Though not quite as popular as the main list, the supplemental LOC (which will now be referred to as SLOC) nevertheless received 22 lists consisting of 67 unique titles. Rather than present them as I would the regular LOC, I thought I'd make you read/skip a whole bunch of writing that's specious in its argument at best, outright lies at it's worst.
Most 90s Movies of the 1990s.
We remember the 90s. Most of us grew up in it. I was 9 when it began, 19 when it ended, and at the time, it seemed like a decade that really looked toward the future. It turned its back on the rampant commercialism of the 80s, with its terrible music and terribler hairstyles and embraced truly revolutionary thoughts and ideas, like the INTERNET.
Of course, that's all bollocks. The 90s were just as much a product of their time as any other self-absorbed little decade was, one in which its fashions and ideas are gradually thrown away like spring cleaning until we found something else to distract us, such as in the case of the NEW MILLENIUM. So, let's all take a trip through the SLOC and see just exactly what the movies were pre-occupied with in the 1990s. Or you can just skip all of this and see the Top Ten at the very bottom.
One of the easier trends to spot in our SLOC is television. Series that were popular enough in the 90s to get their own movie adaptation and firmly set themselves as a part that particular decade.
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (11) never enjoyed more success than upon its debut, as did the other entries
Digimon: The Movie (25),
A Goofy Movie (32),
Beavis & Butthead Do America (46) and
Mystery Science Theatre 3000: The Movie (51).
Video Games were a new inspiration to draw upon in the 90s and though there were a couple of releases in the 80s, the 90s saw the first direct "adaptation" of storylines from video games that a) failed to live up to the fans' of that series idea of what that film should be, and b) failed to live up to expectations of audiences' idea of what actually constitutes a good film. The SLOC features 2 adaptations in the lower depths, namely
Double Dragon (26) and
Super Mario Bros (22). Sadly, neither Mortal Kombat or Streetfighter: The Movie appear, but can both considered as very much a part of the decade (though Mortal Kombat isn't bad).
Not just video games, but computing and especially the INTERNET had become a focus for certain areas of the film industry and this is also reflected in the SLOC.
Lawnmower Man (50) and its melty CGI-sex scene features, as does
The Matrix (43) while some other choices feature computers as the mysterious and hard-to-figure deus ex machina, with nothing as blatant as
Independence Day (10). When a laptop can not only wirelessly interface with a giant alien armada supercomputer but then give it a virus, you know those non-terrestrials aren't using a Mac. In a remarkable oversight, Disclosure does not feature on the list, combining as it does the sexually charged atmosphere of the influential
Basic Instinct (34) with a truly astounding virtual reality sequence that's as out of place as Kevin Costner's accent and sense of direction in
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (52). However, the highest entry in the computers/INTERNET category belongs to the glorious
Hackers (6). In a decade where faded neon clothing, rollerblading, plaid, and Angelina Jolie were popular, Hackers is quintessentially 90s.
Clerks (4) is not only the remarkable debut of Kevin Smith, whose other films perhaps should appear but only
Mallrats (20) makes it, but also looks to the rise of the independent film in the 90s. They may or may not be culturally tied to the decade, but entries such as
Dazed and Confused (16) and
Living in Oblivion (30) point to the relevance of the "Independent Spirit" within the 90s.
Perhaps the most predominant component of what comprises a 90s film belonged to those of us who grew up in it and were somehow dubbed "Generation X." It may be important to separate those films with teenagers in and those which are actually Generation X films. Entries such as
Scream (15),
Wayne's World (
,
Cool as Ice (9) and
Clueless (5) feature teenagers - or movie approximations of them - but are not Generation X films as they are not tied to the particular concerns of the decade. They may be culturally tied to the 90s through music and fashion, but do not approach the kind of self-analysis that Generation X films tend to do. In our SLOC, there are no less than three entries in the top ten that fall under the banner of a Generation X film:
Empire Records (7),
Singles (3) and - by some way -
Reality Bites (1). Reality Bites is perhaps the most egregious offender of the three, directly addressing the analysis of its generation through the actions of the characters who utterly rejects the rise of the yuppie in the 80s and attempt to directly redefine Generation X as teenagers that are well read, unconcerned with material things and who also happen to be incredibly handsome/pretty in that I-don't-care-way.
Finally, there's
Pulp Fiction (2). What's perhaps the most interesting thing about Pulp Fiction is that though it merits inclusion on the SLOC, it does have any particular cultural ties to the 90s. The influences for Pulp Fiction are the crime movies from the 60s and 70s, as are its fashions and music, but because the film was so successful, it became a defining influence itself, spawning dozens of knock-offs and parodies. This is why it's a 90s film, not because of its cultural relevance, but because the film itself became a touchstone for other films of the decade.
People skipping text can now look below for the top ten:
1. Reality Bites: 26 points.
2. Pulp Fiction: 18 points.
3. Singles: 17 points.
4. Clerks: 16 points.
5. Clueless: 14 points.
6. Hackers: 13 points.
7. Empire Records: 12 points.
8. Wayne's World: 11 points.
9. Cool as Ice: 9 points.
10. Independence Day: 9 points.
Topic: List of Crap #58 - Top Movies of the 1990s - The Countdown! (Read 70431 times)