Friday Flix: March 1992

March is the snowiest month in Denver. 1992 wasn’t any different and it’s always the wet, heavy snow. Right now there is six inches of fresh snow that fell overnight.

With all the cold and snow there’s only one place to be, inside a movie theater with a tub of hot popcorn!

March 1992 was jam packed with movies, over twenty movies were released. Some of them were great, most were good and a few aren’t worth your time.

Let’s look back at the movies you could see in March 1992.

Movies from February 1992

The Lawnmower Man

This is an interesting movie. It’s a concept that’s been explored numerous times. Take a person with low IQ and through a series of virtual reality sessions make them a genius.

The movie was originally titled Stephen King’s The Lawnmower Man but was changed after King sued New Line Cinema to remove his name. King stated the movie held no resemblance to his short story of the same name.

He’s right. If you read the plot for his short story it is nothing like the movie. King’s version sounds better too. King’s name is even removed from the trailer. Watch it below. When the voice over says “From the imagination…” it goes silent for two seconds. It’s like that in every trailer I’ve seen online.

Pierce Brosnan plays Dr. Lawrence Angelo and Jeff Fahey plays Jobe Smith. Jobe is the local lawnmower man and also has a low IQ. Dr. Angelo decides to use Jobe in his virtual reality intelligence boosting experiments.

The experiments work and Jobe is soon smarter than Dr. Angelo. Jobe is so in tune with his brain he gains telekinetic powers. He can even control the computer when he is in the virtual reality world. From there it gets weird.

The movie wasn’t bad but I don’t think I’d watch it again. It was fairly successful at the box office making over $32 million. It debuted at number two on opening weekend behind the juggernaut Wayne’s World.

You can watch Stephen King’s The Lawnmower Man on HBO Max.

Meatballs 4: To the Rescue

What’s the point of another Meatballs movie? And really does every movie about summer camp have to be called Meatballs?

Not only should there not be a Meatballs 4, there shouldn’t be a 2 or 3 either. The original was a good comedy. The three movies that followed were not.

Maybe, and I mean maybe the only saving grace for this movie is Corey Feldman.

Feldman plays a water skiing instructor who has to do something to save the camp from getting foreclosed. There’s some kind of water skiing competition and someone wins.

I did see this movie, I’ve repressed the memory. It wasn’t good, the plot is boring and the jokes aren’t funny.

If you really want to watch it, Meatballs 4 is available on Tubi TV.

Shakes the Clown

I thought Meatballs 4 would be the worst movie of the month, then I saw this one. What the hell is this?

I remember all the build up and ads for this movie but I didn’t see it in the theater. It was a rental that I soon regretted.

I remember this one even less than Meatballs 4. All I can tell you is Bobcat Goldthwait plays Shakes the Clown. He’s an alcoholic and hangs out with other drunk clowns. I’d guess there’s a plot of some kind too.

This movie is a complete dud. Don’t watch it.

My Cousin Vinny

This is what a good comedy looks like! It’s smart, funny and the cast is perfect. It’s the movie where I (and the rest of America) fell in love with Marisa Tomei AKA Mona Lisa Vito.

My Cousin Vinny stars Joe Pesci, Marisa Tomei, Ralph Macchio and Fred Gwynne. While Joe Pesci is the lead, Marisa Tomei is the star, she steals the show.

Joe Pesci plays Vinny in a fish-out-of-water story. Vinny and the lovely Ms. Mona Lisa Vito are from Brooklyn and travel to Alabama to defend Vinny’s cousin Bill (Ralph Macchio) on a murder charge.

The humor is derived from the two city slickers trying to figure out how people in the south live. They discover grits, getting stuck in the mud and strange animal noises at night.

The movie never tries to demean the southerners or the New Yorkers. It’s an examination of the differences across the country and the hilarity from those differences.

Imagine you’re a deer. You’re prancing along, you get thirsty, you spot a little brook, you put your little deer lips down to the cool clear water… BAM! A f***in’ bullet rips off part of your head! Your brains are laying on the ground in little bloody pieces! Now I ask ya. Would you give a f*** what kind of pants the son of a bitch who shot you was wearing?

The movie is jam packed with quotes I still use today… ‘Oh yeah, you blend,’ ‘Did you say Yutes?’ ‘What are you? A f***ing world traveler.’ And so many more.

This is the final movie for Fred Gwynne, best known as Herman Munster. Gwynne died in July 1993 from pancreatic cancer.

Marisa Tomei won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Mona Lisa Vito.

You can watch My Cousin Vinny on HBO Max.

Basic Instinct

I saw this at the theater with a date. Perhaps, not the smartest idea.

The movie is good. An erotic thriller directed by Paul Verhooven who directed Robocop and Total Recall before this movie. Basic Instinct stars Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone.

Police detective Nick Curran (Douglas) is investigating the brutal murder of a rock star and the prime suspect is crime novelist Catherine Tramell (Stone). In one of her books Tramell describes killing a rock star in the same manner as the murder Curran is investigating.

Does that make her the murderer? It could have been one of her millions of fans?

Anyhow, while investigating the murder Curran becomes sexually involved with Tramell further complicating the investigation.

The movie wasn’t without controversy. Mainly due to it’s graphic violence and sexuality. The famous interrogation scene with Sharon Stone uncrossing and crossing her legs was always mentioned. Stone claims she was misled and didn’t know the exposed scene was being filmed.

Regardless of the controversy and even bad reviews, Roger Ebert gave it two stars, the movie was a huge success. Basic Instinct made over $350 million making it the fourth highest grossing movie of 1992.

Basic Instinct also stars Wayne Knight, probably best known as Newman on Seinfeld. In Basic Instinct Knight is part of the famous interrogation scene. In 1997 Knight would spoof his interrogator role in Season 9 of Seinfeld.

You can watch Basic Instinct on HBO Max.

Raise the Red Lantern

I saw this at a local theater, not one of the big chains. It’s an ‘artsy’ movie. I watched it once and that was enough. It’s not bad, it just wasn’t worth watching again…for me. There are many people that love this movie.

Set in 1920’s China, Raise the Red Lantern tells the tale of Songlian, a concubine to a wealthy business man. The movie is acclaimed for it’s visual style and artistry.

If you like artsy period pieces this one might be for you.

The Cutting Edge

I enjoyed this movie. D.B. Sweeny plays washed up hockey player, Doug Dorsey and Moira Kelly plays prima donna figure skater Kate Moseley.

The plot is simple, Doug can’t play hockey anymore because of bad eyesight and Kate can’t keep a skating partner because she is a spoiled brat. Kate’s coach finds Doug and convinces him to be Kate’s partner.

Initially they are hostile toward each other, he’s a grungy hockey player and she’s a princess. But after they start to train together they discover they are a talented pair.

It’s a typical romantic comedy filled with laughs and romance. It’s a fun movie to watch. The Cutting Edge is directed by Paul Michael Glaser, Starsky from Starsky & Hutch! Did you know Glaser also directed The Running Man?

You can watch The Cutting Edge on Fubo TV.

Ladybugs

I was living in Denver in 1992 and this movie was a hit in the area. Mainly because it was filmed in Denver. I went to see it with some friends and we all agreed it wasn’t good.

The real problem with the movie is the star, Rodney Dangerfield. He is a great stand-up comic but his comedy isn’t kid friendly. This movie is geared more toward kids than adults.

A ‘PG’ rating puts a big restraint on Dangerfield and the movie suffers for it. This would have been better suited for Michael J. Fox or someone like him.

There are some good spots, Dangerfield is funny, even if he keeps it clean. Jackée was coming off her popular sitcom 227 and is always fun to watch on screen. The main child actor, Johnathan Brandis, was fun to watch as he tried to fit in with the Ladybugs soccer team.

The actors weren’t enough to save this movie. It was panned by critics and failed at the box office.

You can watch Ladybugs on Starz.

Ruby

Hot off the heels of Oliver Stone’s JFK comes Ruby. While JFK looked at the overall conspiracy to kill Kennedy, Ruby looked at one specific person, Jack Ruby.

Jack Ruby was a Dallas night club owner who shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald two days after the assassination of JFK. Ruby has an interesting story both before and after the murder of Oswald. Jack Ruby was found guilty of murder with malice but the conviction was overturned in an appeals court.

In late 1966 Ruby was diagnosed with lung cancer and he died in January 1967 of a pulmonary embolism while waiting for a new trial. He died without an official conviction for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald.

The movie Ruby was OK, not as good as Stone’s JFK though. Ruby, played by Danny Aiello begins a year before the assassination of JFK and chronicles the life of Jack Ruby until his death. It’s an interesting story to an already interesting time in history.

Ruby wasn’t playing in a lot of theaters. Even in a big city like Denver I had to watch it a small local theater. It wasn’t playing at any of the major chains.

If you like conspiracy theory movies you’ll enjoy Ruby.

White Men Can’t Jump

Another great comedy this month. I’ve seen this one almost as much as My Cousin Vinny. It’s well written and the casting is great.

White Men Can’t Jump stars Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson as a couple of street basketball hustlers. Harrelson plays country hick Billy who is an easy mark in South Central LA. Snipes plays street smart Syd who is the king of the hustle.

After hustling each other the two team up to make more money and win the two-on-two tournament. Billy needs the money to pay off his gambling debts and Syd wants the money to move his family to a better house.

Your mother’s an astronaut!

A funny side story deals with Billy’s girlfriend, Gloria played by the feisty Rosie Perez. Gloria’s one goal in life is to be a contestant on Jeopardy!. She’s always spouting off random facts and bits of wisdom.

Snipes and Harrelson are naturals on screen, they work well and make the characters believable. White Men Can’t Jump is a fun movie to watch and re-watch.

You can watch White Men Can’t Jump on Disney+

Other movies released in March 1992

Here’s the rest of the movies released in March 1992.

I was never a Dudley Moore fan, I think I’m from the wrong generation. if you wait about wait about ten years and you’ll get a much better Gladiator movie. American Me looks interesting. I may give it a chance.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve never seen Woody Allen movie putting Shadows and Fog on this list. Our friend and fellow writer Karen enjoyed Noises Off.

Howard’s End is a critically acclaimed movie and a box office success and one I’ll never watch. A turn of the century love story set in Britain. Which seems counterintuitive considering I watched Raise the Red Lantern.

Howard’s End made over $26 million at the box office on a $8 million budget. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards! It took home three Oscars, Best Actress for Emma Thompson, Best Screenplay and Best Art Direction.

That’s the movie’s for March 1992. A couple of great comedies that I still enjoy today, some really bad comedies no one should see and a psychotic thriller I haven’t seen in a long time.

What are your favorites from March 1992?

Let us know in the comments below. Or tag us on Twitter. The main channel is @TRNSocial and I’m @MileHighSamurai

Don’t forget to check out Box Office 30! They are currently covering 1992 and some of the movies mentioned above.

Next week we’ll look at March1997.

Until then the balcony is closed.