Club 50 Wrap Up: 1995

Years Completed:
1989 | 1995 | 2003 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013

1995 was a good year for movies. It lacked the number of all-time great movies like 1994 (Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction, and The Shawshank Redemption, which was actually #51 that year, thus not eligible for Club 50 recognition). It made up for it in depth and originality. Only seven of the 50 were sequels. Not including video-only releases. Only 11 movies have had sequels since.

It was a good year for Oscar nominees, as four of the five movies (Braveheart, Apollo 13, Babe, Sense and Sensibility) made the top 50. Only Il Postino didn't make the cut, which is expected for a foreign movie in any era of the American box office.

The most noticibale trend from that year is the nature of the kid's movies. Compared to now, it seems like more of the successful movies were geared toward kids and there was much more variety. Today, it's mainly a handful of CG movies. In 1995, Toy Story started that by being the first fully CGI movie ever released and ended up being the highest grossing movie that year. Disney was still in the Renaissance with the classically animated Pocahontas. Live action movies like Casper and Jumanji also made the top ten. Babe was a G-rated family movie that managed to pull an Oscar nomination. There's the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers' jump to the big screen. Remember The Indian in the Cupboard? Yeah, that made it too.

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: Pocahontas

It's hard to be certain before about 2005, when I started keeping my movie stubs, but this is the first released of the movies that I'm pretty certain I saw in theaters.

Last Seen: Higher Learning

This kept falling through the cracks until I hard nothing else left. It was worth the wait - No, that's not right...It was worth waiting for. - No, still wrong...Last is about right for when I watched this...I didn't care for it.

Happiest Surprise: To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar

I was prepared for this to go very badly. I figured it was one of those movies that was forward thinking at the time and has since fallen hopelessly behind. Sure, it's dated, but it holds up a lot better than I expected.

Biggest Disappointment: Waterworld

It was hard to find a real disappointment in this top 50. I didn't want to pick Waterworld because it's too easy. It's one of the great examples of squandered clout. Kevin Costner was on top of the world after Dances with Wolves and a string of other successes. Then he made this, which was a production nightmare, super expensive, and not worth it at all.

Looked Better Then: The Net

This has not aged at all well. That's all I'll say.

Looks Better Now: Toy Story

There's a couple good candidates here. Se7en was the movie that put David Fincher on the map. Clueless has aged incredibly well (Good writing is good writing). Only one move can be called "revolutionary" though. At the time, we suspected that computer animation was the wave of the future. So, even if we ignore that, we couldn't've known at the time that this would be the begining of one of the most remarkable strings of success by a studio (16 movies in a row that have all made over $160 million - That's insane).

Favorite: Toy Story

I've seen this movie more times than I can count. It's funny. It's smart. It's sentimental. The characters are iconic. Pixar could not have made a better debut than this classic.

2nd Favorite: Clueless

This is still Amy Heckerling's crowning achievement. The older I get, the more I appreciate how damn funny this is. Bonus points for introducing me to Paul Rudd (among many others, but he's the big one).

3rd Favorite: Nine Months

Apparently, this isn't as universally loved as it is by me. I don't know why. I've always liked Hugh Grant and this is him at his peak. There's Julianne Moore, Joan Cusack, Jeff Goldblum, Robin Williams, a funny Tom Arnold. How do you not laugh at the fight with the off-brand Barney or the hospital ride that keeps picking up injured people?

Honorable Mention:

Father of the Bride Part II

It had no business being as good as the original, yet it was.

GoldenEye

I cannot say how I'd feel about this movie without the video game. To me though, this is some great James Bond.

Se7en

David Fincher has directed so many great movies and this may still be his best.

The American President

I've watched this movie so many times. As The West Wing confirmed, this is the forum where Aaron Sorkin is most comfortable.

While You Were Sleeping

I just want Sandra Bullock to be happy.

Least Favorite: The Bridges of Madison County

I quite hated every minute of this. It was so boring. I didn't think I could dislike something with Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood in it so much