A book review of The Last Decade of Cinema: 25 films from the nineties by Scott Ryan
Stars: *****
Fayetteville Mafia Press (2024)
Entertainment>Movies
336 pages
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.
Summary: Ah, the nineties. Movies were something in those days. We’re talking about a decade that began with GoodFellas and ended with Magnolia, with such films as Malcolm X, Before Sunrise, and Clueless arriving somewhere in between. Stories, characters, and writing were king; IP, franchise movies, and supersaturated superhero flicks were still years away. Or so says Scott Ryan, the iconoclastic author of The Last Days of Letterman and Moonlighting: An Oral History, who here turns his attention to The Last Decade of Cinema—the prolific 1990s. Ryan, who watched just about every film released during the decade when he was a video store clerk in a small town in Ohio, identifies twenty-five unique and varied films from the decade, including Pretty Woman, Pulp Fiction, Menace II Society, and The Shawshank Redemption, focusing with his trademark humor and insight on what made them classics and why they could never be produced in today’s film culture. The book also includes interviews with writers, directors, and actors from the era. Go back to the time of VCR’s, DVD rentals, and movies that mattered. Turn off your streaming services, put down your phones, delete your Twitter account, and take a look back at the nineties with your Eyes Wide Shut, a White Russian in your hand, and yell “Hasta la vista, baby” to today’s meaningless entertainment. Revel in the risk-taking brilliance of Quentin Tarantino, Amy Heckerling, Spike Lee, Robert Altman, Paul Thomas Anderson, and others in Scott Ryan’s magnum opus, The Last Decade of Cinema.
The Last Decade of Cinema
I loved the 90s so I accepted this book for review, even though I’m no movie buff. In fact I haven’t watched most of the movies he highlights in this book, so I thought I wouldn’t enjoy the book as much as my brother, whom I’m gifting this too when I’m done reading it. I was wrong.
I read the whole book in one day. I love the author’s writing style, his humour and his memories. It’s not a memoir of his life but he does share stories from his young adulthood in the 90s, especially when he worked at a video store. Just his discussions around how video stores used to work and how they would work if they were around today was funny but true.
So how is it laid out? Each year between 90 and 99 has 2-4 movies highlighted and discussed in essay format. After showing a (black and white) copy of the movie poster, the author explains the movie and interesting facts about production, actors and special effects. It’s like watching a behind the scenes special feature on a DVD but in written form. Although there is one movie he says he won’t spoil the ending for, there are many others that would be spoilers but that’s understandable to properly discuss the movie. So make sure you watch the movie before you read the essay, unless you don’t mind spoilers.
There are also two chapters that discuss movies in general, one of which discusses the movie theater experience in the 90s. These were fun to read. There are also 30 more movies discussed in the epilogue.
If you are interested in a enlightening discussion of 90s movies, this is your book. It feels like the author is sitting there right with you discussing it. So if you feel like you’re the only one in your friends group who appreciates 90s cinema, this book will help you feel like you have a movie buddy to discuss it with.
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