Ravenous - One of my favorite “alt” westerns. Incredibly taut story/pacing, outstanding acting, and just a really fun sensibility that walks a thin line between winking nods and outright horror.
Last Action Hero - A meta self-parody that no one understood upon release. Tragic, as this is a top 5 Ahnold movie with INCREDIBLE production value, not to mention an all-time sound track. Like the Caddy Allante and the Porsche 940, people will come back to this with fresh eyes sooner rather than later and its stock will skyrocket.
Ed Wood - Maybe this is more forgotten than underrated, but the sense of humor and tone of this movie is so note-perfect I think it may actually be a dark horse contender for best Tim Burton film.
The Hudsucker Proxy - I feel like this and Joe vs the Volcano are kind of in a category all their own. Hyper-stylized slice of life comedies with a place-out-of-time setting. J v V is probably the better movie on balance, but this underdog of underdogs deserves a second look. One of the more uncanny Coen Bro.s movies opposite the rest of their cannon.
Strange Days - The best Cyber Punk movie of the decade and maybe objectively the best movie of 1995. Certainly the most forward thinking and the cast turned in performances like they thought they were oscar shoe-ins.
Galaxy Quest - Comedy tour-de-force that caught viewing audiences off guard redefining the parady film. Watches very fresh to this day and I defy you to find a more refined sci-fi comedy from the 90’s, including Idiocracy.
Johnny Mnemonic - This movie fucks. It came out at a time when the world hadn’t seen a Star Wars movie in 12 years and hadn’t yet seen the widespread American localization of action aesthetics like Hong Kong Action Cinema or hardcore anime. Contemporary Keanu being what he was, his wooden stoicism served the role well and this one stands above competitors like Escape from L.A> and Tank Girl.
Dark City - Maybe my favorite film from the 90’s. Certainly not without it’s fans, but similar to some other not-quite-seminal movies like Children of Men, Barry Lyndon, or Monster Squad, it’s almost more painful that Dark City NEARLY gets the recognition it deserves. On its own merits as a throwback scifi neonoir, it’s nearly perfect.
