Reply With Quotefast food wars ftw.
ESPer
Some of you TNLers may be too young to remember, but the early '90s was kind of a depressing time. Crime was skyrocketing, the economy was slow, an unpopular Bush was president and the Japanese were eating our lunch. The prosperity of the mid-to-late '90s, the rapid eclipse of the Japanese economy, and the sharp reduction in crime that followed soon made us forget this gloomy period. But the movies made during this period bring back our memories of this strange time.
Some of these movies are comedies, some are typical big-budget action flicks, and some of them defy easy genre categorization. But they all share a particular aesthetic I like to call "dirty '90s": dark, neon-lit streets, steamy back alleys, morally conflicted protagonists, and an overarching pessimistic world view.
Here's a preliminary list of movies I came up with. Feel free to supplement this list.
The Last Boy Scout: One of the great, overlooked action flicks of the nineties. This movie has an unforgettable opening scene: a pair of football teams square off in a miserable, muddy arena, rain pouring down in sheets. The quarterback hands the ball to a crazed-looking running back. The running back heads for the end zone and then, just before the opposing linemen bring him down, he pulls out a pistol and shoots three of them dead. Then he turns the pistol on himself and shoots. Wow! The film itself is a darkly humorous noir thriller about corrupt football teams, politicians, and a down-and-out former Secret Service agent (Bruce Willis, the eponymous hero) and co-stars Damon Wayans and Halle Barry's naked breasts. Tony Scott's direction really shows the influence of his brother Ridley's Blade Runner, a film that also profoundly influences the other films on this list.
The Fisher King: I could write for pages and pages about this movie (in fact, I already have, way back in my undergraduate thesis), but this Terry Gilliam film takes the Dirty Nineties elements and fashions them into a peculiar comedic drama. Jeff Bridges plays a New York shock jock/asshole whose outrageous radio act urges a listener to go on a murderous rampage. One year later, wracked with guilt, he bumps into a former medieval history professor -- now living as a bum -- whose wife was murdered by the aforementioned psycho. Together the two embark on a search for the Holy Grail.
Black Rain: Mostly a by-the-numbers action/noir picture notable for its oustanding visual style, again the product of Ridley Scott. Michael Douglas is the hard-boiled, fish out of water American detective in Tokyo who resolves to avenge his partner's murder.
Predator 2: Not as good as the original, but takes the concept in an entirely new direction. P2 imagines a near-future totally dominated by criminal street gangs. Police roll around town in armored minivans. A Jamaican drug overlord is the unofficial king of Los Angeles. What better place for the Predator to test his hunting skills? Danny Glover and a not-quite-batshit-insane Gary Busey co-star.
Demolition Man: Shares the urban dystopia backstory of Predator 2 but then runs a play-action fake in a different direction: it's a 1984-style action-comedy picture! After mass murderer Wesley Snipes is released from his cryoprison into the Los Angeles of the future, rogue cop Sly Stallone is thawed out and ordered to catch him. Great idea marred by some horrific product placement and the casting of Stallone in the lead role. Snipes is the best thing in this movie. Oh and Dennis Leary is good too.
I have some others in mind, but I'll add them later.
The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure it is always right. -Learned Hand
"Jesus christ you are still THE WORST." -FirstBlood
can't wake up
fast food wars ftw.
Model D-83
Touch me again and I'll kill you.
Drive By
1994's Surviving the Game with Ice T, Gary Busey and Rutger Hauer!
Ice T is a homeless dude who is made an offer by Busey as a servant for a hunting party in the Rocky Mountains. The pay is nuts, he has nothing left to live for so he figures what the hell. The trick? They hunt people! Ice T becomes hunted in the woods and fights back.
Come to think of it, this might be my next pick for the TNL Movie Club. This shit is great.
level six laser lotus
Falling Down comes to mind immediately.
Have you read the story it's based on, Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game?" Great story.Originally Posted by Rumpy
Drive By
oooooooooo I didn't know that.
Model D-83
Damn what a great flick.
"What's this doing in there? Faggot shit!"
Great idea for a thread. The mention of early 90's cinema brings to mind the emergence of the "ghetto classic". These were films focusing on the nitty gritty of hip-hop urban trife life. Such gems were:
Boyz in the Hood: To be honest, this doesn't really belong here. As a kid I felt it was too preachy and not schlocky enough for my tastes. I also became terrified of LA because of it.
Fresh: I only saw this once and it was way too long ago. The premise involved some kid who turns to a life a crime. Of note is the boy's Puerto Rican friend who is obsessed with the Marvel comic book character "The Punisher" and keeps shouting
Menace II Society: Holy shit. This movie is hands down the crudest of the "classics" with people getting shot left and right while the ganja smoke burns through the night.
Juice: "Yo. Now you got the juice." This was actually filmed around my junior high school. It was a lot of fun pointing out locations that were used in the film. Great movie by the way. The DJ battle scene was off the hook.
Above the Rim: Uh, sorry. I never saw this one but all of my friends spoiled the ending for me
Strapped: I think this was the first notable movie of Sticky Fingaz of ONYX (and soon, star of Blade: the series). Strapped is the story of misled teens in search of Saturday night specials to become "strapped". This movie taught me so much about the secret dual businesses local bodegas had (protip: check behind bags of potato chips for taped dime bags).
New Jack City: Director Mario VanPeebles describes it as having two turntables, one with Scarface and the other with the Untouchables, mixing and scratching them both. I think the film aged ok but Ice-T really shouldn't have been cast. The guy makes me cringe each and every time I watch it. I can deal with the gumby haircuts
"Chuy, you're going to have a magical life. Because no matter where you go, it's always going to be better than Tucson."
Do you prefer dogs or cats?
Fucking fantastic movie.
"Yeah. And now you're gonna die, wearing that stupid little hat. How does it feel?"
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