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

Every few years a year comes along that seems pretty quiet compared to those around it, in retrospect, depending on how crtain tentpoles faired. 95 seemed quiet compared to 96. 97 seemed quiet compared to 96, 98 seemed quiet compared to 97. Each year still had a major movie or two, but others fell short of the mark (Godzilla) or were more awards-centric than crowd pleaser (The English Patient, for example).

And yet it's funny that 99 seemed so good despite the fcat that there was essentially one less month in the year for big movies to be released in due to the "we aren't touching that" fear of releasing anything in the wake of TPM, something Austin powers 2 exploited heavily.

Not having seen it, I didn't want to overrate it.

 

January & February 2001

Notable releases: (listed in release order)

January:
-A Beautiful Mind (wide release)
-Antitrust
-Save the Last Dance
-Black Hawk Down
-The Pledge
-Sugar and Spice
-The Wedding Planner

February:
-Valentine
-Hannibal
-Saving Silverman
-Down to Earth
-Super Troopers
-3000 Miles to Graceland
-Monkeybone
-The Mexican

T2Q Comments:

A Beautiful Mind: I enjoyed the film, and it's well acted, but perhaps overrated. I think it was trying to cash in on both American Beauty and Gladiator.

Antitrust: I really enjoyed this one- it's not a great movie, but it mixes a similar flavor as Hackers in with a Bill Gates clone as the evil bad guy. The Mac lover in me couldn't resist.

-Hannibal: Controversial sequel to Silence of the Lambs, and though not as good as the original, it does have several excellent sequences, even if it's a slightly different take on the character.

-Super Troopers: Introducing the Broken Lizard troupe's brand of comedy. Still their best film.

-3000 Miles to Graceland: This is a crazy, silly action movie and I quite dug it. Elvis impersonators in a crime shoot em up? Gotta love it.




Overall Trends: Save the Last Dance would have a few similar cheesy dance-centered chick flicks, a genre eventually parodied this year in Dance Movie. Sugar and Spice is, while noticebaly different, obviously trying to play off of Bring It On. The Wedding Planner is one among many medicore chick flicks with Jennifer Lopez to come. Monkeybone is added to Frasier's list of bad movies.

 

You know, thinking about it, I don't think the connections are as strong as I recalled. It's just the impression of being an oscar-aimed film with surrealistic moments or interludes. It was more of a feeling, though- I retract the direct comparison.

 

A couple fun guilty pleasures, though.

 

Hmm- looking into things, it may be a mistake in the wiki list I'm referencing- it seems BHD didn't actually come out until December 2001, in limited release, with a wide release in Jan 02. Oh well, no sense changing it here now.

On the subject of BHD, it's been awhile since I saw it but I recall it being one of the first modern war films to take that style to combat- the "gritty dirt look" of recent Scott and Bay films. Might not necessarily be the first, but people seem to point towards BHD being the film copied in such situations.

 

One thing I notice when reading these lists is that I'm pretty sure that there has been a trend towards more world wide releases, or at least releasing the films in a shorter time period. Many of the film listed here are films that didn't show up in Europe until late Summer/Autumn/Early Winter, nowadays we do get most of the films not too far off from the American release. There are still exceptions though of course.

 

Good point- that's something that is starting to come into effect aroun this time- just look at the various worldwide release dates TPM had in 1999, compared to a mostly global release for AOTC in 2002 or the Matrix sequels in 2003.

 

It wouldn't be the senate if they did

 

March & April 2001

Notable releases: (listed in release order)

March:
-The Mexican
-Enemy at the Gates
-Exit Wounds
-Heartbreakers
-Say It Isn't So
-Spy Kids
-The Tailor of Panama
-Tomcats

April:
-Along Came A Spider
-Blow
-Bridget Jones' Diary
-Frailty
-Joe Dirt
-Josie and the Pussycats
-Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles
-Freddy Got Fingered
-Driven

T2Q Comments:

-Enemy at the Gates: Solid WW2 sniper-vs-sniper flick

-Say It Isn't So: A lower level Farrely Bros comedy, but not without it's moments.

-Spy Kids: I think the first one was a fun flick that had a fun energy to it, though the series got progressively sillier from here.

-Along Came A Spider: Unsuccessful attempt at establishing a franchise with Morgan Freeman's character from 1997's Kiss the Girls.

-Blow: Not a classic, but a pretty solid film worth seeing once. Depp, as always, is quite good here.

-Frailty: I never saw this, but have been meaning to, as it received very good reviews, especially for a horror film. Also curious as it was Paxton's directorial debut as well.

-Joe Dirt: Occasionally funny, but certainly not a comedy to recommend that much. But enjoyable if you just sit down with a buncha friends, though it helps if you like David Spade. Though extreme points of awesomeness for the use of Christopher Walken and his infinitely quoteable "...or I'm gonna stab you in the face with a soldering iron."

-Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles: Never saw it, but it's a sequel made 10 years to late (and I rather liked both original movies)

-Freddy Got Fingered: Absolutely horrible- it's like Tom Green set out to make the worst film possible. It has only two hilarious moments (in my twisted opinion)- both of which are in the trailers and only one of which is in the actual movie (the deleted "cheese helmet!" scene and the "daddy would you like some sausage?" absurdity). The aggressively fellatio-obsessed girlfriend was randomly amusing as well.

-Driven: This one was, sadly, not very good. It tried to be a more serious or slightly more realistic Days of Thunder but ended up being too absurd and dull. Some good crash scenes, but a disappointment for both Stallone and Harlin.



Overall Trends: Tom Green would never be allowed to do anything more than appear in a movie again, Stallone would continue to have a string of bad flicks for years that Driven is just one of.

 

You didn't mention Bridget Jones. I think that is the essential chick-flick of at least the early 2000s. Bridget is also a household name in a way that few other chick-flick characters have managed. Sure you know that for example Julia Roberts have been in a couple of rom-coms, but do you know any of the names of her characters? Also how many films like that gets sequels?

 

Definitely have a point there- that was a fairly significant chick flick that we heard of for quite awhile.

 

Roddy Piper disagrees with you.