# Stupid little movies you love from the 90's-early 2000's **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 4, 2020, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-little-movies-you-love-from-the-90s-early-2000s/853100 "2020-05-04T01:54:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-little-movies-you-love-from-the-90s-early-2000s/853100/121 "2020-05-15T08:19:14Z")
**Undercover Brother** (2002) is a blaxploitation parody starring Eddie Griffin which delivers a solid number of laughs. Denise Richards’ character is called “White She-Devil”, which gives you an idea of what to expect. Rotten Tomatoes (77%) approves. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-little-movies-you-love-from-the-90s-early-2000s/853100/122 "2020-05-15T08:47:49Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > I seem to be the only person who liked this movie but. I found [_The Shadow_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111143/) to be a very entertaining movie that embraced the pulp roots of the character. Alec Baldwin seems to be constantly in on the joke, never taking it too seriously, and John Lone and Tim Curry chew so much scenery I’m surprised there was anything left. The effects budget was definitely on the thin side but the practical, _Evil Dead_-grade effects really fit the pulp nature of the story, and the one aspect that is really lacking is the editing where there are some scene jumps that clearly left something on the cutting room floor. Unfortunately, the movie did relatively poorly at the box office with poor promotion and an until then rising star Baldwin taking a deep career slide for the better part of a decade led to no sequel potential, but the movie is good fun with a just-right balance of campy action and slightly over-the-top dramatic flair that felt like a radio serial production projected to film. This goes on the same shelf as _Big Trouble in Little China_, _The Rocketeer_, and _Captain America: The First Avenger_. If only someone would actually make a decent Doc Savage movie… > > Stranger This is one of a handful of movies–_Vibes_ and _Daredevil_ are two more–that failed because they desperately needed more of an SPFX budget than they got, someone cheaped out and the otherwise perfectly okay movie suffered for it. I never understood why _Almost Famous_ wasn’t a lot more popular than it was. It’s one of my favorite movies ever, and a lot of the bit players (Pauley Perrette, Eric Stonestreet, Zooey Deschanel, Jason Lee) went on to be bigger stars on TV. It’s criminal that Patrick Fugit and Billy Crudup aren’t household names. I guess its arrival kind of coincided with Rock’n’Roll taking a back seat to every other form of popular music, and MTV eschewing rock videos for awful reality shows. It also seemed a lot like **Rolling Stone** magazine producing/promoting a big love letter to itself. Such a great movie, though! ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-little-movies-you-love-from-the-90s-early-2000s/853100/123 "2020-05-15T11:32:02Z")
I liked _20 Dates_, a faux documentary from 1998. Quoting a bit: Myles is divorced in L.A. He wants a love life and a film career. So he decides to go on 20 dates and find true love in front of a camera, making his first feature. His patient agent, Richard, finds a $60,000 investor, the shadowy Elie. Myles starts his search, sometimes telling his date she’s being filmed, sometimes not. Elie wants sex and titillation, Myles wants it “real.” > **[20 Dates (1998) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0138987/)** > > 20 Dates: Directed by Myles Berkowitz. With Myles Berkowitz, Elisabeth Wagner, Richard Arlook, Tia Carrere. A documentary type film about the dates Myles has gone on as he tries to find out how to find love in the future. ---
**Author:** ![BeagleJesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5daacb/32.png) [@BeagleJesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeagleJesus)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-little-movies-you-love-from-the-90s-early-2000s/853100/124 "2020-05-15T11:58:53Z")
> [@LLCoolL](#): > > **Undercover Brother** (2002) is a blaxploitation parody starring Eddie Griffin which delivers a solid number of laughs. Denise Richards’ character is called “White She-Devil”, which gives you an idea of what to expect. Rotten Tomatoes (77%) approves. I loved the names of all the characters: Undercover Brother Smart Brother Conspiracy Brother Sista Girl White She Devil The Man and last but NOT least…Lance (what can I say? Affirmative Action) ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-little-movies-you-love-from-the-90s-early-2000s/853100/125 "2020-05-15T12:12:22Z")
> [@BigDfromLA](#): > > American History X (1998) amazing film, an overlooked classic. Powerful as heck. Should have received multiple Oscars. Not really a “stupid little movie”, then, is it? (Though apart from that I agree with your assessment of it.) ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-little-movies-you-love-from-the-90s-early-2000s/853100/126 "2020-05-16T23:35:13Z")
How is it possible that we’re more than 100 posts into this thread, and no one has yet mentioned “Demolition Man”? If I happen to see this while flipping through the channels, it becomes physically impossible to separate me from the TV. Everyone remembers the Taco Bell and three seashells jokes. But personally the following bit is my favorite. > [@](#): > > Nigel Hawthorne delivering his lines with utter contempt: Detective, the only thing I haven’t got under control is you. But that can be solved. You, my Cro-Magnon friend, are dead. Your family’s dead, your past is dead. Dead things cannot affect the living. So enjoy your moment of prehistoric bravado, because after you leave here it will be over. Like everything else in your life.Officer, return this man to cryo-stasis immediately. > Be well. > > Sly Stallone, raising gun and pointing it at Hawthorne: Be Fucked. > > Citation dispenser in background: BZZZZZ! John Spartan, you are fined one credit for a violation of the verbal-morality… > > Sly fires his gun at the dispenser causing Hawthorne’s henchman to faint. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/P2nKnuSAPQE/hqdefault.jpg "Demolition Man - Be well, be f\*\*ked") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2nKnuSAPQE) ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-little-movies-you-love-from-the-90s-early-2000s/853100/127 "2020-05-17T12:46:01Z")
> [@BeagleJesus](#): > > I loved the names of all the characters: > Undercover Brother > Smart Brother > Conspiracy Brother > Sista Girl > White She Devil > The Man > and last but NOT least…Lance (what can I say? Affirmative Action) Undercover Brother walks around with a large “UB” belt buckle. Even though he’s, you know, undercover… ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-little-movies-you-love-from-the-90s-early-2000s/853100/128 "2020-05-17T12:51:42Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > - Twenty Bucks?\* > > That the ensemble with Steve Buscemi and Christopher Lloyd (among others)? Follows a $20 through all the people who possess it? That was a good movie. Yes, unaccountably obscure. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-little-movies-you-love-from-the-90s-early-2000s/853100/129 "2020-05-17T16:21:32Z")
_Josie and the Pussycats_ (2001) was far better than it had any reason to be. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-little-movies-you-love-from-the-90s-early-2000s/853100/130 "2020-05-17T17:55:46Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (2001) a very funny stupid little movie. From the company that brought you “Zombies of Mora Tau” and “Lawrence of Arabia.” I have seen a great MANY movies that claim to be loving, hilarious homages to the sort of cheesy fifties monster movies I love so much. \* Lost Skeleton Of Cadavra\* is among the very, VERY few that I thought was both funny and pretty good. For some reason, them what makes homages simply seem to think if it’s a bad movie with a bad monster suit, that’s enough. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-little-movies-you-love-from-the-90s-early-2000s/853100/131 "2020-05-18T05:58:53Z")
Nice thread, reads like a trawl through my DVD collectioni (Long Kiss Goodnight, Mystery Men, Undercover Brother, Pleasantville!). One that wasn’t mentioned is **Speechless (1994)**. I found it a fun little movie about Geena Davis as a speechwriter, and Michael Keaton writing speeches for the opposing candidate. They fall in love and hijinks ensue. While not the greatest of comedies, part of the charm is the chemistry between the two leads who have a nice old-fashioned way of bantering and bickering. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-little-movies-you-love-from-the-90s-early-2000s/853100/132 "2020-05-19T00:17:10Z")
_Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love_ in 1996 got mixed reviews: while they loved it for its lush and colorful set design, costuming, and cinematography, they criticized the thinness of its plot. But the central importance of the _Kama Sutra_ film is that it was the first to foreground women’s sexual desires in Indian cinema, where sex had theretofore been emphasizing rape. Mira Nair held women-only showings in India, which was important given the social strictures around gender and sexuality in public, for women to get a chance to see it unharassed. Also, **Rekha** is not just a superstar of Bollywood, she is a _legend_. She was in _Kama Sutra_ a few years after her retirement as the supreme leading lady of film, now appearing as a wise woman teaching women to be empowered with their own sexuality. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-little-movies-you-love-from-the-90s-early-2000s/853100/133 "2020-06-02T19:22:32Z")
I just thought of two more movies that qualify here, both with Nicholas Cage. \* National Treasure\* (2004) [6.8 IMDB] _Bangkok Dangerous_ (2008) [5.8 IMDB] I liked both a lot, but not quite enough to make my personal Top 100 List. > [@Johanna](#): > > I **loved Bound** and saw it several times. Inspired by my own mention of it in this thread, I’m rewatching _Bound_ right now. Very good IMHO. As an “intellectual” exercise I may prune my Top 100 list to a Top Fifty! _Bound_ is likely to make the cut. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-little-movies-you-love-from-the-90s-early-2000s/853100/134 "2020-06-02T20:40:02Z")
**Airheads** (1995) - has 25% on Rotten Tomatoes and 45% on Metacritic making it woefully underrated. I love it start to finish, it’s so quotable. My roommate in college and I must have seen it shy of 50 times. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-little-movies-you-love-from-the-90s-early-2000s/853100/135 "2020-06-02T22:33:07Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I **loved Bound** and saw it several times. > [@septimus](#): > > Inspired by my own mention of it in this thread, I’m rewatching _Bound_ right now. Very good IMHO. I notice that _Bound_ was written and directed by the Wachowski Brothers (Andy and Larry) who have since become the Wachowski Sisters (Lilly and Lana)! _Bound_ was their first movie. Next came _The Matrix_ and its sequels, none of which I watched, and _V for Vendetta_, which I enjoyed. _Jupiter Ascending_ is another film by the Wachowski Sisters — maybe I’ll watch it even though it gets a low IMDB score. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-little-movies-you-love-from-the-90s-early-2000s/853100/136 "2020-06-02T23:04:40Z")
I believe Jupiter Ascending was the subject of an episode of How Did This Get Made? Watch the movie and then listen to the podcast! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-little-movies-you-love-from-the-90s-early-2000s/853100.md?page=6)