[Top 5 Things That Defined the '90s]

. . . for you, personally, or in general. And I used "things" (instead of "movies," "songs," etc.) to hopefully make the selection process a little more challenging/interesting. So yeah, anything '90s-related is fair game.

5.) OJ Simpson Trial (1995)
"If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit!"

And they did.

4.) Pulp Fiction (1994)
Too many memorable moments/quotes to list here. Though I will say that Christopher Walken’s watch speech is one of my favorite monologues in movie history.



3.) Seinfeld (1989-1997)
Yada Yada, The Soup Nazi, The Marble Rye, Festivas, Sponge-Worthy, Puffy Shirt, Master of My Domain, Junior Mint, Parking Garage, High Five, Frogger, Serenity Now, The Pez Dispenser, The Nose Job, The Smelly Car, The Shower Head, The Summer of George, The Maestro, The Wiz, The Red Spot, Little Kicks, The Christmas Card, The Marine Biologist, Vandelay Industries, The Couch, Jimmy, Muffin Tops, Man Hands, Poppy’s Sloppy, et cetera, et cetera…

If nothing else, that I don’t need to explain any of the above for you to know exactly what I’m talking about justifies this pick.



2.) Jon Secada’s “Just Another Day” (1992)
Or anything by Jon Secada, really. The second I hear his voice, backed by heavily reverbed synthesizer and drum machine, I’m in fifth grade again, holding hands with my then girlfriend, Mary… I don’t remember her last name, but I remember this song and that she was very pretty, but I was too scared to kiss her because how the hell are you supposed to kiss somebody anyway? Check out the '90s-tastic video below:

1.) The Rise of the Internet (1990-1999)
Here’s a quick historical overview, culled from various sources, for those who might be interested:

1990 - The World-Wide Web software is created by Tim Berners-Lee
1991 - The number of internet hosts breaks 600,000
1992 - The number of internet hosts breaks 1 million; there are 50 web pages
1993 - The number of internet hosts breaks 2 million; Mosaic web browser launched, spurs web annual growth rate of 341,634% in 1994
1994 - Yahoo! is launched; first shopping sites go online
1995 - The number of internet hosts breaks 4 million; Ebay and Amazon are launched.
1996 - The number of internet hosts breaks 9 million; Microsoft releases Internet Explorer
1997 - The number of internet hosts breaks 16 million; there are 1 million web sites; for the first time, more e-mails are sent than letters
1998 - 50% of North American homes have PCs
1999 - 150 million web users; 800 million web pages; 92 Silicon Valley companies go public

*Top 5 Coolest Male Film Roles of All-Time*

Winner: Aaron Wedemeyer

5. (Tie) Nicolas Cage & John Travolta – Face/Off
-It’s not fair really. They both get to play not one but two cool guys.

4. Matthew McConaughey – Dazed and Confused
-You want cool? How much cooler can you get than a 20-something burnout scoping freshmen girls. And that moustache? Game over.

3. Peter Weller – RoboCop
-He’s half robot for crying out loud!

2. Pat Morita – Karate Kid - Mr. Miyagi.
-He makes bonsai trees, fishes, works as the maintenance man for an apartment complex that looks like a Motel 6, and with the help of quick cut editing, can kick some serious ass.

1. Hilary Swank – Boy’s Don’t Cry
-I’m still not convinced she’s not a dude.

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I was having trouble choosing a list, so I decided to make it easier on myself and pick the one with the single coolest character in its roster. Mr. Miyagi was the obvious choice here, as I think you'll all agree. To this day when I find I'm in a situation I can't handle on my own, (in a karate tournament fighting to regain my honor from preppy thugs, for instance) I stop and ask myself,

"What would Miyagi do?"

Crane kick to the face, that's what.

TO WEED:

You almost lost for putting him in the number two spot. Shame on you. RoboCop was a nice addition. The Hilary Swank comment was hilarious.

TO EVERYONE:

Thanks for posting your lists -- I enjoyed reading them. New category coming soon!

-Ryan