Spike Lee takes the novel writing talent of David Benioff and changes it into a screenplay to bring us this gut-wrenching story of regret, confusion, love, and loss and under Lee’s direction and his actors’ talents brings out a simultaneously heart-breaking and heart-warming story that is infused with a feeling of terrible, terrible regret in 25th Hour.

Let me begin by saying that yes, there are many additional indie movies which were great in the 1990s. This is a list of what I consider to be the best ten of the decade, ranked according to their greatness. You’re welcome to disagree with titles on this list, omissions, rankings, or anything else, but choices and rankings had to be made and I made them. That said, here they are….

The second entry in my Great Directors series profiles David Fincher, director of Se7en and Fight Club, among others.  David Fincher’s directorial style seems to always incorporate novel approaches to film-making. When a film’s plot requires a gritty, realistic, but depressing feeling to it Fincher is able to deliver all of that with his directorial skill, as he had to do in making Se7en.   He is similar to Jean-Pierre Jeunet in his command of the visual elements and editing of a film to achieve his goals, but Fincher’s movies are far different than Jeunet’s.

Fight Club is a cult-favorite both in its cinematic adaption and in its novel form as written by Chuck Palahniuk.  The film adaption employs Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Meat Loaf, and Helena Bonham Carter to bring Palahniuk’s novel to life.  Brad Pitt is reported to have exclaimed to Palahniuk on the set, “Thank you for the best part of my life!”