Amph Film Releases & Trends of a Decade Retrospective: The Nineties A-Z. Now Disc: 1993 D-G

Didn't some of these films come out just a short while ago? I feel old...

 

September & October 2000

Notable releases: (listed in release order)

September:
-Highlander: Endgame
-Nurse Betty
-The Watcher
-The Way of the Gun
-Almost Famous
-Bait
-The Exorcist: Director's Cut
-Urban Legends: Final Cur
-Remember the Titans

October:
-Digimon: The Movie
-Get Carter
-Meet the Parents
-Lost Souls
-The Contender
-The Ladies Man
-Bedazzled
-Pay It Forward
-The Legend of Drunken Master
-Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2



T2Q Comments: Highlander Endgame was pretty decent, albeit the "one of us has to die now and you know it" was an arbitrary thing- still, having enjoyed the TV series, it was nice to have an ok continuation onscreen.

Nurse Betty I don't remember much of, beyond the cast and "two in the head, you know they're dead".

I really liked The Way of the Gun, directed by Brian Singer's often-collaborator and writer of The Usual Suspects, Christopher McQuarrie. Solid cast.

Almost Famous is notable for probably being the only movie with Kate Hudson in it that I like.

The Exorcists: DC was the first time I had seen the movie- and while some things hold up (and some of the new additions, like the shadow-faces, are extremely effective), it sadly doesn't hold up overall- the harsh language emitting from a child eliciting more laughter and giggles from the audience than the unsettling reaction it must have had back in the 70's.

Urban Legends: Final Cut is notable (beyond being one of the last Scream cash-ins) for being the reason other-Brian-Singer-often-collaborator John Ottoman, given the opportunity to direct, did not score Singer's X-Men (but did score the later X2, and, not coincidentally, X2's score is far, far more memorable).

Remember the Titans is another one of those "dad movies" like The Replacements that gets a lot of play on TV and DVD.

Get Carter was another post-Copland-acclaim effort by Stallone to do something less flashy and more serious than he was known for, while still brimging the action. Sadly it was only so-so in it's attempts to do so. Not terrible, but not much above a "catch it on TV" film.

Meet the Parents was very funny though (can't speak for the sequels), following Deniro's comedic success with Analyse This the prior year.

The Contender was interesting- not perfect, but done quite well- good cast.

Bedazzled- really liked this one. Better than I thought it was going to be. plus- Liz Hurley (from my heart and from my hand, why don't people understand, my inventions? )

Pay It Forward- never saw it, but the phrase has been thrown around a lot more commonly since it's release.

Drunken Master was one of the last repackaged-for-the-US Chan films that had been going on for several years. Fun flick, though.

Blair Witch 2- I might be the only person who likes this better than the original- it doesn't have the same "makes you creeped out and jumping at shadows hours after you see it" delayed effect that the first film had, but it had a clever premise and, ignoring the I-don't-know-who-thought-it'd-be-a-good-idea cartoon sheriff, has decent characters for a not-top-shelf horror film, as well as an excellent twist at the end (and even though it's not the same song used in the movie, I always think of this part of the movie whenever I hear Orgy's "Fiction" (Dreams in Digital)")



Overall Trends: Film-payoffs for TV shows would be a recurring theme throughout production rumors and releases of the next decade, Drunken Master is the tail end of a 90's trend of Chan redubs, Urban Legends concluded it's theatrical franchise, Meets the Parents became a franchise and Blair Witch ceased to be a franchise.

 

November & December 2000

Notable releases: (listed in release order)

November:
-Charlie's Angels
-The Legend of Bagger Vance
-Little Nicky
-Men of Honor
-Red Planet
-Bounce
-The 6th Day
-102 Dalmations
-Unbreakable


December:
-Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
-Dungeons & Dragons
-Proof of Life
-Snatch
-Vertical Limit
-Chocolat
-Dude, Where's My Car?
-The Emperor's New Groove
-What Women Want
-Cast Away
-Dracula 2000
-Finding Forrester
-Miss Congeniality
-O Brother, Where Art Thou?
-The Family Man
-The Gift
-Traffic



T2Q Comments: Damn, a lot of stuff came out in Dec 00!

Charlie's Angels- I loved these movies- just silly fun with hot chicks, Bill Murray and Crispin Glover.

The Legend of Bagger Vance: Don't care for golf movies, but I've seen this one on cable while my dad was watching it. It's an ok movie, but only slightly less boring than watching the real thing

Little Nicky: Adam Sandler's first semi-misfire/not big smash hit, but it has it's moments

Men of Honor: Gets a lot of Tv replay. Decent military drama, though nothing particularly noteworthy, beyond the unique old diver angle.

Red Planet: This is the one with Val Kilmer and the killer robot. Cool robot, though. had some interesting ideas but wasn't that good.

The 6th Day: The last semi-decent Arnie movie where he doesn't play a robot Also one of the last times the XFL was used

102 Dalmations: I can't stand Glenn Close, she almost ruined Air Force One.

Unbreakable: One of my favorite movies of all time. Just really near-perfect (the cheesy freeze frame/title card bits at the end kinda ruined the ending, though). I've always wanted him to complete the trilogy, but after the awful The Happening, I'm not sure M. Night could do the first justice.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon- Gorgeous film, though one I haven't seen as often as I would have liked (never got around to watching the DVD I got when it came out, come to think of it)

Dungeons & Dragons- New Line basically ate up the only potential fantasy competition for it's forthcoming LOTR seies, even though the actual film itself is laughably bad.

Proof of Life- Never saw this one, but it seemed to interrupt a string of success Crowe had.

Snatch- Funnier than Lock, Stock. Everyone is really good in this movie, from Statham, to Vinnie to Pitt.

Vertical Limit- Cliffhanger clone.

Dude, Where's My Car?- It's like an Adult Swim show in live action. Surreal and absurb, it is fantastic. Alas, the talked-about potential sequel "Seriously, Dude, Where's My Car?" never came to fruition.

The Emperor's New Groove- Never saw it, but I hear it was actually surprisingly funny for this darker age of Disney releases.

What Women Want- Amusing premise but forgettable.

Cast Away- Interesting film, though it was ruined by Robert Zemeckis's bad habit of intentionally giving away his whole film in the trailer.

Dracula 2000- Not a good film, per se, but not the worst vampire film you'll find. Had a couple interesting takes on the Dracula mythos, too. Also, it has an awesome soundtrack (Disturbed, Monster Magnet, etc).

Finding Forrester- Decent drama, featuring James Bond and Rogue.

Miss Congeniality- Though psuedo-chick flick in nature, this was actually pretty funny. And anything with Shatner that doesn't have "V" in the title can't be that bad, right?

The Family Man- Sort of a a It's a Wonderful Life/A Christmas Carol type story. It's not too bad, but not too noteworthy.

The Gift- Raimi puts together a tight little film here. And yes, this is the film of "Harold & Kumar" fame re: Katie Holmes.

Traffic- I dug this film quite a bit- also showed Topher Grace had some dramatic abilities beyond his 70's Show comedic ones.



Overall Trends: Crouching Tiger really changed the model for martial arts films imported- especially in the historical fantasy sub-genre. Almost every film of that type seems to copy the wire-fu styles used in the film (which is not to say they weren't used in films prior to this, but they certainly were more prominent afterwards). T

 

It's just not very engaging and pretty stupid overall (with Marlon Wayans doing a live-action Jar Jar for all intents and purposes). The only decent sequence is with the only dungeon in the movie. It had an interesting cast, but I think they were just in it because they were between projects, Uwe Boll-style. Jeremy Irons feels wasted playing a character he's played better in a half dozen other movies, and the one girl obviously filmed this movie way before American beauty, but she didn't bring much to the table either.

 

Another bad choice was Pink Panther 2, but that's so long after D&D it's hard to say it's part of the same pattern (if anything, it's part of Eragon as a pattern).


So, i figure let's look back at the year in review... all the way back to the Year 2000....

(in the year 2000....in the YEAR TWO-THOUSAAAAAAAAAAAAND...)

What's worth seeing (once or several times?), what's worth keeping?

Skimming back through the lists I posted:


Worth Keeping: (aka: get the DVD!)
-Gladiator
-Pitch Black
-Snatch
-Unbreakable
-X-Men

Worth Seeing a Few Times: (aka: maybe get the DVD)
-The 6th Day
-Charlie's Angels
-Chicken Run
-Dude, Where's My Car?
-Final Destination
-The Legend of Drunken Master
-The Patriot
-The Replacements
-Road Trip
-Romeo Must Die
-Scary Movie
-Shanghai Noon
-Titan A.E.
-Traffic

Worth Seeing Once: (aka: rent it or get it in the $5 bin at Best Buy or Walmart)
-Almost Famous
-American Psycho
-The Beach
-Bedazzled
-Cast Away
-Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
-The Exorcist: Director's Cut
-Fantasia 2000
-Frequency
-The Gift
-Godzilla 2000
-Gone in 60 Seconds
-High Fidelity (I haven't sene it, but I gather this is qualifies)
-Highlander: Endgame (if you're a fan)
-Hollow Man
-Me, Myself & Irene
-Meet the Parents
-Men of Honor
-Miss Congeniality
-The Perfect Storm
-Remember the Titans
-Rules of Engagement
-Shaft
-Space Cowboys
-U-571
-The Way of the Gun

If It's on Cable: (aka: not awful, but no need to intentionally seek it out)
-Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2
-The Contender
-Dracula 2000
-Finding Forrester
-The Legend of Bagger Vance
-Nurse Betty
-Proof of Life
-Vertical Limit
-What Women Want

See It Once Because of How Bad It Is: (aka: the Church of Scientology asks that you not pirate this movie. I'm not sure they even want you to see it.)
-Battlefield Earth

 

That's just my view of the film- it's a good movie, but I have little interest in seeing it again, is all.

 

I agree- it's a very entertaining movie, has some good humor and even some good emotion in it. Probably the only downside is the villian is so E.V.I.L., but I suppose one could argue that actually helps the film in a way.

BTW, feel free to make your own lists- I'm not the end-all authority