard Stanley)
Misery (US, Rob Reiner)
The Two Jakes (US, Jack Nicholson)
Ghost (US, Jerry Zucker)
Graffiti Bridge (US, Prince)
Home Alone (US, Chris Columbus)
Troll 2 (US, Claudio Fragasso (as Drake Floyd)
The Bonfire of the Vanities (US, Brian De Palma)
Die Hard 2 (US, Renny Harlin))

ACTOR: Johnny Depp, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (2nd: Jeremy Irons, Reversal of Fortune, followed by: Gerard Depardieu, Cyrano De Bergerac; Alec Baldwin, Miami Blues; Ray Liotta, GoodFellas; Paul Newman, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge; Robin Williams, Awakenings; Bill Murray, Quick Change)

ACTRESS: Alison Steadman, LIFE IS SWEET (2nd: Anjelica Huston, The Grifters, followed by: Joanne Woodward, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge; Jessica Lange, Men Don’t Leave; Laura Dern, Wild at Heart; Jennifer Jason Leigh, Miami Blues; Juliet Stevenson, Truly, Madly, Deeply)



SUPPORTING ACTOR: Joe Pesci, GOODFELLAS (2nd: Robert De Niro, Goodfellas, followed by: Albert Finney, Miller’s Crossing; John Turturro, Miller’s Crossing; Timothy Spall, Life is Sweet; Chris O’Donnell, Men Don’t Leave; Philip Bosco, Quick Change)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:  Annette Bening, THE GRIFTERS (2nd: Jane Horrocks, Life is Sweet, followed by: Diane Ladd, Wild at Heart; Lorraine Bracco, GoodFellas; Claire Skinner, Life is Sweet; Joan Cusack, Men Don’t Leave; Mary McCormack, Dances with Wolves)

DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese, GOODFELLAS (2nd: Agnieszka Holland, Europa Europa, followed by: Mike Leigh, Life is Sweet; Joel Coen, Miller’s Crossing; Stephen Frears, The Grifters; James Ivory, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge; Phillip Ridley, The Reflecting Skin)



NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM: EUROPA EUROPA (Germany/France/Poland, Agnieszka Holland) (2nd: C’est la Vie (France, Diane Kurys), followed by: Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (Japan, Akira Kurosawa); La Femme Nikita (France, Luc Besson); Close-Up (Iran, Abbas Kiarostami); Ju Dou (China, Zhang Yimou); Tatie Danielle (France, Etienne Chatiliez); Days of Being Wild (Hong Kong, Wong Kar-Wai); Cyrano de Bergerac (France, Jean-Paul Rappeneau); Boiling Point (Japan, Takeshi Kitano); Nouvelle Vague (France, Jean-Luc Godard))



DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: AMERICAN DREAM (US, Barbara Kopple) (2nd: Christo in Paris (US, Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Deborah Dickson and Susan Fromke), followed by: Paris is Burning (US, Jennie Livingston); Berkeley in the Sixties (US, Mark Kitchell); Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol (US, Chuck Workman))



ANIMATED SHORT: THE COW (USSR, Aleksandr Petrov) (2nd: Darkness Light Darkness (Czechoslovakia, Jan Svankmajer), followed by: Delicacies of Molten Horror Synapse (US, Stan Brakhage))



LIVE ACTION SHORT: NIGHT CRIES: A RURAL TRAGEDY (Australia, Tracey Moffatt) (2nd:  12:01 PM (US, Jonathan Heap), followed by: Bronx Cheers (US, Raymond De Felitta)



ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Mike Leigh, LIFE IS SWEET (2nd: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Miller’s Crossing, followed by: Sally Bochner, Gloria Demers, Cynthia Scott and David Wilson, Strangers in Good Company; Bernt Capra, Fritjof Capra and Floyd Byers, Mindwalk; Andrew Bergman, The Freshman)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Nicholas Pileggi and Martin Scorsese, GOODFELLAS (2nd: Agnieszka Holland and Paul Hengge, Europa Europa, followed by: Donald E. Westlake, The Grifters; Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge; Peter Viertel, James Bridges and Burt Kennedy, White Hunter, Black Heart)

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Vittorio Storaro, THE SHELTERING SKY (2nd: Vittorio Storaro, Dick Tracy, followed by: Barry Sonnenfeld, Miller’s Crossing; Michael Ballhaus, GoodFellas; Phillippe Rousselot, Henry and June)

ART DIRECTION: DICK TRACY, Edward Scissorhands, Miller‘s Crossing, GoodFellas, The Godfather Part III

COSTUME DESIGN: CYRANO DE BERGERAC, Dick Tracy, GoodFellas, Miller’s Crossing, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge



FILM EDITING: GOODFELLAS, The Grifters, Miller’s Crossing, La Femme Nikita, Dances with Wolves

 

SOUND: DANCES WITH WOLVES, GoodFellas, Miller’s Crossing, Total Recall, The Hunt for Red October

SOUND EFFECTS: TOTAL RECALL, The Hunt For Red October

 

ORIGINAL SCORE: John Barry, DANCES WITH WOLVES (2nd: Thomas Newman, Men Don’t Leave, followed by: Elmer Bernstein, The Grifters; Richard Robbins, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge; Carter Burwell, Miller‘s Crossing)



ORIGINAL SONG: “Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)" from DICK TRACY (Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim) (2nd: “The Hello Song” from Crazy People (Music and lyrics by Cal Devoll), followed by “Blaze of Glory” from Young Guns II (Music and lyrics by Jon Bon Jovi); "I'm Checkin' Out" from Postcards on the Edge (Music and lyrics by Shel Silverstein))

VISUAL EFFECTS: TOTAL RECALL, Dick Tracy 

MAKEUP: DICK TRACY, Edward Scissorhands, Cyrano De Bergerac