5 Forgotten Movies From The 90s

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1. Angus

image – Angus

I recently asked some of my friends if they remembered the movie, Angus, and their answer was a resounding “No.” WTF? This movie was so major. I assumed everyone had heard of it! Not only did it have one of the best ’90s music soundtracks known to man, it introduced the world to the treasure that is James Van Der Beek! If you’ve never seen it before, let me explain the plot to you. Angus is a 14-year-old fat dude who’s living with his chic fat mom, Kathy Bates, and paling around with his scrawny ginger friend whose name I clearly forget. Everyone hates him at school because, duh, he’s fat, so Angus is pretty miserable every single day of his life. He then develops a crush on the popular cheerleader at school, natch, and the two actually end up dancing together at the school dance to “Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star. ARE YOU MELTING? I forget how the movie ends but I do remember that after Angus and the popular cheerleader dance together, she storms out crying and tells Angus that she’s bulimic. Then Angus is like, “You throw up food? That’s chill because I have an unhealthy relationship with eating too!” And then they just stare at each other.

2. Airborne

image – Airborne

Airborne is quite possibly the most ’90s movie to ever exist. It stars Shane McDermott—who, according to Wikipedia, is now a painter living in Texas—as Mitchell Goosen, a California surfer who’s forced to move to Ohio during high school and live with his cousin, played by Seth Green. Seriously, you guys, the sole driving conflict of this movie is that Mitchell misses surfing in California and can’t adapt to, like, the cold weather in the Midwest. At school, Mitchell is outcasted by his peers because he’s hot and tan and talks like an airhead, which really pisses off Midwesterners for some reason. Eventually though, Mitchell plays ice hockey and figures out a way to deal with not having access to the beach and then everyone is happy.

3. Stealing Beauty

image – Stealing Beauty

Confession: Nothing ever really happens in Stealing Beauty. Like at all. Liv Tyler plays this 18-year-old virgin Lucy who goes to Italy to stay with some family friends and the entire movie just revolves around her lying in bathtubs, talking to hot Italian boys and listening to Billie Holiday. I know, I know, it sounds so boring but trust me, it isn’t! Liv Tyler is so effing gorgeous in this movie that it doesn’t matter what happens. You’re literally hypnotized by her beauty. And besides, sometimes it’s fun to watch pretty movies that have no plot. Why else do you think Sofia Coppola has a career?

4. Girl

image – Girl

Am I the only person in the world who cares about Dominique Swain? She first came on the scene in Lolita and then quickly became the direct-to-video queen of the ’90s and ’00s. In Girl, Swain plays Andrea—a preppy teenager from the suburbs who desperately wants to become punk. The movie tracks her transformation during her senior year of high school as she ditches her preppy best friend Darcy (Selma Blair) in favor of a lesbian alternative goddess named Sybil who, thankfully, is played by TARA REID. Although the movie can be cheesy, it actually has real moments of poignancy. Plus, it’s based on the killer book by Blake Nelson. Read that if you haven’t already.

5. The House Of Yes

What could be better than a movie about a Jackie O obsession, sibling incest, and mental illness that also happens to star Tori Spelling and Freddie Prinze Jr.? The House Of Yes could’ve easily devolved into a slice of bad camp but it actually manages to be a hilarious and bizarre little film. Parker Posey is at her best playing an unhinged psycho who’s meeting her twin brother’s new girlfriend for the first time. The whole movie takes place in the house over the course of one night and has a pretty shocking and disturbing conclusion. I mean, I get why this movie didn’t top the charts—it’s a freakshow—but you should still watch it, if only to see Tori Spelling and Parker Posey act in the same movie. 

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image – Stealing Beauty