A Crash Course in 90's Pop-Culture

It's a well accepted fact that each generation must pass on important information to the next generation. The world of pop-culture is no exception. My mother and father excelled in this realm. I've mentioned before, that my father instilled in me a love for Alfred Hitchcock and old movies. My mother spent our long Sunday car rides to church teaching me and my brother songs like Bohemian Rhapsody and American Pie. By the time I was 11, I was wearing bell bottoms, tie-dyed shirts, and wishing I'd been born 2 decades earlier. 

I had that outfit. Both of them. 90's "fashion."

It recently came to my attention that "kids" today are missing out on this necessary passing down of pop-culture. Maybe their parents are too busy working multiple jobs in this economy to spend time teaching them about the 90's. Or maybe their sphere of influence is limited to what crosses their newsfeed on a daily basis. Whatever the reason, there is no excuse. It's time for me (with the help of my friends) to give a crash course to today's college students about what they missed in 90's pop-culture. 

Here are some people who were big in the 90's and maybe their careers didn't quite carry over, so you might not know that they were once awesome! But trust me...they were.

Personalities:
Winona Ryder, Sharon Stone, Alicia Silverstone, Claire Danes, Lili Taylor, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Holly Hunter, Michelle Pfeiffer, River Phoenix, Rebecca DeMornay, Neve Campbell, Christina Ricci, Meg Ryan, Kevin Costner, Kevin Spacey, Nick Nolte, Melissa Joan Hart, Macaulay Culkin, The London Brothers, Joey Lawrence, The ENTIRE casts from Saved By The Bell and Seinfeld.

That's right...Paul Rudd used to read!

Movies You MUST See:
Friday, Dumb and Dumber, Home Alone, American Beauty, Forrest Gump, Dances with Wolves, Good Will Hunting, The Last of the Mohicans, Fight Club, Babe, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, The Cutting Edge, Ghost, Wayne's World, Clueless, Tommy Boy, Office Space, That Thing You Do, Braveheart, Scream, Jerry Maguire, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Speed, Se7en, Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, Schindler's List, The Usual Suspects, Fargo, The Fisher King.

Of course, this is not a complete list, but a great place to start. Without these movies you will never understand the following critical Cultural References and many many more!

So you're telling me there's a chance!
Mama always said life is like a box of chocolates...
Romantic Pottery Scenes
The Rules of Fight Club
As if!
The terror in a box delivered in the middle of the desert.
Toe Pick!
Freedom!
You had me at hello.
The beauty of violin music in soundtracks.
I had to go see about a girl.
Salvation lies within.
Life will find a way.
Kaiser Soze
Housekeeping!
Tatonka.
Cap'n Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters
Staplers
Schwing!

Wow, that took me back!  Now onto the music portion of this post! You will have heard of many of these artists, but you MUST go look up their 90's albums to appreciate the music of that time. Even though Matchbox Twenty had a new album drop today...nothing compares to their "Yourself or Someone Like You" album. 

This man. Hot.

Music:
Matchbox Twenty, Hootie and the Blowfish, Color Me Badd, Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories, Barenaked Ladies, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, Oasis, Alanis Morissette, The Cranberries, No Doubt, Tracy Chapman, Ben Folds Five, Sarah McLachlan, TLC, Wallflowers, Counting Crows, Dave Matthews Band, Mariah Carey, Smashing Pumpkins, Boyz II Men, Spice Girls, Aerosmith, En Vogue, Ace of Base, Sheryl Crow, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, The Goo Goo Dolls, Bush, Dixie Chicks, Third Eye Blind.

Now, clearly I have resisted showing any restraint with my listing. However, I am going to ask you to hold back in your comments. If you had to sit down with someone younger than you and introduce them to 1 movie and/or 1 album from the 90's...what would it be and why?