Movies still have the power to become cultural events. But it’s not as strong as it used to be before our collective attention span splintered into a trillion directions. It is hard to describe the effect 1996’s Scream had when it was released to someone who hadn’t
If you can say one thing about 80s cinema, it was willing to take chances. 1987’s Mannequin might have been the most ludicrous concept to come to a theater, until Weekend at Bernie’s two years later. Kim Cattrall is the spirit of an ancient Egyptian who somehow gets
There are just director-actor combos that seem to just go together. Alfred Hitchcock had Jimmy Stewart. John Ford and John Wayne. And Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. We’ve talked about their collaborations before with Ed Wood. 1999’s Sleepy Hollow is another one of their perfect pairings. It’
Hollywood is a copycat factory. If there’s a hit movie, you can guarantee there are going to be movies just like it in the years following its release. Raiders of the Lost Ark set the world on fire in 1981, so of course there were going to be clones.
There are times movies can represent the generational divide between audiences. 1984’s Sixteen Candles is one of them. Among its core Gen-X audience, it’s considered a classic. However, among Gen-Z on the internet, it’s considered a crime against humanity. John Hughes learned a lesson on
Before Marvel movies ruled the box office, Batman was the superhero every studio was trying to chase. Todd McFarlane created Spawn in 1992, and it only took Spawn five years to make it to theaters in 1997. Spawn is a marine killed in a double cross and makes a deal
Sometimes all a movie needs to do is be a great time. 1993’s Demolition Man fits that definition. It was Sylvester Stallone’s other big movie of the year, behind Cliffhanger, and was the lesser hit of the two. Wesley Snipes is at his over-the-top best as
1999 was a big year for the evolution of the teen comedy. You had 10 Things I Hate About You tricking young people into watching a Shakespeare adaptation, and Never Been Kissed having a student-teacher romance without all the baggage of how wrong that would be considered a couple
Neve Campbell would have two big movies in 1996. One you all know very well in Scream. The other came earlier in the year, with The Craft. It was a sleeper hit revolving around four teen girls turning to witchcraft to wipe away their perceived flaws. But they all learn
Let’s play a game of what if. What if someone said there’s this great movie about these musicians fighting for fame and trying to outdo each other, and one of them decides to kill the other one? You’d probably think it’s some modern rock thriller. Instead,
There are horror movies, and there are movies that will horrify you. 1980’s The Blue Lagoon falls into the latter category. A 14-year-old Brooke Shields and 18-year-old Christopher Atkins are two cousins shipwrecked alone on an island sometime in the late 1800s. The movie wants
There’s not any doubt Julia Roberts was the queen of the 90s box office. Her power was so strong, she could take on a villain role, and still somehow come off likeable. 1997’s My Best Friend’s Wedding has her looking to steal her male best friend of