12/22 - What '90s Movie Was Secretly Directed by Its Star?
Plus trivia on Madonna, Jungle Book, an affair on the Street Fighter set, and more
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
December 22nd, 2023 • Issue 183
This week in the ‘80s and ‘90s
December 22nd
1979 - Rupert Holmes’ single Escape (The Pina Colada Song) became the final number one song of the decade.
1984 - Madonna’s single Like a Virgin hit number one.
Madonna’s famous performance of Like a Virgin at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards was the song’s debut.
When Madonna performed the song in a wedding dress on the VMAs, it was the first time anyone in the audience had ever heard it.
The audience — featuring mostly record executives and other VIPs in the front seats — gave the performance a tepid reaction.
1984 - Bernie Goetz shot four Black teenagers on the New York subway when they may or may not have been attempting to rob him.
1989 - Tango & Cash, Born on the Fourth of July, and Roger & Me hit theaters.
1989 - Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse was released.
1990 - Kindergarten Cop hit theaters.
1993 - Philadelphia hit theaters.
1995 - Waiting to Exhale and Grumpier Old Men hit theaters.
1995 - The series finale aired of Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
1997 - The FDA approved Propecia.
1999 - Any Given Sunday hit theaters.
1999 - Man on the Moon hit theaters.
1999 - The final game was played on the parquet floor at the Boston Garden.
2000 - Cast Away and O Brother Where Art Thou? hit theaters.
December 23rd
1987 - Good Morning, Vietnam hit theaters.
1987 - Gerald Ford attempted assassin Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme escaped from prison.
1992 - Scent of a Woman hit theaters.
1994 - Street Fighter hit theaters.
Jean-Claude Van Damme had an affair during the filming of Street Fighter with co-star Kylie Minogue.
In an interview with The Guardian in 2012, Jean-Claude Van Damme admitted the affair. “She’s so beautiful and she was there in front of me every day with a beautiful smile, simpatico, so charming, she wasn’t acting like a big star.”
He’s also admitted he had a serious cocaine problem during the filming.
1994 - Legends of the Fall hit theaters.
1994 - Whitey Bulger escaped from Boston to begin 16 years on the run.
1997 - As Good As It Gets hit theaters.
2000 - ECW held its final event at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia.
December 24th
1955 - NORAD began tracking Santa.
1988 - Poison’s single Every Rose Has Its Thorn hit number one.
1990 - Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman got married.
1993 - Tombstone hit theaters.
Kurt Russell was secretly directing Tombstone — but promised the credited director he wouldn’t reveal the secret.
George Cosmatos was credited as the director of Tombstone — but really, Kurt Russell was directing as he starred in the film.
Russell promised Cosmatos he’d never reveal the truth about their situation as long as Cosmatos was alive. In 2013, about a decade after Cosmatos passed away, Russell revealed what really happened.
1997 - Woody Allen married Soon-Yi Previn.
2001 - Time magazine named Rudy Giuliani its Person of the Year. Woof.
December 25th
1990 - The Godfather: Part III hit theaters.
1992 - Chaplin and Hoffa both hit theaters.
1993 - Mariah Carey’s single Hero hit number one.
1994 - The Jungle Book hit theaters.
The Jungle Book began Disney’s plan to do live-action remakes of their animated films.
The next live-action remake was 101 Dalmatians in 1996.
1994 - IQ and Ready to Wear hit theaters.
1996 - JonBenet Ramsey was killed.
1996 - The People vs. Larry Flynt and Evita hit theaters.
1997 - Jackie Brown and Wag the Dog hit theaters.
1998 - The Faculty hit theaters.
1998 - Patch Adams hit theaters.
1998 - Richard Branson bailed on his attempt to sail a hot-air balloon around the world after seven days.
1999 - Galaxy Quest and The Talented Mr. Ripley hit theaters.
December 26th
1982 - Time magazine named the personal computer its Man of the Year.
1983 - The Iron Sheik defeated Bob Backlund to end Backlund’s six-year WWF World Championship reign.
1990 - The series finale of Cop Rock aired.
Despite being a failure with critics and the audience, Cop Rock received five Emmy Award nominations — and won two.
Cop Rock — which, if you’re unfamiliar, was a musical police procedural on ABC — was not well-received. (A network burning its final episode the day after Christmas isn’t a good sign.)
But it still received five nominations at the 1991 Emmy Awards for sound mixing, directing, editing, and two for music and lyrics.
And it won two: For editing and for music and lyrics.
1992 - Wreckx-n-Effect’s one hit, Rump Shaker, peaked at number two.
1997 - Spice World premiered in the U.K.
December 27th
1986 - Timbuk 3’s one hit, The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades, peaked at number 19.
1989 - WWF aired a pay-per-view featuring Hulk Hogan’s movie No Holds Barred as well as a cage match featuring him against his co-star, Tiny Lister.
1991 - Fried Green Tomatoes hit theaters.
1991 - The Prince of Tides hit theaters.
Don Johnson was going to be the male lead in The Prince of Tides — but since he and Barbra Streisand broke up before filming began, she replaced him.
Streisand says she learned about the novel The Prince of Tides from Johnson while they were together. She got the rights and decided to star, direct, and produce the movie.
Johnson was going to be her co-star… but since they broke up before filming, she brought on Nick Nolte instead.
1998 - Bill Goldberg’s 173-match winning streak ended when he lost to Kevin Nash at WCW Starrcade.
1999 - Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker gave an interview to Sports Illustrated filled with racist and homophobic statements.
2002 - Chicago hit theaters.
December 28th
1981 - The first test tube baby was born in the U.S.
1991 - Nine people were killed during a riot at a Puff Daddy-promoted hip-hop event.
1993 - Andrea Bocelli made his classical concert debut.
2000 - Montgomery Ward announced it was going out of business.
2001 - Black Hawk Down and I Am Sam hit theaters.
2002 - LinkedIn was founded.
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
Amazon Prime Video’s Road House reboot just got its release date: March 21st, 2024.
Disney is developing an X-Files reboot with director Ryan Coogler.
Here’s a look at The Talented Mr. Ripley TV reboot, called Ripley. It’s coming to Netflix some time next year.
The Rocketeer reboot has “forward momentum” according to the producer and (likely) star, David Oyelowo.
Recommendations of the week
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved
In honor of the 35th anniversary of The Naked Gun, The Hollywood Reporter interviewed director David Zucker and co-writer Pat Proft. There are lots of unknown nuggets about the movie in their interview — as well as their unhappiness of being boxed out of the upcoming reboot.
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you forgot
Exactly 30 years ago, the newest video game system for the holiday season was the Atari Jaguar. Here’s an article about how it “hopelessly failed kids everywhere.”
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you never knew existed
It turns out Toy Story was not the first fully computer-generated animation project. Here’s an article about a 1994 Canadian TV series called ReBoot that did it first.
Have a great week!
-Sam
Just looking at all of these movies bring me back. Thank you for this list