When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences looked at 1989, it gave its Best Picture award to Driving Miss Daisy. I'm with Spike Lee on this one. You won't see that patronizing picture on my list:
1. The Decalogue
Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski
Written by Kieślowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz
The 10 episodes of this Polish miniseries were ostensibly inspired by the 10 commandments, though I've never seen a compelling attempt to match Kieslowski's individual stories to Yahweh's individual instructions. But don't get hung up on the concept. Take each entry on its own terms, and you'll see some of the most morally nuanced storytelling ever made for the screen.
2. Drugstore Cowboy
Directed by Gus Van Sant
Written by Van Sant and Daniel Yost with William S. Burroughs, from a novel by James Fogle
An old junky priest prophecizes in that gravelly Bill Burroughs voice: "In the near future, right-wingers will use drug hysteria as a pretext to set up an international police apparatus."
3. Motel
Directed by Christian Blackwood
This obscure little movie about three American motels is one of the greatest documentaries I've ever seen.
4. Santa Sangre
Directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky
Written by Jodorowsky, Roberto Leoni, and Claudio Argento
I've never joined the cult around Jodorowsky's most famous feature, El Topo, but I love this wild and disturbing phantasmagoria that he made 19 years later.
5. Do the Right Thing
Written and directed by Spike Lee
Back in the day, there was a debate over which was the better movie about race relations, Do the Right Thing or Driving Miss Daisy. Is anyone still willing to take Daisy's side of the argument? Spike Lee's angry yet ambiguous film was the sort of thoughtful picture that people like Stanley Kramer wanted to make back in the '50s and '60s but didn't have the talent to pull off.
6. Monsieur Hire
Directed by Patrice Leconte
Written by Leconte and Patrick Dewolf, from a novel by Georges Simenon
A crime film, but its mysteries are more about its characters than the murder in their midst.
7. Life and Nothing But
Directed by Bertrand Tavernier
Written by Tavernier and Jean Cosmos
Some of the best war movies take place after the shooting has stopped.
8. Kiki's Delivery Service
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Written by Miyazaki, from a novel by Eiko Kadono
"You'd think they'd never seen a girl and a cat on a broom before."
9. Near Death
Directed by Frederick Wiseman
"Having built this thing, I have serious questions as to its utility."
10. Crimes and Misdemeanors
Written and directed by Woody Allen
Alan Alda proves the Fred MacMurray rule: It's more fun to watch a man play a villain when you've spent your life thinking of him as a goody-two-shoes.
Honorable mentions:
11. Say Anything... (Cameron Crowe)
12. Creature Comforts (Nick Park)
13. Mystery Train (Jim Jarmusch)
14. Isle of Flowers (Jorge Furtado)
15. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover (Peter Greenaway)
16. Jesus of Montreal (Denys Arcand)
17. Ilé Aiyé (David Byrne)
18. Kitchen Sink (Alison Maclean)
19. Leningrad Cowboys Go America (Aki Kaurismäki)
20. The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (Alan Wareing)
Of the films of 1989 that I haven't seen, I'm most interested in Meet the Feebles and The Architecture of Doom.
