List: The People’s Secret American Cinema of the 1990s [in Chronological Order]

Jason Philip Wierzba turned twenty in November of 1999 and was thirteen when Teenage Fanclub's album Thirteen was released to much bubblegum-chewin' fanfare among the sneaker set and out across the soda fountain circuit. He's the same age as Robyn, Natasha Lyonne, and Pete Doherty and came by his Royal Trux Veterans of Disorder tour t-shirt honestly. (He saw them at the Dominion in Ottawa and they played Veterans of Disorder straight through, front to back, except that they opened with "I'm Ready," which they'd practically have to when you think about it). Consider also Wierzba's pedigree as a scholar of the cinema and the image culture more broadly. It's like the wizard who neeeeeds to win the war against God and who in his steadfastness and commitment believes only pure informational mass and inundation will cut the mustard.We can happily insist that we are of one shared mind on this one: ain't nobody better situated or equipped to give you both the lowdown and the dish when it comes to the people's secret American cinema of the 1990s or any other secret of less-secret cinemas. Information is like a secret kept by the secret from the secret indefinitely. 

Scientists today agree that this really is a problem that we do indeed have with information.       

 

Surviving Desire (Hal Hartley, 1992)

Dangerous Game (Abel Ferrara, 1993)

Frameup (Jon Jost, 1993)

Menace II Society (Albert and Allen Hughes, 1993)

When Pigs Fly (Sara Driver, 1993)

The Last Seduction (John Dahl, 1994)

The New Age (Michael Tolkin, 1994)

Roadracers (Robert Rodriguez, 1994)

Vanya on 42nd Street (Louis Malle, 1994)

Full Body Massage (Nicolas Roeg, 1995)

The Wife (Tom Noonan, 1995)

Freeway (Matthew Bright, 1996)

Kansas City (Robert Altman, 1996)

Gummo (Harmony Korine, 1997)

Jackie Brown (Quentin Tarantino, 1997)

Nowhere (Gregg Araki, 1997)

Two Girls and a Guy (James Toback, 1997) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Claire Dolan (Lodge Kerrigan, 1998)

Luminous Motion (Bette Gordon, 1998)

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (Jim Jarmusch, 1999)

Surviving Desire (Hal Hartley, 1992)

[Short excerpt] 

My mother and I did tricks, prestidigitation, and sleight-of-hand

in order to entertain the bewitching female staff 

over lunch at the Earls in Mission this afternoon. 🎶 That's me in the corner/

that's me on the wine list / losing my religion 🎶 

Butthole Surfers

"Who Was in My Room Last Night?"

* The Last Seduction and Freeway were indies picked up and originally broadcast by HBO, though both did have modest theatrical runs. Both Roadracers and Full Body Massage were made for cable network Showtime, who for a brief period of time were bold and experimental in their approach, hoping to carve out a niche in the market. Hal Hartley's sublime Survivng Desire, the Long Island master's exceedingly dear third feature in which a refreshed connection is established with simplicity and universality, was produced by and for PBS's American Playhouse.