Entertainment Industry Nostalgia: August 1994

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A compact disc copy of Sting’s album Ten Summoner’s Tales, released the previous year, becomes the first item securely purchased over the internet; the CD is sold for $12.48 plus shipping and handling fees. Woodstock ’94 is held in Saugerties, New York; as with the original 1969 festival, attendance is swelled by a high number of gatecrashers, while heavy rains turn the festival grounds into a sea of mud; Nine Inch Nails, Metallica, Aerosmith, Bob Dylan, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Peter Gabriel, and Green Day are among the many performers. Fox broadcasts its first National Football League event, a pre-season game in San Francisco between the 49ers and Denver Broncos. Shane Douglas threw down the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt and proclaimed the ECW Heavyweight Championship to be a world championship; Douglas’ speech presaged the emergence of ECW – renamed from Eastern Championship Wrestling to Extreme Championship Wrestling shortly after the event – as a nationally recognized promotion and the continued decline in the power and profile of the NWA. Congressional hearings begin on White Water. NY Supreme Court refuses Howard Stern’s non financial disclosure. Truck carrying millions of bees overturns on NY parkway. British rocker Billy Idol admitted to the hospital after drug overdose in Los Angeles, California. Last British troops leave Hong Kong (been there since September 1841). Members of the Major League Baseball Players Association go on strike leading to cancellation of World Series for only the second time in MLB history (1904); labour dispute. Space telescope Hubble photographs Uranus with rings. Israel & PLO initialed accord giving autonomy to Palestinians in West Bank in education, health, taxation, social welfare & tourism. 1st Japanese gay pride parade. IBM Pentium computer Deep Blue beats world chess champ Garry Kasparov. English actor (Dracula, Star Wars, Dr Who), dies of cancer at 81.

Music

Honorable mentions:

  • Crosby, Stills & Nash: After the Storm.
  • Prince: Come
  • Organized Konfusion: Stress: The Extinction Agenda. Tolerable because it’s only instrumental.
  • Portishead: Dummy
  • Echobelly: Everyone’s Got One
  • Status Quo: Thirsty Work
  • Sebadoh: Bakesale
  • The Jesus and Mary Chain: Stoned & Dethroned
  • Dinosaur Jr.: Without a Sound
  • Oasis: Definitely Maybe
  • Manic Street Preachers: The Holy Bible. Revol almost made me highlight it.
  • Usher: Usher. Just because it’s his debut.

Pretty good month for music. Even the “honorable mentions” are no joke.

Jackyl: Push Comes to Shove (2)

Love Spit Love: Love Spit Love (2)

Something about that Superman track.

The Tractors: The Tractors (2)

For a country band, they’re not too bad. Baby Likes to Rock It is a groovy track, and Badly Bent has some endearing lyrics.

Sponge: Rotting Piñata (2)

Hmph. Neenah Menasha swayed me, but this isn’t a band that will get a “best of the year” highlight.

Stereolab: Mars Audiac Quintet (2)

Pleasant to listen to. Guess that’s what the space age pop genre is supposed to do.

Machine Head: Burn My Eyes (9)

Debut.

Savatage: Handful of Rain (16)

They’re as strong as ever, in spite of their lead guitarist’s death (seriously, what a tragedy). Titular track is a standout.

Barenaked Ladies: Maybe You Should Drive (16)

Only because Jane was one of those hit songs that played everywhere for a while.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Sleeps with Angels (16)

Didn’t realize Neil Young was an influence on the rise of grunge back in the late 80s.

Tesla: Bust a Nut (23)

These guys are awesome.

Toadies: Rubberneck (23)

Possum Kingdom.

Rusted Root: When I Woke (23)

As much as I’d like to give album of the month to Savatage or Tesla based on personal preference, and though Barenaked Ladies’ standout track hogged the spotlight, I’ll give the win to this one just for the track Send Me On My Way (surely you’ve heard this one before).

Movies

Other mentions:

  • The Next Karate Kid. How about no.
  • The Little Rascals. This may have been a bit of a thing back in the day, but it’s mostly cringe to watch now. The best part of the film is the finale race and the Trump cameo (the latter provided the only part of the film that made me laugh out loud unironically, in spite of the lizard innuendo joke near the beginning). Aside from that, believe it or not, feminist propaganda.
  • Corrina, Corrina. Liberal garbage. Seems to be a trend with Whoopi Goldberg flicks.
  • In the Army Now. Pauly Shore was tolerable up until this point.
  • The Enemy Within. Just watch Seven Days in May instead (it’s still liberal, but at least it’s more thought-provoking than this).
  • The Advocate. Starts out with an interesting historical fact that it promises to explore (animal rights in medieval times), but it does so in the most dull and modernistic-liberal way. It’s not enough that the film is exclusively critical of the Christian order, it also makes sure to shove in some “jews were treated unfairly too” message while it’s at it.
  • Police Academy: Mission to Moscow. Never really enjoyed this franchise.
  • Shake, Rattle and Rock! Fun on the surface, liberal brainwashing just below. Honestly, when it comes to films that both satirize and (try to) promote the 1950s lifestyles at the same time, showcasing reactions to rock and roll and such, there are better films for doing it than this. In fact, the genre deserves better. Footloose did it near-perfectly (though that’s more about dancing than rock-n-roll).
  • Wagons East. Unfortunate that this was John Candy’s last film (passed away during the making of it).

Clear and Present Danger (3)

Damn good movie, my favorite of the Tom Clancy adaptations. The only weak point is the finale, mainly because I found some of the action to be lacking. But I mine as well as take issue with the general action scenes of most 90s movies by that measure; it’s just a nitpick to an otherwise all-around solid action-thriller. Film of the month, though it did have one bit of competition from Oliver Stone.

Eat Drink Man Woman (3)

Another solid Ang Lee outing.

Airheads (5)

It’s not half bad. I kind of like the concept of this low-tier band holding a radio station hostage (the film is done in a more lighthearted comedy style more than a tense thriller style). It’s like Dog Day Afternoon, with more light humor and less dark humor. Takes aim at the (rock/metal) music industry, to an extent. Plus it’s got a lot of 90s references, making this one of the definitive “that’s so 90s” films from the decade. A good solid comedy to add to the few this year.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (10)

I thought it would be a cold day in hell before I found myself actually enjoying a film that featured transvestites and cross-dressers this heavily. But the whole dream-like atmosphere of the first half, plus some performances and various scenes… Damnit, I found it enjoyable. Though it still had some typical bullshit in it (I think that’s unavoidable in movies like this), like the scene where these cranky whites get a beat-down.

Andre (19)

This barely gets a recommendation. The film is fun enough, for a kid flick. But there are some things that bring it down. The father being blamed for shit by the liberal mother (typical liberal hollywood style), the kids are a bit annoying, the romance side-plot with these two kids was detrimental in every to this movie. Other than that, it’s a decent enough animal pet-themed movie.

Blankman (19)

A stupid superhero comedy that I actually kind of like.

Color of Night (19)

I’m not going to bullshit you. This movie isn’t good. But it is a guilty pleasure. Watching Bruce Willis out of his element in this role is almost like watching Mark Wahlberg in The Happening.

Killing Zoe (19)

A fun little heist flick that you’ll want subtitles for. Try to get the Director’s Cut if you can.

Fresh (24)

Decent semi-gangster flick. But that scene where the dog dies though…

Camp Nowhere (26)

Well I’ll be damned. As I was losing hope with The Little Rascals, The Next Karate Kid, and Andre (I found the latter tolerable with a mixture of good and bad moments), then comes this kid flick. Now, it’s not one that’s exactly going to inspire good morals. But I actually had fun with this one. This is the kind of thing one hopes the 90s would put out, and it doesn’t disappoint. It’s the sort of reckless abandon that I grew up with that, for some reason, doesn’t make feel as ashamed in hindsight as other flicks from this time period would (see Blank Check from February). This other flick with a similar concept that came out over a decade later, Accepted, is one I find to be inferior to this (if for no other reason than how the court case turned out).

Natural Born Killers (26)

I’m not joking when I say this is probably Oliver Stone’s best movie. Unlike most of his films, this one at least isn’t based on true events or on true people, at least not directly. It’s somewhat inspired by the Charles Starkweather murders, depicted in films like Murder in the Heartland (May 1993, made for TV miniseries) and Badlands (1973). But that’s just an inspiration, because this film is its own beast, just going all-out with these serial killers doing their murders. It’s the kind of dark biting satire of various aspects of American society that Stone was born to make, and this works far better at it as a work of pure fiction than anything he has made that references real-life figures/events directly because the liberties he takes always causes severe compromises to his works. Because the facts do matter, and the way he misrepresents them tends to sicken me. Here though, that kind of misrepresentation isn’t present, so there’s less in the way of hampering the overall message and point he’s making in this film, and it is a valid point. That aspects of society that abuse individuals cause them to act out violently, eventually becoming irredeemable sociopaths who cause violence themselves, society promotes the very violence they do via irresponsible media glorification, and violence breeds more violence, which will eventually lead to chaos and a breakdown of society as a whole. The style in which this is delivered is quite unique here. In fact, the film was controversial for the time because of the violence depicted (hence censorship for the theatrical version, leading to a later release of a more violent director’s cut). Say what you want about the JFK film (which suffers from the aforementioned problems), and about Platoon (way too pro-hippie, and that metaphorical bullshit on how they were divided into two general groups), but for me this is Stone’s magnum opus, the go-to Oliver Stone film for me. Also certainly opened up Woody Harrelson’s career; he was an inspired choice for the lead role (and so was Rodney Dangerfield for a side role). The main gripe I have with the film is that it’s rather unfocused for the first half, at least when it gets to the portions following Dangerfield’s scenes. Once it gets to their apprehension, then if becomes great for the rest of the runtime.

Milk Money (31)

It’s got the typical “hooker with a heart of gold” Hollywood trope, as opposed to the type that toys with your emotions and takes all your money. Plus it portrays the general middle-school environment to be more full of horny teenagers than is normal (at least compared to the environment I grew up in; this might have come to fruition in today’s climate for all I know). That aside, it’s not bad.

Games

Other mentions:

  • The King of Fighters ’94 (Neo-Geo, Arcade). One of the most difficult KoF games.
  • Fighter’s History (SNES, Arcade [1993]). A Street Fighter II knockoff. Worth noting for the copyright lawsuit Capcom filed against this, and what the consequences of the court ruling are. In a nutshell, it’s a good thing Capcom lost, otherwise they would’ve had a decent chance at having monopoly on the fighting game market in the long run.
  • Troy Aikman NFL Football (SNES, Jaguar)
  • Way of the Warrior (3DO). A bad, yet entertaining/hilarious fighting game that put Naughty Dog on the map.
  • Alone in the Dark (3DO, PC [1993]). Just to note that the 3DO got a port of this game.

Primal Rage (1994; Arcade)

Classic arcade fighting game.

The Flintstones: Surprise at Dinosaur Peak (August; NES)

NES still putting out a decent game in its final year.

Mario Andretti Racing (August; Genesis)

Sylvester and Tweety in Cagey Capers (August; Genesis)

Contra: Hard Corps (8; Genesis)

This is the best Contra game of the 16-bit era, and quite possibly the best Contra game ever made. Easily better than Contra III.

Ecco: The Tides of Time (25; Genesis, Sega CD)

A sequel that is better than its classic predecessor. Once again, the Sega CD version is the best version to get, if only for the alternate soundtrack.

Formula One World Championship: Beyond the Limit (August; Sega-CD)

The Death and Return of Superman (August; SNES, Genesis)

Mr. Nutz (August; SNES)

That title.

Tetris 2 (August; SNES, NES [1993])

Distinct from the first in terms of gameplay. It stands on its own.

Breath of Fire (10; SNES)

So begins this iconic Nintendo J-RPG franchise. A classic that suffers from the same dated issues that plagued most J-RPGs of the time, and over a decade later. A high random battle rate. Mediocre-at-best English translation. Thankfully, there are mods and patches that make the game better on sites like ROMhacking.net. Or hell, even the Game Boy Advance version. In any case, as much as I would like to give the win to Contra, Breath of the Wild is game of the month.

Aerobiz Supersonic (29; SNES, Genesis)

Management simulator. Highly rated too among gamers. So if managing airports is your thing…

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (30; SNES)

Trip’d (6; 3DO)

Another one of those Tetris-inspired games.

Jazz Jackrabbit (August; PC [CD version November])

Microsoft Dangerous Creatures (August; PC)

One of a series of educational Microsoft games that came out during the early 1990s. I experienced two of them back in the day. This isn’t one of them, but I would’ve been into it.

Microsoft Ancient Lands (August; PC)

This is one I did experience. Highly educational and enjoyable (for kids) back in the early-mid 1990s.

Shows

Other mentions:

  • The Brothers Grunt. I mean… fuck. The creator would go on to create Ed Edd and Eddy, but until then he’s notorious for making this garbage. Fans of Ren & Stimpy might find something to enjoy here.
  • M.A.N.T.I.S. Black superhero show that’s… just ok at best. But I do have to admit, it’s goofy enough to be entertaining. Surprised it hasn’t gotten a remake. You know, because black people are important and all. I’d like to see a series with a black guy in a costume wearing a bug head so that you can say he’s bugging out.
  • Masters of the Maze. Interesting game show, terrible host. There wasn’t much reason to watch this when we had Legends of the Hidden Temple. That beings aid, that intro sequence is great.

My So-Called Life (25; ABC)

Jesus Christ, they cancelled this after one season? This show!? This cult classic coming of age teen-angst show that everybody, including critics, loved and proclaimed to be ahead of its time? Show of the month, candidate for show of the year.

Maximum Drive (29; The Family Channel)

Now this is more like it, for a distinct game competition show. Because you’re watching kids using vehicles. I’m not talking about toy cars, I’m talking about them being in a vehicle as a driver. From dirt bikes to Argos. Hell yeah! Too bad it only went for one season.

Edit (7-1-2024): Added Microsoft Dangerous Creatures and Microsoft Ancient Times to Games.

Edit (4-5-2025): Added Primal Rage to Games.

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