Our adventures through the lost movies from the 1990s continues here in episode 9!
Don’t Tell Her It’s Me (1990)
This comedy may be known to some of you as The Boyfriend School, but this romantic comedy about a romance novelist attempting to set up her brother who just survived cancer treatment is known to me as Don’t Tell Her It’s Me from 1990 starring Steve Guttenberg, Shelley Long, and Jami Gertz.
To me this is just one of those lovable, old school romantic comedies that thrive on the appealing chemistry between its leads. Guttenberg is charming and charismatic and rivaling him with her own appeal is the always lovable Jami Gertz. Then you get Shelley Long who to me is the bright spot of this movie and the driving force of the tone overall as she tries to find love for her brother by rebranding him as a tough guy that looks like he’s dressed up as an extra for a Def Leppard video. This one’s just simple amusement overall, and it more than works as a feel-good romantic comedy with waves of nostalgia and energetic performances. Don’t Tell Her It’s Me does check through the boxes in the genre cliche checklist, but it doesn’t hinder this little forgotten comedy from putting a smile on your face. Gertz and Guttenberg are an appealing duo. Guttenberg and Long deliver the banter of siblings and this movie just gels together in all the ways you would want from a quick and easy night with a comedy.
Cool as Ice (1991)
This could be the most absurd film in this entire city as it centers on a rapper and his crew who get stranded in a small town when their bikes break down and he falls in love with a local. This film told you to drop the zero and get with the hero, that hero is Vanilla Ice and the movie is Cool as Ice from 1990 also starring Kristin Minter, and David Gross.
Now I won’t sit here and tell you that Cool as Ice is a good movie. However, it is a movie that is so bad, it’s actually quite good. This movie is ridiculous across the board from the plot, the story progression, the performances, all of it is a mess. Yet there’s something fun about this stupid little movie that I always connect with when watching. I remember watching this movie as a kid and sort of loving it but not admitting it to my friends. It was like a live-action movie version of a cartoon and even if the plot progression makes no sense, the over-the-top cheesiness in Cool as Ice is something you can laugh at and have a good time with. It’s time locked with waves of sanitized, high energy 90s dance music and Vanilla Ice, as silly as he is here, is an acting sight to behold. The good thing about Cool as Ice is its quick runtime. It’s able to slip some intentionally humorous lines in here and there to blend with all the unintentional laughs. And Cool as Ice will always be a nostalgic timestamp to the gimmick films of the 90s.
Mr. Baseball (1992)
Coming up next is a sports comedy that I recently talked about in another video. This one stars Tom Selleck as the biggest thing to hit Japan since Godzilla when he would get traded in 1992s Mr. Baseball. Also starring Aya Takanashi, Ken Takakura, and Dennis Haysbert.
I’ve always loved Mr. Baseball and the blend of genres it weaves together. This movie is a comedy, it’s a romantic comedy, and it’s a thrilling sports action flick all blended into a tight runtime. Tom Selleck is perfect for this character; he truly feels like a ball player and his bursts of frustration from being in a new city on a new team are a blast of laughs. The story here may be a bit predictable and many of the plot beats are recycled but it’s still able to connect the two most important things, the comedy and the baseball. You can easily sit back and get lost in this one. Seeing Selleck adjust to how the game is played in Japan is humorous. And when the action takes over the stadium there is a surprising amount of intensity injected into the movie. Mr. Baseball captures the spirit of baseball, the thrill of competition, the bond of teamwork, and how loved the game is to the masses. And when it’s in the locker room Mr. Baseball is a capable comedy. Then when it hits the diamond, the result is a home run in the genre of sports comedies.
Fire in the Sky (1993)
Based on a true story, this movie tells the story of an Arizona logger who is abducted by aliens and the hardships his friends ensure when they are charged with his murder in 1993s Fire in the Sky starring D.B. Sweeny, Robert Patrick, Craig Sheffer, Peter Berg, and Henry Thomas.
I’ll admit when I was a teenager I enjoyed the unnerving suspense this movie delivered during the abduction sequences. But I found the rest of the film to be a bit boring. Later in college when rewatching this one I was surprisingly more captivated by the story explored. Fire in the Sky follows a group of friends, normal working guys going about their day and when they encounter a UFO their lives are changed forever and it’s still a gripping situation to see evolve. One of them is abducted, the others are believed to be accomplices to foul play, and with the small-town vibe of the settings you can easily get pulled into the emotional intensity gripping this community. Then, when Fire in the Sky hits the gas, and we see this man being worked over by aliens the result is something that creeped me out as a kid and these scenes still creep me out as an adult. The pacing still has its ebbs and flows, but it’s extremely well-acted and delightfully unsettling right when it needs to be.
Sugar Hill (1994)
Now this crime drama does feel a bit like a Carlito’s Way knockoff yet this stylish tale of a drug dealer trying to get out of the game has plenty of its own merits as Wesley Snipes takes the role of Roemello Skuggs in 1994s Sugar Hill. Also starring Michael Wright, Theresa Randle, Clarence Williams III, and Abe Vigoda.
Now Sugar Hill was not so well received by critics when released and I can admit it’s a bit more borrowed than new. It’s also just a tad self-righteous. But I still love this movie for what it is. I enjoy Snipes as essentially a toned-down version of a Nino Brown. I think the supporting cast with names like Michael Wright, Theresa Randle, and Ernie Hudson give the film a strong supporting and well-acted cast of characters. And I think the added parallel of brothers being in control and their inner dynamics being tested is an effective enough of a twist to make this movie work. It’s an organized crime film that works down the checklist in the genre. But it’s also able to add emotionally gripping family layering to the plot that does add to the intrigue. Sugar Hill from the camerawork to the sultry jazz scoring, and the tailored wardrobes is a movie soaked with style and elegance. It’s crossed with stark violence to show this lavishness comes at a cost and the result is a solid gangster flick that doesn’t get mentioned enough.
Swimming with Sharks (1995)
Probably one of the more underrated movies on this list. This story centers on a young Hollywood assistant who turns the tables on his ruthless producer boss in Swimming with Sharks from 1995 starring Frank Whaley, Kevin Spacey, Michelle Forbes, and Benicio Del Toro.
Many of you cinephiles out there may know of this movie but many regular movie fans may not. This is a comedy that thrives on its mean-spirited humor as a satire on the business side of Hollywood and the manipulation and euphoria of power and control. Spacey is lights out as a tyrannical studio executive who treats people like shit. Frank Whaley is equally impressive as a young writer hired to be his assistant only to find himself frequently on the receiving end of his boss’s narcissism and rage. Whaley shines as his character is slowly ground into rubble before turning the tables to glorious results. I do think this movie fumbles the closing just slightly, but this one is still a great time when you’re in the mood for some snarky humor. Much like The Player explored the inner workings of Hollywood Swimming with Sharks does the same, it pulls no punches and dials up the sarcasm resulting in a movie I regard as timelessly amusing.
2 Days in the Valley (1996)
Written and directed by John Herzfeld follows the intersecting lives and crimes of those in Los Angeles showing you anything can happen when you spend 2 Days in the Valley starring Teri Hatcher, Jeff Daniels, Dann Aiello, Charlize Theron, Glenne Headly and many more familiar faces.
Personally, I always enjoy these films with multiple story layers that all seem independent of one another until the writing begins to intertwine them. When done properly the result can often be a clever film with loads of intrigue and 2 Days in the Valley certainly falls into that category. It’s dark humorous, filled with interesting and ever-changing characters, and there are just enough twists and turns to keep the mystery engaging. This is also a well-acted film. I love the performance from Aiello. Daniels and Stoltz are great as vice cops. Theron is devilishly fun. And really the rest of the supporting cast are solid as well to fill this movie with bold and eccentric characters. 2 Days in the Valley is a movie that thrives on its strange tone where each storyline is more bizarrely amusing than the other. And with an LA atmosphere and a story that pulls you all over the city, there is an undeniable allure to the oddities of all these events that will grab your attention and take you on a twisted ride in the San Fernando valley.
U Turn (1997)
The seedy plot at the core of this movie centers on a man heading out to Vegas to pay gambling debts to the mob but finds anything that can go wrong, going wrong when he stops in a small Arizona town in 1997s U-Turn starring Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopes, and Nick Nolte. From director Oliver Stone.
This is another of those seedy movies where at initial glimpses all seems normal but not long into the story you see everything could be the furthest from common. If you like bizarre little movies where everything that can go wrong will go wrong, where the main character is trying to advance but is in a seeming quicksand of hurdles, then U-Turn is a great ride. Stone’s direction infuses this movie with style, atmosphere, and edginess. It’s also filled with great performances. Penn is strong in the lead with Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte, Powers Boothe, Claire Danes, Joaquin Phoenix delivering an array of shifty characters you can’t be too certain of. Billy Bob Thornton is fantastic and unrecognizable as a greasy mechanic. And really U-Turn plays like a fever dream where no matter how hard you try you can’t seem to move forward and for Penn’s character being stuck in this ominous little town the result is delightfully unnerving cinema complete with mystery, unpredictability, and loads of dark humor.
Return to Paradise (1998)
This gripping drama centers on a trio of friends on vacation in Malaysia that run into trouble. When one of them is arrested for drug possession the others must decide whether to sacrifice their own fate to save his in Return to Paradise from 1998 starring Joaquin Phoenix, Anne Heche, and Vince Vaughn.
Few films explore the power of moral dilemma better than Return to Paradise. This one needed to accomplish two things. One, the writing needed to properly frame both the situation at hand – the forfeiture of freedom to help a friend facing crimes you were a part of in another country. In addition to seeding the threads of the central friendships. The second thing it needed was a collection of strong performances to keep the melo out of the drama and Return to Paradise knocks it out of the park. The performances are fantastic, these characters are real humans, they’re flawed and self-preserving and Vaughn, Heche, Phoenix, and Conrad, all kill it with their roles. This is a movie that will have you pondering what you would do in their situation, and it’s surprisingly thought provoking. Something else I think that works in this movie’s favor is the story progression, and how the timeline of events are strung together to seed information as needed with a nice flow. And to me this is a perfect movie for a night on the couch that will grab you by the heartstrings and have your mind swirling.
The General’s Daughter (1999)
Next up is a military thriller about an undercover detective that investigates the murder of a young woman on a US Army base in 1999s The General’s Daughter directed by Simon West. Starring John Travolta, Madeleine Stowe, Timothy Hutton, and more.
I won’t say The General’s Daughter is a gripping military thriller on the level of something like a Patriot Games, but I do think it has many more positives than negatives to result in a just below the surface level crime thriller with just enough effective twists and turns to compensate for some of its more contrived moments. Travolta is solid in the lead; I do think his over inflated personality doesn’t mis as well this the themes but he’s still capable in the lead on this case and Madeline Stowe comes in to sort of keep Travolta as grounded as she can. The supporting cast is great as well, I do think some of the characters could’ve used more fleshing out but in the hands of these skilled actors they elevate the material considerably. Now The General’s Daughter does also try to be a slight action movie at times, and I think it does undercut the peeling of the layers of mystery yet still, this is a well-rounded and easily consumable military crime thriller.
Anthony J. Digioia II © 2025 SilverScreen Analysis & Movies Never Say Die
