…although it wasn’t a major, historical year for movies…certainly not like 1939, 1962, 1971, 1999 and 2007 were.
In my humble opinion, the most loathsome film of 1993 was, is and always will be Chris Columbus‘s Mrs. Doubtfire. Piss on this stupid film forever…soak it in horse urine.
And the finest five films of 1993 were and still are, in this order of enjoyment or admiration, (1) Harold Ramis and Bill Murray‘s Groundhog Day, (2) Jonathan Demme‘s Philadelphia, (3) John McNaughton and Richard Price‘s Mad Dog and Glory (a pair of Bill Murray films among the top three!), (4) Fred Schepisi and John Guare‘s Six Degrees of Separation, and (5) Steven Spielberg‘s Schindler’s List.
#6 through #10: Sydney Pollack‘s The Firm (I’ve watched it at least 10 or 12 times, largely because I love Gene Hackman‘s fundamentally humane performance as Avery Tolar, mitigated by his chuckling, shoulder-shrugging cynicism), Spielberg’s Jurassic Park (two or three viewings), Tony Scott‘s True Romance (minus the ridiculous ending but containing the first great Brad Pitt performance), Martin Scorsese‘s The Age of Innocence (very moving finale), Wolfgang Petersen‘s In The Line of Fire, and Joel Schumacher‘s Falling Down.
Honorable Mentions (in order of preference): Tim Burton‘s The Nightmare Before Xmas, Neil Jordan‘s The Crying Game, Robert DeNiro and Chaz Palminteri‘s A Bronx Tale, Jim Sheridan‘s In The Name of the Father, Robert Altman‘s Short Cuts (Julianne Moore‘s red public hair), Adrian Lyne‘s Indecent Proposal, Brian DePalma‘s Carlito’s Way, Rob Reiner‘s Sleepless in Seattle, Alan J. Pakula‘s The Pelican Brief, Jon Amiel‘s Sommersby, George Sluizer‘s remake of The Vanishing (which wimpishly changed the ending of Sluizer’s 19888 original), Clint Eastwood‘s A Perfect World, Bruce Joel Rubin‘s My Life (Michael Keaton with cancer), Ivan Reitman‘s Dave, James Ivory‘s The Remains of the Day (15).
Not So Hot: Renny Harlin‘s Cliffhanger, John McTiernan‘s Last Action Hero.