movies from the 90s that time unfairly forgot

As, I guess, a literary critic, part of what I do is establish or reestablish canons of literature; what is good and bad, what is related and not related, what we should study and what we should not. As a child of the 90s, I feel that this period has been hard done by in terms of film canons. Sure, works like, say, Pulp Fiction are a distinct exception, but there are many other films in this period that are worth examination and reconsideration.

Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)

This movie about the trials and tribulations of a High School music teacher writing an orchestral piece—the title’s ‘opus’—while dealing with the challenges of being both the father of a deaf son who admires John Lennon, and the spiritual father of his societally challenged pupils, has too often been written off as fluff. But look closer and you’ll see that it is loosely based on Beethoven—not the movie about the dog, but the deaf composer— displaced from 17^th and early 18^th century Germany into the cultural evolution of post-WWII America. In Mr. Holland’s Opus, however, in what can be considered a subtlety postmodern move, Beethoven is split into two—Mr Holland as the musical genius and his son as the unfortunate disability—thus exploring the difficulties a creator must face when their life-defining work literally falls on deaf ears. The students operate as a Greek choir to this story of tragedy and redemption and Richard Dreyfuss. 

please enjoy his opus as performed by his inspired former students
....
its actually decidedly ordinary

Beethoven (1992)

A film about a cheeky Saint Bernard and a grouchy father who learns how to love again, well, at least, love his dog—his children I am less sure of. What is there not to like? This majestic farce comedy, given serious artistic chops by the brilliant classicism of its score that balances Beethoven (the composer) and classic rock, and lent some thoughtful weight with its thriller edge that explores matters of animal testing and strays, proves the falsity of that age old show business adage, ‘never work with animals.’ Charles Grodin is something to behold in the role of the father.

ORIGINAL TV TRAILER!!!

Heavyweights (1995)

Belonging to a 90s trend of mischievous summer camp movies that mused on teenage, or, if you will, young adult, independence and development as they implacably marched towards adulthood, proving time and again that adult supervision is required,[1] this is the film that made childhood obesity in the US ok. Coming as it did at perhaps the height of the American cultural empire—the mid-nineties was a deluge of Jordan, animated Disney films, and McDonalds—Heavyweights expressed that it was ok to be yourself amidst the unhealthy pleasures that were so prevalent at the time. That a chocolate snack is ok, so long as you slightly moderate and engage in uplifting walks.

BEN STILLER!!!

Flubber (1997)

There was a time in the 90s when Robin Williams was the rubber faced star, or voice, of many a kid’s or ‘family’ movie, like FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992), Aladdin (1992), Mrs Doubtfire (1993 – a bonafide and unforgotten classic of the that hybrid family movie/cross dressing film genre), Jumanji (1995), and Jack (1996 – the one where he ages really quickly and gets up to all sorts of hijinks, like buying porn for his rebellious youth mates!). The final film he made before getting his portly Boston psychologist on in Good Will Hunting (1997) and becoming sort of serious, thus ending his streak of family films, was Flubber. Playing an absent-minded, borderline mad, misunderstood scientist, Robin Williams did not hold back any acting punches, successfully managing to not only match the ahead-of-its-time CGI slime critter things—the ‘flubber’ of the title—but at-times exceed their presence. Staring also a robot with a heart of gold and a disturbing almost Oedipal crush on its human creator, Flubber carefully considers the pros and cons of creating semi-intelligent life, in the manner of the Gods, by attaching said-life to some shoes and winning a basketball game, which is clearly a metaphor for winning at science and the final hurdle all science faces of creating autonomous life.

She’s All That (1999)

A vital film in the string of aesthetically pastel and brightly coloured teen romantic comedies that are scattered through the mid to late 90s, dominated by a baggy jean fashion sense, the Barenaked Ladies and a tendency to break out into carefully choreographed dance,[2] She’s All That is the film that taught me that if I ever wanted to feel hot and popular, all I needed to do was take of my glasses; because underneath all my short-sightedness is a spectacularly attractive cool guy. In the same vein as Heavyweights, She’s All That establishes a sense of depth in the human being that belies our immediate visual apprehension. Moreover, this is the film that made Freddie Prinze Jnr everything that he is today (I think it actually also determined the way his last name would forever be spelled ... what a babe).

Freddie Prinze Jnr has a token black friend.

The Quick and the Dead (1995)

Sharon Stone as an action-hero gunslinger who hooks up with Russel Crowe, flirts with Leonardo DiCaprio (who still looks young as opposed to his current image which is still young but kind of grey too, like he’s old-young), and shoots down Gene Hackman … how could this movie ever be forgotten? Indeed, I wonder why it has not been put down in the annals of classic westerns; perhaps even inverted classic westerns as a tribute to a kind of nu-feminist west. A must watch for anyone who is a fan of duels and strong messages of the rights of women to participate in duels.

Cliffhanger (1993)

Remember when all bad guys were British? Remember when John Lithgow was a British bad guy, psychopathic genius? If you don’t, watch this film. In one of his finest performances, Sly Stallone plays a veritable mountain goat of justice, equipped with one liners, climbing axes and a keen hatred of helicopters operated by British villains. Cliffhanger posits a completely logical scenario where Lithgow’s gang highjack a plane that is escorting some briefcases full of hard cash (and tracking devices). Unfortunately, despite their careful planning, they crash the plane into the Rockies after their highly daring and complex plan has been carried out. Again, unfortunately, they then have to deal with a highly qualified policeman equipped with a very particular set of cliffhanging skills, skills he has acquired over a very long career of cliffhanging, skills he puts all to willingly into action in a high stakes game of cat’n’mouse. There isn’t anything really below the surface with this film, besides its tribute to the bravery/cunning of mountain climbers and the beauty of its setting.

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[1] Think: Camp Nowhere (1994), The Parent Trap (1998), Summertime Switch (1994)—also anything with Macaulay Culkin, who although never staring in a summer camp movie and is perhaps too well-known for the parameters of this discussion, basically epitomised the embedded message of the genre, particularly his all-time forgotten classic Richie Rich (1994).

[2] Think: the Melissa Joan Hart vehicle, Drive Me Crazy (1999), Can’t Hardly Wait (1998), Clueless (1995), Never Been Kissed (1999 – how anyone could mistake Drew Barrymore as a high school student will forever be a concept that will elude my grasp.)