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Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
The top 10 best films of the 90s from an entertainment expert and where to watch
The 1990s was a golden era for cinema with a plethora of unforgettable films from the decade that have stood the test of time - here are my top 10 favourite films from the 90s The 1990s was a truly magical time for movie lovers, producing a plethora of unforgettable films. As an entertainment journalist, I've had the challenging task of narrowing down my personal top 10 from this decade. It's no easy feat to compile a list of the top 10 films from such a rich period in cinematic history, but as a dedicated film fanatic and entertainment reporter, I've given it my best shot. So, which films have made the grade? Here are my top 10 favourite films from the 1990s, chosen with the discerning eye of an entertainment journalist. Top 10 90s films ranked 10 - Misery First on the list is the 1990 classic 'Misery', based on Stephen King's chilling crime novel of the same name. The plot revolves around novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan), who after a severe car accident, is rescued by former nurse Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), his self-proclaimed 'biggest fan'. Annie takes him to her secluded cabin to recuperate, but things take a sinister turn when she discovers that Sheldon plans to kill off her favourite character from his novels. Misery can be streamed on Prime Video. 9 - The Truman Show Next up is the 1998 comedy sci-fi 'The Truman Show', featuring Jim Carrey, known for his roles in 'The Mask' and 'Ace Ventura'. This film sees Carrey venture into slightly darker territory, offering a thought-provoking narrative. The official synopsis reveals: "Unbeknownst to him, Truman Burbank's (Jim Carrey) entire life is part of a vast TV set. "Executive producer Christof (Ed Harris) masterminds The Truman Show, a live broadcast of Truman's every move, captured by hidden cameras. "As Truman slowly uncovers the truth, he is faced with the decision of how to respond." The Truman Show is available to watch on Prime Video. 8 - Beauty and the Beast Before Emma Watson took on the character of Belle in the 2017 remake, there was the animated 1991 Disney film Beauty and the Beast. A heartless prince is turned into a beast as punishment for his callous ways and must win someone's love to lift the curse. This is where he encounters Belle who gradually discovers that there is much more to the Beast than initially appears. Beauty and the Beast is available to watch on Disney+. 7 - You've Got Mail The touching 1998 romantic comedy You've Got Mail chronicles the feud between the proprietors of a bookstore chain and a charming independent bookshop. They remain unaware that they have been developing deep feelings for one another through email correspondence. This beloved romantic film features Hollywood legend Tom Hanks and When Harry Met Sally star Meg Ryan. You've Got Mail is available to watch on Sky Go and NOW TV Cinema. 6 - Muriel's Wedding Featuring Hereditary actress Toni Collette, Muriel's Wedding will delight ABBA enthusiasts as it features the legendary group's songs throughout. The synopsis for the 1994 romantic comedy states: "Stuck in a small town with her dominant father, depressed mother and cruel friends, a socially awkward woman takes destiny into her own hands and sets off in search of happiness and her ideal groom." Muriel's Wedding is available to watch on Prime Video. 5 - What's Love Got To Do With It This Tina Turner biographical film recounts the genuine story of the iconic pop rock performer from departing her existence in St Louis to her ascent to fame and her violent marriage. The acclaimed 1993 film features Black Panther star Angela Bassett portraying Turner and The Matrix legend Laurence Fishburne as Ike Turner. What's Love Got to do With It can be streamed on Prime Video. 4 - Jurassic Park Kicking off the blockbuster franchise in 1993 was the original Jurassic Park movie, featuring a cast headed by Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern. Helmed by Steven Spielberg himself, the plot summary explains: "An industrialist invites some experts to visit his theme park of cloned dinosaurs. "After a power failure, the creatures run loose, putting everyone's lives, including his grandchildren's, in danger." Jurassic Park can be viewed on ITVX and Prime Video. 3 - The Silence of the Lambs Celebrated as one of cinema's most legendary horror pictures is the chilling 1991 thriller The Silence of the Lambs. The plot outline reveals: "Clarice Starling, an FBI trainee, seeks help from Hannibal Lecter, a psychopathic serial killer and former psychiatrist, in order to apprehend another murderer who has been claiming female victims." The Silence of The Lambs, which memorably stars Sir Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster, can be watched on Prime Video. 2 - The Commitments This Dublin-set 1991 musical comedy-drama centres on jobless lad Jimmy Rabbitte who reckons he'll strike it rich by assembling a working-class soul group. The Commitments showcases tracks including Mustang Sally, In The Midnight Hour, Take Me To The Little River and Try A Little Tenderness. The Commitments can be viewed on BBC iPlayer and Prime Video. 1 - The Muppets Christmas Carol Adding a charming and adorable twist to the timeless story of A Christmas Carol, this family-friendly festive film is indeed a classic. Featuring The Dark Knight actor Michael Cane in the role of Scrooge, he shares the screen with beloved and iconic characters such as Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo and Fozzy Bear.
4 days ago
- General
German Event Marks 80 Years since Truman Ordered A-Bomb Attacks
News from Japan Culture World Jul 26, 2025 18:00 (JST) Potsdam, Germany, July 25 (Jiji Press)--A memorial ceremony for victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the closing days of World War II was held in the eastern German city of Potsdam on Friday, the 80th anniversary of then U.S. President Harry Truman ordering the atomic bomb attacks. The ceremony took place in the Hiroshima-Nagasaki square, located in front of the residence where Truman was staying when he issued the order. During the ceremony, a thousand paper cranes made by locals were placed at a cenotaph, and participants laid flowers and observed a moment of silence for the victims. Uwe Froehlich, 61-year-old head of the ceremony's organizer, said that participants had a firm resolve for nuclear disarmament. The ceremony also featured a reading of a German translation of an account of the atomic bomb experience of the late Hideto Sotobayashi, who came to Germany after experiencing the atomic bombing of Hiroshima at the age of 16 and participated in the construction of the cenotaph. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Chicago Tribune
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Today in Chicago History: Piping plovers Monty and Rose force cancellation of Montrose Beach music festival
Here's a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on July 19, according to the Tribune's archives. Is an important event missing from this date? Email us. Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago) 1949: President Harry Truman spoke at the Shriners convention, of which he was a member. It was one of the first televised events at the stadium. 'The formation of foreign policy on the part of the democratic nations may be a slow and painful process, but the results endure,' Truman told the crowd. 'It is only in the totalitarian states, where all decisions are made by a few men at the top, that foreign policies can be reversed or radically altered in secrecy, or changed abruptly without warning.' 'The huge bowl of Soldiers' field looked like a flower garden yesterday — blazing with the blue, red, gold, green, and white uniforms of the members of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in Chicago to celebrate the diamond jubilee of their fraternity,' the Tribune reported. 2019: Music festival Mamby on the Beach was canceled due to the arrival of a pair of federally endangered piping plover shorebirds on Montrose Beach. Nicknamed Monty and Rose, the pair continued to migrate to the area and hatch chicks for three consecutive summers. Their descendants carry on the tradition. Vintage Chicago Tribune: How piping plovers have captured our hearts through the yearsSubscribe to the free Vintage Chicago Tribune newsletter, join our Chicagoland history Facebook group, stay current with Today in Chicago History and follow us on Instagram for more from Chicago's past.
Asahi Shimbun
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Asahi Shimbun
VOX POPULI: Truman never expressed regret for unleashing the A-bomb
A stone monument stands at the Trinity Site where the first detonation of an atomic bomb was conducted in New Mexico on July 16, 1945. (Asahi Shimbun file photo) On July 16, 1945, in the New Mexico desert, the United States conducted the first-ever detonation of a nuclear weapon. With a blinding flash and a searing fireball, humanity entered a new era, having harnessed the terrifying destructive power of the atomic bomb. The success of the test—code-named 'Trinity'—was quietly conveyed as good news to the leaders of the United States and Britain. At the time, U.S. President Harry S. Truman and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill were in Germany for the Potsdam Conference, the final major meeting of Allied leaders during World War II. Recalling how he was informed of the news in 'Triumph and Tragedy,' the final volume of his six-part history series 'The Second World War,' Churchill wrote that a senior U.S. official 'laid before me a sheet of paper on which was written, 'Babies satisfactorily born.'' Some scientists warned that using nuclear weapons would mean opening the door to an era of devastation on an unimaginable scale, and urged Truman to proceed with caution. But their appeals failed to sway Truman or other key decision-makers. According to Churchill, the question of whether to use the atomic bomb to force Japan's surrender was never seriously debated. 'There was unanimous, automatic, unquestioned agreement around our table,' he wrote. After the war, a U.S. docudrama about the production and use of the bomb asked Truman whether the decision had been morally difficult. 'Hell no, I made it like that,' Truman replied, snapping his fingers. Just hearing those words is enough to make one tremble with anger. Even 80 years later, the world remains under the shadow of nuclear terror. According to estimates by Nagasaki University, the nine nuclear-armed nations now possess a combined total of 12,340 nuclear warheads. Although the number had been declining since the end of the Cold War, it is once again on the rise. In a nuclear war, there can be no winners. Reflecting on the aftermath of total destruction, Albert Einstein once remarked: 'I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.' —The Asahi Shimbun, July 16 * * * Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
The Hill
07-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Members of Congress visiting ICE facilities are showing up for democracy
In 1940, Harry Truman, then a little-known U.S. senator from Missouri, drove 10,000 miles across the United States visiting military bases and contractors to find out, in-person, how billions of recently appropriated tax dollars were being spent to equip America to enter history's biggest war. Truman went on to chair a special bipartisan committee charged with examining the war effort which uncovered billions in waste and fraud, saved countless lives, and helped make possible the Arsenal of Democracy that still serves to protect our country. Members of Congress who have been trying to inspect Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities are carrying on this vital tradition of 'oversight by showing up,' where members make site visits — sometimes unannounced — to gather facts directly from the people and places where the work of government is being performed. The Trump administration is trying to block these efforts by harassing and prosecuting members of Congress who come to Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, denying access, or imposing protocols that do not appear to serve any purpose other than impeding efforts to oversee Immigration and Customs Enforcement's use of authority and funding it receives from Congress. The White House and Immigration and Customs Enforcement should abandon this stonewalling which runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution and federal law. As the Supreme Court has repeatedly held, Congress has a wide-ranging power and responsibility to conduct oversight that goes beyond accepting information offered up by the executive branch. In spelling out why it is so important for Congress to be able compel information via subpoena, the court wrote, 'information which is volunteered is not always accurate or complete.' Similarly, when members of Congress show up with little or no notice to inspect a government agency or contractor's facility, they are attempting to get information without the filters that federal agencies often apply to the facts. Members of Congress and their staffs have also repeatedly gone to war zones to hear directly from the troops. In 2004, for example, soldiers told Reps. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), Frank Wolf (R-Va.), and Jim Marshall (D-Ga.) about the threat posed by road mines in Iraq which accelerated the armoring of military vehicles serving in the region. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) famously drove his car to the Pentagon when officials refused to let him speak with an employee who had written a report critical of wasteful Department of Defense spending. Grassley's efforts eventually helped uncover out-of-control spending on spare parts such as $750 toilet seats and $695 ashtrays for military airplanes, led to a freeze of the Pentagon budget for a year, and triggered a wave of reforms to prevent such abuses. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's recent refusal to allow members of Congress to visit its facilities conflicts with federal law. Section 527 of Public Law 118-47 bars Immigration and Customs Enforcement from preventing members of Congress from entering an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility for the purpose of conducting oversight. The law also states that 'nothing in this section may be construed to require a member of Congress to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility.' The administration argues that Section 527 does not apply because the facilities in question are not detention facilities, a position at odds with the law and the facts. Section 527 applies to 'any facility operated by or for [the Department of Homeland Security] used to detain or otherwise house aliens….' These are facilities where migrants are being detained and where members of Congress have been illegally prevented from visiting. Unaccountable power is inconsistent with democratic self-government and the individual rights and liberties for which our nation's Founders and many other Americans risked their lives. It is also bad for military preparedness that helps to keep us a free country. Instead of employing unconstitutional and illegal tactics to resist congressional oversight of its immigration policy and execution, the Trump administration and its allies in Congress should embrace the bipartisan tradition of congressional site visits that helped to win World War II and build a society and military that remain the envy of the world. Jim Townsend is director of the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy at Wayne State University Law School.
