Entertainment

12 Embarrassing '90s Movies You Still Love

by Mary Grace Garis

As you staggeringly broach adulthood, you sometimes find yourself looking back cringingly at your favorite old-time '90s movies from your adolescence. I mean, it's safe to say that since then you've curated an eclectic taste for high-end Oscar-winning dramas and quirky indie films alike... right? Wrong. Your browser history doesn't lie: you're a sucker for a simpler time, and that's why there's still plenty of embarrassing '90s films you still indulge in every once in a while.

"Well, what do you mean by embarrassing '90s films, Mary Grace?" Um, I think you know exactly what I mean, people of the Internet. Films that are, in essence, sort of guilty pleasures. Within conversation with close friends, yeah, it's totally easy to talk about old Nickelodeon movies and cop to all the orange VHSs you own back at your parents place (Snow Day, anyone?). But I'm just saying, you're not about to break out Good Burger if you're looking to Netflix and chill... I mean, I hope not.

In any case, let's just dust off those videos and take a stroll down memory lane. Here are a sampling of '90s films that maybe haven't aged tremendously well, but still remain secretly in your regular movie rotation.

1. Pokemon: The First Movie

On one hand, this is totally understandable: Pokemon was possibly the biggest craze of the late '90s, and a residual love for the OG 150 (151? 152 with Togepi?) is totally understandable. But somewhere around the point when the Pokemon are fighting their clones and Blessid Union of Souls is playing in the background you're like, "Really?"

2. A Goofy Movie

I mean, A Goofy Movie is, well, goofy. Like, it definitely doesn't have the same potency as Aladdin or Beauty and the Beast or some offering from Disney that's relatively dignified. But Max's teenage woes are objectively adorable, and that Powerline song, "Stand Out?" Amazing.

3. Dumb And Dumber

Another offering that remains pretty true to its name, yet it reminds us of happier times with Jim Carrey. And you can admit it: you still get a giggle from those tuxedos.

4. Batman Forever

Oh, you thought I was going to say Batman And Robin, right? You could tack that one on here for being that next level, although let's face it, it's hard to watch in earnest. The soundtrack dutifully redeems this particular installment, though, and hey! More peak Carrey.

5. Babe

This one's personally embarrassing to me because pigs are my favorite animal, and I'll just power-sob through the movie out of fear that they're going to eat this little guy (spoiler alert: they don't).

6. She's All That

I mean, there are good 1999 teen films, and then there's this.

7. Spice World

Akin to Pokemon, the nostalgia factor on this one makes it easy to forgive. Who can deny the universal appeal of the Spice Girls? Even aliens love them!

8. Free Willy

That title changes implications as you grow up, which then ruins your childhood. True story.

9. Cruel Intentions

You claim to be in it for the hokey-ness, but, let's be real, this is basically softcore porn by virtue of Ryan Phillipe's face alone.

10. Billy Madison

Do you know how hard it is to sell people on even vintage Adam Sandler films in a post-Jack & Jill world? And yet the "I award you no points" scene is hysterical.

11. Space Jam

You love Space Jam, I love Space Jam, I've seen frat guys boast Tune Squad jerseys very publicly loving Space Jam. At the end of the day, it's still a Looney Toons movie about intergalactic basketball, starring a not-meant-to-act Michael Jordan. Soak that up for a little while.

12. Good Burger

Seriously, though, it's on Netflix now, and you're eating it all up, guilty as charged. In fact, I can't be the only one planning to watch all of these films again immediately. Can I? Yeah, no.

Images: Spice Productions; Giphy (12)