Best TV Shows of the 1990s

The 1990s were the indie-cinema decade — Pulp Fiction (Tarantino 1994), The Usual Suspects (Singer 1995), Trainspotting (Boyle 1996), Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino 1992), Clerks (Smith 1994), Boogie Nights (PT Anderson 1997), Fargo (Coens 1996), and The Big Lebowski (Coens 1998) defined a generation of American auteurs working at modest budgets. Quentin Tarantino, the Coen brothers, Paul Thomas Anderson, Spike Jonze, David Fincher, Sofia Coppola, Wes Anderson, and Steven Soderbergh (whose Sex Lies and Videotape's 1989 Sundance breakthrough effectively launched the 90s indie wave) all emerged. The blockbuster also peaked — Titanic (Cameron 1997, $2.2B unadjusted gross), Jurassic Park (Spielberg 1993, the modern CGI-blockbuster reset), Independence Day (Emmerich 1996), and The Matrix (the Wachowskis 1999, the philosophical-action film that reshaped action cinematography). Animation had its second golden age (Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King; Pixar's Toy Story in 1995 — the first all-CGI feature film ever; Studio Ghibli's Princess Mononoke and the late-decade run that would peak with Spirited Away in 2001). Hong Kong cinema — Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love precursors (Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, Happy Together), John Woo's Hollywood crossover (Face/Off, Mission: Impossible 2), Stephen Chow's Hong Kong-comedy peak — was at its global peak. The decade ended with The Matrix, Fight Club, American Beauty, and Magnolia all in 1999.