Any list of memorable quotes from the ’90s is going to include Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). In an early scene, he and FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) are trying to push at each other’s limits. Lecter gets his message across to Starling with a story about one of his early cannibal killings. The addition of red wine and fava beans just gives the people-eating an air of sophistication. And for a spooky walk down memory lane, check out The Biggest ’90s Horror Icons, Then and Now. Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg) takes a lot of convincing to help Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze), the ghost trying to warn his still-living fiancée, Molly (Demi Moore), that his killer is coming after her too. So it’s with some real attitude that Oda Mae comes calling on Molly and insists on delivering the dire warning her own way. Goldberg won an Oscar for her pitch-perfect comedic work on this film, and this line is a great example of why. The thunderous courtroom face-off between brash young Tom Cruise and imperious Marine colonel Jack Nicholson in the climactic scene of A Few Good Men isn’t limited to this one line, delivered with extreme ferocity by Nicholson in response to an equally ferocious demand for the truth from Cruise. Nicholson follows it with a whole monologue about the American security state. But it was “You can’t handle the truth” that became the film’s instant calling-card phrase. And for ’90s quotes we’ve stopped saying, these are The Best Slang Terms From the 1990s That Aren’t Cool Today. “Listen up, ladies and gentlemen, our fugitive has been on the run for 90 minutes. Average foot speed over uneven ground, barring injuries, is 4 miles per hour. That gives us a radius of 6 miles. What I want from each and every one of you is a hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse, and doghouse in that area. Checkpoints go up at 15 miles. Your fugitive’s name is Dr. Richard Kimble. Go get him.” It’s a mouthful, but that’s probably why Tommy Lee Jones won an Oscar for his role as a U.S. marshal on the trail of an escaped convicted murderer (Harrison Ford). Jones’ rat-tat-tat delivery ratchets up the tension and pretty much spring-loads the rest of the movie’s action. Forrest Gump’s mantra about the unpredictability of his life comes from his mama, of course. And he’s not shy about sharing it with anyone who will share a bus bench with him. Tom Hanks’ Oscar-winning performance wasn’t just this signature phrase, but it’s the one almost everybody associates with the movie. And for movies from the decade that haven’t aged well, check out these Classic ’90s Movies That Have Been Called Out for Racism. It’s maybe surprising that the chosen quote from The Shawshank Redemption isn’t something intoned by the wise and dulcet tones of Morgan Freeman, America’s narrator. Instead it’s Tim Robbins’ Andy Dufresne who offers up the central theme of Shawshank: hope in the most hopeless of places. It’s Tom Hanks again, this time alerting mission control that things have gone awry on the space shuttle. Ron Howard’s thrilling true story earned its place of immortality within ’90s American culture with this one rather economical turn of phrase. And to see how some of your faves fared with the critics, we Ranked Every ’90s Teen Movie, From Worst Reviewed to Best. Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell) doesn’t say much in Babe; it’s the barnyard animals that do the talking, after all. But it only took three words to express his gentle appreciation for this most unusual pig who can herd sheep. A job well done by that adorable little oinker. Sheriff Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) is a most unlikely hero at the end of Fargo, apprehending the men (well, man, after he does away with his accomplice) who kidnapped and killed a car salesman’s wife. Marge’s simple goodness, which gets played somewhat for laughs earlier in the film, shines through at the end with affecting sincerity, as she honestly can’t comprehend the greed and violence she’s dealing with. There was a dead heat between recognizing the above quote and the more romantic—though no less memorable—“You had me at hello.” But Cuba Gooding Jr.’s infectious enthusiasm and brazen confidence is what gives Jerry Maguire a jolt of energy. It also helped win Gooding an Oscar. And for more fun content delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter. Coulda gone with “I’m the king of the world,” a phrase that was ubiquitous enough even before director James Cameron co-opted it for his Oscar acceptance speech. But Rose’s shivering promise to Jack as they’re both floating in the frigid Atlantic Ocean isn’t just a cinematic way to say goodbye—it’s a promise to live on, into old age, until one day she could tell their story. Good Will Hunting is about many things, including mathematics, wounded upbringings, masculine pride, and heavy Boston accents. At its center is a titular genius (Matt Damon) who behaves like any other barroom jerk—like when he outsmarts a Harvard smartie to get the attentions of Minnie Driver, then cleverly delivers the world’s greatest produce-based kiss-off. “I see dead people” is what makes it onto the clip reels, but dig deeper into The Sixth Sense and you’ll find a movie about a sweet little boy (Haley Joel Osment) whose terrifying gift (he, you know, sees dead people) has made him a mystery to his mom (Toni Collette), the only person he has in his life. Their scene in the car is more than just a parlor trick where he proves to his mom that he really can commune with the dead. It’s also the moment they both trust each other enough to share their scariest and saddest secrets. Collette’s delivery of the signature line is a tear-jerker. Oft repeated and adapted in the media and online (the devil is pulling so many tricks these days!), the line within the context of The Usual Suspects seems surprisingly matter of fact. Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey) isn’t trying to scare Agent Kujan (Chazz Palminteri). He’s just explaining the most insidious gift of the gifted criminal Keyser Söze: He’s convinced the world he’s a ghost story. Buzz Lightyear’s (Tim Allen) catch phrase doesn’t really approach the sweet, sometimes melancholy heart of Toy Story. But it fully defines the heedless confidence of Buzz himself, who refuses to admit he’s merely a toy. It’s not quite remorse in Henry Hill’s (Ray Liotta) voice as he talks about his new life in witness protection—far from New York City’s fine Italian food, and also the life of crime that had him riding high for a long time. It’s such an evocative image, though: egg noodles and ketchup. A pale imitation of the real thing. Food for schnooks. Hill’s ultimate comeuppance. When Kathy Bates hears the story of Idgie Threadgoode (Mary Stuart Masterson) and her headstrong, bee-charming ways, she decides to take charge of her own life, taking Idgie’s battle cry as her own. It comes in handy when a couple young blonde jerks steal her parking spot at the grocery store. Jennifer Lopez won raves for her performance in Steven Soderbergh’s funny and sexy caper flick. Her signature scene comes when a low-level thug (Isaiah Washington) leers threateningly at her one too many times, and pays the price. There’s also the red pill/blue pill speech from Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), but more fun and less problematic is Neo (Keanu Reeves) reacting to his fancy new fightin’ upgrades with the most deadpan Keanu delivery he could muster. Dr. Ian Malcolm’s (Jeff Goldblum) warnings to John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) about the hubris of his dinosaur amusement park fall on deaf ears… at least until the dinosaurs start rampaging. Since Jurassic Park’s 1993 release, Malcolm’s words have become universally applicable to all risky undertakings. The second rule of Fight Club is also, “You do not talk about Fight Club,” which makes it really easy to remember. Brad Pitt delivers the rules of Fight Club with a threatening charisma that makes you really, really curious about what goes on in this most secret society. Of all the foolishness that goes down as Jeffrey Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) gets himself mixed up with a wealthy man with his same name—including kidnapping, sex, fire, and a bowling-based dream sequence—things always seem to circle back to the befouled rug he’s simply seeking restitution for. It wasn’t an expensive rug, but as everyone in his life agrees, it really tied the room together. Amid the ever-turning circle of life, young cub Simba (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) must learn the ways of the African savannah from his father, the great king Mufasa (James Earl Jones), before he grows up. The first lesson is to survey his kingdom, which includes, well, everything. It’s a handy phrase to pull out of your pocket whenever you want to describe something vast and nearly borderless. Tai’s (Brittany Murphy) way harsh assessment of Cher (Alicia Silverstone) comes after their big argument over Josh (Paul Rudd). Tai goes for the jugular in the way only high schoolers can, hitting Cher right where she lives: her dating life and her tendency to bump into things with her car. And so begins Ghostface’s reign of terror. The cold open to Scream is one of the greatest scenes of the ’90s, a terrifying, ground-shifting, post-modern jolt of horror. And it all started with one creepy question on the phone. The sheer stupidity of Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) as they bumble across America, chasing Mary Swanson (Lauren Holly), the girl of Lloyd’s dreams, offers no shortage of hilarious moments. But it’s Lloyd’s refusal to accept Mary’s odds of one out of a million that she’d date him that’s both funny and rather sweet. One in a million, after all, is still a chance.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb One of the many enduring legacies of the mid-’90s comedy Friday was to gift the world with one of the great blow-off lines in movie history. Are you finished with a conversation? “Bye, Felisha.” Is someone bugging you on Twitter and about to get blocked? “Bye, Felisha.” (We pretty much always spell it “Felicia” now, but the sentiment remains the same.) The twisted, gruesome final act of Seven turns the tables on detectives Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and Mills (Brad Pitt) when John Doe (Kevin Spacey) has a package delivered to Mills out in the middle of nowhere. Doe is trying to goad Mills into fulfilling the seventh deadly sin: wrath. While Somerset tries mightily to intervene, he has to admit that Doe has the upper hand. So what was in the box? The truth may leave you gooped. The highly influential documentary Paris Is Burning pulled back the curtain on the house balls of uptown Manhattan during the 1980s, where vogueing was invented and LGBTQ+ people competed in high-stakes pageants. One particularly clever queen, Dorian Corey, explained the concepts of reading (running down insults on the queen in front of you) and shade (backhanded insults delivered with faux-softness). “I don’t have to tell you you’re ugly because you already know,” for example. That is shade.
