Club 50 Wrap-Up: 1992

Years Completed:
1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994
1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 
2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2010 | 2009 
2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014

What a sad day. While Club 50 is an ongoing project by design, today unofficially marks the end of it for a while. With 1992 in the books, I've seen the top 50 grossing movies of every year between 1987-2014. I'm in no hurry to complete 2015 and beyond because part of the fun of these wrap-ups is having some distance from them. I could go earlier than 1987, but there's a neatness to starting with the year I was born that I like. Anyway, how far back would I go? BoxOfficeMojo only goes to 1980. Before that, box office numbers are hard to source.

I'm having a hard time coming up with any unifying theme's for the year 1992. Hollywood was still in the period drama game with films like The Last of the Mahicans, Far and Away, and Howards End. Domestic thrillers were all the rage as movies like Single White Female, Unlawful Entry, and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle made people afraid in their own homes. The comedies were all over the place, from broad, stoner comedies (Wayne's World, Encino Man) to family comedies (Beethoven, Honey, I Blew Up the Kid) to stone cold classics (My Cousin Vinny, Sister Act). Eddie Murphy had two comedies. So did Goldie Hawn. Nothing stood out.

Only five of the films were sequels, but three of those were in among the four highest grossing films of the year. By my count, 14 of the films have had sequels since then that were released in theaters. There are some bad sequels though. I'm talking about Basic Instinct 2 (7% Rotten Tomatoes), 3 Ninjas Kick Back (15% RT), Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (25% RT), Universal Soldier: The Return (5% RT), and Home Alone 3 (27% RT). It's a grim legacy. To be fair, some sequels were OK. Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit gets style points for the worldplay and Wayne's World 2 was charming a couple years later.

All five Oscar nominees for Best Picture were in the top 50. In fact only Howard's End (#48) didn't make it into the top 20 in the box office that year.

To wind down each year as I complete them, I'm going to hand out a few superlatives or anecdotal awards to highlight some of the highs and lows of the year's top 50 box office earners.

First Seen: Aladdin

As far as I can tell, this was the first movie I ever saw in a movie theater. I'm calling that a good way to start.

Last Seen: Howards End

This was surprisingly hard to track down. Netflix didn't have it as a DVD rental. Video stores I checked either didn't have it or only had special editions that I wasn't willing to pay for. Finally, it showed up on Netflix streaming. Now I must find a new white whale.

Happiest Surprise: The Cutting Edge

There's a lot of great candidates for this. Sister Act has no business being as good as it is. I saw it so soon after it was released though, that it's disingenuous to call it a surprise. I knew Death Becomes Her would be good. I didn't know it would be that good. Bram Stoker's Dracula I actually had to see twice to appreciate it, which makes it a different kind of surprise. I thought The Distinguished Gentleman was good, not great, but I was tempted to call it a surprise because it was much better than the pounding it took with critics implied. Ultimately, I settled of The Cutting Edge. This looked like a mediocre proto-Disney Channel Original movie, and it kind of is. Moira Kelly and D.B. Sweeney play really well off each other. This falls in that Karate Kid category of movie that is so straightforward and earnest that it works.

Biggest Disappointment: A River Runs Through It

There's two good candidates  that jumped out at me: A River Runs Through It and Alien 3. Alien 3 has the misfortune of following two SciFi classics. The fact that it is merely OK, is disappointing. A River Runs Through It has Brad Pitt, who I normally like, and is directed by Robert Redford, who has directed a few Oscar nominated films. I couldn't believe how dull that film was.Given that I hadn't seen his previous films, The Milargo Beanfield War or Ordinary People, at the time, there wasn't anything to disappoint me about it.

Looked Better Then: The Lawnmower Man

The soundtrack to The Bodyguard is one of the highest selling albums ever, but I don't know the last time I actually heard anyone talk about the movie. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle plays like a Lifetime Original Movie when watched now. I was tempted to pick Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot!, but something tells me that the movie didn't look all that great in 1992 either. I do love reminding people that that movies exists though. I have to go with The Lawnmower Man. Special effects movies fall into this trap all the time, especially when it involves future technology (Disclosure, anyone?). The Lawnmower Man looks so bad now that I don't even know how it could've been seen as impressive 25 years ago.

Looks Better Now: My Cousin Vinny

There weren't many great options. There never really are. "Looks Better Now" implies that the film was overlooked at the time, and I'm looking at the 50 most successful films of the year. You see my problem? While I was surprised that the effects in Death Becomes Her still look pretty good, and The Muppet Christmas Carol has become a tradition for many, I'm going with My Cousin Vinny because it holds up. The humor has dated so much better than other movies at the time.

Favorite: My Cousin Vinny

I love everything about this movie. It's incredibly written: both hilarious and surprisingly informative about the legal process. It's one of those movies that I almost can't watch any more because I start quoting it the whole time.

2nd Favorite: Aladdin

Beauty and the Beast - Aladdin - The Lion King. Could a studio ask for a better lineup? Pixar has come the closest (Ratatouille/WALL-E/Up comes to mind), but I'm not sure anyone can match that level of animated success critically and commercially. Aladdin is magic. The music is fantastic and I don't think any film has distilled Robin Williams down to his purest essence as well as this.

3rd Favorite: Death Becomes Her

What can I say? I liked the comedies this year. Goldie Hawn vs. Meryl Streep is the epic showdown I didn't know I needed.

Honorable Mention:

A League of Their Own

One of those movies that any time I catch it on TV, I watch it to the end.

Bram Stoker's Dracula

Note to self: Don't watch a television cut of this film.

A Few Good Men

What was the world like before "You can't handle the truth"? It must've been a different place. A sadder place.

Sister Act

As I said earlier, this shouldn't be as good as it is. When Whoopi was in peak form, it was hard to find anyone better.

The Mighty Ducks

I'm a little scared of ever rewatching this. I remember it so fondly. Will I still as an adult? Probably, but I don't want to risk it.

Batman Returns

Tim Burton's Batman movies get forgotten because of the Dark Knight trilogy and bat-nipples, but they were really good.

Least Favorite: Under Siege

In a way, it's kind of sad. This will be the last time I'll be able to complain about how much I disliked a Stephen Seagal movie*. In all honesty, Under Siege is one of his better movies. It was more of a generic action movie than the Seagal vanity projects that I really despise. If I'm being honest, I had a harder time getting through the slog of A River Runs Through It and I had to do anything I could to distract myself while The Lawnmower Man was on. I just can't turn down a chance to say that Gary Busey, Tommy Lee Jones, and Erika Eleniak's breasts can't make a Steven Seagal movie good.

*Because I'm certainly never watching another one.