1990 in film

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The year 1990 in film involved many significant events as shown below.

Events

• CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall (1990).
• The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2.
• The use of real-time computer graphics or "digital puppetry" to create a character in a motion picture is performed, in RoboCop 2.
• Future movie stars Chris Rock and Adam Sandler join SNL.
• February 4 - Actor Tom Cruise and actress Mimi Rogers divorce.
• December 24 - Tom Cruise and actress Nicole Kidman marry.

Top grossing films

Rank	Title	Studio	Actors	Director	Gross
1.	Ghost	Paramount	Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg	Jerry Zucker	$505,702,588
2.	Home Alone	Fox	Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O'Hara and John Heard	Chris Columbus	$476,684,675
3.	Pretty Woman	Touchstone	Richard Gere and Julia Roberts	Garry Marshall	$463,406,268
4.	Dances with Wolves	Orion	Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell and Graham Greene	Kevin Costner	$424,208,848
5.	Total Recall	TriStar	Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside and Ronny Cox	Paul Verhoeven	$261,299,840
6.	Back to the Future Part III	Universal	Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen and Thomas F. Wilson	Robert Zemeckis	$244,527,583
7.	Die Hard 2: Die Harder	20th Century Fox	Bruce Willis	Renny Harlin	$240,031,094
8.	Presumed Innocent	Warner Bros.	Harrison Ford, John Spencer, Brian Dennehy, Raúl Juliá, Bonnie Bedelia, Paul Winfield and Greta Scacchi	Alan J. Pakula	$221,303,188
9.	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	New Line Cinema	Judith Hoag and Elias Koteas	Steve Barron	$201,965,915
10	Kindergarten Cop	Universal	Arnold Schwarzenegger	Ivan Reitman	$201,957,688

Awards

Academy Awards:

Best Picture: Dances with Wolves - Tig Productions, Majestic Films International

Best Director: Kevin Costner - Dances With Wolves

Best Actor: Jeremy Irons - Reversal of Fortune

Best Actress: Kathy Bates - Misery

Best Supporting Actor: Joe Pesci - Goodfellas

Best Supporting Actress: Whoopi Goldberg - Ghost

Best Foreign Language Film: Journey of Hope (Reise der Hoffnung), directed by Xavier Koller, Switzerland

Golden Globe Awards:

Drama:

Best Picture: Dances With Wolves

Best Actor: Jeremy Irons - Reversal of Fortune

Best Actress: Kathy Bates - Misery

Musical or comedy:

Best Picture: Green Card

Best Actor: Gérard Depardieu - Green Card

Best Actress: Julia Roberts - Pretty Woman

Other

Best Director: Kevin Costner - Dances with Wolves

Best Foreign Language Film: Cyrano de Bergerac, France

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):

Wild at Heart, directed by David Lynch, United States

Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival):

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, directed by Tom Stoppard, U.K. / U.S.A.

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

Music Box, directed by Costa Gavras, United States

Larks on a String (Skrivánci na niti), directed by Jiri Menzel, Czechoslovakia

Films released in 1990

A

• The Adventures of Ford Fairlane
• After Dark, My Sweet
• Air America, directed by Roger Spottiswoode, starring Mel Gibson and Robert Downey, Jr.
• Alice, directed by Woody Allen
• The Ambulance
• American Ninja 4: The Annihilation
• Angel Town
• Another 48 Hrs., starring Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte
• Arachnophobia, starring Jeff Daniels
• Avalon, directed by Barry Levinson
• Awakenings, starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro

B

• Back to the Future Part III, starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Mary Steenburgen
• Bad Influence
• Betsy's Wedding, starring Molly Ringwald
• Bird on a Wire, starring Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn
• Blind Fury
• Blue Steel, starring Jamie Lee Curtis
• Boiling Point, directed by Takeshi Kitano, starring Beat Takeshi
• The Bonfire of the Vanities, directed by Brian De Palma, starring Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis and Melanie Griffith
• Bride of Re-Animator

C

• Cadence, starring Charlie Sheen
• Cadillac Man, starring Robin Williams and Tim Robbins
• Captain America
• Childhood Days - Japan Academy Prize for Picture of the Year
• Child's Play 2
• China Cry
• City Hunter: Bay City Wars
• Class of 1999
• Close-Up
• Coins in the Fountain, starring Loni Anderson
• Come See the Paradise, starring Dennis Quaid and Tamlyn Tomita
• The Comfort of Strangers
• Crash and Burn
• Cry-Baby, starring Johnny Depp
• Cyrano de Bergerac, starring Gerard Depardieu - Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film

D

• Dances with Wolves, directed by and starring Kevin Costner - Academy and Golden Globe (drama) Awards for Best Picture
• Darkman, starring Liam Neeson
• Days of Being Wild, directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung and Andy Lau
• Days of Thunder, starring Tom Cruise, Robert Duvall and Nicole Kidman
• Death Warrant
• Dei tau lung (Dragon Fighter)
• Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection
• Denial
• Desperate Hours, starring Anthony Hopkins and Mickey Rourke
• Dick Tracy, starring Warren Beatty, Madonna, Glenne Headly and Al Pacino
• Die Hard 2, starring Bruce Willis
• Downtown, starring Anthony Edwards and Forest Whitaker
• Dreams, directed by Akira Kurosawa
• DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp

E

• Edward Scissorhands, directed by Tim Burton, starring Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder and Dianne Wiest
• The End of Innocence
• Ernest Goes to Jail
• Europa Europa - Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film (for 1991)
• The Exorcist III, starring George C. Scott

F

• Fantasia (restored version)
• La Femme Nikita, directed by Luc Besson
• The Field
• Fire Birds, starring Nicolas Cage and Tommy Lee Jones
• The First Power
• Flashback, starring Kiefer Sutherland and Dennis Hopper
• Flatliners, directed by Joel Schumacher, starring Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts and Kevin Bacon
• The Fourth War, starring Roy Schneider and Jurgen Prochnow
• Frankenstein Unbound
• The Freshman, starring Marlon Brando and Matthew Broderick
• Funny About Love directed by Leonard Nimoy, starring Gene Wilder and Christine Lahti

G

• Ghost, starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg
• The Godfather Part III, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Andy García and Sofia Coppola
• Goodfellas, directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco and Paul Sorvino
• Graffiti Bridge, directed by and starring Prince
• Green Card, starring Gerard Depardieu and Andie MacDowell - Golden Globe Award for Best Picture (Musical or Comedy)
• Gremlins 2: The New Batch
• The Grifters, starring Anjelica Huston, John Cusack and Annette Bening
• The Guardian
• The Guyver

H

• Hamlet, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, starring Mel Gibson, Glenn Close and Helena Bonham Carter
• The Handmaid's Tale, directed by Volker Schlondorff, starring Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway and Robert Duvall
• Hard to Kill starring Steven Segal
• Havana, starring Robert Redford, Lena Olin and Alan Arkin
• Heart Condition, starring Bob Hoskins, and Denzel Washington
• Heaven and Earth
• Henry & June, starring Fred Ward, Maria de Medeiros and Uma Thurman
• Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
• Hidden Agenda, directed by Ken Loach, starring Frances McDormand
• Home Alone, starring Macaulay Culkin
• The Hot Spot
• House Party
• The Hunt for Red October, starring Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin, directed by John McTiernan (Die Hard)

I

• I Come in Peace
• I Love You to Death
• Internal Affairs, directed by Mike Figgis, starring Richard Gere and Andy García

J

• Jacob's Ladder, starring Tim Robbins, directed by Adrian Lyne
• Jetsons: The Movie
• Joe Versus the Volcano, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan
• John & Brandy
• Journey of Hope (Reise der Hoffnung) - Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
• Ju Dou, directed by Zhang Yimou and Yang Fengliang, starring Gong Li

K

• Kindergarten Cop, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger
• King of New York, directed by Abel Ferrara, starring Christopher Walken and Laurence Fishburne
• The Krays, directed by Peter Medak, starring Martin Kemp, Gary Kemp and Billie Whitelaw

L

• Larks on a String (Skrivánci na niti) - Golden Bear award
• Last of the Finest
• Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III
• The Lemon Sisters
• Life Is Sweet
• Lionheart
• Longtime Companion
• The Long Walk Home
• Look Who's Talking Too, starring John Travolta and Kirstie Alley
• Loose Cannons
• Lord of the Flies
• Love at Large

M

• Mack the Knife
• A Man Called Sarge, starring Gary Kroeger and Marc Singer
• Marked for Death, starring Steven Seagal
• The Match Factory Girl
• Memories of a River
• Memphis Belle, directed by Michael Caton-Jones, starring Matthew Modine
• Men at Work
• Mermaids, directed by Richard Benjamin, starring Cher, Bob Hoskins, Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci
• Metropolitan
• Miami Blues starring Fred Ward and Alec Baldwin
• Midnight Ride
• Miller's Crossing, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, starring Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney and Marcia Gay Harden
• Milou in May
• Misery, directed by Rob Reiner, starring James Caan and Kathy Bates
• Mo' Better Blues, directed by Spike Lee, starring Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, Spike Lee and Samuel L. Jackson
• Mountains of the Moon, directed by Bob Rafelson
• Movie... In Your Face
• Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward
• Mr. Destiny
• My Blue Heaven, starring Steve Martin and Rick Moranis
• My Mother's Castle (Le Château de ma mère), directed by Yves Robert, Golden Space Needle award (for 1991) - see novel Le Château de ma mère

N

• Narrow Margin
• The Nasty Girl (Das schreckliche Mädchen)
• Navy SEALs, starring Charlie Sheen
• The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter
• Nightbreed
• Nuns on the Run
• The Nutcracker Prince

P

• Pacific Heights, directed by John Schlesinger, starring Michael Keaton, Melanie Griffith and Matthew Modine
• Piece of Cake, directed by Jay Sandrich, starring T.K. Carter, Cleavant Derricks, Vanessa Bell Calloway and Tonya Lee Williams
• Postcards from the Edge, directed by Mike Nichols, starring Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine and Dennis Quaid
• Predator 2, starring Danny Glover
• Presumed Innocent, directed by Alan J. Pakula, starring Harrison Ford
• Pretty Woman, directed by Garry Marshall, starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere
• Problem Child
• Pump Up the Volume, directed by Allan Moyle, Golden Space Needle award

Q

• Q&A, starring Nick Nolte, Timothy Hutton
• Quick Change, starring Bill Murray, Geena Davis, Randy Quaid
• Quigley Down Under, starring Tom Selleck

R

• The Reflecting Skin
• Repossessed, a parody of The Exorcist
• The Rescuers Down Under
• Revenge, starring Kevin Costner
• Reversal of Fortune, starring Jeremy Irons, Glenn Close and Ron Silver
• RoboCop 2, starring Peter Weller and Nancy Allen
• Robot Jox
• Rock 'n' Roll High School Forever
• Rockula
• Rocky V, starring Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, and Burgess Meredith
• Romeo-Juliet
• The Rookie, starring Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen
• Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead - Golden Lion award
• The Russia House, starring Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer

S

• The Sheltering Sky, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, starring Debra Winger and John Malkovich
• Shipwrecked
• Short Time
• A Show of Force
• Shreck
• Sibling Rivalry
• Side Out, starring Courtney Thorne-Smith
• Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation
• Silent Scream
• Spaced Invaders, directed by Patrick Read Johnson, starring Douglas Barr, Royal Dano, Ariana Richards and J. J. Anderson
• Stanley & Iris, starring Robert De Niro and Jane Fonda
• State of Grace, starring Sean Penn, Ed Harris and Gary Oldman
• Stella

T

• Taking Care of Business, starring James Belushi
• Tales from the Darkside: The Movie
• Tatie Danielle, starring Tsilla Chelton
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, directed by Steve Barron
• Tekken
• Texasville, directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Jeff Bridges, Timothy Bottoms and Cybill Shepherd
• Three Men and a Little Lady, starring Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson
• Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, directed by Pedro Almodovar, starring Antonio Banderas
• Tilaï
• Total Recall, directed by Paul Verhoeven, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone
• Treasure Island
• Tremors starring Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward
• Truly, Madly, Deeply, directed by Anthony Minghella
• The Two Jakes, directed by and starring Jack Nicholson

U

• Uchū no hōsoku
• Ultra Q The Movie: Legend of the Stars

V

• Vincent & Me
• Vincent & Theo

W

• Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael
• Where the Heart Is
• White Hunter, Black Heart, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood
• White Palace, starring Susan Sarandon and James Spader
• Wild at Heart, directed by David Lynch, starring Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern and Diane Ladd
• Wild Orchid
• The Witches, directed by Nicolas Roeg, starring Anjelica Huston

Y

• Young Guns II, starring Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christian Slater and William Petersen

Wide-release movies

January-March

• January 1990
  • January 19 - Tremors starring Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward
• February 1990
  • February 9 - Hard to Kill starring Steven Segal
  • February 16 - Revenge, starring Kevin Costner
• March 1990
  • March 2 - The Hunt for Red October
  • March 9 - Joe Versus the Volcano, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan
  • March 23 - Pretty Woman
  • March 30 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

April-June

• April 1990
  • April 6 - Cry-Baby, starring Johnny Depp
  • April 27 - Spaced Invaders, directed by Patrick Read Johnson, starring Douglas Barr, Royal Dano, Ariana Richards and J. J. Anderson
• May 1990
  • May 4 - Short Time
  • May 25
    • Back to the Future Part III
    • Fire Birds, starring Nicolas Cage and Tommy Lee Jones
• June 1990
  • June 1 - Total Recall
  • June 15
    • Dick Tracy, starring Warren Beatty, Madonna, Glenne Headly and Al Pacino
    • Gremlins 2: The New Batch
  • June 22 - RoboCop 2, starring Peter Weller and Nancy Allen
  • June 27 - Days of Thunder

July-September

• July 1990
  • July 4 - Die Hard 2: Die Harder
  • July 13 - Ghost
  • July 18 - Arachnophobia
  • July 27
    • Presumed Innocent, starring Harrison Ford
    • Problem Child
• August 1990
  • August 10 - Air America, starring Mel Gibson and Robert Downey, Jr.
  • August 17 - Exorcist 3: Legion, starring George C. Scott
• September 1990
  • September 14 - Death Warrant
  • September 19 - Goodfellas
  • September 28 - Pacific Heights, starring Michael Keaton, Melanie Griffith and Matthew Modine

October-December

• October 1990
• November 1990
  • November 9 - Child's Play 2
  • November 16
    • Home Alone
    • Rocky V
  • November 21
    • Dances with Wolves
    • Predator 2
    • Three Men and a Little Lady
• December 1990
  • December 6 - The End of Innocence, starring Rebecca Schaeffer, Dyan Cannon and John Heard
  • December 7 - The Rookie, starring Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen
  • December 14 - Edward Scissorhands, starring Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder
  • December 20 - Awakenings, starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro
  • December 21
    • The Bonfire of the Vanities, starring Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis and Melanie Griffith
    • Kindergarten Cop
  • December 25 - The Godfather Part III

Births

• February 7 - Mustafa Ali, actor, scientist
• March 24 - Keisha Castle-Hughes, actress
• April 9 - Kristen Stewart, actress
• April 15 - Emma Watson, actress, model
• May 14 - Sasha Spielberg, actress, daughter of producer/director Steven Spielberg and actress Kate Capshaw
• July 24 - Daveigh Chase, actress
• October 22 - Jonathan Lipnicki, actor
• December 20 - JoJo, American singer-songwriter and actress