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Beverly Hills Ninja
Director: Dennis Dugan
Screenplay: Mark Feldberg, Mitch Klebanoff
Starring: Chris Farley, Nicollette Sheridan
In an alternate reality, Chris Farley is still around and making great American comedy films. Unfortunately, this was one of the final three films the comedic titan made and it’s kind of a dud, but still worth watching for Farley’s manic performance.
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The Blob
Director: Chuck Russell
Screenplay: Chuck Russell, Frank Darabont
Starring: Kevin Dillon, Shawnee Smith
The 1998 remake of this classic fifties film didn’t get much appreciation when it came out but it had its campy thrills. It’s since become a cult classic in part for its damn decent special effects and in part because of the incomparable Matt Dillon.
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Melancholia
Director: Lars von Trier
Screenplay: Lars von Trier
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg
Lars von Trier has gotten recognition for taking women and putting them into dangerous situations oftentimes to great detraction by the critics. In this beautiful film, he tackles depression with an incredible—honestly, shocking—performance by Kirsten Dunst.
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The Devil’s Advocate
Director: Taylor Hackford
Screenplay: Tony Gilroy, Jonathan Lemkin
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino
Al Pacino is the devil. Keanu Reeves somehow got a law degree.
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Encino Man
Director: Les Mayfield
Screenplay: George Zaloom, Shawn Schepps
Starring: Sean Astin, Brendan Fraser, Pauly Shore
Before Sean Astin was adventuring with Frodo, he was making nineties classic like Encino Man and The Goonies. In addition to the star-turn performance of Brendan Fraser, this movie represents the apex of the Golden Age of Pauly Shore.
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The Hunt for Red October
Director: John McTiernan
Screenplay: Larry Ferguson, Donald E. Stewart
Starring: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin
Those pesky Russians are at it again, and only CIA agent Jack Ryan can save us all in this thriller, which you can see on repeat every Father’s Day on either TBS, TNT or USA Network.
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La Bamba
Director: Luis Valdez
Screenplay: Luis Valdez
Starring: Lou Diamond Phillips, Danielle von Zerneck
The tragic story of teen pop icon Richie Valens comes to life with Lou Diamond Phillips. Can anyone tell us where the hell LDP is now?
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The Mask
Director: Chuck Russell
Screenplay: Mike Werb
Starring: Jim Carrey, Cameron Diaz
This film and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective came out in the same year. Can you imagine how exhausted Jim Carrey must have been in 1994?
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Misery
Director: Rob Reiner
Screenplay: William Goldman
Starring: Kathy Bates, James Caan
Misery comes across as a weird form of fantasy fulfillment for author Stephen King as well as a word of warning for potential authors: don’t cross your fans and don’t kill off beloved characters. You might just end up tied to a bed with your feet broken.
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Road House
Director: Rowdy Herrington
Screenplay: David Lee Henry, Hilary Henkin
Starring: Patrick Swayze, Kelly Lynch
Let this be a warning to any person who thinks they should get their PhD in the soft sciences or humanities: you’ll probably just end up working as a cooler in a Texas roadhouse. If that’s your aim, then let this film be your guide.
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School Daze
Director: Spike Lee
Screenplay: Spike Lee
Starring: Larry Fishburne, Tisha Campbell
An interesting exploration of colorism at a historically black college.
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Director: Steve Barron
Screenplay: Todd W. Langen, Bobby Herbeck
Starring: Judith Hoag, Elias Koteas
The original 1990 film followed much more closely to the decidedly dark and gritty TMNT comic books while still keeping some of the levity of the children’s TV show. Unfortunately, all of that was lost in the subsequent sequel.
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
Director: Michael Pressman
Screenplay: Todd W. Langen
Starring: Paige Turco, Ernie Reyes Jr.
The highlight of this film is the animatronic creatures created by Jim Henson who died before he could see the debut of the film. The movie is the last in his legacy and is worth watching for that reason alone.
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time
Director: Stuart Gillard
Screenplay: Stuart Gillard
Starring: Elias Koteas, Paige Turco
Imagine the Last Samurai meets the Ninja Turtles and you have this gem of a film finding the four amphibian brothers in feudal Japan.
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The Eric Andre Show: Season 4
Created by: Eric Andre
Starring: Eric Andre, Hannibal Buress
Eric Andre might actually be insane, which makes watching his show all the more interesting. Not recommended if you have a soft stomach.
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Prince Avalanche
Director: David Gordon Green
Screenplay: David Gordon Green
Starring: Paul Rudd, Emile Hirsch
Bear with us because this movie is about two guys in the middle of nowhere in Texas walking around and painting lines on the highway and talking and not talking. Y’know, guy stuff. But it’s pretty good and the soundtrack rules.
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Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Director: Robert Wise
Screenplay: Harold Livingston
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy
Hulu is unleashing the entire collection of original Star Trek films so cinephiles can see exactly how much better they are than the new, shiny CGI train wrecks. You know the story here—they’re boldly going places no man has gone before for about an hour and a half to two hours.
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John Dies at the End
Director: Don Coscarelli
Screenplay: Don Coscarelli
Starring: Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes
The film is all over the place and kind of a mixed bag of good and bad but it’s fun and worth the view. Earth is being invaded via a new street drug and the title is true.
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Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Director: Adam McKay
Screenplay: Will Ferrell, Adam McKay
Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly
The film is the second best cinematic representation of auto racing just behind Days of Thunder and certainly one of the best Ferrell/Reilly/McKay comedies.
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Dark City
Director: Alex Proyas
Screenplay: Alex Proyas, David S. Goyer, Lem Dobbs
Starring: Rufus Sewell, Jennifer Connelly
This is one of the great forgotten science fiction films of, not just the late nineties, but perhaps all time and ranks up there with Metropolis or Frankenstein. The film is a neo-noir set in a fictional nowhere city, John Murdoch wakes up with no knowledge of his past and blood on his hands. WATCH THIS FILM.
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