6. The Crying Game (1992)
If there ever was a film in the present list that is best experienced going in as blind as possible, this one’s it. Reading a quick summary, review, or trailer beforehand is a sure way to spoil most of the fun out of the magical first-time viewing of this 1992 political thriller, an instant rabble rouser that became a lightning rod of controversy for its (in)famous plot twist but ultimately won Irish director Neil Jordan an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay over the likes of Woody Allen and George Miller.
Without giving too much away, the plot concerns a morally IRA volunteer called Fergus who flees the scene and relocates to London after botching up his last job and failing to assassinate a British hostage in Northern Ireland. It doesn’t take too long for him to take a liking to the former lover of her previous target, which puts him in a thorny predicament further complicated as shocking secrets and new facts about her come to light. The big twist that knocked everyone’s socks off 30 years ago is nowhere near as progressive or transgressive now through a 2024 lens and your mileage may vary. But all in all, “The Crying Game” is still tense, cleverly constructed and worth a watch when judged on its own terms.
7. The Remains of the Day (1993)
Fresh off winning his first career Oscar and becoming instantly immortalized as one of cinema’s capital-V Villains in “The Silence of the Lambs”, Anthony Hopkins decided to dial things down, make us all swoon at the screen and earn acting honors once again as a buttoned-up butler at a 1930s English country mansion in James Ivory’s lavish period piece adapted from Kazuo Ishiguro’s 1989 novel.
Despite snagging a whopping total of 8 Oscar nominations, “The Remains of the Day” is nowhere near as seen or discussed today as it probably deserves to be. More than 30 years on, perhaps the Merchant-Ivory film’s biggest draw today is the Oscar-nominated turn by Hopkins as a man with strong convictions, repressed desires, and torn between his loyalty to his Nazi-sympathizer employer and a newly arrived housekeeper — a juicy role that brilliantly showcases the veteran actor’s innate ability to command your fullest attention with the slightest of physical reactions. Bonus points go to Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant for adding even more firepower to an already star-studded affair.
8. The Piano (1993)
Also in competition that same awards season was the international breakthrough by New Zealand indie darling Jane Campion, who wrote her name in the cinema history books by becoming the first woman to win the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and get an Oscar nod for directing a Best Picture nominee.
We won’t judge you if you didn’t decide to jump on the director’s bandwagon up until her recent success when she mounted a splashy comeback in 2021 with the Netflix-backed “The Power of the Dog”, but now’s as good a time as any to check out the 1990s film that put her on the map and earned her a Best Original Screenplay — which coincidentally enjoyed a sweet marketing boost after getting the Criterion treatment two years ago.
Holly Hunter won an Oscar after giving one of the best performances of her career as Ada, a mute Scottish woman who expresses her pent-up frustrations and forbidden desires by playing her piano after relocating to New Zealand with her young daughter (Anna Paquin, who became the second youngest winner in Oscar history at 11). Enter Sam Neill’s paranoid husband and Harvey Keitel’s smooth frontiersman, two men with markedly different philosophies and sensibilities who spark opposing passions and romantic feelings within Ada’s heart.
9. The Prince of Tides (1991)
The way childhood trauma and a dysfunctional marriage wraps its tendrils around emotionally wounded individuals is chillingly laid bare in this character study based on the popular novel by Pat Conroy of the same name. Toplined by Nick Nolte in the role of Tom Wingo, “The Prince of Tides” follows a South Carolina football coach who travels to New York after her sister tries to kill herself, only to end up falling in love with her alluring therapist (played by Barbra Streisand, who pulled double duties directing the film too).
Though snagging Academy Award nods all across the board including for Best Picture, Writing, and Acting (with Nolte winning a Golden Globe to boot), the 8-time nominated “The Prince of Tides” has ever since slowly faded into relative obscurity as a minor trivia footnote in Oscar history and is perhaps only remembered today for serving as the basis for a Simpsons gag centered around Marge’s childhood. But make no mistake: Even if it was overshadowed and ultimately edged out by Anthony Hopkins’ iconic rendition of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, this is Nolte at the very top of his game.
10. The Insider (1999)
Russell Crowe would get his revenge and nab Best Actor honors the following year for his career-defining lead turn in Ridley Scott’s swords-and-sandals epic “Gladiator”, but not enough attention has been paid to his 1999 Oscar-nominated turn as Jeffrey Wigand, a real-life research chemist decided to breach his confidentiality agreement with Brown & Williamson, completely kill his career prospects, and go live on CBS to blow the whistle on the Big Tobacco industry.
Though it never really stood much of a chance of taking home the evening’s top prize over a critically acclaimed crowd-pleaser like Sam Mendes’ “American Beauty”, “The Insider” did ultimately manage to squeeze into 7 different categories including Best Picture, Writing, and Directing (rather shockingly, this being the first and only nod for veteran craftsman Michael Mann).
Statuette or not, few movies in cinema history have so candidly portrayed the weighty burden of truth-seeking and the steep price Crowe’s heroic average man must pay for his honesty as he goes up against an army of profit-driven executives, corporate lawyers, and sold-out media heads to get his story out with the help of Al Pacino’s hard-nosed journalist.