Day 6 of the 90's Movie Review: Best Sports Movie, Best Gangster Movie, Best Social Issues Movie.

Best Sports Movie of the Decade (CRITERIA - best sports scenes, makes you love/hate/appreciate the sport):
NOMINEES:
Diggstown
Hoop Dreams
Jerry Maguire
Rudy
White Men Can’t Jump
WINNER: Rudy. Jerry Maguire is a better movie. But Rudy has those Rocky inspirational scenes and achieves the rare feat of making you like Notre Dame football for 2 hours. Jerry Maguire and Hoop Dreams are great movies for something more than the sports. White Men Can't Jump knows its role. Diggstown is one of my 90's guilty pleasures. Three underused actors (James Woods, Louis Gosset Jr., Bruce Dern) team up to make a movie about an underused sport (boxing).

Best Gangster Movie of the Decade:
NOMINEES:
Goodfellas
Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
Miller’s Crossing
Reservoir Dogs
The Usual Suspects
WINNER: Miller's Crossing. Lock, Stock, Reservoir Dogs, and The Usual Suspects aren't gangster movies proper - more caper pics. That leaves Goodfellas and Miller's Crossing, which came out the same year. Miller's Crossing is better acted, better written, and better directed. If you switched the names of who did it, Miller's Crossing would be Scorcese's crowning achievement and Goodfellas would be one of those 'eh' Coen brothers movies from the otts.

Best Social Issues Movie of the Decade:
NOMINEES:
Courage Under Fire
Dangerous Minds
Falling Down
Forrest Gump
Philadelphia
WINNER: Philadelphia. Forrest Gump kind of wanders across issues, even if it's more enjoyable than Philadelphia. Philadelphia I like because it really went after 1-2 social issues, it did it at a time when it was relevant rather than chasing the issue down, it made the bad guys believable, but mostly because Denzel's character doesn't learn some lesson about embracing gay. Instead, he learns a more basic and bracing lesson about tolerance and humanity in living with a prejudice and respecting someone's humanity rather than changing his normative views.