The Secret Garden (1993)

Overprivileged yet neglected and extremely unhappy young girl loses her parents in an accident and is sent to her Uncle's home where she is put under the care of the stern Mrs. Medlock. She has a hard time staying unhappy once she discovers a walled-in garden and befriends Dickon, whose many animal friends basically makes him a junior Doctor Dolittle. Her sickly cousin Colin benefits from the discovery as well.

It's so thin and the two child actors portraying the cousins are woefully inept. Though Maggie Smith and John Lynch are doing their best as Medlock and Colin's father respectively, they cannot overcome the extremely dull telling. In short, if you want to see a Frances Hodgson Burnett adaptation about a young girl born in India who loses her parents, relocates to England to live under a strict matron, finds her own joy while helping to transform the life of another unfortunate child, and eventually also gains a loving parent, go for 1995's winning The Little Princess instead and thank me later.

C

Tombstone (1993)

Wyatt Earp retires and convinces his brothers and their wives to move with him to Tombstone. By coincidence, their old friend Doc Holliday breezes into the same town, resulting in a happy reunion for them all. Though Earp is determined to stay retired, that goal is difficult to achieve as "The Cowboys" gang of outlaws have set their sights on Tombstone. 

I saw this in the mid-90s and rated it a "C," but knowing of its high audience rating and the fact that it's one of Kilmer's most-loved roles made me want to revisit it. There have been several times that I've radically changed my opinion on a movie -- sometimes just because of the mood I was in or circumstances of viewing -- but the discrepancy can usually be explained by my age/experience-level: I just didn't have enough under my belt to relate. That's not the case here, though. The script is especially lacking in depth with regards to the relationships and that hurts the entire endeavor.

C

True Romance (1993)

I remember being bowled over when we first saw this: the way the violence contrasted with the romance and humor felt so audacious -- like nothing I'd seen before. These memories lead me to believe that this was my introduction to Tarantino since humor + ultra-violence is kind of his thing.

So, though we were entertained, it felt a little thin on rewatch.

B

Dave (1993)

When President Bill Mitchell suffers a stroke that puts him into a coma, Dave -- a man who looks very much like Mitchell -- is tapped to act as the president in order to keep the country from chaos. It's a ridiculous set-up that, somehow, results in a story with a huge amount of heart.

Kline is inspiring as good-guy Dave who gets so much glee from all of the enjoyable perks as well as from all of the ways he can make a difference. Of course, he butts up against those who prefer the kickback-filled status quo to real change, but Dave's up to the task. 

One of those old-school, big-message, but still feel-very-good, movies.

B+

Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

Sam (Tom Hanks) is a widower with an 8-year-old son and Annie (Meg Ryan) is a journalist engaged to a solid, but unremarkable guy. When Annie hears Sam on a call-in show, she's moved and becomes a bit obsessed. Soon she's flying out to Seattle for a "story" and then fleeing back home when she chickens out of actually introducing herself.

This is the third or fourth time I've seen this film, and it's still very charming. I especially love how Annie's fiancee isn't made out to be a doofus or asshole -- he's just not "the one" and that's OK.

B+

The Firm (1993)

Cruise is recruited fresh out of law school with an almost-too-good-to-be-true offer from a prestigious, but small, firm.... and you know what they say about things that seem too good to be true. So, the firm turns out to be a bunch of mob lawyers and any associate who tries to spill to the feds gets whacked.

I saw this 25 years ago, when it first came out, and it holds up pretty well. I still think the movie's plan to stay alive at the end is better than the book's. Holly Hunter pretty much steals the show with a nice assist from Gary Busey (before he turned into GARY BUSEY).

B+

Kalifornia (1993)

Brad Pitt’s a hillbilly psychopath who, along with his apparently borderline-retarded girlfriend Julliette Lewis, hops a ride to California with a writer and his photographer girlfriend.

The writer/photographer team are so uninteresting that there was really no reason to care whether they became part of the body count hillbilly-psycho was racking up. Just not worthwhile.

D+

The Ballad of Little Jo (1993)

Interesting premise (based on true events): 19th-century society girl, tossed out by her family for bearing a child while unmarried, takes to the road alone. She quickly finds out that "alone" is a dangerous state of being for a female and, in a moment of desperation, carves a scar into her face (to look tough, I guess?) and pulls on trousers, boots, and hat. Sure, the rough men in her new town think "Little Jo" is kinda weird -- but they like him just the same.

But, really, a premise is just about all there is to this movie. Jo finds a solitary occupation and keeps her head down...and that's about it. Felt like there needed to be more and, actually, near the end of the film it felt as though huge chunks of the narrative were missing.

C+

Naked (1993)

David Thewlis is Johnny, one of those pathetic hedonists who lives only for pleasure but is having a hellish time doing so.

After violently raping(?) a woman in a Manchester alley, he flees to London to escape retaliation and looks up his ex-girlfriend. She's not home, but her loopy goth roommate is and she becomes the first victim of Johnny's mile-a-minute talkathon. He's got pithy one-liners, silly puns, existential ramblings, barking put-downs, dismissive asides -- everything you'd ever need in the most annoying guest ever.

Johnny stays for a while, then leaves to roam the London streets and meet colorful characters like a drugged up couple who keep missing each other, a sign-hanger, a lonely security guard, a sad-faced prim waitress, and a broken-down sexpot. He talks and talks and talks and then gets beat up -- I was just surprised it didn't happen earlier and that it didn't come at the hands of someone who just wanted him to shut up already.

It should be obvious that Johnny wouldn't be on my speed dial...but he was only about one-tenth as awful as the other hedonist we see at work. Sebastian is like an upper-class Johnny: he's enamored with himself, takes whatever he desires because no one stops him, and is unbearably cruel. There's no reason for him to wind up in Johnny's universe and the script doesn't seem interested in helping me understand how he does. Maybe he was just there to make us like Johnny comparatively. Like, I hate baked beans -- but next to a plate of feces, they don't look too bad.

This whole thing just felt like a visit from my parents -- I couldn't wait 'til it was over and, once it was, I felt like if I never saw those people again, my life would be a happier place. Some of Johnny's monologues had intermittently interesting pieces, but sifting through the garbage (and accent) to find them was difficult work.

C-

Needful Things (1993)

I remember this book as deliciously full of dread -- it's a shame that what was so vivid and nerve-wracking on the page turns out flat and rather silly on screen. Part of the problem, I think, were the awful special effects. I remember, in particular, envisioning the pendant that one of the character receives for her crippling arthritis as shifting, almost imperceptibly, but enough to make the wearer aware of the movement and somewhat afraid of it. In the movie, however, all of the items impart a visible bolt of blue electricity to the receiver. Bo-ring.

At least they went ahead and embraced the camp. It would have been pretty sad if the filmmakers thought they were doing something important rather than simply a not-bad way to spend a couple of hours.

D+

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

It's got good-looking animation (though it's inconsistent in regard to some characters' bodies). Short and interesting -- nice that it explores some of the backstory of Batman. Fine way to pass an hour…but not strong or beautiful enough to watch repeatedly.

C

Prime Suspect 3 (1993)

A bit too much going on -- too many names and accents to keep things easily straight. Still, Prime Suspect's good stuff if only due to the presence of Mirren.

B

Undercover Blues (1993)

It feels sorta grinchy to grade this low because it's kind of fun…but hey. It ain't good. Dennis Quaid is the life of the movie -- but there's too much early-'80s vibe going on here. OK diversion, but not really worth the time.

C-

The Good Son (1993)

Sweet young child has to stay at his Aunt & Uncle's home for a couple of weeks with his bad seed cousin, Culkin. Mac's no Mary McCormack, though. Somewhat tense, though mostly one-note.

B-

My Life (1993)

Dying-of-cancer story that tries something new: making the main character cold and rather unsympathetic. They attempt to redeem him by showing us the home movies he's making for his son (at the beginning of the movie yet unborn) and his reconciliation with his past...but he never really matters and his sickness can't make him decent. The problem *might* have been Keaton's performance (which is almost flip), but I think it's more likely the script.

C-

Jurassic Park (1993)

Really holds up well, which is surprising considering the age of the special effects. Most scenes look great still and the action is just heart-pumping. Not really a whole lot of story…people go to a dinosaur park, dinosaurs get out, people try to survive...but, hey, it works.

B+

The Fugitive (1993)

Here's the deal…Tommy Lee Jones is excellent. Harrison Ford is fine. The story is pretty good. The contrivances are extreme. Just not nearly as good as I remembered it -- things were just a little eye-rollingly over-the-top.

But still a fine diversion, and Jones deserved that Oscar.

B-

Army of Darkness (1993)

Extremely silly – in the best of ways – "horror" movie about a man out of time battling his clone, an evil book, an army of dead people, and lots of miniature hims. Ridiculous to the nth degree – but also hysterical. I loved the dialogue. It's oh-so-quotable!

B

The Sandlot (1993)

My kids loved it. Me? Not so much. Easy enough to watch…but full of barely passable child actors and scenes which are meant to be heart-warming, but are instead over-done.

C

The War Room (1993)

I don't profess to know anything about the inner workings of a political machine, so I was really interested in seeing a behind the scenes look at what goes on. As ignorant as I am, The War Room didn't tell me anything new. There seemed to be a consciousness (either on the part of the "war room" staff or the filmmakers) that this movie was in no way to smudge Clinton's image. So, we see a whole lotta Clinton supporters with no cracks showing in their dedication. The Clinton campaign machine comes off as the good guys while choosing to show Bush at his most offensive. These scenes were, I'm sure, included to make me appalled at the tactics employed by Bush, but instead it just made me realize that I'd probably learn more about campaigning if I were allowed 90 minutes in the REPUBLICAN war room.

James Carville was quite impressive in all of his tic-riddled glory. If I were running for anything, I would certainly want him in my corner. But the most clear-headed person to hit the screen was the enemy, Mary Matalin. She may not be charismatic, but she seemed to be the only who truly believed in her candidate instead of the hype.

C+