With Hollywood cranking out blockbuster fare at a staggering rate, and arthouse cinema
fully coming into its own, the '90s were an excitingly mixed bag at the multiplex.
This combination of high and low art carried over into video stores too, inspiring movie
buffs to scour shelves for both big-budget bonanzas and obscure festival hits.
Sadly, those searches often proved fruitless, leaving some of the decade's best films largely
unseen by the masses.
Here are a few '90s gems that are absolutely worthy of your attention — if you can track
them down, that is.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
No single show changed the landscape of television in the '90s more than David Lynch's supernatural
murder mystery Twin Peaks.
Even after a game-changing first season, the show was unceremoniously cancelled in the
midst of its wildly uneven second season.
Once the show ended, fans were delighted to find out that Lynch still had Twin Peaks tales
to tell.
One of those tales — that of Laura Palmer's last week on Earth — got the big screen
treatment in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
Free from the creative shackles of television, Lynch used the chance to craft his most complex,
uncompromising film to date.
Sadly, even the most devoted of Twin Peaks' fanbase had trouble connecting with Fire Walk
With Me's artsy eccentricities.
The film proved divisive amongst critics, all but ignored in its theatrical release,
and unfairly doomed to a sort of purgatory in the process.
For all of its quirks, Fire Walk With Me stands as a creative high point for Lynch, breathlessly
combining his penchant for experimentation with his trademarked biting commentary on
the American dream.
Though the film has had its defenders over the years, and has long held the title of
"cult classic," it still feels like not enough people have actually seen it.
Chaplin
Before Robert Downey Jr. put Marvel on the map with his now iconic turn in Iron Man,
Richard Attenborough tapped him to star in his Charlie Chaplin bio-pic, appropriately
titled Chaplin.
Lucky for Attenborough — and for film buffs everywhere — Downey Jr. turned in the finest
performance of his young career, landing RDJ his first Oscar nomination.
But Attenborough's film is more than just a showcase for Downey Jr.'s talent.
Though it didn't fare well with critics who lamented its 143-minute runtime and overall
lack of ingenuity, Chaplin remains a lovingly crafted, in-depth look behind the curtain
of one of cinema's greatest innovators.
The film is likely to inspire viewers to go back and explore Chaplin's own mind-blowing
body of work as well, not to mention the mostly terrific work Downey Jr. has delivered in
the years since Chaplin's release.
Red Rock West
Things have certainly gotten away from Nicolas Cage over the past decade or so, but throughout
the '90s he was still deemed an exciting, supremely talented actor, the sort who could
handle big-budget fare but still wow in micro-budget indies.
So it came as no surprise that he'd follow one of his biggest box office hits — Honeymoon
In Vegas — by starring as a wayward drifter in John Dahl's Red Rock West.
Don't worry if you've never heard of the brilliant neo-noir thriller.
The film's been all but lost to history since its release — which is a shame, because
Dahl's nimble tale of small-town swindling and mistaken identity is just as slick today
as it was back in 1996.
It also happens to feature one of Cage's most understated and effecting performances.
With any luck, the aging actor might one day remember that, sometimes, less actually is
more — especially when bees are involved.
"Not not the bees.
"not the bees."
Ah."
"My eyes.
My eyes.
Ah"
Dick
Back in 1999, a political satire titled Dick should've gotten a lot more attention than
it did.
Sadly, in the almost two decades since the comedy's release, the film still hasn't found
its audience.
With any luck, however, the current political climate might change that.
After all, the girl-power-centric story of political upheaval carries as much weight
today as it might have in the year it was set.
The fact that Dick also features winning performances from Kirsten Dunst, Michelle Williams, and
Dan Hedaya as a brilliant Nixon caricature makes it even more worthy of notice.
Full of insightful stoner-styled comedy, and featuring a terrific supporting cast of gifted
comedians, Dick is a must-see that too many moviegoers missed the first time around.
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
Loosely adapted from Jean-Pierre Melville's New Wave classic, Le Samurai, 1999's Ghost
Dog: The Way of the Samurai sees notoriously experimental director Jim Jarmusch at his
most accessible.
Whereas Le Samurai saw its titular silent assassin skulking around the back alleys of
Paris, Forest Whitaker's eponymous Ghost Dog calls the mean streets of Brooklyn home.
Jarmusch bolstered the film's spiritual insights by frequently quoting Samurai philosophy and
backed his sword-swinging killer's gritty, urban journey with a head-nodding original
score from Wu Tang Clan's RZA.
Combining ancient warrior wisdom with a stylish hip-hop vibe, Jarmusch spins an engrossing
and deeply satisfying story of modern-day honor amongst thieves that still resonates
with film fanatics today.
Stir of Echoes
The ripple effect from The Sixth Sense's breakout success is still being felt in Hollywood today;
in other words, it seems like every modern horror film comes prepackaged with its own
flashy, twist ending.
Now, imagine that you released a haunting horror film rife with unsettling imagery — and,
yes, a shocking twist — a mere month after The Sixth Sense changed the horror game.
Even if your film was just as clever and scary as M. Night Shyamalan's masterpiece, it'd
be virtually impossible to match those Sixth Sense-sized expectations.
Such was the case with David Koepp's Stir of Echoes.
Following the trials and tribulations of a working-class dad who starts to experience
terrifying visions after a hypnosis hiccup, Koepp's film is often just as smart and creepy
as The Sixth Sense.
At times, Stir of Echoes even bests Shyamalan's flick on both fronts, but it also features
a child who can speak to dead people, so yeah, you can see the problem with its being released
after Haley Joel Osment uttered those now iconic words.
"I see dead people."
Still, Stir of Echoes is far from a cheap knock off, and horror fans unfamiliar with
the unsung flick owe it to themselves to give it a shot.
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