Randy Savage makes his World Championship Wrestling TV debut on a live edition of WCW Saturday Night. Jim Bakker, American televangelist and convicted fraud is released from jail. Rapper Tupac Shakur convicted on sexual assault charge, and later sentenced to up to 4 1/2 years in prison. Radio personality Howard Stern talks a man out of attempting suicide. European Campaign against Racism “All different, All equal” begins. Russian Federation forces attack city of Grozny, beginning the First Chechen War, in which the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria gains its independence from Russia. Fearing arrest by the FBI, organized crime boss Whitey Bulger flees Boston, and successfully hides from law enforcement for the next 16 years. Four Muslim fundamentalists capture Air France pilot in Algiers; French commandos terminate the Air France hijacking.
Music
Other mentions:
- Vanessa Williams: The Sweetest Days
- Cherry Poppin’ Daddies: Rapid City Muscle Car
Bush: Sixteen Stone (6)
Everything Zen was a big hit that gets respectable replay to this day. There’s also Comedown, Machinehead, and Glycerine, all of which were also big hits. Album of the month; there may not have been much competition this month, but this could go head to head with any other major album that came out in 1994.
Jimmy Eat World: Jimmy Eat World (19)
So this debut album doesn’t really represent the style that would make this band famous, so consider this a highlight for historical purposes more than anything else.
Movies
Other mentions:
- Cobb. Another one of those Hollywood movies that deconstructs and slanders an American legend.
- Tom & Viv. Tedious.
- Trapped in Paradise. Not all that funny, though Nicolas Cage does try to elevate it with his occasional shouting (he always makes that work).
- Witch Hunt (HBO). Not as good as Cast a Deadly Spell.
- Speechless. Forgettable by-the-numbers.
- Mixed Nuts. Doesn’t work.
- Nell. You may want to watch it if you want to see Jodie Foster playing a retard (she’s good at it). It gets ridiculously preachy during the last act.
- Ready to Wear (Prêt-à-Porter). Unfocused.
- I.Q. Just mediocre, but I did find the banter between the old guys enjoyable. But, of course, it’s got this message of the woman being smarter than everyone else (scientifically). On the other hand, Einstein is a hack, so…
Disclosure (9)
Michael Douglass somehow manages to keep getting these roles where he gets into some steamy sex scenes. He’s making an attempt to stand alongside James Spader in that department, what with this film, Basic Instinct, and Fatal Attraction (I doubt he’d ever overtake Spader, just on the merits of that Crash film alone). But anyway, this is a film that deals with the subject matter of sexual harassments at the workplace; with a woman harassing the man. There’s more to the film than that, but that’s the main selling point of the plot.
Rather amusing with the virtual reality stuff, which to my surprise holds up amazingly well with its effects (for the most part; the virtual Demi Moore is a bit cringe), given that this came out in the mid-90s. Jurassic Park really got the industry going with that stuff.
Drop Zone (9)
It’s just a typical by-the-numbers action-thriller that isn’t all that special. But it makes up for it with how the main villain (Gary Busey) meets his demise. I promise you that moment will make you laugh.
Immortal Beloved (16)
Once again, like Cobb (and other biographical films from prior months and years), it’s a deconstruction of an important historical figure highlight (and often exaggerating) the flaws of the character more than celebrating his strengths. This time it’s Ludwig Van Beethoven. Still, one can’t help but respect the budget and cinematography.
Dumb and Dumber (16)
I’m not a fan of this movie, but it is considered an all-time comedy classic. Film of the month.
Little Women (21)
Considered to be the best of the film adaptations of this classic tale. I’ll take their word for it. It’s not my kind of movie (quite girly), but I can acknowledge its reputation and quality.
Richie Rich (21)
This is a movie I never got around to viewing for all these years, even though I wanted to see it (even back in the day). Now that I’ve seen it… eh, Culkin is showing his weakness as an actor in this. But in all seriousness, this is fairly harmless as a kid flick that offers some amusement if you’re in the mood for something like this.
Plus there’s this line I’m just not going to get over. “Behold… Robo-Bee!”
Death and the Maiden (23)
The thing about most films based on stage plays… the dialogue always stounds stilted. I think it’s less an issue of the play itself (though sometimes that is the case) and more that the Hollywood actors aren’t as fit for these roles as actual stage actors. Some scripts only work on the stage medium rather than the film medium. People tend to praise Sigourney Weaver’s acting, but she sounds more stilted than anyone else in this. But maybe it’s just me. That said, this movie isn’t bad, just stilted at times. It gets better when it enters the second act. At the end of the day, it’s worth a watch, but not a masterpiece.
Oh, and it also has this eye-rolling line, with the tied up Kingsley hearing that he must confess to a crime or die, “My God, I thought you were supposed to be a Democrat!” Yeah, ’cause they’re so much better than their uniparty Republicans, especially these days when the veil is lifted for those capable of thinking critically.
Legends of the Fall (23)
Decent.
Nobody’s Fool (23)
A decent character drama with Paul Newman giving a good performance. It’s a solid enough film, but it also has this dialogue exchange that’s great, especially when taken out of context.
“Don’t blame me, I’m a jew. These aren’t my holidays.”
“A jew, really? I didn’t know that. How come you ain’t smart?”
Street Fighter (23)
Say what you will about 90s films based on video games. They may be generally terrible on an objective level, but I’ll be damned if they’re not fun guilty pleasures. If you want a more faithful adaptation of the source material (the arcade game), go watch Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. If you want the best live-action adaptation of the source material, go watch City Hunter with Jackie Chan. If you want a film that’s cheesy as fuck with memorable one-liners and is more of a comedy (both intentional and unintentional) than a serious action flick, watch this.
The Jungle Book (25)
You know, for a Disney live-action adaptation, this is quite dark. I really have to respect it for that. Really wish we still had this version of the Disney company alive and kicking, as opposed to the one we have now with its balls chopped off.
The Madness of King George (28)
Again… not my kind of movie (too British for me), but I can acknowledge its quality.
Games
Other mentions:
- Stargate (Genesis, SNES, Game Gear, Game Boy). Just play Super Star Wars instead.
- Bonkers (Genesis, SNES). Just play Tiny Toon Adventures instead.
- PGA Tour Golf III (Genesis)
- Mega Man: The Wily Wars (31; Genesis). As much as I would like to highlight this Genesis remake of the first 3 Mega Man games, this has a strange distribution history in the U.S. It was only available via some weird online download system that I was oblivious to. Europe had it better than us with this game. Anyway, that said, this is definitely worth playing.
- GP-1: Part II (SNES)
- Metal Morph (SNES)
- Power Instinct (SNES)
- Brutal: Paws of Fury (SNES, Genesis, Sega-CD)
- Flying Tigers II (PC)
Bust-a-Move (21; Arcade, Neo Geo CD [1995])
All-time arcade classic.
Tekken (December; Arcade, PSX [September 1995])
A classic at the time, but it hasn’t aged as well as the sequel. This franchise would get a lot better… next year.
Wario’s Woods (10; NES, SNES)
The final NES game released in the U.S. Decent puzzler.
Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures (December; Genesis, SNES)
I actually played this back in the day. It’s… not bad. It’s a point-and-click adventure that can be frustrating.
Cosmic Carnage, aka Cyber Brawl (1994; Sega 32X)
Japanese version all the way!
The Adventures of Batman & Robin (December; SNES)
Biker Mice from Mars (December; SNES)
Fun racing game.
Pieces (December; SNES)
Huh, a game that made jigsaw puzzles fun.
Tiny Toon Adventures: Wacky Sports Challenge (December; SNES)
Probably the best of the 16-bit party games of the time. It aged pretty well if for no other reason than it doesn’t involve too much button-mashing.
Uniracers (December; SNES)
Interesting racing game. It’s sort of like SSX Tricky, in a sense. And fuck you Pixar for destroying this game!
Bonk 3: Bonk’s Big Adventure CD (December; Turbografx)
Last entry for this mascot platformer on the Turbografx.
Strahl, Triad Stone (2; LaserActive, 3DO [1995])
Anime quick-time-event game similar to Dragon’s Lair and Road Avenger. 3DO version is the best.
Starblade (16; 3D0, Sega-CD, Arcade [1991], Playstation [1996])
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Slayer (31; 3DO)
One of the best games on the 3DO, with one of the most badass covers ever.
Alice: An Interactive Museum (1994; PC)
The Need for Speed (31; 3DO, PC [1995])
The start of this famous racing franchise. This wasn’t my introduction to it, but it is a solid start.
Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger (December; PC)
This tends to be the favorite entry in the Wing Commander franchise for many (next to Privateer). Probably because it’s an FMV game done right, and it had Mark Hammill and Malcolm McDowall (among others) as the major actors in the game. Personally, I’m a bigger fan of Wing Commander II. This one I thought overcomplicated the gameplay a tad, the story wasn’t overall as interesting (in spite of this shocking twist that happens about halfway through), and the missions got more tedious after a while. Still though, for 1994, this blew many gamers away. Game of the month.
Dragon Lore: The Legend Begins (December; PC, 3DO [1995])
Marathon (21; Mac)
Before there was Halo, there was Marathon.
Heretic (27; PC)
One of the first good Doom knock-offs. Not as good as Doom, but still fun.
Shows
Life with Louie (18?; Fox Kids)
Started as a Christmas special, which was a glorified pilot episode, kind of like how The Simpsons started, before the regular showings began in September 1995.
The Head (19; MTV)
Show of the month. That said, just stick with the first season, it’s a complete story. Lasted for 2 seasons.
Edit (6-19-2024): Added Alice: An Interactive Museum to Games.
The Anomalous Host 