1990s

12/11/24 "Blue Steel" 1990
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Death is the best kick of all. That's why they save it for last." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This was a pretty entertaining cop-thriller. We follow a rookie cop named Megan (Jamie Lee Curtis) who, on her first day, accidentally kills a man. One of the witnesses becomes obsessed with her and starts stalking her. It has a Hitchcockian quality to it, it has a lot of great tension and suspense throughout as the two play an odd game of Cat and Mouse. Jamie Lee Curtis does a great job in the role, although Jamie Lee getting chased by a killer just felt like "been there, done that" with the Halloween franchise and how many slashers she's been in. I almost forget sometimes how great of an actor Clancy Brown is. We all know him as a wonderful voice actor for roles like Mr. Krabs and Lex Luthor, but he can really shine in person. The directing by Kathryn Bigelow is also really well done, she knows how to maximize the lingering threat of the killer. Overall, though really engaging, it sometimes just feels like an imitation of other, better movies.

1/15/23 "Pretty Woman" 1990
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "You're forgiven." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Sort of (it's sung)
I now understand the hype for this movie. Everybody all my life has been talking about this movie and I always thought it would be overhyped. I mean, it seemed like a fine movie, but the scenes that were shown in clips seemed just okay. This movie actually has a tight screenplay and amazing actors behind it. It really feels like it's paying tribute to the old screwball comedy genre while modernizing it for a modern audience.

2/20/23 "Dances With Wolves" 1990
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I have nothing to say to you. You are not worth talking to." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
The best picture winner of 1990, and honestly, it didn't age too well. I feel like this film would've been fantastic...if they lost an hour of the film. This film is three hours long when it really shouldn't be. I feel like Kevin Costner does a good job acting, but not really voice acting. He gives narrations throughout the film, but it feels like a 4th grader giving a presentation more than a film narration. He does a good job directing this one too. It looks very majestic and the shots really tell the story; however, my biggest gripe with this movie is that it wasn't "Goodfellas", which was also up for Best Picture. Goodfellas is one of the best movies of all time and gave more to the film landscape than this did. It's sort of unfair to judge this film based on another, but in really dull scenes I couldn't help but think how much Goodfellas deserved the Oscar more than this film. I can see people looking back at this film fondly, especially since it has such a great message, but it did not deserve the win.

7/2/25 "Paris Is Burning" 1990
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "If you shoot an arrow and it goes real high, hooray for you." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
It's crazy how ahead of the curve this film was. This film focuses on the underground drag community in New York City. It's crazy seeing this small community and how big it would become over the years. Seeing the start of "vogueing" despite it being really big in the community now is really interesting to see. Also, hearing the drag queen's stories and how the community was so persecuted at the time was really sad.

12/18/23 "Cry-Baby" 1990
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "All in alphabetical order. Car wash... drug store... I used to lay in my crib and hear him scream in his sleep..."A,B,C,D,E,F,G... BOOM! BOOM!" Do they say the title of the movie: Yes!
I really didn't feel much watching this film. This was a really weird spot in John Water's filmography. Divine (his closest friend and star) just died two years prior and he had just made one of his biggest hits "Hairspray". I feel like this is a very tame version of "Hairspray" which is a very tame version of a John Waters film. Little bits of weirdness peak out, but very rarely. This is also a musical, despite only having about five songs. I feel like Johnny Depp doesn't really have what it takes to be a "dreamlanders" (one of John Waters' regulars) he isn't simply too normal in this film. Ricki Lake and Kim McGuire are perfect. As a whole, I would personally skip this.

4/23/25 "Wild At Heart" 1990
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Hey, my snakeskin jacket! Thanks, baby! Did I ever tell you that this here jacket represents a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom?" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This feels like "Raising Arizona" on bath salts, and I kind of love it for that. This movie is tonally all over the place, but it manages to handle all of the tones really well and makes a wildly entertaining film. We follow a young couple as they try to run away. Sailor (played by Nicholas Cage, who's doing an Elvis impression the whole time) is a criminal who's on parole, while Lula (Laura Dern) is on the run from her crazy mother (Diane Ladd, her real mother). Her mother sends out a hitman to try to take down the young couple. There are some really great scenes in this movie, and it's really well shot. I can really appreciate how insane this film can be at times and how well we get to know the characters.

12/12/24 "King Of New York"
4/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Room Service!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I just couldn't get behind this film, it just didn't really grab me. We follow Frank White (Christopher Walken), a drug lord who just got out of prison and is determined to destroy his competition. It's a very typical mafia sort of movie that doesn't really do anything for me. There were some pretty alright scenes of tension, but as a whole, I couldn't really get into it.

3/16/23 "Presumed Innocent" 1990
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "There was a crime. There was a victim. And there is punishment." Do they say the title of the movie: no
This is a great courtroom drama. Courtroom drama films are some of the most hit-or-miss films. They can either be very smart and some of the best movies ever made, or they can be really pretentious and dull. This is the happy medium, it's not the best movie ever made, but it's really well made. It has a really tight screenplay (although there are some plot points that go nowhere). The movie is also shot really well, there are some really dynamic camera movements and great shots.

7/19/24 "Postcards From The Edge" 1990
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Instant gratification takes too long." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This film is a deeply personal one. The film is written by Carrie Fisher who wrote the screenplay/book about her life growing up with Debbie Reynolds as a mother. We can see how hard this was for her in the fictionalized versions played by Meryl Streep and Shirley MacClaine. This film does a good job of showing both sides, but I feel like they sort of hold back on the conflict between the two. Their conflict is the most interesting part of the movie and yet I feel like they never go in as deep as they could. The two do a great job playing their characters, I just felt like we focused too much on Meryl Streep's career.

12/13/24 "Miller's Crossing" 1990
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Nobody knows anybody. Not that well." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
A lot of people praise this Coen Brothers film as an underrated classic, but honestly, I didn't think it was too great. Don't get me wrong, there were definitely some really cool sequences and shots in the film. There are some standout performances, specifically from John Turturro who's great as always, but I just wasn't too into the story. We follow Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne), who's the right-hand man to an Irish crime boss (Albert Finney) who refuses to let John Turturro get murdered because Finney's dating Turturro's sister, who also happens to be dating Tom. Tom chooses to switch sides because he doesn't want Finney dating his girl. It's not their best, but not their worst.

8/25/24 "Jacob's Ladder" 1990
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "See. According to this, you're already dead" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
A lot of people really enjoyed this film, but I thought it was alright. We follow Jacob, a war veteran who becomes a mailman. He starts to get hallucinations about his failed marriage and the war. They start to become more apparent and he couldn't distinguish reality from fiction. It seems like an alright premise, but they don't do a lot with it. There's a bit of a twist with this that's pretty interesting, but that's about it.

6/25/24 "Europa Europa" 1990
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "It is also written that the son must obey his parents." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This is a pretty interesting movie. It follows a young Jewish teenager going from orphanage to orphanage during WW2. The interesting part is that he has very different ideologies in the two main ones. He first goes to a Russian orphanage, where he gets taught communism, but later on, the Nazis invade and he convinces them that he's a German, which leads to becoming a part of Hitler's youth. It's a really well-shot, and well-told story. It's crazy to hear that this is a true story because it's just such an interesting one.

11/4/22 "The Rescuers Down Under" 1990
3/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I didn't make it all the way through third grade for nothing."
YET ANOTHER DISNEY MOVIE and yet another 3 out of ten. This film is often regarded as underrated... but it's bad. It has the opposite problem of Oliver and Company, where the plot is way too simple. My sister and I thought we missed details but came to realize that it was just so basic to understand. Also, instead of getting to know the kidnapped kid like in the OG one with Penny, we know nothing about Cody (had to look his name up, he's so forgettable). Also, the villain ranks among one of the weakest, along with his sidekick. They also do the very cliche sequel plot of "ERM! I want to propose to my significant other but I-I-I'm too shy and NERVOUS!". Do that 5 times throughout and boom... a sequel. How they went from Little Mermaid to The Rescuers Down Under and back to Beauty and the Beast is one of the funniest/weirdest transitions in quality between movies.

9/5/24 "My Own Private Idaho" 1991
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I love you, and you don't pay me." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I heard a lot of great things about this movie, so I was sort of let down while watching. I felt like the plot was kind of barebones and the characters weren't that engaging. The actors did a good job, but the material was kind of weak. This is a big film because of its depiction of the LGBTQ+ community, and that's a very admirable part of this film, but as a film it's not the best.

3/4/22 "L.A Story" 1991
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Sheila has been studying the art of conversation." "Oh, you're taking a course in conversation?" "Yes." (*Long Pause*)
This was the perfect movie to get me out of a bad review slump. This movie feels like it adds such a magical look at L.A. The whole movie is a spoof movie, but instead of spoofing a genre, they're spoofing the entire city of LA. Living in LA, everything they said in the movie is so valid and hilarious, you can tell that Steve Martin wrote it. It adds such a sense of wonder to the city. I thoroughly enjoyed.

4/17/23 "Nothing But Trouble" 1991
3/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Special day? What is it... Halloween?" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
The one and only Aykroyd-directed film. This is basically the same story as Master Of Disguise when it came to its production. Both were made by former SNL cast members who thought the movie would be loved by audiences since they were behind it, so they play multiple characters and make the movie make no sense, only for it to bomb horribly. What's sad about this film is it has a lot of potential to be really good, a classic even! First of all, if this film wasn't directed like an '80s comedy and more like a Raimi horror movie, this would've been great. As the film is, it feels like it's fighting on whether to be a comedy or a horror film. Unfortunately, the comedy side wins and it's not that funny (except for Chevy Chase, who's classic Chevy). I've got to say, the worst part of this film is Dan Aykroyd. He just gives a really cringy performance as both the judge and one of the baby twins. Speaking of which, the baby twins add literally nothing to the film and feel like an excuse to put Dan Aykroyd in the film more. Also, the "Brazilianaires" are very stereotypical depictions of Brazilians and are rarely funny. If this film was remade and focused more on the horror, while cutting out some of the cringy aspects of the film, and adding a better ending, this might be a great film.

7/15/23 "Delicatessen" 1991
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "This is a job for the Australian!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes!
What a weird film (in the best way humanly possible). It's made by the same guy who made Amelie, so the weird camera movements and the charm are seen in this film as well. This film has a cannibal butcher, a retired clown, an underground society of vegetarians, and so on! This film is set in a post-apocalyptic future where the meat supply has run low, so the local butcher starts killing people to make the meat. He lures a man named Louison, who's a retired clown in need of work. The problem is, the clown is so good at his job, the butcher begins to regret what he has to do. Also, his daughter falls in love with the clown due to his charming personality. It's really funny seeing Dominique Pinon play such a likable and charming character since his character was the absolute worst in Amelie (in the best way). This isn't better than Amelie (which came out about a decade after), but it definitely shows off the style of the director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

11/12/24 "Hearts Of Darkness" 1991
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I swallowed a bug." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This solidifies my opinions on Francis Ford Coppola. This documentary follows the nightmarish production of his classic film "Apocalypse Now", but hearing him talk about what happened or hearing other people's reactions to him, he seems like a bit of a jerk (note the most recent controversies with Megalopolis). Like, at one point when Martin Sheen nearly dies, he's more concerned with how the film is going to turn out than how Martin is doing. It's a really well-shot documentary though, having some personal footage from his wife, Eleanor. It was heartbreaking seeing Martin Sheen have that breakdown, and it was cool seeing the Harvey Keitel footage that was never shown. As a whole, this documentary was really interesting, showing the perils of filmmaking and following your dream.

7/12/23 "Barton Fink" 1991
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "This is my uniform! This is how I serve the common man!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes!
Another Coen brothers film and this is such an interesting one. It's about a New York playwright named Barton Fink (John Turturro) moving to California to write a B-film for Hollywood about wrestling, but when he gets into the small apartment he has, he gets intense writer's block. I love how pretentious Barton Fink is and how ironic they make his situation. Whenever he talks to John Goodman (an average insurance agent), he talks about how he likes to listen to the common man and loves to tell his story, despite not actually letting John Goodman speak. As the film goes on, you can see how Barton Fink is slowly losing his mind, being trapped in that small apartment room trying to write. Not the best Coen Brothers film, but it's pretty great.

7/24/24 "Thelma and Louise" 1991
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Well, you're lucky. You be sweet to 'em, especially your wife. My husband wasn't sweet to me. Look how I turned out." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This film really holds up today. It follows two friends, Thelma (Geena Davis) and Louise (Susan Sarandon) who go on a fishing trip to escape their mundane lives. On their way, they stop at a small bar where Thelma almost gets sexually assaulted. Louise sees this and kills the man in time. After this, Louise flees the country, and Thelma joins her. It's such a great story that allows us to see the growth between the two in both their bond and their independence. Without spoiling anything (although I'm sure all of you know this iconic scene), the ending is really great. I can see how people are still talking about this film to this day.

4/23/23 "Terminator 2: Judgement Day" 1991
9/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "It's in your nature to destroy yourselves.", Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
At first, I was confused why so many people praise this film. I mean, Terminator 1 was all right, I thought this was just an Emperor's clothing thing, but this film really delivers. I love what this film says about humanity's will to create and destroy. It's scarily accurate to what's going on today. Speaking of aging well, the effects aged pretty well for 1991. I mean, for perspective, VeggieTales didn't even come out yet (the first computer-animated series). The T-1000 is such an intimidating villain, it's crazy how suspenseful basically every scene with him is. One problem with this film though is John Connor being a bad actor. To be fair, he's a kid, but he was giving major Bart Simpson energy (very '90s) and his delivery ranged from pretty good to outright humourous. This is a film that shaped a lot of pop culture, so I suggest you see this film (you just need to suffer through the first one).

11/5/23 "Hot Shots" 1991
3/10 Stars, Favorite Quotes "American planes will always be superior as long as there are wonderful men like you in the cockpit. And German parts."
Is this the Top Gun Maverick everyone is talking about? This movie wasn't very good. For those of you who don't know, this is a spoof movie of Top Gun and not a good one. My problem with this movie is how most of the jokes are just generic spoof jokes, instead of actually making fun of Top Gun. Most of the best jokes in this movie are them making fun of the source material because without those jokes, it's just a regular spoof movie. It's important for spoof movies to mostly make fun of their source material. Mel Brooks is a master at this: Blazing Saddles is consistently making fun of the Western genre, Young Frankenstein is consistently making fun of Frankenstein, and Space Balls is always making fun of Star Wars. Some of the jokes in this movie don't age well and they go for some low blows. The Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker group went downhill immediately after Naked Gun.

4/4/23 "Raise The Red Lantern" 1991
3/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I SAID SOFTER"
Ummmm.... okay! Let's start with the good. The cinematography is pretty good. I enjoy the balanced shots and the colors in this movie are great. I enjoy how they constantly contrast between the Blues and the Red in the movie, and that's about it. Now let's move on to the bad. Songlian is the main character and happens to be one of the most unlikable characters I've ever seen. The movie is about Songlian becoming a concubine because she needs money. The red lanterns show which out of the 4 concubines are going to be chosen that night. The problem is Songlian is so entitled and envious that it gets really annoying. She constantly complains about her situation, which I completely understand, but she's also the one who yells at the servants to massage her feet and pick up her luggage. She's also very classist, treating the servants like they're below her when she's also poor. She storms the servant's room because she BELIEVES that she stole her flute even though she was no proof whatsoever. At the end of the movie, spoilers by the way, she goes crazy after being semi-involved in two deaths. The problem is...I don't care. SHE was the one who put these people into these situations. One was because she was mad at a maid and the other was because she got drunk and tattled on the third concubine. When comparing this to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, we aren't supposed to like Randle McMurphy, in fact, we hate him. It's the ending scene however that makes us care for him when he puts aside what he wants for the good of the institution. Songlian's redemption is pretending that a ghost is haunting a dead girl's room so that way she can... scare the staff? She plays her singing and raises the red lanterns to scare people. This seems like a Scooby Doo villain plot or something that Kevin McCallister would do to the Wet Bandits. There were some good scenes in this movie, but I feel like this was a miss for me. I understand people who like this film though. I can see the artistic value but I personally did not enjoy this film.

11/16/25 "Shadows and Fog" 1991
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I don't know enough to be incompetent." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I feel like the technical aspects of this film far out way the writing of the film. It's crazy how this film would predict Woody Allen's fate in about a year, because after this film came the real allegations about him dating Soon-Yi (which is a whole can of worms in it of itself). The film follows a bookkeeper (Allen) who's forced to join the town as they form a vigilante group to hunt down a strangler. The film draws upon a lot of German Expressionism, being shot in black and white and containing a lot of the titular Shadows and Fog, but the story is just so-so. There are some funny lines, but the film is overstuffed with characters who don't add much. Most of the celebrities in this movie are in it to be in a Woody Allen movie, but they get about 5 minutes of screentime each. There are three prostitutes in the movie played by Lily Tomlin, Jodie Foster, and Kathy Bates, but none of them does anything that justifies them being there. As a whole, this film was a sign of decay for Allen, and before everything blew up in his face.

6/12/24 "Naked Lunch" 1991
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "All is lost. All is lost." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I'm going to be completely upfront about this, I do not understand this film. It's odd and surreal, but I really liked it. This film came at the end of the golden Cronenberg lineage in his filmography. In 1979, he released The Brood, then it was Scanners, Videodrome, Deadzone, The Fly, Dead Ringers, and then this. This was a sizable flop, which I can understand because this is definitely not for everyone. It's about an exterminator who's trying to become a writer, getting high on his pest poison and he starts hallucinating that his typewriter is turning into a Cockroach and is telling him to kill his wife. It gets a lot more twisted as the movie progresses and is filled with classic Cronenberg oddness, especially in the special effects.

1/1/23 "Father Of The Bride" 1991
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Seat belt! I meant I meant seat belt." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This was such a sweet movie. There's something so human to all the characters and how realistic this seems. It's such a simple story, but that adds to the charm. They take this concept so far and add so much depth to it. This film was also perfectly cast. I mean, Steve Martin and Diane Keaton in one movie? Yes, please! This was the perfect film to kick off 2023.

5/17/24 "Reservoir Dogs" 1992
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "You shoot me in a dream, you better wake up and apologize." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This was the first film made by Tarantino and this might be one of his best. It follows five men who are hired to rob a jewelry store together. They are all named under different aliases so they can't rat each other out. Problems arise when cops show up at the scene as if they knew it was going to happen, which leads to the men starting to question if one of them is secretly a rat. The writing in this film is pretty great and there are some wonderful performances. Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, and Tim Roth all do wonderfully and make their characters their own. This film drops random N-word bombs for seemingly no reason (which is really odd because this is a problem with a lot of Tarantino films for some reason). The dialogue is really dry which adds to the realistic feel of the film. I get why people lose their minds for this movie.

9/6/24 "My Cousin Vinny" 1992
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Well, perhaps the laws of physics cease to exist on your stove. Were these magic grits? I mean, did you buy them from the same guy who sold Jack his beanstalk beans?" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
It's crazy how timeless this movie is. This film could've come out in the 1930s or the 2020s and it would've hit the same. We follow two kids getting accused of murder by accident, and their only hope is their Cousin Vinny (Joe Pesci), a loud-mouth lawyer who's very inexperienced. It's up to him and his fiancee Mona (Marisa Tomei). These two give such incredible performances which get rounded out by Judge Chamberlain (Fred Gwynne) who's such a great foil for Vinny since he's everything that he isn't. These three make this a very iconic and very funny film. Seeing Vinny slowly get better at being a lawyer is a treat to see on screen, and Tomei's monologues are just spectacular (she totally deserved her oscar-win for best supporting actress).

7/20/24 "Noises Off" 1992
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Am I in Spain? No, I'm not in Spain, dear, I'm in agony, that's where I am!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
It's insane how well this film works I feel. This is based on a play where people say it's funnier there, but I thought this movie was hilarious. We follow a Broadway director (Michael Caine) as he prepares for his newest sex-comedy "Nothing On". The first half of this film is the actors in dress rehearsal where we basically see the play in action. The play itself is quite funny and requires a lot of planning and choreography. When someone leaves a door, someone just enters. This, itself, would've made for an alright movie, but then we transition to them touring around the country, where they are fed up with each other. The second half of the film takes place backstage as we see them sabotaging each other's performances. The cast of this film is absolutely insane. Carol Brunette, Christopher Reevers, John Ritter, Marilu Henner, Julie Hagerty, and this was also the final performance of Denholm Elliott. People say that this is a more impressive live film, but I think this film did a great job of capturing manic energy thanks to Peter Bogdanovich's mad cap directing style.

7/30/22 "The Player" 1992
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I was just thinking what an interesting concept it is to eliminate the writer from the artistic process. If we could just get rid of these actors and directors, maybe we've got something here." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I thought this film was going to be better than it was, which was a real shame. This film is about a film executive getting death threats because he passed on someone's script and he's trying to find out who. Sounds like a fun premise but they do very little with this. This film is also very notable for having several Hollywood cameos in it, but they don't really do a lot with them. I thought this film would've had him talking to the celebrities to try to get the truth. Can you imagine how much fun it would've been to have celebrities play overexaggerated versions of themselves, alas, this wasn't the case. I liked some of the commentaries on the film industry, but I just wish they focused on that more, like the ludicrous script for the fake film "Habeas Corpus" and how much that film changed throughout. Final note: needed a lot more Jack Lemmon

5/5/25 "Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me" 1992
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "When this kind of fire starts, it is very hard to put out. The tender boughs of innocence burn first, and the wind rises, and then all goodness is in jeopardy." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
It's so interesting seeing the Twin Peaks story through Laura Palmer's eyes. This film takes place before the death of Laura Palmer, so we follow what happened to her, but more importantly, we get time to understand her character more. Laura is such a deeply tragic character and really has a lot of layers to her. It's nice seeing things for her perspective, because the whole series we see what people thought of her, while this film is we see her for her. I really enjoyed the writing of this film and the way David Lynch uses the editing to exemplify the horror and drama.

6/16/22 "A League Of Their Own" 1992
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL"
This was such a good movie. I enjoy the characters in this movie (though it's based on a true story), I feel like they all really clicked with each other. That's mostly because this movie isn't afraid to have scenes of the characters just talking and getting to know each other. I always like it when movies have their characters just talk in a calm setting because it gets exposition across very naturally and really has us get to know the characters. I feel like Jon Lovitz should've been used more, he's only in the film for like 10 minutes, but he eats those minutes up with his stellar delivery. When Jon Lovitz leaves Tom Hanks picks up the comedy slack and he's amazing... but I just love the Jon Lovitz style. Do you know a character who shouldn't have been on screen for so long? Dottie's sister Kit. She's one of the most annoying characters because her whole schtick is that she complains that she's always in her sisters' shadow but never does anything about it. Her actor isn't even that good and she reminds me of Nate from "Ted Lasso". Great story, great characters (not Kit), great movie

7/22/25 "Death Becomes Her" 1992
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Could you just not breathe?" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I love campy movies, so this was an absolute treat to watch. The film follows a rivalry between two women, Helen (Goldie Hawn) and an actress named Madeline (Meryl Streep). The feud started when Madeline married Helen's fiancé, a plastic surgeon named Dr. Ernest Menville (Bruce Willis). Helen swears that she's going to kill Madeline one day. Cut to many years later, when Helen somehow looks way better than Madeline. Madeline is an aging actress who needs anything to stay young, so she drinks a potion from the mystical Lisle Von Rhuman (Isabella Rossellini), which makes her live forever and stay young. This complicates Helen's plan to murder her. It's a really fun movie with a lot of iconic moments and great effects for the time (unlike Madeline, these effects have aged a bit). The actors know how ridiculous the script is, so they play into it, which leads to a lot of great moments, especially between Streep and Hawn, who absolutely get the assignment. I also really respect Bruce Willis for being the anchor of this movie that keeps it grounded (well, as grounded as it could be), he gives a funny performance. This film didn't do well when it first came out, I just don't think the early 90's where ready for a movie this over the top and campy.

3/19/24 "Visions of Light" 1992
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I understood at that moment that cinema really has no nationality." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This is a pretty interesting documentary explaining the history of cinematography. I loved hearing the background perspectives on such an underrated aspect of film. The films chosen were really great and highlighted the history of film, my gripes come with how sloppy the special is. It goes forward in time only to go back for seemingly no reason. They also made an error in the film where they said that Martin Scorsese directed "The Last Emperor", which he didn't (that was Bernardo Bertolucci). I had to see this for film class, but it was pretty interesting.

11/15/24 "The Crying Game" 1992
4/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I can't help it. It's in my nature!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I don't get the hype around this movie. The "big twist" of this movie just hasn't aged well. I'm honestly shocked that it would be considered a twist since I knew it right away. In this film, we follow Fergus (Stephen Rea), an Irish Army member, who is starting to form a bond with his captured Jody, played by Forest Whitaker (who has such a bad British accent). Jody makes him promise that he'll see his girlfriend, Dil after Jody gets out of there. The story/dialogue isn't interesting, so I'm just wondering why this film won Best Original Screenplay. It's just not that good.

3/20/23 "School Ties" 1992
4/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "COWARDS!!!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: So close! (They say school tie, not school ties)
Such a shame this movie wasn't better. There were some aspects of the screenplay that I quite enjoyed and the actors try their hardest, including Oscar-winning actor Brendan Fraser (still very proud of him!). It's the direction of this film that really brings this film down. I feel like it's directed exactly like a Disney Channel original movie. There's nothing wrong with being shot like that when the film isn't a drama that deals with Anti-semitism. The close-ups and sound effects bring this film down quite a bit, also the plot was very all over the place. The film briefly becomes 12 Angry Men but without subtly. Just all over the place

7/28/22 "Army of Darkness" 1992
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Alright you Primitive Screwheads, listen up! You see this? This... is my BOOMSTICK!"
I'm not entirely sure what I just saw, but I think I liked it. This is technically Evil Dead 3... but not really. This doesn't really follow the same level of horror as the last one. Rather it's more of a fantasy/comedy with a little horror. This movie is very campy, which is expected of Sam Raimi, but at some points, it seems to be a little bit too much. This movie has its charms and its creative vision, it's just not as good as Evil Dead 2 which balances goofiness with horror a lot better

12/22/23 "Bram Stoker's Dracula" 1992
2/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I have crossed oceans of time to find you." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I get the sneaking suspicion that Coppola forgot how to make good movies after the 1970s. This was just a poorly done film. The screenplay is really dull and doesn't really let us get to know the characters very well. They're all very bland which gives the audience very little incentive to care about anything that is going on. I feel like Coppola knew this, which is why he fills the screen with some of the most tacky shots. It was interesting at first, but as the film continued they really overstayed their welcome. Gary Oldman does a good job as the titular Dracula, but his Transylvanian accent dips into the territory of "poor Bela Lugosi impression". I wouldn't suggest this film.

4/7/22 "Malcolm X" 1992
9/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "That's too much power for one man to have."
Incredible. Simply incredible. This is a 3-hour and 22-minute film but every minute needs to be there. That's probably because this movie is split into three parts. His Harlem days, his prison days, and his preaching days. Malcolm X is a really controversial subject that I think was a bold choice to make a biopic on. His earlier beliefs were denounced by several members of the NAACP and even Martin Luther King Jr. Something that I love about this biopic is that they aren't afraid to show his flaws as well as his strengths. Biopics mostly show the good in the person while brushing aside certain controversies. This movie has a great accomplishment in the way that they show all the controversial things he's done and at the end of the film you still like him. The journey of Malcolm X is a very interesting one as he keeps changing and adapting to his beliefs as he learns more about the different ideologies. If you have time, please watch this film. It's incredible.

10/16/23 "Cronos" 1992
2/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "You may continue the game. After all, you have the toy. But I'm keeping the instructions, and I'm open all night" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This is Guillermo del Toro's first film, and you can tell. The story is all over the place, the pacing isn't good at all, and the acting is only so-so. The story is about an old antique dealer who finds an ancient bug-like contraption, and when he puts it on himself, it turns him younger but every time he uses it he becomes more like a vampire because... bug? You can see little hints of Guillermo del Toro's touch with the score and there is a little kid character who experiences the magic, but as a whole, this just isn't a strong film that I'd be remembering any time soon, except for maybe Ron Pearlman who had a great performance in this film.

9/3/22 "Scent Of A Woman" 1992
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "HOO-HAA"
Unpopular opinion (I'm just the king of that) but Al Pachino was way too much in this movie. He's great in most scenes, don't get me wrong (especially in the school). In other scenes, he's over the top and way too much. I feel like Jack Nicholson would've been better for the role. Chris O'Donald was a pleasant surprise since I've only seen him in the Schumacher Batman movies. The New York scenes are great and the best parts, but the school plot was way too much. Some kids prank a dean by pouring paint on his new car and he gets mad at the people watching the event happen and threatens to expel them. ... What? Other than that this movie's pretty good. It has Hoo-Haa (which is stated 15 times in this movie, basically one every ten minutes)

9/28/24 "Falling Down" 1993
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I lost my job. Well, actually I didn't lose it, it lost me. I am over-educated and under-skilled. Maybe it's the other way around, I forget. But I'm obsolete. I'm not economically viable." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This was such a fun movie. The best way I could put it is if American Beauty and Serial Mom had a baby. We follow a man (Michael Douglas) who just wants to make it to his daughter's birthday, however, everything is getting in his way, so he snaps and becomes incredibly violent. While that's happening, a police officer (Robert Duvall), is retiring and getting ready to move. The only problem is, the Michael Douglas character is causing so much trouble that he's trying to find the guy. The performances of these two are really fantastic and balance each other out. It's really well-written and has some really great camera shots that help tell the story. The Michael Douglas character as a whole is such an interesting one because he has his own morals and set of rules where he thinks certain things are okay while other things are unforgivable. It makes for a really interesting film that's equal parts funny and thrilling.

12/24/24 "The Piano" 1993
4/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "There is a silence where hath been no sound" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: yes
I was surprised by how much I wasn't a fan of this movie. This not only won Best Original Screenplay but also Best Actress with Holly Hunter. The story follows a mute woman in the 1800s moving to New Zealand because of an arranged marriage, but her new husband doesn't allow her piano in the house (which is her one joy in life). So she gives it to her neighbor, who allows her to play it in return for lessons. Holly Hunter gives an alright performance, but not really an Oscar-worthy one. This feels more like a gimmick win than a skill win. She didn't speak a word in the film and played all of the piano in the film. The ending was sort of out of nowhere, which really ruins the message. The shots were really great, but the story wasn't.

7/21/24 "Dazed and Confused" 1993
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "All right, all right, all right." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I feel like this was "American Grafitti" for the 70s. Both don't really have much of a plot and are mainly character-focused. This film is better than American Grafitti, but it's still a bit overrated. The characters just seemed very baseline, except for David Wooderson played wonderfully by Matthew McConaughey. There's a reason he's the reason why this film is remembered. You can really get a sense of nostalgia for the 70s and I did like the overall message of living in the moment, but I just didn't find it that funny or dramatic to really standout. There were some good moments, but I expected more for such a beloved film.

12/14/24 "Jurassic Park" 1993
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This was a notorious blind spot for me when it came to films. I remember when my family watched it, I was too young, so they watched it when I was sleeping. Watching it now, it's clear why it was so innovative. The dinosaur effects alone are astounding and honestly look better than most CGI does today. There's not a bad performance in the film. It's interesting to see how Spielberg makes Alan Grant (Sam Neill) become a fatherlike figure as the film goes on. This reflects a common theme of parental issues in his film due to his strained relationship with his father. The message of this movie is so important that it is still relevant to this day. There's a reason this is one of the most iconic films of all time.

2/14/23 "Sleepless in Seattle" 1993
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I love the "Dirty Dozen" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes!
Watching this on Valentine's Day is just right. This is a classic Rom-com that I've just never seen. It's an interesting rom-com since the two main characters are barely together in the film. It's a nice change of pace, although at some points it feels like you're watching two different movies. The comedy was really on point and you got genuinely excited whenever they get close to meeting. Everyone is fantastic in this, even the kid does a great job. This is a great film to watch today, Happy Valentine's Day y'all!

11/1/25 "Hocus Pocus" 1993
4/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Oh! I've been there, thank you. I found it quite lovely." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I feel like I'm in the wrong demographic for this movie, but I just wasn't that big a fan. The movie is very over-the-top silly, which I can understand kids watching this and enjoying this, but I just couldn't get into it. We follow three witches from the 1600s who come back to life in the 1990s. They can make a spell to stay young forever, but in order to do that, they need to suck the aura of kids. If they don't complete the spell, they'll turn to dust. A lot of the humor of the film falls flat and comes down to making a silly face or going over the top. I just thought the film was a little too silly for me, personally.

12/24/23 "The Age Of Innocence" 1993
3/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Just say I'm old-fashioned. That should be enough." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This is one of the most clear-cut instances of Oscar bait in someone's filmography. This clear call for an award comes from legendary director Martin Scorsese. I'm almost positive this film was made because he was salty that "Goodfellas" didn't win Best Picture (which it totally should've), so he made this pandering period piece to get an Oscar. It's about a man in the 1800s falling in love with the cousin of the girl he's going to marry, so they will have to keep their love a secret. It really drags and doesn't really have a lot of pay-off. The ending is pretty good, but as a whole, this film is a very forgettable misstep in the history of an incredible filmmaker.

6/21/22 "The Joy Luck Club" 1993
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "That bad crab, only you tried to take it. Everybody else wants the best quality. You, you're thinking differently. Waverly took the best-quality crab. You took the worst because you have the best-quality heart. You have a style no one can teach. Must be born this way. I see you."
This was such a great movie. I've never read the book so I came into this movie completely blind and I really liked it. I thought that I wouldn't like the multiple perspectives because normally that leads to a bit of confusion (cough, cough, Love Actually) but this one handled it very well. It never was confusing and it really added to the storytelling. Every character was so interesting and was brought up so differently that I genuinely wanted to get to know all of these characters.

4/24/23 "Fearless" 1993
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Let's buy gifts for the dead!"
This film is one of those movies with a great concept but not really that great of an execution. It's about how a plane crash happens and Jeff Bridge's character is... fearless. It also focuses on other characters and how they're dealing with it (and the death of their loved ones). I would've focused a lot more on the other people, but they get at most 2 minutes of screen time and then they're gone. Thereis Rosie Perez who does a great performance, though they were pushing a romance between the two characters which felt a little out of place. Also, Jeff Bridges' wife was just an awful person and got no redemption, since the whole time she was like "Why are you making this whole plane crash about you?!?!?". I'll give it about a week when I forget all about this one.

11/16/24 "Philadelphia" 1993
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Now, explain this to me like I'm a six-year-old" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This is a pretty powerful courtroom drama with a wonderful cast. We follow a lawyer named Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) who recruits another lawyer, Joe Miller (Denzel Washington) to take on his case when he's fired because he has AIDS. While these two obviously give amazing performances, one of the most surprising performances for me was Mary Steenburgen. I'm so used to her playing the sweet motherly type including, but not limited to: Elf, The Proposal, Step Brothers, Four Christmases, Parenthood, and many more. In this film, however, she's playing the antagonist of the film being the defense lawyer. I've never seen her play a role so mean. The cinematography is great with some interesting center shots and skewed camera shots. This completely deserved the Best Actor award for Tom Hanks, who gave a heartbreaking performance. Not-so-fun fact, they shot this movie in chronological order so Tom Hanks gradually lost weight for the role. I can see why this film is so revered.

8/27/22 "Tombstone" 1993
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I'm your huckleberry..."
This is one of those movies that I'm sad that I didn't like. I feel like this boils down to pacing, the story truly starts I would say an hour into the movie. Most of the movie feels like setting up for the fight scenes later. The characters also feel like they don't really have that much chemistry together, especially the brothers. I also feel like Doc Holiday, who's easily the most interesting character, barely gets any screen time.

3/22/23 "Grumpy Old Men" 1993
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "You think you're Don Juan, but women Don Juan-nt any part of you" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau are one of the best pairings in cinema. These two play off of each other so well and can make a great scene out of nothing. This film is such an original film, it doesn't really seem like it's been done before. So there are two old men who have had a rivalry for 50 years and they both catch their eye on a woman, so they fight to try to win her heart. This film is really sweet but especially funny. Ann-Margret is a really funny part of this film, holding her own against Lemmon and Matthau.

1/1/24 "Clerks" 1994
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I'm not even supposed to be here today!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Sort of
It's crazy this film even exists. This is a micro-budget comedy with a budget of 23,000 dollars. It follows a day in the life of a store clerk as he deals with annoying customers and his life crumbling around him. I love how this movie uses recurring jokes throughout. It really rewards the audience for paying attention. For instance, at the beginning of the movie the clerk, Dante, has to put up a sign that they are open because their sign is broken. He uses shoe polish on his hands to make the sign. Throughout the film, characters constantly bring up the fact that he smells like Shoe-polish. It takes an alright joke and makes it ten times funnier because of how many times it's brought up. I also love the conflict of the film being how Dante feels trapped in that job but doesn't do anything about it. He's at a stalemate with himself. I would highly suggest comedy fans watch this film for the great writing as well as the great characters. They all blend together so well and create a great movie

5/14/23 "The Hudsucker Proxy" 1994
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Not counting the mezzanine!", do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No.
This film has an absolute dream team when it comes to quirky filmmaking. It's written and directed by the Coen Brothers and Sam Raimi. It has the dry humor, existential themes, and Steve Buschemi of the Coen Bros with the Zoom in shots, Slapstick, and Bruce Cambell of Sam Raimi. It's such a compelling story of a man hired at a company to sink it to the ground so the stock would be less expensive. Tim Robbins is such a great idiot in this film, he gives such an honest depiction where it's not too far, but he's definitely not smart. Also, Jennifer Jason Leigh was perfect as the 1940s Rosalind Russell/Katharine Hepburn type of character and is spot on with the voice. Paul Newman did an alright job, but he didn't really stick out, if anything the guy who played Buzz the elevator man seemed more into his role. A very fun movie

12/14/24 "Reality Bites" 1994
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I am not under any orders to make the world a better place." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
It's crazy how ahead of its time this film feels. It's clear how many later indie films this inspired with its somewhat cynical tone. We follow four Gen-Xers as they all get out of college to have high hopes for the future. We follow them as they find that it's not all that it's cracked up to be. The main character, Lelaina (Winona Ryder) films her life as a documentary that she hopes to sell. Her boyfriend, Troy (Ethan Hawke) is a musician who doesn't treat her as well as she wants, but a young studio executive (Ben Stiller) also has taken a liking to her. Ben Stiller directs this film pretty well for his first film! The film isn't as great as similar films I've seen, but for what it is it's pretty good!

1/21/22 "Guarding Tess" 1994
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Uh, copy that Doug but I believe we've lost in interest in peas, repeat, lost interest in peas. Canned goods out."
Another Nick Cage movie, but this time he doesn't have a funny voice. In this one, he's part of the secret service and protects the previous first lady (Shirley MacLaine). She's really good in this movie, as she always is. It's so funny how she can play characters like this and Mrs. Kubelik. Overall I feel like the humor was hit or miss and the movie didn't quite know if it wanted to be a drama or a comedy. It's a forgotten movie for a reason honestly. If you want to watch a political comedy from the 90s, please watch "Dave"

3/30/24 "Serial Mom" 1994
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Shut up! I'm watching ANNIE!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This just be one of my favorite John Waters movies. It's the perfect middle ground between his oddness and a conventional movie. It's about Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner), your run-of-the-mill housewife with a loving husband (Sam Waterson) and two kids, Ricki Lake and Matthew Lillard. Everything is great in her life until a teacher insults her kid. She proceeds to run him over and murder him. That inspires her to go on a killing spree of everyone who upsets her or messes with her family. It's a really funny concept that lends itself to a lot of really funny jokes. This is a really good starter film for John Waters if you want to test whether or not you'll like his movies. A ridiculously fun film.

6/16/24 "The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert" 1994
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Doesn't give us much to talk about then, does it?" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This was a pretty interesting watch. It's an Australian film that's about the adventure of two drag queens and a transwoman on their way to perform in a club in a remote town. It starts off as a pretty normal comedy, but then they start getting into the homophobia that follows them. It's sad to see how ignorant or malicious the town folk can be. It's also nice seeing the main three get to know each other better and become better friends over the course of the film.

10/6/25 "The Crow" 1994
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Buildings burn, people die, but real love is forever." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This was a really visually interesting movie, but the story was only so-so to me. This was a gothic superhero film where we follow a rock star (Brandon Lee, son of Bruce) who gets murdered, and then resurrected on the anniversary of his death to become the mysterious entity, The Crow. The film is a classic revenge story that really has dynamic camera movements and a clear artistic vision. It's a rough movie to watch, however, because Brandon Lee was killed on set for the movie. During a scene in which he was fired at with a gun, the prop malfunctioned, and it actually shot him, leading to his death before the movie was done. It's a truly tragic end to such a promising star.

5/2/23 "The Return Of Jafar" 1994
1/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "GRANNY'S GONNA GETCHA!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: no.
So three years ago me and my sister started a challenge to try to see every Disney movie, and we did, so we decided to do a sequel and watch all the straight-to-DVD sequels. This was quite the film to start off with. First of all, they give Iago too much screen time. He's basically this film's main character and has TWO SONGS. In the first film, he had 0 songs, WHO GAVE HIM THE RIGHT TO GET TWO SONGS??? Also, Aladdin is so dumb in this film, he's mad at Iago for the events of the last film (rightfully so), but Iago goes "fuhgeddaboudit!!!" and Aladdin goes "ok!" and trusts him implicitly. He keeps this a secret from Jasmine because... wait, there's literally no reason why he kept it a secret he just did. The plot is all over the place and the genie is not funny in the slightest. He got replaced due to Robin Williams getting mad at Disney for using his character as the main selling point of the film which he didn't want to happen. What's odd is they get Dan Castellaneta, who's an amazing voice actor, and he does this weird mix of a bad Robin Williams impression and Homer Simpson. It gets to a point where you actually laugh more at the comic relief George Costanza thief than the genie. Which reminds me, there are way too many comic relief characters. You have Abu, Genie, George Costanza Thief, and Iago. The songs in this film are also insanely forgettable and horrible. This includes the Genie song where he sings about all the places he went to throughout the world with impersonations of all the countries he went to! If you are cringing already, just watch the song. It gave this film a trigger warning on the Disney+ menu for harmful depictions. It's crazy how they can take one of the best Disney films of all time and make one of the worst sequels I have ever seen. Can't wait to watch some more!

1/8/26 "Natural Born Killers" 1994
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "You know, the only thing that kills the demon... is love." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Sort of
This was such a hypnotic film. The editing made it such a journey the entire time. It didn't always work, though, but when it did, it really hit in telling the story. The story is the love between Mickey (Woody Harrelson) and Malory (Juliette Lewis), two very broken people who came from abusive homes, who found each other and decided to become serial killers together. While the film focuses a lot on the two of them, the film is really about the media and how it glorifies crime. It's telling that Malory's backstory is told like a sitcom, and the movie uses a very TV-like aesthetic. The script is really great, and so are the performances, except maybe Robert Downey Jr., who does a very odd Australian accent that just felt out of place and distracted from the movie

2/5/22 "Quiz Show" 1994
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Act like a knight, YOU act like a knight."
This movie has a great cast and a great story, so why a 6 out of 10? I felt like I've seen this movie a thousand times before. This movie definitely feels like oscar bait. Historical Piece: Check. Courtroom scene: Check. Lengthy monologue: Check. Lines that try to be the next iconic movie line: Check. Based off of a true story: Check. Pessimistic Ending: Check. The story is very interesting, but too long if you ask me. Good story, just not the best execution

3/5/24 "... And God Spoke" 1994
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "You would be surprised how well our films do in third-world countries." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Sort of (Some versions call it 'The Making of' vs just '...and god spoke'
This is honestly a pretty underrated mockumentary. It follows two filmmakers as they try to make a film that covers the entirety of the bible. Their arrogance and general amateurishness of their production catch up to them when everything goes wrong. The writing is pretty alright, nothing too memorable, but it was pretty funny throughout. It's weird to think that this was before "Waiting For Guffman". Many film teachers use this to explain the different roles within a production, which definitely taught me a lot. As a whole, this film could've benefited from a tighter script.

5/13/23 "Ed Wood" 1994
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Children! I love children." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
Ed Wood is a loving tribute to one of the worst directors of all time. It's odd that this is a Tim Burton film because it doesn't really feel a lot like him, except for Johnny Depp being here. Johnny Depp does such a great job in this movie, he brings such a chaotic energy to the character that really made him feel like he would make the types of movies he made. Also, Martin Landau was incredible as Bela Lugosi, he 100% deserved the Oscar. His voice was so convincing, he felt so much like the real thing. The way this film was shot too was really great, they shot it like a '50s B-movie, which really worked the entire time.

3/17/22 "Bullets Over Broadway" 1994
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "DON'T SPEAK! Don't speak! PLEASE don't speak!"
This is such a fun movie! You can tell that Woody Allen wrote this because of the wit and charm in the writing. As much as I hate him as a human being, I can respect him for casting John Cusack instead of himself. He can tell when he's not right for a role and doesn't shove himself into the limelight (cough, cough LIN MANUEL-MIRANDA). This movie has a lot of twists and turns throughout and takes a completely different direction as the film goes on. It really reminds me of "Some Like It Hot" the way they start with a gangster plot and then subvert it. Every character is so defined and has funny little quirks. I haven't really seen John Cusack in a lot of movies, but I never knew that he was so funny. I thought he was just a teen heartthrob, but this film really changed my opinion of him. I love all of the characters, although I feel like the girlfriend had 0 characterizations. She has no personality really and feels very underused. It's funny because the wife was saying in a scene how the John Cusack character "Doesn't know how to write women". Also, I have to address how similar the character Olive Neal is to Singing In The Rain's Lina Lamont. Both have basically the same voice and exist for the same purpose. To be an obstacle to the plot due to how annoying and untalented they are. Overall this is a very solid comedy movie. Not the best, but a good one if you want a good laugh!

9/10/25 "Crumb" 1994
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "France isn't - you know - perfect, or anything, but - it's just - oh, slightly less evil than the United States." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This documentary is such an in-depth portrait of the cartoonist Robert Crumb; I'm honestly shocked by how honest it gets. Crumb is such a multilayered person who really is quite controversial. A lot of his work really hasn't aged well, but you can really see a lot of his personal life in his comics (for instance, his obsession with the movie "Treasure Island"). It was also interesting seeing his family members and how his upbringing has affected him. As a whole, this documentary really shows you how to portray a figure.

3/24/23 "Before Sunrise" 1995
9/10 Stars, Favorite Quote " You never hear somebody say, 'With the time I've saved by using my word processor, I'm gonna go to a Zen monastery and hang out" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
Probably one of my favorite films I've seen this year. It's such a simple premise, and it sounds boring on paper, but in execution, it's a very interesting movie. The whole film is about a French woman meeting an American man on the train and they start talking. They slowly find out that they're meant for each other, but they both have to leave the next morning to go back to their countries, so the whole movie is about them walking around Vienna talking. It's interesting because we get to really know their characters and what their lives are like. The closer to the end, the sadder you feel since these people are probably never going to meet again. It's such a bitter-sweet film that's extremely well written

8/19/24 "Party Girl" 1995
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Do you realize how broke I am? What do you want me to do? I don't have a job. I'm a loser. Shoot me." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This was a pretty enjoyable indie film that unfortunately never really crosses over into great. We follow a notorious party-er, Mary (Parker Posey), who gets thrown in prison. The only job she could get after she got arrested was at her family's library. She slowly starts to enjoy the library life and gets into existentialism. One of my favorite gags of the film was a seemingly neverending pile of "The Myth of Sisyphus" by Camus. Parker Posey does a great job in the role, it's just that there aren't too many hilarious moments that make this a real standout film.

5/17/23 "Dolores Claiborne" 1995
9/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "It's a depressingly masculine world we live in, Dolores." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Oh Yeah!
This often gets overlooked when it comes to Steven King adaptations, but this is an incredible film. It checks all the boxes when it comes to a steven king story, but it adds a lot more character and personality to the characters that many of his work lacks. The cinematography in this film is fantastic, using the blue palette for the modern day and more saturated colors for the past. They also cut between the two very cleverly with amazing transitions. Everyone brings their A-game, except unfortunately John C. Riley. He tries his best, but his accent is horrible. His accent goes from Boston to Australia to British in a second. It's one of his first roles, but it was pretty distracting. With all the twists and turns, this is an easy win

2/1/23 "Braveheart" 1995
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "They may take our lives but they'll never take our freedom!!!" Do they say the name of the film within the movie: No
This is a historical epic gone right. This is a really long movie, don't get me wrong, but most of it is really entertaining. There are certainly some slow moments but those give us insight into the characters and world. One gripe is how many characters there were, I feel like it was sort of hard to distinguish certain characters from others. The action was well choreographed and the whole film was directed very well too. Although this film is great, Se7en should've won the Oscar in my humble opinion. This is a must see however

6/26/24 "Dead Man" 1995
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I normally hate the films of Jim Jarmusch, but I have to admit, this was a good movie. It's a pretty typical Western, but it was shot really well and had some great acting moments from its stellar cast. The dialogue isn't the strongest though, it falls into Jim Jarmusch's trap fall of trying to be as edgy as humanly possible. He writes sort of like a 13-year-old edge lord who just learned how to swear. I love the perspective this film takes with the Native Americans. It's a little by the books, but it's still pretty good!

3/20/24 "Strange Days" 1995
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Memories are meant to fade. They're designed that way for a reason." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
There's some wonderful direction here, but the story could use a lot of work. It's about an ex-cop (Ralph Fiennes) in the distant future of 1999 becoming a bootlegger of virtual reality memories. In one of these memories, he finds a tape of a woman getting murdered, so he calls his friend Lornette (Angela Bassett) to go solve the case. The characters aren't that particularly interesting and the story sort of feels like a mess. I really didn't like what they did with the two main characters in the end, not to spoil it, but it just felt like it came out of left field. As a whole, I can see myself forgetting this film in a short while.

3/8/25 "Fallen Angels" 1995
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I hadn't ridden on a motorcycle in a long time." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I was sort of expecting more out of this film. This is one of those films that I've always seen as people's favorites, but I just couldn't really get into it. The cinematography was really nice, along with the really interesting color grading, but I just wasn't as big of a fan as everyone else. We follow an assassin as he tries to escape the life he's made, but his partner is against this. She doesn't want him to leave, because she secretly likes him.

11/5/24 "Antonia's Line" 1995
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "The proverb is wrong. Time does not heal all wounds. It merely softens the pain and blurs the memories." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This was a pretty alright movie that went on a little long in my opinion. It sort of reminded me of Amelie with some of the effects, but doesn't really have the same charm to it. The film follows a mother, Antonia, and her daughter going back to a small town after WW2 and inheriting a farm after the death of Antonia's mother. We follow the odd town and how the inhabitants all interact with one another. There's a feminist message which was pretty good. The problem is, there are too many characters and it has a very inconsistent tone.

2/10/25 "Devil In A Blue Dress" 1995
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I want to see your brains." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I can really appreciate the dedication to make this feel like a '40s noir story, but I felt like the plot was a little all over the place. We follow Easy (Denzel Washington), a man who's out of work after WW2 and takes a job from a mysterious man to track down a missing woman. Things complicate from there, leading to a somewhat convoluted plot. The film is shot well and has some good performances (especially Denzel). As a whole, I feel like this was a nice callback, but not too memorable.

5/3/24 "Showgirls" 1995
4/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "What do we do in Las Vegas? We make a gamble." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This drove me crazy throughout the movie and I don't think anyone has commented on this, but Kyle MacLachlan's character in this film is basically the same character from the Flintstones movie. To be fair, I grew up with the Flintstone movie so I'm a little biased, but they are like the same character. Anyway, on with your regularly scheduled review. This movie is so over the top that it works as a comedy but fails as a drama. This movie is set on a foundation of "if we're edgy, we're profound" which just isn't the case. This film is about a woman named Nomi escaping a small town and moving to Las Vegas to climb the ranks to become a showgirl. All the performances are turned up to a 12 and nothing seems serious in this film. As a whole, I can understand the cult following of this film, but it's definitely not in the way that the filmmaker intended.

3/29/24 "Mallrats" 1995
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Eateries that operate within the designated square downstairs qualify as food court" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
Yet another Kevin Smith film and this one is pretty good, it's his follow-up to Clerks. It's about two friends who both got broken up within the same day going to the mall to try to get their minds off of the breakups. It's creative how much Kevin Smith can get out of a simple concept. Jay and Silent Bob are back in this film and they're always a lot of fun. It's interesting how this ends with a teaser for "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" which wouldn't be released for another 10 years. Jason Lee is also really great in this film. He's the perfect actor to bring Kevin Smith's writing. Some of the jokes are a little juvenile, but as a whole, it's a pretty good film.

12/23/25 "Sense and Sensibility" 1995
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I've come here with no expectations, only to profess, now that I am at liberty to do so, that my heart is, and always will be, yours." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I've been meaning to see this film for a while, and I think it lived up to the hype. You can really see Jane Austen's novel hop off the page with all these incredible performances. It's a real who's who of british actors. Especially Hugh Laurie. I love Hugh Laurie. I was so suprised to find that Emma Thompson also wrote the screenplay for the movie and won the oscar for it. The story is well told and really brings honor to the original story.

5/6/24 "Heat" 1995
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Told you I'm never going back..." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I can see why this is a famous film. Robert De Niro and Al Pacino are wonderful in this movie and really sell the plot. It's a cat-and-mouse game between a criminal (Robert De Niro) and a cop (Al Pacino), they try to stop each other. What's so interesting about this dynamic is how they find out that they secretly respect each other. Even though they are on other sides of the ideology coin, they have respect for how they do their job. I personally thought this movie was a really interesting film, but it was a little too long and didn't live up to the hype. Is it a good movie? Yes! Of course, it is! Is it one of the best movies of all time? No

12/15/24 "12 Monkeys" 1995
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "All I see are dead people." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I came in with high hopes, but I was left a little disappointed. I love Terry Gilliam's films, and this one is always listed as one of his best. Actually watching it, however, this sort of feels like a watered-down version of two of his previous films. Twelves Monkeys, to me, feels like a watered-down Brazil (which he made ten years prior). A lot of the dystopian science-fiction designs carry over, which are really well done, but just not as well done as he did in Brazil. It also sort of reminded me of The Fisher King with how all the characters are perceived as crazy. There were some interesting twists and turns with the time travel and the actors do a pretty alright job, but I just expected more after how much I've heard people gush about this movie.

7/24/23 "Grumpier Old Men" 1995
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Do you think we should ask her for some garlic bread?" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
It's crazy how this film is on the same level as the first one. I feel like the first one is slightly better because it has more of an emotional hook compared to this one, but just by a little bit. Adding Sophia Loren to the mix was such a smart decision. She's such a funny actress that she fits right in with Lemmon, Matthau, and Margret. All of the characters are on it as well, they are written with the same level of humor as the previous one, if not more.

7/14/23 "Bottle Rocket" 1996
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "What? What has she ever accomplished in her life that's so great?" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No!
Wes Anderson's first feature-length film and it feels like such a black sheep. This isn't stylized at all which feels weird, but you can still tell it's him purely by his writing style. The two Wilson brothers are in this film and they're just perfect. This is their first film, so it was really a magical moment to hear Owen Wilson let out his first "Wow!". The plot was a little slow, but the charm of the writing and the characters make up for it. It's about Luke Wilson being released from a mental hospital and he gets picked up by Owen Wilson who's planned a whole life of crime between the two of them. The problem is, they don't know the first thing about crime. You can clearly see how he'll get better as a director and writer

1/15/22 "The Birdcage" 1996
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I made you short?"
This movie is just plain fun. The whole movie just builds up to the last act and it all plays out perfectly. Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, and Hank Azaria are so much fun in this movie and they all play off of each other so well. Just great fun

7/25/23 "Flirting With Disaster" 1996
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I guess it's just one of those ex-felon, pro-acid kind of non-smoking homes." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: no
I feel like this film does its job and nothing more really. It tries to bring back the Screwball comedies, but I'm not really invested in the characters. There's a major plot point between Ben Stiller having marital problems with Patricia Arquette... but they don't really give us a reason to care about them. We don't really see them being happy together nor do we really see them get out of line. The comedy in the movie is alright, but nothing spectacular. Overall, it's okay.

5/3/23 "Aladdin and the King of Thieves" 1996
4/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "It's a joke! I do that." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This was the third Aladdin film, ending the trilogy that should've never been a trilogy. This was a pretty good straight-to-DVD Disney sequel, but it wasn't that great as a movie alone. Robin Williams is back as the Genie and he does a great job. He borders on being a little too much in this film with all the Disney references. Shout out to the random Woody Allen impression which didn't age well. The story is pretty alright, it's Aladdin meeting his dad who's the King of Thieves and has 39 other thieves with him trying to locate the Midas Touch. They had to remove the genie from many of these sections though because he would just use magic and boom, no movie. Everything in this film is an improvement over the last one, but still a downgrade compared to the first one

12/6/22 "The Hunchback Of Notre Dame" 1996
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "In a moment, captain. A lesson needs to be learned here."
I'm surprised I have never seen this one before, but it would've probably been too dark. This is such a beautiful movie with a surprisingly dark plot. My gripes with this film have to be some of the gargoyles scenes. This movie would've been almost the exact same without them. Also, they used CG-I for the crowd shots and it aged horribly. Other than that, this is a high-tier Disney movie

3/22/23 "Waiting For Guffman" 1996
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "He can act and he can sing and he can dance. There's only one other person in the world who can do all that, and that's Barbra Streisand." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
Another incredible Christopher Guest film. A precursor to Best in Show, but I feel like this is better. This is a mockumentary about a small town trying to put on an original musical to possibly get on Broadway. What's so genius about this film is how it's based in reality. You can see all of these events happening in real life. The play itself is genius since it's not over-the-top horrible, it's just teetering on the line between mediocre and pretty bad. That goes for the whole play they put on. It would've been easy just to write horrible songs, but to get it at the level where you can see someone thinking that it's good takes a lot of work. All of the actors play such great characters and play off of each other very well. Basically, anything Fred Willard does is funny in this film. Great for people who love theater and hate theater

12/21/22 "The English Patient" 1996
1/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "You speak so many bloody languages, and you never want to talk."
"This is a joke right?" that's what I thought to myself while watching this movie. "This was made by SNL or Seth Meyers to make fun of Oscar bait" Unfortunately, this is a very real movie and an incredibly shallow film. It's got it all folks! War, Melodrama, Drugs, Swearing, Period Piece! I didn't care about a single character in this film. I didn't even care about Willem Dafoe's character... and he was played by Willem Dafoe, arguably one of the most interesting humans. Ralph Fiennes is in this movie and his character is less than fine. His whole schtick is he's British and he knows songs, that's it. The only point of this film that brought me a drop of joy is hearing "Cheek to Cheek" from Top Hat just because it reminded me of that movie. This film jumps from the 1940s to... slightly later. When? We don't know. All we know is that it's later. This goes on for nearly three hours, and you feel every second go by. This film is paced absolutely horribly and about half of the film can be cut. There's no way this won over Fargo

2/27/23 "Mars Attacks!" 1996
2/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "The Nancy Reagan chandelier!", Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No.
One of the weirdest films I have seen. It's not even funny weird, just purely weird. This is directed by Tim Burton, which you probably couldn't even tell when watching the film since this is such a departure from his overall vibe. I guess this film was supposed to be mocking B-film from the '50s, but instead, it just plays into the tropes and it gets very tiring. There's an all-star cast in this one, which is a shame because you can tell they're trying their hardest with a script that is just not good. Jack Nicholson, Annette Benning, Glenn Close, Danny Devito, Pierce Brosnan, Michael J. Fox, and Tom Jones (yes, that Tom Jones). This is an ensemble cast but I just wished they picked one of these stories and focused on that. This film was a waste of time, despite some funny moments from the cast trying their hardest

5/12/25 "Lost Highway" 1997
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I like to remember things my own way." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This might be one of David Lynch's darkest films, and also one of his most abstract. We follow Fred Madison (Bill Pullman) as he falls down an insane rabbit hole of murder and terror. What's so interesting is that the character part of the way through the movie transforms into a completely different person, and it's never quite explained, which adds to the oddness. This shift is what makes this movie so engaging, because of how different yet similar the two stories are. This is one of my new favorite Lynch films.

6/14/24 "Chasing Amy" 1997
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "If this is a crush, I don't think I could take it if the real thing ever happened." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I was pretty disappointed with this film. I really like Kevin Smith's movies, but this wasn't one of his better ones. It's about Ben Affleck falling in love with a girl who turns out to be a lesbian. So, the film is Ben Affleck deciding "I can make her straight". We aren't necessarily supposed to like the Ben Affleck character, but it's still a really rough watch. It's lacking a lot of the humor of his previous films and the dramatic moments, though well performed, don't really land. I can appreciate what it was trying to do, but it just didn't land as well as Kevin Smith thought. It's funny how much life was added to the film in the scene with Jay and Silent Bob. Kevin Smith's Amy monologue was a really well-performed section. As a whole, it hasn't aged the best, but it's not a horrible film at all.

11/10/23 "L.A. Confidential" 1997
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Go back to Jersey, sonny. This is the City of the Angels, and you haven't got any wings." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This is a pretty entertaining neo-noir film that doesn't really push the envelope for me. It has an all-star cast and does something pretty interesting where there are three detectives all trying to solve the same case, but other than that it's pretty by the books. I liked the twists and turns, but I feel like there needed to be a little bit more to the film.

10/18/23 "Funny Games" 1997
3/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Why are you doing this to us?" "Why not?" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes!
I feel like this film thinks it's better than it is. There are some aspects I really like, but at multiple points, they sort of break the audience's trust. They break the fourth wall by talking to the audience, which I didn't really have a problem with since it shows how crazy the main character is, but then the fourth wall break affects the actual plot which feels cheap. This film is about a family going on vacation, but once they get there two guys kidnap them and play sick games with them betting that they'll all be dead by 9:00 a.m. the next morning. What I do like about this film is how the kidnappers have no motive to psychologically abuse these people, they're simply doing it just because they want to. I can see a lot of people could like this film, but personally, some aspects fall a little flat.

9/6/25 "Perfect Blue" 1997
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Nobody cares for you anymore." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I've always heard such wonderful things about this film, and I can clearly see what everyone's saying about this movie. We follow a pop star as she makes a shift in her career to become a serious actor. On her new show, she starts seeing visions of her pop-star persona appearing and noticing that members of the crew are mysteriously dying. The film is really well animated and really has a ton of iconic sequences. If you're into animation, this is one of those movies you have to see.

7/30/23 "The Full Monty" 1997
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Anti-wrinkle cream there may be, but anti-fat cream there is not." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
It's so interesting that this was nominated for so many Oscars because it just doesn't really seem like an Oscar-baiting movie. It's about six unemployed steel workers, in search of a job, deciding to take on male stripping in order to make ends meet. There are a few funny jokes, but as a whole, it's not too funny for being a comedy. It is a sort of sweet story seeing this ragtag group of men of different ages and sizes getting together to perform this show. This film obviously lost best picture, especially when it was against "L.A Confidential", "Goodwill Hunting", "As Good As It Gets", and that year's winner "Titanic". Yikes.

11/23/24 "12 Angry Men" 1997
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Don't give me those facts. I'm sick and tired of facts." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
It's so hard to remake one of the greatest films of all time. You can't change too much, but you can't keep everything the same. This was sort of disappointing to see. It's by no means bad, with a script this tight it would be hard to make it horrible, but there were some things holding the film back. First of all, the pacing seemed a little off. The film is 30 minutes longer, but those 30 minutes don't add anything. There was a short exchange at the end that I really enjoyed, but other than that, the extra scene seemed superfluous. The casting was pretty great, although some people in the cast seemed to overact. I felt bad, but Tony Danza overacted quite a bit in the film. George C. Scott was teetering on that line. I may be biased but I really enjoyed Jack Lemmon's performance in the film, however, I do think he was a little old in the movie. As a whole, a neat little remake, but it by no means is better than the original.

7/3/24 "Boogie Nights" 1997
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "People tell me I look like Han Solo." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This is a really well-written film. It's a Paul Thomas Anderson film about the porn industry during the 70s. What I love most about this film is how they balance all of the characters. They had a lot of characters, but they all felt like they got the perfect amount of screen time for what their characters were. The cast was absolutely phenomenal. Mark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore, John C. Riley, Heather Graham, etc. It also has a stellar cast of character actors as supporting characters. I can understand why everyone really loves this film, it's really great.

1/18/23 "Titanic" 1997
9/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!", Do they say the title of the movie within the movie?: Yes
This might surprise a lot of you out there, but this is my first time watching this movie, and was it worth the hype? Yes. This is one of the most devastating films. It's crazy how James Cameron insisted on this film being so accurate. He used submarines to shoot underwater so he could do the magical transitions to the replica making it feel like we are traveling back 80 years to the ship in its heyday. There are some messy parts like the villain and some scenes that seem like they go too long, but these all make the ending worth it. What more can I say? It's the Titanic! It deserved it's win

5/4/23 "Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas" 1997
3/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "The day my life ended... BrInG mE mY pReSeNtS", Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No.
What a film! They perfectly wasted Bernadette Peters' time and energy by giving her about 4 lines and 1/3 of a song. Do you know how was in this film too much? Paul Reuban's character. He was a very annoying addition to the film. The main villain, Tim Curry also doesn't make sense within the world of the film, since he's apparently the beast's best friend, and yet we don't hear from him at all in the first movie. Absolutely nothing happens here and it's a really boring watch, except when making fun of how bad the animation, writing, and voice acting can be. Well, Merry Christmas everyone!

10/19/23 "Cure" 1997
4/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "All the things that used to be inside of me... now they are all outside." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I was pretty excited to see this one since it was included on the letterboxd 250 highest-rated movies list. I don't really get why this one is there though. There were some aspects I liked, the mystery of how these people forget the crimes they're committing is a pretty cool one, but the explanation is less than stellar. There were some good performances, but but the plot just wasn't really great.

1/23/22 "The Big Lebowski" 1998
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Obviously you're not a golfer"
The Coen Brothers do it again. They're some of the finest directors Hollywood has ever seen. This movie has such a great premise and cast. Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, and Steve Buscemi are excellent in this movie and the jokes are great. The dream sequences are always great, never go on too long. I really liked this movie, although it could get a little confusing at times

12/17/25 "Gods and Monsters" 1998
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I am not your monster!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This is a really interesting biopic about the last years of the horror director, James Whale. He's a really interesting person to discuss because he was basically openly gay during the golden age of Hollywood. It was also nice to see how they focus on the end of his career more than his beginning; it really paints such a portrait of Whale. They also have two actors who play Elsa Lanchester and Boris Karloff, and they are so spot on. One of my gripes with the film, however, is how they seemingly villify James Whale in such an odd way. There's a lot of fiction involved in this film, more specifically, his affair with the gardener (who's not a real person). He does something towards the end that I don't think the real person would do. As a whole, quite an interesting movie, but I can see myself forgetting it.

10/5/24 "Ring" 1998
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "When it's time for me to die... Stay with me." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I watched the remake when I was a kid, so watching this film was sort of bizarre. A lot of what I loved from the remake was in this original one, but this feels more like a foreign film if that makes sense. The remake was very Americanized with a fast plot and very American writing while this feels more nuanced. There's a magic to this original film where you can feel the excitement with the writing and how great this concept is. If you like the remake, I highly suggest you check out this one!

5/8/23 "Belle's Magical World" 1998
1/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I will NEVERRRRR - A - POLOGIZE!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
Imagine, if you will, you made three episodes of a Beauty and the Beast TV show, but you make sure they're not funny nor compelling, just terrible. You pitch that to the Disney channel and they say no, so you just rope the three episodes together in order to make a straight-to-DVD movie to make a buck. This is horrible. The animation is really bad (this is the origin of the infamous Belle Derp) and the voice acting feels like they're being forced against their will. It's funny because the best one was Mrs. Potts and she wasn't even voiced by Angela Lansbury, the voice actress just doing an impression of her being happy. A complete waste of time.

8/25/25 "Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas" 1998
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Too weird to live, and too rare to die." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
Such a beautifully bizarre movie. I loved what they did with Hunter S. Thompson's material and how they take the audience on a strange journey with Hunter. The choice to have Terry Gilliam direct this movie was a wonderful one; he brings his trademarked oddness to the film. This is one of those anxious movies that I'm a fan of, where the whole time you're on edge. I can understand why this is so popular.

2/26/24 "Saving Private Ryan" 1998
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Earn this." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This is everyone's second favorite Spielberg film, and I can see why. It follows a group of soldiers during WW2 being assigned to save Private Ryan, whose three brothers have died in war. He is behind enemy lines and needs to be taken back to America. The direction of this film is excellent. The shots are very dynamic and capture the action perfectly, Spielberg really outdoes himself here, especially with the Omaha Beach Landing scene. The actors all do a very fantastic job, including a very inspired performance from Tom Hanks. It's weird seeing Hollywood's nicest man acting so rough. It's interesting how this film focuses more on the war front during the Second World War whereas Schindler's List focuses on the holocaust. This film feels like 30% story and 70% violence, which is a shame because they had an interesting story going on. There are some very heartfelt moments, I just wish we had more of those.

5/13/23 "Pocahontas II: Journey To a New World" 1998
2/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I'm going to make some teeeeaaAAAA" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This movie just feels like a mix of several different movies. "My Fair Lady", "Beauty and the Beast", "Peter Pan", etc. They all are here. There are also some very forgettable songs and out-of-character moments that happen all the time. The animation is also terrible. This is a short review, but what can you say about this film? Pretty bad

7/10/24 "Pecker" 1998
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I love you, Shelley! I love you more than Kodak!" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This truly was a Pecker moment. This is a film by John Waters that's strangely sentimental. There's still some signature John Waters oddness here and there, but it's pretty regular when it comes to his films. We follow a young boy named Pecker (Edward Furlong) who lives in Baltimore. He loves nothing more than to take pictures of his surroundings. He's become somewhat infamous in his town for just photographing everything. This includes his odd family who all have their own quirks (my favorite being little Christy's addiction to sugar). His photos eventually got the attention of a New York photographer who made his work incredibly famous. This seems like a great thing, but he slowly learns the pitfalls of fame. It's a really fun story that gets elevated with the quirky characters.

12/25/22 "Shakespeare In Love" 1998
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "The show must..." "go on!"
I can't believe this won the Oscar. I could've sworn that Saving Private Ryan won... but nope, this won. It makes me sad as a comedy enthusiast that some of the best comedies of all time never won an Oscar... but this movie did. This is about Shakespeare writing a play but he falls in love with a girl while writing it and it becomes Romeo and Juliet. The problem is, the girl has to dress up as a guy to play Romeo (very funny). It's just not that funny and it goes on for way too long.

7/2/22 "The Thin Red Line" 1998
4/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Where's Witt???" (Said 5 times in a row in the same voice)
Ooompha, this was really rough to get through. I really don't like Terrance Malick's style of directing. His style is what I find to be a very boring one which is just really realistic. As an amateur movie reviewer who's only taken one year of film, there are 3 types of extremes of filmmaking, realism, formalism, and classicism. Classicism focuses on story, Formalism focuses on visuals, and realism focuses on how realistic they can make a movie. I prefer story and visuals to realism because that's why I watch a movie. I love the crazy stories and the bright colors (can you tell I'm a musical fan?) so this movie was not for me. The easy comparison for this film would be Apocalypse Now, but these two films are very different. Thin Red Line's main selling point is how many celebrities are in this movie, but I feel like that just makes this film worse. In Apocalypse Now, when a character dies you feel horrible about it while in this movie you don't care because none of them are developed. There were so many cut celebrities from this movie, Martin Sheen, Mickey Rourke, and BILLY BOB THORNTON. Nobody puts Billy in the corner. The main Sgt. in this movie acted so cartoonish it was funny. He was yelling like the boss from the Jetsons. Also, this film has basically the same plot as All Quiet On The Western Front with the young kids hearing propaganda and joining the war. This movie does this worse. Overall, this is Oscar bait that failed (lost to Shakespeare in Love)

5/6/24 "American Movie" 1999
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "I got a Master Card! I don't believe it, man. Life is kinda cool sometimes." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
Such a simple premise for a documentary that leads to so much emotion and humor. It's just about a man named Mark Borchardt trying to make an indie horror movie in his hometown in an attempt to raise money for a more dramatic picture, Northwestern. This documentary does a great job of portraying Mark Borchardt as such a human figure. He has moments where we sort of laugh at his ego, but we also get somber moments of him questioning his talents and life. It's heartwarming seeing him try to achieve his dream and make the movie he wants to make despite what little he has.

10/26/22 "The Blair Witch Project" 1999
3/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I'M SORRY!"
This has to be one of the dullest movies I have seen in a while. NOTHING HAPPENS. It's just three kids arguing in a forest for 80 minutes as the camera shakes like a Polaroid picture. The three kids don't have a personality, their personalities are just YELLING. The girl sounds like a pterodactyl when she screams and that totally doesn't get annoying! (Attention... sarcasm.) They also don't show the evil spirit at all, which makes this film not scary whatsoever. This is one of the most popular low-budget horror movies, but I personally think it needed more of a budget to, oh I don't know, ACTUALLY BE SCARY

6/18/25 "All About My Mother" 1999
6/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "It costs a lot to be authentic." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
It's odd that this is the film most people say is the best Pedro Almodóvar film. It follows a mother after the death of her son, who decides to go make contact with the child's estranged father. Along the way, she meets up with some old friends and gets reminded of the past. I thought the screenplay wasn't his finest.

5/7/24 "The Virgin Suicides" 1999
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "In the end, we had pieces of the puzzle, but no matter how we put them together, gaps remained" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
It's so funny how different Sofia Coppola is from her dad when it comes to filmmaking. Francis Ford Coppola makes loud and huge films while Sofia Coppola makes quiet and small films. This film is a quintessential indie film that has a real grasp of the characters. It's about a group of four boys in love with five sisters living in a pretty sheltered house. Their parents (Kathleen Turner and James Wood) soon get a big surprise when they find that the youngest sister has attempted to end her own life. The parents realized they needed to let their daughters experience the outside world more and make friends. It's a really interesting movie that's shot really well and has a perfect pace to it. It passes the Indie Movie vibe check with flying colors and has such a great story. I wouldn't want to spoil it, but you definitely need to check it out!

6/18/24 "Dogma" 1999
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "You people. If there isn't a movie about it, it's not worth knowing, is it?" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
This is now my second favorite Kevin Smith film. It follows a woman named Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) as she gets told by a messenger angel (Alan Rickman) that she has to stop two angels (Matt Damon and Ben Affleck) from entering a church, or else all of reality will be erased. It's such a high-concept film that really takes advantage of its crazy premise. They also bring in Jay and Silent Bob in a really funny and clever way. The cast is really strong because everyone trusts the material. Funnily enough, the weakest link was probably Linda Fiorentino. She had a hard role of being the straight man to this insane premise, but she could've been better. Then again, it's hard to stick out in such a loaded cast. This balances adventure with action with comedy very well. It's clear that Kevin Smith is a comic book fan because this felt like a huge comic book in the best way.

5/14/25 "The Straight Story" 1999
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "What's the number for 911?" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This might be David Lynch's weirdest film because of how normal it is. It's a G-rated Disney film that has no violence in it (very anti-Lynch), but it's really well done. It's refreshing to see David Lynch work within these guidelines and make a genuinely heart-warming movie. This true story is about a man in Iowa who finds out that his brother in Wisconsin just had a stroke. Without a car or license, there's no way for him to see his brother, except to ride on his lawnmower the entire distance of the state just to see his brother. It's a really sweet story that has a lot of great moment (the hitch hiker one is probably my favorite).

2/26/25 "Eyes Wide Shut" 1999
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "No dream is ever just a dream." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
What a freaky little film. This was the last Stanley Kubrick film ever made, in fact, he died four days before the film came out. This film also came out twelve years after his previous film, Full Metal Jacket. Stylistically, the shots reminded me of some of his previous work like "Barry Lyndon" and "A Clockwork Orange". The film follows a doctor (Tom Cruise) going down a rabbit hole of a sex-cult after he finds that his wife (Nicole Kidman) tells him that she dreams of having sex with a different man. The plot gets a little muddy and the film is often longer than it should be, but it's just interesting seeing Kubrick film a movie in the 90's (almost 2000's). While not my favorite Kubrick film, there were still some very interesting moments throughout.

8/26/23 "But I'm A Cheerleader" 1999
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I'm Graham, and I like girls. A lot." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This is a really fun independent film that was one of the first mainstream looks at the LGBTQ community. The film follows Megan (Natasha Leone), a young cheerleader who does well at school and has a boyfriend that she isn't wild about. Her world comes crumbling down around her when her friends and family send her to a conversion camp because they believe that she's gay. At the conversion camp, however, she learns about her sexuality and learns to embrace who she is. This film uses such bright blues and pinks in the camp to really drive home the divide between the gender roles, whereas anytime they're outside of the camp they use more realistic colors to portray that the real world isn't black and white (or blue and pink). The set design and colors seem like a perfect mix between Tim Burton and John Waters. Everyone does such a great job in this film and carries their weight. Clea DuVall plays such a realistic character and is really funny. Meanwhile, RuPaul and Cathy Moriarty give such over-the-top performances in the best way. The side characters are fun but pretty stereotypical, but then again all the characters are. The whole point of the film is how absurd these camps are, so all the characters are turned up to an eleven out of ten. Overall, I can see why so many Letterboxd users love this film. It's a trailblazing comedy that's pretty underrated

10/6/24 "Audition" 1999
4/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Words create lies. Pain can be trusted." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
I wish I liked this movie more, I just felt like it had a very odd pacing issue. The first hour and a half of the film was sort of slow and then the last thirty minutes were way too fast. We follow a grieving widow who 7 years after the death of his wife, holds an audition to find a new girl. This is where he finds the gentle Asami, a perfect choice for him. Things get complicated however when she starts to show her true colors. This could've been a really amazing premise, but I felt like the whole thing just felt a little too unrealistic and over the top. I know a lot of people like this movie, but I just couldn't get into it.

7/22/24 "Bringing Out The Dead"
5/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Saving someone's life is like falling in love. The best drug in the world." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
This was a disappointing Scorsese outing. A lot of the shots felt derivative of his previous work (especially Taxi Driver). Instead of driving Taxis, our main character (Nick Cage) drives an ambulance and starts seeing visions of people who died on his watch due to exhaustion. It seems like a great premise, but they don't do a lot with it. This feels like Scorsese trying to find a new film direction after the gangster films went out of style. There's a reason no one really talks about this one when discussing the work of Scorsese.

6/17/24 "Girl, Interrupted" 1999
8/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "There isn't a day my heart doesn't find them." Do they say the title of the movie: Yes
This is essentially a teen version of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest", but it's very well done. It's the true story of Susanna Kaysen (Winona Ryder), a girl who finds herself in a mental institution after having a nervous breakdown. While there, she starts making friends with the inmates. Outside the hospital, however, the world is experiencing the Vietnam War, so Susanna questions whether it would be better to live in that scary world or stay in the hospital. The conflict is such an interesting one and the chemistry between the girls is really solid. There were some great performances from Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Whoopi Goldberg, Clea DuVal, and a pre-Handmaid's Tale Elizabeth Moss.

9/8/24 "Magnolia" 1999
9/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "These strange things happen all the time." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
I normally hate ensemble pieces, but this film was incredible. It's crazy how all of these stories mix together to tell a greater story about love, loss, grief, and disappointment. This film is filled to the brim with amazing character actors who fulfill their parts perfectly. I would get into the plot, but that'll take a while since this film has so many different intersecting plots that all make a larger picture. It's a joy seeing how they all connect with each other. It's really well written with a lot of incredible scenes (especially that opening monologue). As a whole, I feel like I wouldn't do this film justice by writing out why it's so great, it's just a film you should see if possible. It is a bit of a commitment with it's runtime, three-hours, but it's well worth it.

7/1/22 "The Talented Mr. Ripley" 1999
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "I always thought it would be better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody."
This is a remake of the previously reviewed Purple Noon on my account. I would say this is a better version. I'm not sure if that's a hot take since the original is always better in the eyes of movie critics but I don't know, I just think this is a stronger movie. They set up the bond between the two main characters and the killing doesn't happen until much later in this film. It's weird that the original 1960s one had quicker pacing, but the slower pacing on this one makes it better. I prefer to see the relationship between Matt Damon and Jude Law because you can see the red flags on Matt Damon more subtly than at the beginning of Purple Noon where he puts on the other guy's clothes almost immediately. It's funny with this one because they have to specify that Matt Damon's character isn't gay because that was a common theory with the first one... but in doing this they make the character have way more undertones than the older one. I would say this is the superior version of the film that's a great thriller for you to see

12/27/25 "Cider House Rules" 1999
4/10 Stars, Favorite Quote: "Goodnight, you princes of Maine. You kings of New England." Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: Yes
It's sad when the most joy I got from this movie was seeing Dewey from Malcolm in the Middle show up. This film is that kind of slow Oscarbait that it's no wonder that Harvey Weinstein produced it. He was the king of Oscar bait, because his business model ran on winning Oscars. The film is just a drawn out story of an orphan (Tobey Maguire) who's all grown up and wants to leave the orphanage run by a doctor (Michael Caine), who nervous to let him leave due to Maguire's heart condition. Charlize Theron is Maguire's love interest, but they have no chemistry. It got to a point, where I thought he was going to end up with Paul Rudd due to how much more chemistry they had. This is a technically well made film, but every aspect of the plot and character dynamic just didn't work.

7/15/23 "Man On The Moon" 1999
7/10 Stars, Favorite Quote "Andy, you have to look inside and ask this question: who are you trying to entertain - the audience or yourself?" Do they say the title of the movie within the movie: No
Jim Carrey gives one of the best performances of his career in this movie. He plays Andy Kaufman, the controversial entertainer who loved nothing more than to make the audience confused. We see him read the entirety of The Great Gatsby in a British accent when people started yelling for him to do his Latka voice. Speaking of Taxi, it was such a great addition to bring back the original Taxi cast and recreate some Latka scenes. I'm currently watching Taxi and these scenes are almost exactly how they were. Although they were missing two members. Tony Danza was doing a Broadway play at the time and Danny Devito was already in the movie. It was weird that they cast him in the movie when they should've cast him and Louie DePalma. I liked that this wasn't just praising Kaufman because he was very self-centered, like getting his alter ego "Tony Clifton" on Taxi so he can sabotage the taping to go home early. He did this just to develop a villain character in his act. A very interesting movie that could've shown us a little bit more of Kaufman

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