Pacino), who arranges for him to be interviewed
by Mike Wallace (Christopher Plummer) about
how the cigarette industry works. One of the best
films ever about corporate America features a
great performance by Crowe, playing a character
much older than himself.
The Matrix(Warner Bros.; dir. Andy and Larry
Wachowski) Wildly popular science-fiction film
with incredible special effects and a philosophical
underpinning. Won Oscars for Editing, Visual Ef-
fects, Sound, and Sound Effects Editing.See also
main entry.
The Sixth Sense(Spyglass Entertainment/Holly-
wood Pictures; dir. M. Night Shyamalan) A young
boy (Haley Joel Osment) who claims to see the
spirits of the dead is sent to a child psychologist
(Bruce Willis). Noted for its surprise ending and
the line “I see dead people.”
Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace(Twen-
tieth Century-Fox; dir. George Lucas) Lucas re-
starts theStar Warsfranchise after a sixteen-year
absence.See alsomain entry.
Three Kings (Atlas Entertainment/Coast Ridge
Films/Village Roadshow Pictures/Village-A.M.
Partnership/Warner Bros.; dir. David O. Russell)
One of the decade’s few films about the Gulf War
presents George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and
Ice Cube as soldiers seeking gold ostensibly hid-
den by Saddam Hussein. Famous for offscreen
conflicts between Russell and Clooney.
Further Reading
Biskind, Peter.Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax,
Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film. New
York: Simon & Schuster, 2004. Informative look at
the increasing importance of independent Amer-
ican films.
Greene, Richard, and K. Silem Mohammad, eds.
Quentin Tarantino and Philosophy. Chicago: Open
Court, 2007. Examination of the ideas expressed
inReservoir DogsandPulp Fiction.
King, Geoff.American Independent Cinema. Blooming-
ton: Indiana University Press, 2005. Consider-
ation of film aesthetics as well as the political and
social issues addressed by independent films
since the 1980’s.
Lewis, Jon, ed.The End of Cinema as We Know It: Ameri-
can Film in the Nineties. New York: New York Univer-
sity Press, 2001. Thirty-four brief essays look at indi-
vidual films as well as such topics as independent
films, censorship, and the nature of celebrity.
Müller, Jürgen, ed.Movies of the 90’s. Köln, Germany:
Taschen, 2001. Essays on 141 films. Heavily illus-
trated.
Rybin, Steven.The Cinema of Michael Mann. Lanham,
Md.: Lexington Books, 2007. Analysis of the direc-
tor who made three of the best films of the 1990’s,
The Last of the Mohicans,Heat, andThe Insider.
Tzioumakis, Yannis.American Independent Cinema: An
Introduction. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers Uni-
versity Press, 2006. Examines how independent
films became institutionalized during the 1990’s.
Michael Adams966 Entertainment: Major Films of the 1990’s The Nineties in America