For folks looking to re-live the nineties, Mill Creek Entertainment has made eight of the more notable and not so notable films from that decade available for folks craving overalls and ripped jeans. And there was that odd period where everyone was obsessed with swing dancing. What the hell was that about? Nonetheless, at over twelve hours long, Mill Creek offers eight dramedies of varying quality, and many of which are definite time capsules of the decade.
1999’s “The Mating Habits of Earthbound Humans” is not a bad romance comedy all things considered. It was a time where we still had hope for Carmen Elektra to become an actress of some merit, and she’s pretty good in this. David Hyde Pierce narrates as an alien that is exploring the mating habits and courting rituals of human beings. These humans happen to be Carmen Elektra and a charming Mackenzie Astin. When it’s not ripping off scenes from Woody Allen’s “Everything You Always Wanted to Know…” wholesale, “The Mating Habits” is a cute movie. I remember watching it when it was confined to premium cable and found it fairly charming.
Astin is a guy who meets Elektra’s character at a night club, and two form an odd romance that involves plenty of comedic circumstances, including Pierce’s alien’s narration that wildly miscalculate human rituals like oral sex. 1999’s “Go!’ is another 90’s time capsule that borrows from the Quentin Tarantino formula of storytelling. Based around one wild night of drug use, partying, and run ins with violent drug dealers, “Go!” is a fairly entertaining and unique ensemble picture, and features a shockingly great cast including Timothy Olyphant, and Sarah Polley.
1994’s “Threesome” is one of the many relationship dramedies from the decade starring Stephen Baldwin, Josh Charles, and Lara Flynn Boyle, as a trio of college students that form a love triangle. After the inevitable threesome, they begin to re-assess their relationships. 1993’s “Wilder Napalm” involves another love triangle involving Dennis Quaid and Arliss Howard as brothers vying for the same woman. 1999’s “The Velocity of Gary” stars Thomas Jane as a hustler who saves a transvestite from a group of attackers, only to inspire an infatuation by her. Another of the many unusual relationship dramas, it co-stars Salma Hayek and Vincent D’Onofrio.
The 1993 “Hexed,” is a dark romance comedy about a hotel clerk who forms a romance with a gorgeous model who happens to be a serial killer. 1992’s “Jersey Girl” stars Dylan McDermott, Jami Gertz, and Sheryl Lee and centers on a Manhattanite who begins falling for a girl in the city and has to decide on pursuing further business opportunities, or staying with her. Finally, 1999’s “The Suburbans” is a fairly mediocre and very forgettable nod to the new wave eighties period, centered on a group called the Suburbans that decide to re-unite for a gig at a friend’s wedding and discover no one really cares. I remember this movie fondly, including a very unfunny appearance by Ben and Jerry Stiller as a father and son record executive team. The two disc DVD set comes with no extras.