Rotten Tomatoes, the long-running website dedicated to collecting film & television reviews, has studied the data, crunched the numbers, and compiled a wide-ranging list ranking the 140 Essential ’90s Movies, crossing off the era’s cultural checkpoints with critical and fan favorites culled from “the American independent golden era, animation renaissance, slasher revival, and the full maturation of auteurs like Scorsese and Spielberg under the studio system… just as the same studios pumped out big, star-driven crass comedies and effects-driven blockbusters.”
Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls? Check. Bela Tarr’s Sátántangó? Check. Penelope Spheeris’ Wayne’s World and Kathryn Bigelow’s Point Break? Check and check. But which film ranks as the most influential, most essential of the decade? It just might be a Tarantino fave that they describe as “a delirious post-modern mix of neo-noir thrills, pitch-black humor, and pop-culture touchstones.” Head over and read the full list to find out.