We didn't care we just went and enjoyed I guess...the experience of not knowing what ur gonna see doesn't happen anymore now. Everyone has to complain and moan about it and let you know how much they complain and moan about it... Loudly.
I was watching the 90s version of The Mummy last weekend and I was shocked by how much competent it was than modern equivalents. Surely I'm not immune to nostalgia, but the pacing and the way it communicates what you need to know about each character was very precise and well done
We mainlined videostore boy recs and weird imports and old cinema so we could snark at serviceable big budget stuff because no one, no one had could fathom they would just stop using cinematography, color, montage and script acts making movies to $ave…wait, make 20x more expensive to make somehow
The smugness of that movie marketing killed it dead. This was the SURE FIRE masterpiece hit EVERYONE HAD TO SEE! or so the commercials said over and over. The Marketing backfired big time. Lucky he had True Lies right after.
Between rentals allowing small and international films to spread, the growth of festivals, and megaplexes it was pretty fun. There was an awareness that 1999 was a wild year by the fall
My firm belief is that today's filmgoers don't know how good we have it
And in 3 decades or so, people will look back on this as "the good old days"
And the people currently alive will wonder "how on earth can you consider this the good old days?"
Heartily agree. And despite the big whale who won't be named, Miramax really brought it. The whole vibe was so creative & inventive. I don't think it felt so at the time, but looking back we had some of our best actors making some of the most daring movies. Now they make commercials.
The whole decade was packed with goodness in every genre. Peak romcom, peak sci-fi, peak action, wild and out there horror, peak animation, we even had some great comedies.
I think it also really good at taking funny concepts and cranking them up. “Living painting assassins? Why not a whole ROOM of living painting assassins?”
If I'd gone to the movies in the 90s I would agree with you. Unfortunately I spent too much time in gigs, pubs and clubs to pay any attention until the Matrix really
Hmm…Pros:
1) kids/family movies were peak. Like the sheer number of what we’d now call isekai stories where they’d casually build a whole world on set? If you only know about Mario, Last Action Hero, and Warriors of Virtue - buddy that’s the tip of the iceberg. They were makin those left and right
2) Animation was also peak. Not just the Disney movies, there’s truly a glut of gorgeous work done that decade, and surprisingly few duds.
3) high concept movies were also peak, and got lavish productions. Everyone chasing that Home Alone high and somehow succeeding. Beautiful.
3) rom coms were on the rise and grew into their own. The 80s started the trend but struggled with it in a way the 90s didnt
4) indie movies came back with a vengeance. Almost everything about what happened in this space was a net benefit.
Cons:
1) the one not net benefit was Weinstein’s rise…
2)Action movies peaked early and plateaued. Everyone was chasing their Die Hard or Pulp Fiction and crashing hard. Just the opposite of what was happening in high concept land.
3) horror was a deeply mixed bag. Some gems mixed in with a flood of absolute dogshit. Really frustrating
4) sequels nearly always sucked back then. I think people have forgotten how little studios cared about follow ups besides cashing in. The modern goal of building a franchise didn’t exist back then, some sequels just got lucky.
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People weren't ready.
The 90's was full of sequels and garbage.
We will never see an era like 75-95 again.
Jaws started it all.
And in 3 decades or so, people will look back on this as "the good old days"
And the people currently alive will wonder "how on earth can you consider this the good old days?"
There have been plenty of truly incredible movies. There's just also been plenty of slop.
The whole decade was packed with goodness in every genre. Peak romcom, peak sci-fi, peak action, wild and out there horror, peak animation, we even had some great comedies.
Never has there been a film that did so much with drag.
https://youtu.be/Uc21Z4ffSns?si=Y6a1IDrui5mrMe4l
1) kids/family movies were peak. Like the sheer number of what we’d now call isekai stories where they’d casually build a whole world on set? If you only know about Mario, Last Action Hero, and Warriors of Virtue - buddy that’s the tip of the iceberg. They were makin those left and right
3) high concept movies were also peak, and got lavish productions. Everyone chasing that Home Alone high and somehow succeeding. Beautiful.
4) indie movies came back with a vengeance. Almost everything about what happened in this space was a net benefit.
Cons:
1) the one not net benefit was Weinstein’s rise…
3) horror was a deeply mixed bag. Some gems mixed in with a flood of absolute dogshit. Really frustrating