As the world turns on, and cinema grows into a big monster that we can’t fathom, some of us are nostalgic for the old wonders! We backtracked to some of our favourite movies growing up with a small tidbit about it and our favourite moment in particular!
Don’t worry we have a round up of the next batch coming soon! The list definitely doesn’t end here!
Plot: 8 year old Kevin McCallister ( played by Macaulay Culkin) is mistakenly left behind when his family flies to Paris for Christmas vacation. Kevin initially relishes being home alone, but he soon has to deal with two burglars: Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern).
Our favourite moment: The smile on Kevin’s face when his family walk through the door on Christmas Day.
Did you know? The house this movie was shot in in Illinois is now a major tourist attraction – they even have guided tours!
Jurassic Park, 1993
Plot: We are taken to fictional island of Isla Nublar, located off Central America’s Pacific Coast near Costa Rica where a billionaire philanthropist John Hammond and a small team of genetic scientists have created a wildlife park of de-extinct dinosaurs. Then sabotage from the team within leads to a catastrophic shutdown of the park’s power facilities and security precautions, a small group of visitors and Hammond’s grandchildren struggle to survive and escape the perilous island of dinosaurs on the loose.
Our favourite moment: Two words – T Rex (in all his majestic glory!)
Did you know? This was the highest-grossing film of 1993 and the highest-grossing film ever at the time, a record held until the release of Titanic in 1997 and was actually shot in Hawaii!
Titanic, 1997
Plot: An epic romance and disaster within a film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. Incorporating both historical and fictionalized aspects, the film is based on accounts of the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
Our favourite moment: Leonardo DiCaprio being positive throughout, until the very end.
Did you know? The film is loosely based on the real sinking of the ship in 1912, featuring real passengers like Margaret “Molly” Brown, Thomas Andrews, J. Bruce Ismay, Captain Edward John Smith, John Jacob Astor IV, Benjamin Guggenheim, Colonel Archibald Gracie IV,Wallace Hartley, First Officer William Murdoch and several others!
Pretty Woman, 1990
Plot: The film’s story centers on down-on-her-luck Hollywood sex worker Vivian Ward, who is hired by Edward Lewis, a wealthy businessman, to be his escort for several business and social functions, and their developing relationship over the course of her week-long stay with him.
Our favourite moment: When this conversation happens: Edward asks, “So what happens after he climbed up the tower and rescues her?” Vivian responds, “She rescues him right back.”
Did you know? The film’s title Pretty Woman is based on “Oh, Pretty Woman”, written and sung by Roy Orbison. Also, the film was intended to be a dark drama about sex workers in LA in the 80s.
10 Things I Hate About You, 1999
Plot: This is one of our favourites! A modernised version of William Shakespeare’s late-16th century comedy The Taming of the Shrew, retold in a late-1990s American high school setting. In the story, new student Cameron (Gordon-Levitt) is smitten with Bianca (Oleynik) and, in order to get around her father’s strict rules on dating, attempts to get bad boy Patrick (Ledger) to date Bianca’s ill-tempered sister, Kat (Stiles).
Our favourite moment: Heath Ledger singing “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You”
Did you know? The film is titled after a poem written by Kat about her bittersweet romance with Patrick.
Scream, 1996
Plot: Sidney Prescott (Campbell), a high school student in the fictional town of Woodsboro, California, who becomes the target of a mysterious killer in a Halloween costume known as Ghostface, who murders several classmates and towns people while creating fear of the ghost mask in order to kill Sidney.
Our favourite moment: When the killer was revealed!
Did you know? It still remains the highest-grossing slasher film in adjusted dollars and is loosely based on a news story the writer was watching about a series of grisly murders by the Gainesville Ripper, Williamson became concerned about intruders upon finding an open window in the house where he was staying.
The Lion King, 1994
Plot: The Lion King tells the story of Simba (Swahili for lion[3]), a young lion who is to succeed his father, Mufasa, as King of the Pride Lands; however, after Simba’s paternal uncle Scar murders Mufasa, Simba is manipulated into thinking he was responsible and flees into exile. After growing up in the company of the carefree outcasts Timon and Pumbaa, Simba receives valuable perspective from his childhood friend, Nala, and his shaman, Rafiki, before returning to challenge Scar to end his tyranny and take his place in the Circle of Life as the rightful King.
Our favourite moment: When we found out the staff traveled to Hell’s Gate National Park in Kenya to research on the film’s setting and animals!
Did you know? This was the highest-grossing release of 1994, the highest-grossing animated film and the second-highest-grossing film of all time. It is also the highest-grossing traditionally animated film of all time, as well as the best-selling film on home video, having sold over 30 million VHS tapes.
Good Will Hunting, 1997
Plot: A 20 year old South Boston janitor Will Hunting, an unrecognized genius who is part of a deferred prosecution agreement after assaulting a police officer and a client of a therapist. He also studies advanced mathematics with a renowned professor. Through his therapy sessions, Will re-evaluates his relationships with his best friend, his girlfriend, and himself, facing the significant task of confronting his past and thinking about his future.
Our favourite moment: The conversation on Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Love & War on the park bench.
Did you know? Originally, many studio executives said they wanted Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio to star as the main leads. Weinstein however, bought the film and agreed to let Affleck and Damon (who wrote the script during his playwriting class at Harvard) star but asked about an out-of-place, mid-script oral sex scene, which Damon and Affleck explained was a test to see which studio executives had actually read the script. Also, this is the only movie Robin Williams ever won an Oscar for!
Clueless, 1995
Plot: A coming of age romantic comedy, this film stars Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Paul Rudd, Dan Hedaya, and Brittany Murphy. Clueless was produced by Scott Rudin and Robert Lawrence. The plot centers on Cher Horowitz, a high school student, who befriends a new student named Tai Frasier and decides to give her a makeover. Rotten tomatoes said: “A funny and clever reshaping of Emma, Clueless offers a soft satire that pokes as much fun at teen films as it does at the Beverly Hills glitterati.”
Our favourite moment: “As if!”
Did you know? It is loosely based on Jane Austen’s 1815 novel Emma
Goodfellas, 1990
Plot: It is an adaptation of the 1985 non-fiction book Wiseguy by New York crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese. The film narrates the rise and fall of mob associate Henry Hill and his friends and family from 1955 to 1980.
Our favourite moment: The opening scene with Tony Bennett’s “Rags to Riches” on the soundtrack, and in a voiceover you hear, “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.” And thus we explore the mob world.
Did you know? To prepare for their roles in the film, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta often spoke with Pileggi, who shared research material left over from writing the book. Also – Goodfellas has become famous for over the past quarter-century is its liberal use of the word “f**k.” In all, the expletive and its many colorful derivatives are used 300 times, making it the 12th most f-bomb laden film ever released.
