The ’90s Do the ’70s

The ’90s Do the ’70s

10 Episodes

In the 1990s, the twenty-year cultural cycle—in which each generation rediscovers and reinterprets the youth culture of the last—saw Gen X filmmakers turn to the 1970s for inspiration. But with more in mind than mere nostalgia, directors like Richard Linklater, Sofia Coppola, Spike Lee, and Paul Thomas Anderson used this much-mythologized decade as a lens through which to examine contemporary social concerns. Ganja-hazed, bell-bottomed youth rebellion found resonance in grunge-era slacker disaffection (DAZED AND CONFUSED, THE VIRGIN SUICIDES) and the dark cynicism of the Watergate era came to inflect the end-of-history anomie of the century’s final years (DEAD PRESIDENTS, THE ICE STORM). By turns dreamy, gritty, and glam, these films remix the music, fashion, and cultural iconography of a pivotal era to their own incisive ends.

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The ’90s Do the ’70s

10 Episodes

  • The ’90s Do the ’70s Teaser
    01:35
    The ’90s Do the ’70s Teaser
    Episode 1

    The ’90s Do the ’70s Teaser

    Episode 1

  • Boogie Nights
    2:35:35
    Boogie Nights
    Episode 2

    Boogie Nights

    Episode 2

    Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson • 1997 • United States
    Starring Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds

    It’s 1977—back when sex was safe, pleasure was a business, and business was booming—and idealistic porn producer Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds) aspires to elevate his craft to an art form. ...

  • The Ice Storm
    1:53:28
    The Ice Storm
    Episode 3

    The Ice Storm

    Episode 3

    Directed by Ang Lee • 1997 • United States
    Starring Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver

    Suburban Connecticut, 1973. While Richard Nixon’s “I am not a crook” speech drones from the TV, the Hood and Carver families try to navigate a Thanksgiving break simmering with unspoken resentment, sexu...

  • Dazed and Confused
    1:42:34
    Dazed and Confused
    Episode 4

    Dazed and Confused

    Episode 4

    Directed by Richard Linklater • 1993 • United States
    Starring Jason London, Joey Lauren Adams, Milla Jovovich

    America, 1976. The last day of school. Bongs blaze, bell-bottoms ring, and rock and roll rocks. Among the best teen films ever made, DAZED AND CONFUSED eavesdrops on a group of seniors-t...

  • Dead Presidents
    1:59:24
    Dead Presidents
    Episode 5

    Dead Presidents

    Episode 5

    Directed by Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes • 1995 • United States
    Starring Larenz Tate, Keith David, Chris Tucker

    The Hughes brothers’ ambitious follow-up to MENACE II SOCIETY is a searing look at the struggles of Black Vietnam War veterans as seen through the eyes of Anthony Curtis (Larenz Tate...

  • Carlito’s Way
    2:24:07
    Carlito’s Way
    Episode 6

    Carlito’s Way

    Episode 6

    Directed by Brian De Palma • 1993 • United States
    Starring Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller

    Ten years after SCARFACE, director Brian De Palma and star Al Pacino reunited for another bravura crime drama exploding with stylish set pieces and sizzling performances. Pacino brings his tradem...

  • Summer of Sam
    2:22:08
    Summer of Sam
    Episode 7

    Summer of Sam

    Episode 7

    Directed by Spike Lee • 1999 • United States
    Starring John Leguizamo, Adrien Brody, Mira Sorvino

    Spike Lee’s fever-pitch vision of murder, mass hysteria, and machismo run amok charts the escalating paranoia within an Italian American Bronx neighborhood during the sweltering summer of 1977 as the...

  • The Virgin Suicides
    1:36:58
    The Virgin Suicides
    Episode 8

    The Virgin Suicides

    Episode 8

    Directed by Sofia Coppola • 1999 • United States
    Starring Kirsten Dunst, Kathleen Turner, James Woods

    With this debut feature, Sofia Coppola announced her singular vision, exploring the aesthetics of femininity while illuminating the interior lives of young women. An adaptation of Jeffrey Eugeni...

  • Velvet Goldmine
    1:59:20
    Velvet Goldmine
    Episode 9

    Velvet Goldmine

    Episode 9

    Directed by Todd Haynes • 1998 • United Kingdom, United States
    Starring Ewan McGregor, Toni Collette, Christian Bale

    A CITIZEN KANE for the glittering, hedonistic glam-rock explosion, Todd Haynes’s deliriously flamboyant third feature follows journalist Arthur Stuart (Christian Bale) as he launc...

  • 54
    1:33:03
    54
    Episode 10

    54

    Episode 10

    Directed by Mark Christopher • 1998 • United States
    Starring Ryan Phillippe, Mike Myers, Salma Hayek

    A glitter-spritzed plunge into the orgiastic excess of New York City’s 1970s disco inferno, this reclaimed queer cult classic casts a fascinatingly against-type Mike Myers as Steve Rubell, owner ...

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