by My oldest daughter is mad at me. She is having trouble with her homework and is asking for help but apparently I’m not helping in the “correct” way which is some mysterious approach she is not really willing to explain to me. So instead I am working on trying to figure out my favorite movies from 1993. Probably better for my daughter’s homework and for my mental health this way.
Wow — maybe it was just the reality of being in the most demanding part of the three year lawschool schedule, but there are so many movies from 1993 that I never saw that (a) I am surprised I didn’t see back than and (b) really want to see now. Super mainstream but also impressive stuff like Philadelphia; Carlito’s Way; A Bronx Tale; and especially Robert Altman’s Short Cuts. There were also a ton of more independent films like The Piano; The Remains of the Day; The Scent of Green Papaya; Wide Sargasso Sea; Mi Vida Loca; Ruby in Paradise; and Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould. I’d also like to see Menace II Society and Poetic Justice. I also missed Steven Soderbergh’s King of the Hill; Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence; and Kenneth Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing. Finally there was a two-fer for quirky Johnny Depp roles: Benny & Joon and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.
I did see plenty of movies that year though but if I do start seeing some of the above I wonder if they’ll bump some of my current top ten list down a spot or two. I put Jurassic Park as my favorite simply because it was of its time simply visually amazing and still holds up well enough. A plausible enough plot with some interesting characters and Spielberg directing the heck of things. I put Schindler’s List at two which is probably the more important movie of Spielberg’s career (it was his first serious movie and led him to tackle more serious subjects). I had read the book in college three or four years before the movie came out and I remember thinking it was a good adaptation of the book. It’s not a happy subject but Spielberg did find a way to make a compelling movie about a flawed man trying to do something right in horrific circumstances.
- Jurassic Park
- Schindler’s List
- Dazed and Confused
- In the Name of the Father
- Romeo Is Bleeding
- Groundhog Day
- True Romance
- Mad Dog and Glory
- Red Rock West
- The Fugitive
This was the year of Tim Burton’s claymation classic The Nightmare Before Christmas. I have since seen that and The Secret Garden with my kids.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOtEdhKOMgQ?rel=0]
Other movies I liked from that year include Searching for Bobby Fischer; Fearless; Falling Down; The Firm and the other adaptation of a John Grisham novel Pelican Brief; Fearless; In the Line of Fire; Tombstone; The Three Musketeers; Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story; Manhattan Murder Mystery; and Six Degrees of Separation.
In addition to Mike Myers’ So I Married an Axe Murderer, there were some other decent comedies including Grumpy Old Men; Cool Runnings; and Dave. Plus three sequels: Addams Family Values; Wayne’s World 2; and Hot Shots! Part Deux. I am pretty sure the Thanksgiving pageant scene is from the Adams Family sequel — it’s one of my favorites:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VbYZDohsHk?rel=0]
