Let’s Talk About ‘90s Teen Movies
It’s February, meaning it’s the month of love. Or as some people tell me, the month of corporate manufactured love designed to boost the economy. But to me, it’s the month of love. And in the month of love comes one of the best genres cinema has to offer: romantic comedies. And from now until Valentine’s Day, we’re going to be talking about romantic comedies.
In the late 90s, there was a boom of hip, sexy, smart, fun teen movies. Some were scary, some were lighthearted, and some walked a tightrope between comedy and soap opera. It was a great time in this country’s history. Cinema closed the door on that specific subgenre, most likely due to the intense over saturation of teen comedies, but surely they’re due for a comeback…right? Let’s run through the pyramid of essential ‘90s teen romance comedy movies.
Level 1: Oh yeah! I remember that!
Drive Me Crazy, Jawbreaker, Disturbing Behavior, Urban Legends, Empire Records, Never Been Kissed, Mallrats, Fear, The Faculty, Romy and Michelle, Idle Hands, Halloween: H20, Wild Things
All of these movies are good movies, but these are the one’s nobody actively remembers until someone brings it up. Never Been Kissed is probably the most remembered movie in this pyramid, but there are so many other memorable Drew Barrymore movies that this one tends to get pushed out of the public consciousness. The most underrated of these, however, is either Jawbreaker or Drive Me Crazy. Those movies are polar opposites of each other, the latter being a bit more cheesy, but Rose McGowan was a fucking force in Jawbreaker and it’s a shame she doesn’t receive more praise for it.
Level 2: I Watched That A Few Years Ago!
Can’t Hardly Wait, Election, The Craft, Varsity Blues, I Know What You Did Last Summer, American Pie
These are all really fun movies. It’s impossible to pick which one is the best, though I have an affinity for I Know What You Did Last Summer. Objectively speaking, I think Varsity Blues is the best of the bunch if there was a gun to my head and I was forced to pick. The movie has so many great layers, such as the arrival of Ali Larter, Amy Smart being the dorky girlfriend even though she’s impossibly beautiful, a bad accent from James Van Der Beek, young Paul Walker (RIP), and Jon Voight and Scott Caan playing themselves. It’s a fun movie that occasionally wants to be serious, but when you have Dawson Leery naming off boner euphemisms and the football team seeing their teacher at a strip club, we don’t have time for serious themes. Fire that fuckin’ pigskin!
Level 3: The Greats
Clueless, Romeo + Juliet, Pleasantville, Dazed and Confused, Now and Then, 10 Things I Hate About You
Pleasantville is the best of the bunch, but Clueless is the most fun. Alicia Silverstone is 100% perfect in the movie and we get young Paul Rudd! Anything with Paul Rudd is automatically good, in case you didn’t know. And we got Stacey Dash before she became whatever the fuck she is now. And the slang, dear god, the slang. It was the perfect movie that came out at the perfect time.
10 Things I Hate About You is a great. It’s a damn near classic. Heath Ledger and Joseph Gordon Levitt should’ve been in more things together. They carried this movie with impossible charisma, with Ledger edging him out as the bad ass foreign kid with a heart of gold. We even get a great performance out of Julia Stiles, who I really miss watching in movies.
Personally, I really wanted to add Reality Bites to the list, but it technically doesn’t fit the bill as a teen movie.
Level 4: The Buzzfeed Classics
Cruel Intentions, She’s All That, Scream
Classics. All of them. If anyone was to ever ask me to show them what a ’90s teen movie is like, these are the movies I would show them.
Cruel Intentions is a great movie, although the sexual politics of the film have aged about as well as french bread. There are a lot of uncomfortable and unforgivable moments in the movie, mainly stemming from Sebastian and his evil step-sister Kathryn. But the movie also contains two undeniably classic scenes: the kiss between Kathryn and Cecile, and when Annette rides up the escalator and finds Sebastian waiting for her at the top. Great, phenomenal scenes in an otherwise gross film. And if that doesn’t describe the ‘90s, I don;t know what does.
She’s All That is the GOAT of dumb teen rom-coms. The premise is ridiculous; hot guy makes a bet that he can turn the girl with glasses into prom queen. She takes the glasses off and becomes hot and they fall in love. Having a beautiful girl wear glasses didn’t diminish her looks in the film, but if you ignore that, you’ll have a great time. There’s even a dance number with Usher as the DJ. And it also features Lil’ Kim. And Matthew Lillard at peak Matthew Lillard. It’s the perfect storm.
Scream was a game changing movie. It single-handedly brought back the horror genre and changed it forever. The meta tone of the movie inspired years worth of knockoff horror flicks, all vying to cast young hot stars and have them be self aware of their situation, while falling into the trappings of the genres cliches. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I really enjoyed that period of horror films. The movie also gave us Skeet Ulrich doing his best Johnny Depp impression and Matthew Lillard doing everything he can to steal every scene he’s in. And he’s absolutely successful in that pursuit. Scream is great and one of the finest horror/teen films ever made.
