re: The 1990s: Was it the best decade for movies?

I'm certainly biased, as it is when I came of age, but yes. The 90s were an amazing time for film. Indie cinema, of course, exploded but it was also a Golden Age in foreign cinema. Iran became a major player (Taste of Cherry) and the Danes gave us the cinematic vow of chastity, Dogme 95. Sure, the films were tedious, but it is still one of the most revolutionary and influential ideas in filmmaking since the French New Wave. Even blockbusters smartened up, as the influence of the indies seeped into the major studios.

It was a great, exciting time which, like the music of the era, ended depressingly with a series of increasingly terrible knock offs and a retreat from the high minded ideals of the day.