Essential Movies of the 90's

From the same spot as the last one, here comes an essential list of movies from the 90's. From the author:

We can already hear the outrage: "How can you leave out The Shawshank Redemption? What about Schindler's List? Where is Titanic?!?" In 50 years, those great films may be considered the true classics of the 1990s. But the movies on this list--some widely acclaimed, some beloved by a passionate few--had an influence more significant than popularity alone can indicate. Some had dozens of imitators; others spawned entire genres.

* "Essential" is not the same as "best," so these are not top 10 lists, but more a library-building guide that samples the significant DVDs from a genre, a decade, or a career.

Got that? So not necessarily the best but important nonetheless. I think it's about cultural literacy or something like that. How'd the do?

Toy Story - No complaints with this one, it mainstreamed animation, especially computer animation. It put Pixar on the map as one of the giants of the movie biz. And it told a durn good story.
Pulp Fiction - Great dialogue. Very cool. I think it's star has faded with time but it really was a must see film of the 90's.
Rushmore - Man, I love this movie. The FP Gal and I watched it a few months back and I still love it. I'm not sure if I'd call it 'essential' but anything that brings it more attention is fine by me. Actually, maybe this movie represents the rise of the quirky independent film.
The Silence of the Lambs - Another great movie. Wonderful acting and suspense. An excellent movie. (So far, I'm right with this list.)
Fargo - Eh. Overrated. Doesn't give you anything that you're not getting from 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Silence of the Lambs'.
My Own Private Idaho - Watched the first half of this many years ago. Wasn't impressed.
Before Sunrise - I think I saw this in the theater but I'm not sure. If it's the one I'm thinking of then I'm not impressed here either. If we needed a romantic comedy for the decade then I would have gone with 'Sleepless in Seattle', 'French Kiss' or 'Forget Paris'.
Out of Sight - Another cool movie but not one that I'd think of as 'essential'. This one showed the world that George Clooney could really act. I don't think of that as genre defining though.
Goodfellas - A great movie, one of the top ones of the decade.
The Matrix - No problem with this one either. It invented a genre of action/sci-fi movies with a new blend of computer graphics and innovative camera work. Somehow it even overcame the reanimated corpse of Keanu Reeves.

I posted a top movies of the 90's list a few months back. This list is trying to do something a bit different and should be judged by a different standard. If I was trying to find ten movies to show the flavor of the 90's, I'd probably include 'Braveheart', 'The Crow' and at least one more of the Tom Hanks' list.