90's Revival

Is it just me or are we all having a 90's revival?

I've noticed that 90s things (mainly fashion) is everywhere. It was sneaking up on us for the past year but this summer its here to stay (until another era makes a comeback).

We've seen the 80s, 70s (usually during music festival season), 60s, 50s, 20s and even 30s make a comeback. The 40s have yet to make a steady comeback, that era usually gets dragged in with 30s and 50s. These comebacks have also affected films with plenty of remakes of films from a particular era. And now with remakes of Point Break and a rumour about Jumanji coming out, the 90s are on my mind.

After re-watching most of Sabrina the Teenage Witch (seasons 5+6 were rubbish, so was 7 but the end was great), I started getting obsessed with all things 90s. I loved this US teen sitcom when i was at school and I know there are some fans out there who used to read the books too. I never went that far but I was and am a huge fan, nothing like light entertainment that also has a moral at the end of every episode to help you relax at the end of the day. I also noticed the fashion in the series. It was like looking at the sequence in Sex and the City (also 90s) where Carrie goes through her epic wardrobe of crap. Some outfits were good but remember, these were the days where Britney Spears first appeared. That was decades ago!

I have also been listening to typical 90s music, or bands that appeared on the soundtrack for tall those teen films. I was blasting out some No Doubt, Placebo and even some Shania Twain while I rummaged through my own collection to relive some of those classic 90s films. It now almost 20 years on from the heyday of 90s films so its safe to say classic.

Apart from all the Brit rom-coms, like Four Weddings and a Funeral, Sliding Doors and the ghastly Notting Hill, I forgot for a moment that decent films like Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump and The Shawshank Redemption came out in that decade. The 90s was definitely the years of film education. Toy Story, the first full length feature in 3D animation came out in 1995. Disney classics like The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and The Lion King came out. The latter was the first film I remember seeing at a cinema.

As I got older, it was the best two teen comedies, both based on classic literature that captured my attention. Clueless, 1995 and 10 Things I Hate About You, 1999 were as brilliant then as they are now. Empire Records should also be in this mention too but not exactly a teen film, more about teens who all happen to work in a independent record store. I appreciated this film much later.

Then, of course, the Coen Brothers. They won an Oscar for Fargo in 1996 and the Palme d'Or for Barton Fink in 1991. Not to mention cult hit The Big Lebowski, the dude abided in 1998.

While all this is reminiscing about the past, the 90s and its influential films are appearing now. What with all the 90s action films in the works and that have already appeared and not to mention the fashion too. All this plays a big part in what we will see next.

I see more remakes (most not needed) that will push people to see the better originals and most likely revisit old favourite TV shows. I know I'm doing that.

Recommendations for a 90s revival in your own home:

Watch some classics: Drop Dead Gorgeous - a mockumentary about a beauty pageant. A film crew follows the events in a small town in Minnesota. The cast is brilliant a features a bearable Kirsten Dunst before she was MJ

Pulp Fiction - Tarantino's big breakthrough and award winner - if you don't know the plot you are missing out.

101 Dalmatians - to feel like a child again, watch the actually rather good live action of the Disney classic based on a book of the same name. Glenn Close is perfect as Cruella deVil.

Titanic - 1997, the year all box office records were broken by the unsinkable ship that sank. Emotional and a really good film - ignore the people who hate successful films.

Rushmore - Wes Anderson's film about a crazy ambitious private school student. The story and characters are amazing, not s dull moment.

Whispher of the Heart - a lesser known Studio Ghibli film a young girl who wants to be a writer, not fantasy but makes you feel young again.

The Sixth Sense - just so you can remember how great M Night Shyamalan used to be.