My decision to reach back 20 years meant I needed to cover 1991 before 2011 ended. This year was tough because I was a little to young to appreciate a lot of movies. Be sure to check out previous looks at 1993, 1995, 1997 and 2000
Best of the Best
If these are on, life stops
- Doc Hollywood – Very likely my favorite non-Back to the Future Michael J. Fox movie1 this is a solid, funny movie with a pretty good cast. I’d watch it anytime, and even though I have it #1 here, I don’t know if it cracks my top 20 all-time, and maybe that’s underrating it.
- JFK – I love historical fiction, and although this is based on a true story, a lot of it is likely made up. Really cool twists and turns and an absolutely monster cast of cameos. This is a long one, so it’s hard to watch with commercials.
- The Silence of the Lambs – Still regularly quoted, still immensely scary, Anthony Hopkins is amazing as Hannibal Lecter. Pretty pointless to watch on regular cable so it’s not on all that often.
- White Fang – Based on a classic novel, so hopefully that excuses the cheesiness. I don’t know why, but I just really like this movie.
- The Rocketeer – No excuse for cheesiness here, just good old fashioned period piece about a guy with a jetpack battling Nazi movie stars. Wasn’t this a Disney movie?
Favorites
These are movies that I like and still watch if the opportunity arises.
- Backdraft – Would have been #6 on the above list if it had got to 6. Great movie and decent cast, plus it’s in Chicago, but it’s hard to put a movie that high when a non-Alec Baldwin is the lead.
- The Commitments – About a guy in Dublin who is forming a soul band. Tremendous soundtrack, and the right amount of humor. Takes a special kind of person to like this movie, but those that do cherish it.
- Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead – Barely escaped the “guilty pleasure” section, almost exclusively for two reasons, Christina Applegate in the the peak of “Married with Children” avoiding typecasting as an airhead and a small role by Josh Charles of Sports Night and The Good Wife.
- Father of the Bride – Steve Martin when he was still churning out good movies. Martin Short when people still knew who he was.
Guilty Pleasures
- My Girl – Like the next movie on this list, one that people around my age almost certainly loved. An at his peak Macaulay Culkin, a still relevant Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis and an impossible to love nobody named Anna Chlumsky.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze – If you were a boy born between 1980 and 1985, it’s almost impossible for you to not like this movie, possibly even more than the original.
- What About Bob? – Bill Murray as only Bill Murray can do. Richard Dreyfus showing us why late 80s/early 90s fashion will never come back.
List of Shame
Movies that I have not seen
- City Slickers – Never a big Billy Crystal guy, but this one is supposed to be good.
- The Doors – Mostly makes this list because we own it and I’ve never seen it.
- Hot Shots! – Not a big Sheen guy either2, but this was supposedly a good spoof movie when those were still good.
- The Last Boy Scout – Just appealing because it’s, a near-his-peak Bruce Willis, a relatively unknown Damon Wayans3 and Tony Scott directing.
- Necessary Roughness – On my DVR. Probably not missing much here, but feel the need to call it out.
- New Jack City – Wesley Snipes made a lot of cheesy but good action movies in the early 90s. Plus it has Ice T and a cool name.
- Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves – Although this movie was somewhat panned, I still love Robin Hood and probably should have seen it by now.
- Terminator 2: Judgement Day – Just recently saw the original. No excuse for not immediately following it up with the sequel. Easily the most shameful of 1991.
Other Films of Note
Films that jumped out at me or have significance that I haven’t seen or don’t have particularly strong feelings for
- The Adams Family – Made a lot of money bringing back a classic TV show. Enough so that they made a sequel.
- Beauty and the Beast – The Disney moneymaker of the year. Still a favorite amongst women around my age.
- Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey – Listed because of my hatred for Keanu and the fact that I have never seen either Bill and Ted movie.
- Boyz n the Hood – Saw it. Didn’t love it.
- Bugsy – Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley and Barry Levinson directing. It won a Golden Globe.
- Cape Fear – Scorsese and De Niro. Probably enough said. Not my thing.
- Drop Dead Fred – Phoebe Cates while she was still relevant. I remember people my age liking this but I never saw it.
- Hook – Discarded as a result of my disdain for Robin Williams. Another one people my age loved.
- The Man in the Moon – Literally Reese Witherspoon’s first movie.
- Nothing But Trouble – Never heard of this one, but it had Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd and John Candy at the tail end of their primes, and a somewhat young Demi Moore right around hers. Something seems out of place.
- Point Break – Another Keanu movie. Another skip.
- Suburban Commando – Hilarious that people that Hulk Hogan could succeed as an actor.
- The Secret of My Success and Greedy are the only other ones in the conversation [↩]
- And even less so now [↩]
- Not necessarily a good thing [↩]
