The 100 Project: The Top 10 Movies of 1993

1993 is one of those years where my favorites and what most people think are the best are really at odds. I'll definitely listen to the arguments for many of my honorable mentions as better films than the ones that made my top 10. However, the key is that this is MY top 10. While some other movies might be technically (even objectively) better, these are the 10 that most spoke to me.

My Top 10 Movies of 1993

• According to my Letterboxd account, I watched 74 movies released in 1993. My highest total to this point.
• I saw 7 movies in theaters, 3 made the list.
• I've seen 2 of the 5 Best Picture Nominees. 1 made the list, the other is an honorable mention.
• 4 movies on the list have a Black protagonist.
• One female director made the list.
• One director has two movies on the list.

10. True Romance

I didn't see this movie until at least 15 years after its release. By then, I was well acquainted with Quentin Tarantino's style. So even though he didn't direct this, Tony Scott did, I recognized all of QT's signature tropes, and I loved it. Gary Oldman's nearly-blackface performance is tolerable because he's so good and we're not supposed to like him.

9. Demolition Man

My brother and I went to see this on opening night and had a blast. I rented it the weekend it hit VHS, watched it with the rest of the fam, and had a blast. Several more times over the years, I've put it on and had a blast. Got it? And I still haven't figured out how to use the three seashells.

8. Carlito's Way

In a lot of ways, this felt like Brian De Palma giving us a more subdued version of his own Scarface. I feel that's why it doesn't get the respect it deserves. However, it's much more than that. Al Pacino gives one of his most underrated performances, but Sean Penn, Luis Guzman, and John Leguizamo all steal scenes from him to the film's benefit.

7. Schindler's List

This might be Steven Spielberg's true masterpiece. It's technically brilliant, wonderfully acted, and emotionally draining. That last trait is probably what keeps it from being higher for me. As great a movie as this is, I don't have it in me to revisit it that often. Sure, the end is somewhat happy, but getting there is tough sledding.

6. Rudy

I have often remarked that I don't cry over movies. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't real close watching the underdog story of a wannabe college football player. And I've seen it half a dozen times. Every time I get near the conclusion the knot in my throat swells up and I choke it down. I'm getting old and soft. I fear, one of these days, the dam is going to break.

5. Poetic Justice

A handful of movies have become family favorites around the Dell household. This is one of them. The truth and humor in John Singleton's writing, booming soundtrack, chemistry of the main cast, and Tupac's sheer magnetism make it a movie we revisit over and over again.

4. CB4

This is another movie I saw on opening night with my brother. Already being familiar with NWA, I ate it up as a great parody. It immediately became one of my favorite movies about hip-hop because I laughed all the way through. And yes, I quote it in real life.

3. What's Love Got to Do With It

The job of an actor is to disappear within the character. When two people do it as effectively as Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne in this movie, the result is a film that makes us feel every success, failure, arousal, and fear of its characters. Bassett makes us see through Tina Turner's eyes. Fishburne's Ike Turner is endlessly quotable, but above all, terrifying.

2. Menace II Society

I can't remember whose idea it was to rent this, but it came into our house and never left. At least a couple times a week for a year or so someone, usually one of my brothers was watching The Adventures of Kane & O-Dog. Often, when one of us started this movie, it would be a family gathering by the time it ended. After a while, we all knew every line of dialogue. We had debates about the ending. That turned into discussions about the whole movie. We agreed, disagreed, and everything else in between. Needless to say, it touched us all.

1. Jurassic Park

One of my biggest cinematic regrets is not getting to see this movie in theaters. Luckily, I was still living with Mama Dell, who had a huge projection screen television. Sixty-five inches, if I recall correctly. And that was at a time when most people had sets thirty-two inches or smaller. This is important because, to a degree, it preserved the spectacle needed to make my jaw drop when the first full shot of a majestic dinosaur happens. It looked, still looks, amazing. The story-telling is superb and is truly the first great creature feature since Jaws, another Spielberg special. The way Menace ran its course through my family, how much we all relate to and draw from it, would usually be enough to get it the top spot. Every once in a while, though, movie magic edges reality. This is one of those cases. I still have great conversations about Menace, but with my own kids I've returned to Jurassic Park many times over and never get tired of it.

Honorable mentions (alphabetically listed): Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, A Bronx Tale, Cool Runnings, The Fugitive, Groundhog Day, Iron Monkey, Posse, The Program, Rising Sun, Searching for Bobby Fischer, The Sandlot, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, Strapped, Sugar Hill, Tombstone