In retrospect, the 1990s seem to be an era of unbridled prosperity, especially when it comes to filmmaking. You couldn’t watch a movie without physically going to the theater or renting it from a video store. The movie. . . As a result, the 1990s were a real cash cow for producers.
Budgets were important, and the bidding wars for scripts were even greater. Studios were comfortable taking artistic risks, making a cash investment in stories that many production corporations would do today. The result of this dizzying decade of trust is a slew of enduring classics, brand new. and exclusive concepts brought to the screen.
To honor this golden age of cinema, we scoured Max’s vast library (née HBOMax) to find the best movies born in the ’90s.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have been staples in Hollywood for decades, so it’s easy to see just how mythical and dazzling their access to cinema was. But those two relatively unknown young brothers came to Hollywood with the script for Good Will Hunting and left. with an Oscar and a first-class life.
When an MIT professor (Stellan Skarsgård) puts a near-impossible math problem on his blackboard, he’s shocked to find that someone in the school has solved it… And that someone is the janitor, Will (Matt Damon). The professor helps Will, currently on parole, get permission from the court to study mathematics — provided he also receives therapy for his behavioral issues.
Good Will Hunting is a gripping and heartfelt drama that has been parodied, copied, and referenced, but never repeated. Ben Affleck is highly productive as Will’s brutal best friend, and Robin Williams won an Oscar for his performance as an empathetic, unconventional, counselorless man who might be the one to break out of his self-destructive tendencies and do anything with his life.
How to watch: Good Will Hunting is now streaming on Max.
Acerbic, irreverent, and intelligent, The Player is the best example of what Hollywood does best: making videos about itself!Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) is a movie man with a quiet life who begins to receive threatening postcards, possibly from one of his paintings. He has refused. His anxiety about messages leads him to a late-night confrontation with a disgruntled screen that in the end can turn his whole world upside down.
Directed by Robert Altman, The Player is a good-natured, self-aware satire that features 65 celebrity cameos and a stunned, stunning, and highly choreographed 7-minute opening sequence. An entertaining and exciting watch for everyone, not just those “in business”.
How to watch: The player now streams on Max.
Woody Harrelson is Billy Hoyle, a former high school basketball player who revolutionizes Los Angeles’ community courts. Its advantage? Most black players assume that Billy can’t play because he’s clumsy and white. But when he defeats Sidney (Wesley Snipes) in a one-on-one shootout, Sidney approaches him with a plan to stay in combination and start making genuine money. . White Men Can’t Jump is energetic, smart, and funny, a new take on the sports comedy. Written and directed by Ron Shelton, it’s still a hit decades later thanks to a clever script and Harrelson’s radiant air of mystery. , Snipes and Rosie Perez, as Billy’s girlfriend.
How to watch: White Men Don’t Know How to Jump is now streaming on Max.
Yes, it’s The Silence of the Lambs — the first horror movie ever to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Don’t get me wrong: director Jonathan Demme’s chilling story about a rookie FBI agent searching for a killer with another killer’s control notes certainly deserves this groundbreaking distinction. But 30 years later, his legacy is an opportunity to reflect. about what Hollywood awards bodies consider and don’t consider worthy of primary recognition, especially in the realm of horror.
Soak up the heinous glory of Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter and the unwavering stoicism of Jodie Foster’s Clarice Starling. Then line up to see one of the seven other horror films nominated for the coveted top Oscar: The Exorcist (1973), Jaws (1975). ), The Sixth Sense (1999), Black Swan (2010), Salt (2017), and The Shape of Water (2017), the latter of which ultimately got that second win, and yes, it counts as horror if you stick to the Black Lagoon rules. * — Alison Foreman, Entertainment Reporter
How to watch: The Silence of the Lambs now airs on Max.
In 1987, Randy Shilts published And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, a groundbreaking and comprehensive investigation into the devastation of the AIDS crisis and the U. S. policy that slowed government intervention. In 1993, HBO adapted Shilts. se’s monumental play into a deep and emotional drama that surprised audiences with its honesty. Following American epidemiologist Don Francis (Matthew Modine) from Africa to San Francisco and beyond as he investigates a mysterious new disease, And the Band Played On is a beautiful tribute to the missing. , a poignant and compelling mystery, and a wonderful advent to crisis. for those who need to be more informed.
How to watch: And the band is now streaming on Max.
Chili Palmer (a sweet John Travolta) is a cool, savvy loan shark from Miami who loves old movies. That’s why, when he discovers himself in Hollywood to track down a fugitive debtor, he takes the opportunity to try his luck in the movies. It turns out that the same skills that make him a successful mobster are precisely what make him thrive as a film producer.
Written by Scott Frank (Logan; The Queen’s Gambit) and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black), Get Shorty is a lighthearted farewell to mob videos and a witty satire of Hollywood show business. Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, Danny DeVito, Dennis Farina, Delroy Lindo and James Gandolfini are spectacular and lend charm to an already cunning film.
How to watch: Get Shorty is now streaming on Max.
Is the 1995 cult classic Hackers a thriller? A satire? A teen crime dramedy? Honestly, we may never know. But we do know this ridiculous story about a group of cyber-hacking New York teens in the early days of the internet takes itself dead seriously, which is part of why it’s so dang wonderful. There’s suspense, there’s romance, and there are absurd three-dimensional visualizations of cyber-security. What more could you possibly want?!
When teenager Dade Murphy (Jonny Lee Miller) and his mother move to New York, he starts hanging out with other floppy drive enthusiasts (after proving his worth with the “four most commonly used passwords: loveArray secret, sex, and god”). That was 1995, folks!). But his new friends don’t know that Dade is secretly “Zero Cool,” the notorious hacker who crashed the New York Stock Exchange at age 11 and was banned from working until he turned 18. And when another member of his team stumbles upon damaging information, those skating tech teens (including young Angelina Jolie!) will have to use all their hacking skills to defeat the guy. *
How to watch: Hackers is now streaming on Max.
Based on Tom Clancy’s best-selling novel of the same name, The Hunt for Red October has the honor of being the first in a long line of Jack Ryan videos and exhibits, and it’s also one of the best. Here, Alec enters the picture as an incredibly competent CIA analyst. When a Soviet commander (Sean Connery) takes his submarine into the Atlantic Ocean, Ryan will have to figure out if the Red October team is planning a nuclear attack or hoping to defect. Directed through John McTiernan (Predator; Die Hard), The Hunt for Red October is a biting mystery until the shocking end.
For more Jack Ryan, you’re in luck: Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, and The Sum of All Fears are all streaming on Max as well.
How to watch: The Hunt for Red October is now streaming on Max.
There aren’t many videos popular enough to motivate a wildly popular TV show in their own right, but Fargo, with its snowy North Dakota setting and quirky brand of black comedy, handled it with aplomb. One of the most memorable roles in Hollywood history. Heavily pregnant police leader Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) tries to get to the bottom of a complicated homicide and its ties to committed kidnappers, and things temporarily unfold in the fun, chaotic way that only the brothers’ movies Coen can do. Complementary characters arrive with a heartless William H. Macy as desperate race car driver Jerry Lundegaard, a creepy-eyed Peter Stormare as kidnapper-for-hire Gaear Grimsrud and Steve Buscemi as his clingy spouse in crime. * — Sam Haysom, Entertainment Reporter
How to watch: Fargo is now streaming on Max.
When you think of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, you probably think of Spirited Away or My Neighbor Totoro. But Miyazaki has been telling visually stunning stories for decades (including his latest, 2023’s The Boy and the Heron), and with almost all of his films now streaming on Max, it’s time to dig a little deeper into Ghibli’s catalog. Start with Princess Mononoke, the story of a leader who decided to protect her land from human consumption. Although she aligns herself ideologically with Pocahontas However, Princess Mononoke is much more ruthless and does nothing to preserve her dream home. In the middle of this fight is a young prince, Ashitaka, who hopes to help both sides achieve peace before a demonic curse kills him.
How to watch: Princess Mononoke is now streaming on Max.
Ron Livingston is Peter, a depressing workplace painter who hates his job, his friend, and his life. He agrees to move on to a hypnotherapy session, but right after the hypnotist tells Peter all of his worries and worries, the hypnotist dies, leaving Peter in a windy state of “don’t worry, bro. “He leaves his friend and breaks all regulations in paintings, and is handsomely rewarded for his new maverick and self-confident style.
Written and directed by Mike Judge (Beavis and Butthead; King of the Hill; Silicon Valley), Office Space is an iconic dark comedy that embodies the bitter voice of the stand generation. Its cult effect was so wonderful that Swingline created a new red stapler in honor of Stephen Root’s shy, repressed labor worker, who spends the entire film muttering his own thing.
How to watch: Office Space now streams on Max.
Joseph Fiennes is William Shakespeare in 1593 London, suffering from writer’s block and looking to get his new, unfinished play, Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter, off the ground. During the auditions, he cheered through the functionality of a talented, oblivious young actor. that the actor is secretly a woman, Viola, in disguise. (Women were not allowed to perform at the time. )Shakespeare tries to track down this mysterious actor but, at the same time, falls head over heels in love with an aristocratic and passionate woman he meets. at a dance. She turns out to be, you guessed it, Viola, in the audition.
Shakespeare in Love is a film with many layers. The characters are unknowingly doing a Twelfth Night while living out a Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare climbs up Viola’s balcony to speak with her), the play they’ll all eventually perform live at the Globe Theater. Sweeping, poignant, and not interested in historical fact one little bit, Shakespeare in Love is a fantastic, indulgent romance with sumptuous costumes and ornate sets. Though its reputation suffered a bit from its shock defeat of Saving Private Ryan at the 1998 Oscars, now that the wound has healed, we can appreciate it for the uplifting period epic that it is.
How to watch: Shakespeare in Love is now streaming on Max.
The most productive Batman movie ever! Période. No you miss it, don’t get stuck with two hundred Miss Kitties. Max has all the other Bat concheckants streaming: Tim Burton’s original, Nolan’s trilogy, Schumacher and Matt Reeves’ one. 2022’s new release starring Robert Pattinson, so feel free to check that claim, but I stand by it. Where else are you going to make Michelle Pfeiffer purr in patent leather?A dirty Danny DeVito biting a man’s nose?A cascade of sexual perversions Posing as a regime superhero movie, Batman Returns baffled unsuspecting audiences when it was released in 1992. But he’s a hero to a whole generation of gay kids, and we’re still whipping each other to the end. With some other Christmas recounts. Never forget: mistletoe can be fatal if you eat it, but a kiss can be even deadlier if you think so. * — Jason Adams, entertainment reporter
How to watch: Batman Returns is now streaming on Max.
Nicholas Cage won an Oscar for his impeccable portrayal of Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic screenwriter who goes to Las Vegas determined to commit suicide. There he meets Elisabeth Shue, a charming prostitute with a gold center.
As you can probably guess, this one is for a family movie night or a lighthearted and fun movie night. But it’s the best selection for a relentlessly dark and incredibly human movie night. Leaving Las Vegas is an austere and fair depiction of addiction and self-destruction, whether brutal or beautiful.
How to watch: Leaving Las Vegas is now streaming on Max.
It’s never that Reese Witherspoon wasn’t America’s radiant sweetheart at all times. In Alexander Payne’s vicious political satire of the best school, she’s Tracy Flick, the wildly ambitious and accomplished one willing to do whatever it takes to win the race for the student college president. Matthew Broderick shed Ferris Bueller’s shadow to play the bitter professor who just can’t stand to see her navigate the good luck he thinks she deserves and who slowly goes crazy looking to get in her way. More than 20 years (and several harrowing election cycles) later, its boundaries are clearer than ever. * — Caitlin Welsh, Entertainment Reporter
How to watch: Elections are now streaming on Max.
The Matrix has been imitated, referenced, and parodied so often over the past two decades that it’s almost easy to see how surprising it was. Look at the original movie in 2021 and it’s still clear that Lana and Lilly Wachowski’s Sci-Fi Mystery is a true original. Keanu Reeves plays Neo, a PC programmer haunted by the feeling that something is wrong, only to be right when he discovers he’s been living in a simulation all along. The Wachowskis were not the first to evoke the concept that the truth might not be genuine (and there are other, less literal, tactics for interpreting this central concept), but The Matrix did so with such panache that it forever incorporated it into our pop culture. . The sequels may not have the reputation of the original, but they’re also worth watching for the unprecedented action sequences and mind-blowing philosophy of the Wachowskis (and they’re also in Max. *), Angie Han, Associate Entertainment Editor.
How to watch: The Matrix is now streaming on Max.
Wayne’s World has had a truly indelible effect on popular culture. It introduced “Schwing!” into the vernacular, made “That’s what she said” a household joke, and the scene of Wayne and Garth headbanging to “Bohemian Rhapsody” remains one of cinema’s most iconic moments to this day. Inspired by an SNL sketch and produced by Lorne Michaels, Wayne’s World is a charming and often absurd comedy that perfectly encapsulates the carefree hope of the early ’90s. Also, it’s downright hilarious.
Mike Myers and Dana Carvey are Wayne and Garth, two long-haired grunge rock music enthusiasts hosting a public TV show in Wayne’s parents’ basement. When a shrewd manufacturer (Rob Lowe) offers to buy the series, they jump at the chance. to make their dreams come true. But those two freethinkers realize that having a boss and running for that guy may not be worth the money that comes with it. Silly, funny, and a lot smarter than it looks, Wayne’s World is a delight. ’90s nostalgia festival that feels as new and appealing as if it was made yesterday.
How to watch: Wayne’s World is now streaming on Max.
Even if you haven’t noticed Ghost from the 1990s, you’re familiar with the pottery scene. It’s too iconic! You can’t go a year on this earth without seeing some sort of new parody or reference to the sensual encounter of the world’s most famous pot trick, and it’s been a full three decades since the film’s release!But there’s more to this movie than just sexy pottery. It’s a supernatural romance with similar elements of mystery, and it’s about as dazzling a love story can get.
When Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze) is murdered, he is shocked to find himself still stuck to the earth like a ghost. He’ll have to do everything he can to check and save his artist friend (Demi Moore) from the guy who killed him, but the only user who can see him is a psychic charlatan (a Whoopi Goldberg).
How to watch: Ghost is now streaming on Max.
The ultimate “Tim Burton” of all Burton films, starring the ultimate “Johnny Depp” of all Depp roles, Edward Scissorhands is the crazy and endearing story of a teenager who, well, his hands are scissors. He’s got scissor hands. It’s there, in his name!
It’s possible that no one would love such a potentially harmful guy, right?He’s never going to be accepted into an all-American community, right? Wrong, not when Winona Ryder is in the cast!
Intentionally macabre, and full of sensitivity and vulnerability, Edward Scissorhands is a quirky family film about misfits and a welcome hug for anyone who’s ever felt like they don’t belong.
How to watch: Edward Scissorhands is now streaming on Max.
While the quality of Star Trek videos ranges from rural adventures to action epics over the years, Star Trek: First Contact is universally regarded as one of the best. It features the Next Generation team led by the legendary Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). ), the USS-Enterprise faces a new risk from the Borg, cybernetic villains who have gone back in time to conquer the Earth of the past. Now, Picard and his team will have to travel to the 21st century to prevent the Borg from assimilating into the human race and ending the long haul as we know it. A thrilling, poignant, and gripping revenge story, First Contact completely revived the decadent Star Trek franchise when it debuted in 1996.
How to watch: Star Trek: First Contact is now streaming on Max.
Despair, thy name is Michael Haneke.
This 1997 housebreaking mystery cemented the acclaimed Austrian director as someone deeply interested in human brutality. It’s not just that Funny Games comes up with horrific acts, which are executed with a heartbreaking shrug or off-screen, but that it wallows in the undulating external effects. They have. Thus, the fate of the tormented characters shines through the screen, reflecting our indifference and numbness to participate in this world.
Ulrich Mühe, Susanne Lothar and Stefan Clapczynski play a family of three who spend what deserves to be a carefree holiday by the lake. But almost immediately they are interrupted by two disturbingly polite and polite young men (Arno Frisch and Frank Giering), who claim to be friends with the neighbors. And before you know it, the friendly act of borrowing eggs has an eyesore to it.
As ruthless and ruthless as they are, Funny Games is designed to make you furious, writhe you into your helplessness, and damn, it is. * — J. A.
How to watch: Funny Games is now streaming on Max.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is the only classic Batman animated film to be released in theaters. It’s also a masterpiece of ’90s Batman storytelling. In Mask, which is set outside of the Batman: The Animated Series canon is still being created through the same team, another side of Bruce Wayne’s origin story emerges when he meets a friend from his formative years at his family’s grave and falls in love with her. This rare love story reframes Bruce’s upcoming transformation into Batman as a horrific decision to give up his chance to lead a normal life and actively embrace the tortured life of a vigilante, a choice that returns to haunt him years later in the form of the mysterious villain The Fantasy. Senior Entertainment Journalist
How to watch: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is now streaming on Max.
In the almost 30 years since Pulp Fiction hit theaters, Quentin Tarantino has become many things to many people — but Pulp Fiction remains some of his best work. Based on the violence and rapport of pulp novels and magazines, the film follows Vincent (John Travolta) and Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) in various chapters of their life of crime. But if you’ve seen Pulp Fiction or been vehemently told to, you know this isn’t a film for story. It’s a film you watch for structure, for style, for self-awareness and genre-bending and the alchemical pairing of Travolta and Jackson. The only itch you can scratch in watching Pulp Fiction is wanting to watch Pulp Fiction — and for that, nothing else comes close. — Proma Khosla, Entertainment Reporter
How to watch: Pulp Fiction is now streaming on Max.
Kristina Grosspietsch is a writer, performer, actress, and former cheesemaker from Los Angeles.