Year by year: 1989
My 50 favorite movies of 1989
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50 titles
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsDanny AielloOssie DavisRuby DeeOn the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.
- DirectorPeter GreenawayStarsRichard BohringerMichael GambonHelen MirrenAt Le Hollandais gourmet restaurant, every night is filled with opulence, decadence and gluttony. But when the cook, a thief, his wife and her lover all come together, they unleash a shocking torrent of sex, food, murder and revenge.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsMartin LandauWoody AllenBill BernsteinAn ophthalmologist's mistress threatens to reveal their affair to his wife while a married documentary filmmaker is infatuated with another woman.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsTom CruiseBryan LarkinRaymond J. BarryThe biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country for which he fought.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsJames SpaderAndie MacDowellPeter GallagherA sexually repressed woman's husband is having an affair with her sister. The arrival of a visitor with a rather unusual fetish changes everything.
- DirectorGiuseppe TornatoreStarsPhilippe NoiretEnzo CannavaleAntonella AttiliA filmmaker recalls his childhood when falling in love with the pictures at the cinema of his home village and forms a deep friendship with the cinema's projectionist.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRobin WilliamsRobert Sean LeonardEthan HawkeMaverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.
- DirectorPaul MazurskyStarsRon SilverAnjelica HustonLena OlinA ghostwriter finds himself romantically involved with his current wife, a married woman and his long-vanished wife.
- DirectorJim SheridanStarsDaniel Day-LewisBrenda FrickerAlison WhelanChristy Brown, born with cerebral palsy, learns to paint and write with his only controllable limb - his left foot.
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsBilly CrystalMeg RyanCarrie FisherHarry and Sally have known each other for years, and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin the friendship.
- DirectorDenys ArcandStarsLothaire BluteauCatherine WilkeningJohanne-Marie TremblayA group of actors put on an unorthodox, but acclaimed Passion Play which incites the opposition of the Catholic Church while the actors' lives themselves begin to mirror the Passion itself.
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsYoshiko TanakaKazuo KitamuraEtsuko IchiharaThe story of the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing, based on Masuji Ibuse's novel.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsMichael KeatonJack NicholsonKim BasingerThe Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being Jack Napier, a criminal who becomes the clownishly homicidal Joker.
- DirectorJacques RivetteStarsBulle OgierBenoît RégentFejria DelibaA drama following 4 women at stage school. Considered by some to be the summation of director Jacques Rivette's work as a whole.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsBirgit DollDieter BernerLeni TanzerA European family who plan on escaping to Australia seem caught up in their daily routine, only troubled by minor incidents. However, behind their apparent calm and repetitive existence, they are actually planning something sinister.
- DirectorAki KaurismäkiStarsMatti PellonpääKari VäänänenSakke JärvenpääSiberian rock band Leningrad Cowboys go to the USA in pursuit of fame.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsKirsten DunstMinami TakayamaRei SakumaA young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.
- DirectorEdward ZwickStarsMatthew BroderickDenzel WashingtonCary ElwesRobert Gould Shaw leads the U.S. Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices from both his own Union Army, and the Confederates.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsMorgan FreemanJessica TandyDan AykroydAn old Jewish woman and her African-American chauffeur in the American South have a relationship that grows and improves over the years.
- DirectorCosta-GavrasStarsJessica LangeArmin Mueller-StahlFrederic ForrestA lawyer defends her father accused of war crimes, but there is more to the case than she suspects.
- DirectorKenneth BranaghStarsKenneth BranaghDerek JacobiSimon ShepherdIn the midst of the Hundred Years War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.
- DirectorBruno NuyttenStarsIsabelle AdjaniGérard DepardieuMadeleine RobinsonCamille Claude impresses already-famous sculptor Auguste Rodin. He hires her as an assistant, but soon Camille begins to sculpt for herself and she also becomes his mistress. But after a while, she would like to get out of his shadow.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsColin FirthAnnette BeningMeg TillyFrance before 1789: When a widow hears that her lover is to marry her cousin's daughter, she asks the playboy Valmont to take the girl's virginity. But first she bets him, with her body as prize, to seduce a virtuous, young, married woman.
- DirectorSteve KlovesStarsJeff BridgesMichelle PfeifferBeau BridgesThe lives of two struggling musicians, who happen to be brothers, inevitably change when they team up with a beautiful, up-and-coming singer.
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiShu-Fen HsinSung-Young ChenThe story of a family embroiled in the "White Terror" that was wrought on the Taiwanese people by the Kuomintang government after their arrival from mainland China in the late 1940s.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsEd HarrisMary Elizabeth MastrantonioMichael BiehnA civilian diving team is enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine and faces danger while encountering an alien aquatic species.
- DirectorWayne WangStarsCora MiaoRussell WongVictor WongA study in culture bridging, including ... a new US-born husband, trying to work within the traditional ways, a new China-born wife, eager to join the "dream" of America, two family-minded fathers, lots of gender-related social bifurcations.
- DirectorDanny DeVitoStarsMichael DouglasKathleen TurnerDanny DeVitoA married couple tries everything to drive each other out of the house in a vicious divorce battle.
- DirectorJim JarmuschStarsMasatoshi NagaseYûki KudôScreamin' Jay HawkinsThree stories are connected by a Memphis hotel and the spirit of Elvis Presley.
- DirectorPhil Alden RobinsonStarsKevin CostnerJames Earl JonesRay LiottaIowa farmer Ray Kinsella is inspired by a voice he can't ignore to pursue a dream he can hardly believe. Supported by his wife, Ray begins the quest by turning his ordinary cornfield into a place where dreams can come true.
- DirectorRon ClementsJohn MuskerStarsJodi BensonSamuel E. WrightRene AuberjonoisA mermaid princess makes a Faustian bargain in an attempt to become human and win a prince's love.
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsMatt DillonKelly LynchJames Le GrosA pharmacy-robbing dope fiend and his crew pop pills and evade the law.
- DirectorJosé Luis CuerdaStarsJosé SazatornilCarmen de LirioFrancisco MartínezA village and the crazy situations encountered by its citizens.
- DirectorPatrice LeconteStarsMichel BlancSandrine BonnaireLuc ThuillierA recluse is accused of murdering a young woman simply because his neighbors think he is strange.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsGeneviève LemonKaren ColstonTom LycosAn introspective young woman's life is upturned by the arrival of her maladjusted sister.
- DirectorCameron CroweStarsJohn CusackIone SkyeJohn MahoneyA noble underachiever and a beautiful valedictorian fall in love the summer before she goes off to college.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsMichael J. FoxSean PennDon HarveyDuring the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.
- DirectorMichael LehmannStarsWinona RyderChristian SlaterShannen DohertyAt Westerburg High where cliques rule, jocks dominate and all the popular girls are named Heather, it's going to take a Veronica and mysterious new kid to give teen angst a body count.
- DirectorEttore ScolaStarsMarcello MastroianniMassimo TroisiAnne ParillaudThe visit of a lawer to his military son is an opportunity to recall the past, discuss the future and find a meeting point between two diametrically opposite personalities.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsLaura BensonAdolph GreenLinda LavinA grumpy American is suffering during his visit to Europe.
- DirectorJean-Jacques AnnaudStarsTchéky KaryoBart the BearYouk the BearAn orphan bear cub hooks up with an adult male as they try to dodge human hunters.
- DirectorRob EpsteinJeffrey FriedmanStarsSara LewinsteinDavid MandellSuzi MandellA collection of profiles of people dead from AIDS who are remembered in the AIDS Memorial Quilt.
- DirectorJohn WooStarsChow Yun-FatDanny LeeSally YehA disillusioned assassin accepts one last hit in hopes of using his earnings to restore vision to a singer he accidentally blinded.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsDanny MulheronDonna AkerstenStuart DevenieMultiple animals and insects experience the sleazier side of show business while working on a variety show.
- DirectorHenri XhonneuxStarsFrançois MarthouretValérie KlingMichel RobinThe scene is a pre-French Revolution Bastille, where various political prisoners are being held: a woman who was raped and impregnated by the king, a police chief who was accused of selling bad pork, and the Marquis, who was unjustly accused of working for the overthrow of the king. The Marquis is only interested in writing his deviant stories, while his penis yearns for a little action (they argue about this frequently), the prime candidate being the jailer who likes to be buggered. The corrupt priest arranges to have the pregnant woman raped by the Marquis so they can claim the king had nothing to do with it. The priest also steals the Marquis' manuscripts and publishes them for his own profit. Things come to a head as the people rise up against the tyranny.
- DirectorKaspar RostrupStarsFrits HelmuthMikael HelmuthGhita NørbyThe active Regitze and passive Karl Aage have a party with friends and family at their allotment garden. He reminisces his life with her from meeting her during WWII, having a son, the son graduating, etc. up to present day.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordSean ConneryAlison DoodyIn 1938, after his father goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones finds himself up against the Nazis again to stop them from obtaining its powers.
- DirectorMichael MooreStarsMichael MooreRoger B. SmithRhonda BrittonAfter General Motors closes its factory in Flint, Michigan, eliminating 35,000 jobs, filmmaker Michael Moore undertakes a quixotic quest to interview General Motors' chairman, Roger B. Smith.
- DirectorKei KumaiStarsEiji OkudaToshirô MifuneKinnosuke NakamuraYears after the death of legendary tea master Rikyu, his disciple Honkakubo attempts to resolve the mystery of the master's death.
- DirectorAgustí VillarongaStarsMaribel MartínLisa GerrardEnrique SaldanaAdopted by a treacherous semi-scientific cult where extraordinary mental powers are common, extraordinary 12-year-old David begins an archetypal journey across two continents to find his destiny as Child of the Moon.