90's Movies That Defined My Tween Years

90's Movies That Defined My Tween Years

If I was stranded on a deserted island and I had to pick either movies or music to kill the time before I slowly decompose, it would 1000% be music. Oh wait, this is a blog about movies. Hmm...movies would be runner up for sure! All jokes aside, music is my lifeline. But movies shaped my perception of this crazy life and rocked my imagination to its core.
In no particular order, here are the movies that flipped my world in the mid 90s.

Mira Sorvino


Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion,1997
I loved how this movie portrayed grown women as best friends. As a 12 year old kid , all the relationships I saw were of, well.. kids. Kudrow and Sorvino are brilliant actresses who played ditzy women with a lot of heart. Janeane Garafalo was also a major stand out for me. I’m a sucker for dry humor and she is the master of that. (Side note:I don’t care what anybody says, The Truth About Cats and Dogs with Garafalo is so underrated!) Fun fact: I came to know of Lisa Kudrow through this movie first. Friends seemed a bit mature back then, at least for me it did. Yes, I fucking love Friends now.

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo & Juliet,1996 /Titanic,1997

I'm not ashamed to admit that I was boy crazy and still am. But I am a hair embarrassed that I joined Leo’s official fan club back in 1996. Blame it on Romeo & Juliet. It was the movie that burned romance into my tween heart. I fell hard. The fish tank scene with Des‘rees', ‘Kissing’ You’ playing in the background was breathtakingly orchestrated and the elavator kiss had me in the clouds. Shortly after, Titanic set my world on fire. Leo is amazing in romantic roles. You definitely don't see him doing those kind of roles these days. Don't get me wrong, he’s a spectacular dramatic actor. But 'Romantic Leo' holds a special place in my heart. The closest he came to a "romantic" role nowadays was in Revoltionary Road(2008). Excellent movie but he definitely likes to pick those damn tragic roles.

Clueless Cher Tye


Clueless,1995
I had a really cool adult friend in her mid 20’s who offered to take me and my friend to see Clueless when it was first released in theaters. This was the kind of movie that as you age you come understand certain jokes, references and innuendos. I showed this movie to my boyfriend (who has never seen it) a few months ago. Surprisingly he didn’t hate it. He thought it was clever. I couldn’t agree more!

Don't Be a Menace Wayans Bros

Don’t Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood,1996
I remember correcting people when they messed up the title because I thought it was the funniest thing to say and it’s so memorable to this day. I would have laughing fits during this grandma scene where I thought she was smoking a giant cigar. It was a giant blunt. Again, I was 10 guys. Just like Clueless, this movie has so many satirical Easter eggs, I highly recommend you give it a few watches.

Cruel Intentions Reese Witherspoon

I Know What You Did Last Summer,1997/ Cruel Intentions,1999
Jennifer Love Hewitt was my ultimate 90’s girl crush. Hell, I even bought Neutrogena face wash because of her. My best friend Jamie and I saw her as the Marilyn Monroe of our generation. She had an innocent beauty to her and her proportions were unreal. And just like Marilyn, people really didn’t give Jennifer’s acting a chance, they just saw her as pretty face. I always thought she had amazing screen presence and was easily a scene stealer. I Know What You Did Last Summer had such an awesome cast including Sarah Michelle Gellar, who was my favorite character in the movie. In retrospect, Hewitt’s character was not very likable in this movie but I still adored and rooted for her. I preferred her characters in House Arrest,Trojan War, and Can’t Hardly Wait.
Gellar in Cruel Intentions was so iconic to me. She was so good at being bad, that I ended up rooting for her till the very end. And of course there’s Ryan Phillippe. The role of Sebastian was tailored made for him. His comedic scenes with Cecile (Selma Blair) and Blaine (Joshua Jackson) were some of my favorites.
The movie became a big part of my daily vocabulary. Ask me to recite this movie in my sleep because I could!


Truthfully, I left out tons of movies that should belong on this list (like Spice World and The Craft) but then it would no longer be a blog but a 100 page hardcover book. And who would wanna read that?

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