Last Updated on August 3, 2021
DRIVING MISS DAISY
Movies that tackle racism and related subjects tend to be too on the nose (see CRASH) or are incredibly complex (see DO THE RIGHT THING). Then, there is DRIVING MISS DAISY. Like THE HELP, this is a movie lauded by critics but when you revisit it, you find that there is no substance to the volatile subject matter it is displaying. While DRIVING MISS DAISY did win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, and both Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy are excellent, the movie just feels like it doesn’t have anything of substance to say.
YOU’VE GOT MAIL
Reteaming SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE stars Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan was going to guarantee box office success for YOU’VE GOT MAIL, a remake of THE LITTLE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER. Romantic comedies usually work well years later, but the brutally dated technology at the core of this movie makes it groanworthy. If the characters had written each other letters, this movie would feel timeless, but the fact it was made during the heyday of AOL, the movie becomes a relic of a bygone era.
MORTAL KOMBAT
Man, 1995 was brutal. Back then, MORTAL KOMBAT was the hottest video game around so a movie had to be made. Schlock-master Paul W.S. Anderson brought the game to life using the cheesiest special effects and B-level cast possible. Somehow, it was still fun and the theme song still rattles around in my brain to this day. But, if you watch it today, it looks worse than even the cheapest YouTube fan video. That is not a good thing.
CROCODILE DUNDEE
Despite fan reaction to the Super Bowl commercial for the fake sequel starring Danny McBride, the original CROCODILE DUNDEE is not very good. A surprise hit in 1986, Paul Hogan’s fish out of water character ignited a fad of Australian goods in the United States that faded just as quickly as it started. Two sequels proved that CROCODILE DUNDEE had one joke that they just kept using over and over. Guess what? The original joke wasn’t that funny to begin with.
THE NET
1995, again? How did Hollywood get the Internet so wrong? The use of hacking and online technology on display in THE NET is laughable when you look at it today, especially when you realize there was not a single computer or website that looked remotely like anything Sandra Bullock’s character uses in the movie. Nothing comes remotely close to looking realistic in this cheap thriller. Hell, no one even calls it the Net anymore!
WORKING GIRL
If you grew up in the 1980s, you will look back at WORKING GIRL and point and laugh in memory of when you dressed or acted like Melanie Griffith’s character. Like a high school yearbook, WORKING GIRL serves only as a reminder of just how silly everyone looked back then. But, when you actually watch the movie, you see that the Cinderella/Pygmillion story is populate by nothing but stereotypes of New Yorkers and other fads of the era.
SPACE JAM
Michael Jordan was, at one point, the most famous person on the planet. So, of course, he starred in a movie. SPACE JAM is a cherished favorite for many people but I hate to say it is just not that good. The animation blended with live action doesn’t hold a candle to WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT and Jordan looks like he is having no fun in the movie at all. The animation doesn’t look very good, even by mid-1990s standards.
GREASE
GREASE has a dedicated fan base that love the catchy songs and memorable characters. Most people remember seeing the movie for the first time as young children and likely remember it fondly. But, if you watch it again as an adult, you will find that the subject matter is wholly inappropriate for the age the characters are supposed to be. Couple that with a song that features implications of rape and you have a movie that is far from family friendly.
BIG
Before he was the national treasure he is today, Tom Hanks made some interesting acting choices. BIG was a chance for the then comedic actor to start moving into more dramatic territory. At least that is what I thought back then. Watching BIG now is a creepy experience when you can really process what this young kid trapped in an adult body is going through. Plus, the entire concept of the toy store and product designs are dated and only serve as nostalgia.
HACKERS
In 1995, the Internet was just starting to become the phenomenon that would take over our daily lives. Back then, when floppy disks and zip drives were a thing, the general public didn’t quite understand terms like “hacking”. Apparently neither did Hollywood as their interpretation of what computer users did looked like bright colored ones and zeroes flying across the screen like a scene out of RAIN MAN. Twenty years later, HACKERS is just embarrassing.
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