Cinematic Throwbacks: April 1991/2001/2011

2001:

Blow was directed by Ted Demme, a guy who had spent a decade directing comedies (The Ref, Life, obviously Beautiful Girls). But with this movie he took his shot at something bigger, a film about a man (Johnny Depp) who became a middle man between the US and Columbia as cocaine blew up in the 70s and 80s. 

It's very much a Goodfellas homage (they didn't cast Ray Liotta by accident), with quite a bit of Boogie Nights thrown in there. I'm guessing that familiarity is why it didn't do better. But it's too bad. This is a very good film. Depp, in one of his last movies before Pirates of the Caribbean completely changed his career trajectory, is great. I do wish that they had cast someone other than Penelope Cruz, who at this point was very new to English language acting and it showed. She's still better than Depp's mom in this. But there are lots of other colorful supporting characters and some odd casting picks that pay off (Paul Ruebens). You even get young little Emma Roberts in her debut. 

Sadly this was Demme's last film, as he died less than a year after it came out. It's too bad. He was primed for a long career. 

Do you remember what it was like to be young in the spring of 2001? Just pop on this movie, one of the all time time capsule flicks.

This thing was a big bomb at the time. I can see why. It came amidst a slew of teen movies, and even though this was very different from most of that genre, it wasn't marketed that way. And I could see how a lot of the audience that DID see it missed the satire and felt the movie was calling them a bunch of brainwashed lemmings.

I had huge anticipation for this at the time, cause it was Rachael Leigh Cook's 1st big movie after She's All That made her an instant favorite. She was paired with early Rosario Dawson, and Tara Reid right before she became a disaster. All 3 are good here. The preposterously cute Cook is aces, Dawson is effortless, and Reid is legit cute as the ditz. They're a lot of fun. And they make up for a cast that behind them is largely awful (Parker Posey is at her very worst here).

All the pop culture gags date the movie immediately. I can't even imagine being 20 and watching this movie now for the first time. But that's a positive for it now. Plus the music is sneaky great. 

2011:

No film series was bigger for me in the late 90s than Scream. 1 and 2 are peerless. But 3 kind of stunk. I always figured that was it, since the horror boom Scream got going faded pretty fast, as the genre got overtaken by remakes and found footage.

But I was definitely up for a new Scream. Apparently I was in the minority, since Scream 4 really did not do very well. And it came and went very quietly, neither igniting a new slasher wave or making stars out of anybody. I don't get it. Scream 4 isn't at the level of the first 2. But it's pretty damn good. The in-joke style sometimes feels very dated, but the movie is very sharp about what it is.

They really nailed 2 of the key parts of these films. One, the pre-title sequence was great (Aimee Teegarden, where have you gone?) and two, the mystery over the killer's identity is really well done. The good Screams are highly underrated as whodunits. Spoiler alert, I was pretty damn surprised that Emma Roberts was the killer.

These movies are never really scary (the scariest thing in this movie is probably Courtney Cox's plastic surgery), but the characters mostly work here again. I will never not love Neve Campbell in this role. Hayden Panetierre rocks in this. I liked Marley Shelton a lot (coming back in part 5, I guess). Roberts really goes for it. Some of these other actors vanished from the scene quickly.

Sadly, as with Blow, this was the last movie from its director, as Wes Craven died a few years later. Now we do have a part 5 coming probably next year. I hope it gets the success 4 never did.

The Fast and the Furious franchise has grown so expansive that it might be hard to recall how just a decade ago it really became it's own cinematic universe.

I mean, it was kind of a big deal that this movie brought in characters from all the 4 previous movies. At the time I didn't even really know who a few were. Sure I knew who Tyrese Gibson was and who Gal Gadot was. But I wasn't as up on my Tokyo Drift lore, so who was this Han guy? And who were those 2 Spanish speaking dudes? Tbh I'm still not quite sure on that last point.  Fast Five was like a mega sequel and a reboot. Was the Ludacris character always some tech savvy safecracker? Well he is now. 

Fast Five is just a fucking blast. This franchise always delivers great action set pieces, but this has some of it's best, from the train heist at the start to the police chase at the end. They also keep sprinkling in enough of the car racing stuff to still feel connected to the ftanchise's start. I still dig all the further sequels but I wish they would rein it in a bit on the really over the top stuff. This movie is pretty street level still. No cars falling out of planes, no submarines, no magnet planes.

And yes, this movie brought in Dwayne Johnson, and boy oh boy does he know EXACTLY what kind of movie he is in and exactly what kind of role he has. It's too bad his hatred of Vin Diesel has kind of altered how the franchise uses him, but in this movie those two hating each other is only a positive.

Wait, isn't this the same idea as Kick Ass? Well yeah. Super is also about a normal guy (Rainn Wilson) who decides to become a superhero. It's also a hard R. It's not on Kick Ass's level. It's not nearly as funny. But it carves out its own niche.

This movie, historically speaking, is maybe most noteworthy for being James Gunn's last movie before he joined the MCU. I'm not sure it was THE movie that got him the Guardians job, but I'm sure it didn't hurt. There's even a handful of actors that carried over.

Wilson is fine as the lead, the eventual "Crimson Bolt" with the amusingly stupid catchphrase of "shut up, crime!" The character is meant to be a pathetic sad sack. More dynamic is TAFKA Ellen Page, who goes way over the top as his eventual sidekick. And Kevin Bacon is a pretty good bad guy. 

Others from these years:

1991:

Hangin With The Homeboys: I remember watching this movie a lot, kind of a forgotten movie in that early 90s black movie surge. Just a movie about 4 buddies hanging out on a Fridsy night in NYC. 

Drop Dead Fred: Infamously bad "comedy"

Oscar: Okay, I'm in the minority on this, but I kinda like this Stallone comedy. 

Toy Soldiers: Remember watching this a lot too back in the day. Die Hard at a prep school. Solid early Sean Astin. 

2001:

Along Came A Spider: The Kiss The Girls sequel. It wasn't as good but I'm surprised we never got any more of these. 

Joe Dirt: This David Spade comedy developed a bit of a cult over the years, but I thought it was crap. 

Bridget Jones's Diary: This movie was probably the last time I was in on Renee Zellweger. 

Freddy Got Fingered: Not often 1 movie literally kills a whole career, but this did it. Tom Green was done after this fiasco. I couldn't believe what I was watching when I saw this in theaters. How did this get made? How? Tbh over the years though I have almost developed some respect for just how insane it is.

The Forsaken: A throwaway vampire movie that I saw cause it had people from Dawson's Creek and Roswell. WB represent! ✊

Driven: A lousy car racing flick with Stallone. Iirc this was the last time he even got a movie into theaters for a while.

2011:

Hanna:

Soul Surfer: I saw this movie about the surfer who got her arm bit off by a shark. I was kinda hoping AnnaSophia Robb was gonna become something but that never really happened. 

Your Highness: God I hated this. A horribly unfunny medieval comedy. I have no idea why Natalie chose to be in this, but she is easily the best thing in it. 

Water For Elephants: A pretty forgotten offseason Oscar bait flick with Reese Witherspoon, and Christoph Waltz in one of his many villain roles.

Coming in May...

Alright here come some biggies. 10 years since Thor. 20 years since the unjustly maligned Pearl Harbor. A whopping 30 since the criminally underappreciated Hudson Hawk.