Last summer, I had the privilege of sitting in my room and doing absolutely nothing, but pack for school. However, it did give me the chance to watch a lot of movies -- 13 to be exact (within a week). Almost all of which are 80's and 90's romantic comedies. God, those are seriously the best. I don't know if this kind of charm still exists in men, but they do in those films (so we can dream). Anyways, I wrote plot summaries and mini-reviews for my favorites of the 13, so enjoy five minutes of five great 90's movies!

** SPOILER ALERT **

"When Harry Met Sally," 1989 ☆☆☆☆☆

I know this movie isn't technically from the 90's, but this is seriously my favorite rom-com ever, so I just had to add it to this list. The movie starts out with two strangers, Sally and Harry who carpool together after graduating from UChicago to New York City. At the time, Harry is dating Sally's friend, which is how they got to carpool together. Throughout the road trip, Harry tells Sally that it's physically impossible for people of the opposite sex to be just friends because sex almost always comes in the way. The rest of the movie is a journey of how after years they reconcile and become best friends until sex gets in the way of their friendship. The famous orgasm in the diner scene is also in this movie! Definitely a classic worth watching.

"Hotaru no haka (Grave of the Fireflies)," 1993 ☆☆☆☆☆

This Ghibli movie is so very real and moving, so if you're feeling like a happy movie, I would suggest almost any other Ghibli film. "Hotaru no haka" is about a boy and his baby sister living in Japan during the air raids of World War 2. His mother is killed in the aftermath of an attack in the beginning of the movie and his father is on active duty. The entire film is about how the boy has to single-handedly take care of himself and his baby sister and the struggles that he, along with many Japanese families, had to face in this time of turmoil. The ending is tear-jerking and the title sums up the theme of the movie beautifully.

"Groundhog Day," 1993 ☆☆☆☆

Another great 90's flick starring Bill Murray. By now, this plot is very stereotypical: a man with a Scrooge attitude travels to a small town with his crew to cover the annual Groundhog Day ceremony, but is forced to relive February 2 until he re-examines his priorities in life. At first he takes advantage of the fact that his actions have no consequences whatsoever, but as time goes by, he realizes that he's trapped in the same revolving world and tries several times to commit suicide, which fails each time. After realizing that death isn't an option, he turns to trying to seduce Rita Hanson, one of his crew members. Each day, he learns something new about her and in the end, he falls utterly and completely in love with her, and the curse is broken. It's a very cute movie and Bill Murray plays the part perfectly. Chris Elliott is also a crew member, so that adds to the fun.

"American Beauty," 1999 ☆☆☆

To be honest, the first time I watched this movie, I thought it was creepy, twisted, and a brutal approach to beauty, personal satisfaction, and sexuality. It's about this average middle aged man, who has a work obsessive, controlling wife and an insecure daughter in high school. He has a very platonic and monotone personality, always listening to what his wife says and living very distant from his daughter. However, after he and his wife attend his daughter's dance performance at school, he falls infatuated with his daughter's best friend, Angela. He's obsessed with her and starts changing his lifestyle according to her preferences (starts working out his upper body). Angela, who is thrilled by the affection, essentially wants to be a slut, when in fact she's as insecure as Jane. They have a new neighbor too, a boy named Ricky with an extremely strict homophobic army sergeant dad. He deals pot, which has gotten him into violent fights with his dad, but also helped him pay for all his video equipment which he uses to film everything, especially Jane. This movie is mostly about how the man, Lester, chases after the teenage girl and almost sleeps with her, his wife, Carolyn, cheats on him to do better at work, and his daughter falls in love with Ricky. There's also death in the end, so it's all kind of twisted. I still don't really know how I feel about the film, but it's definitely packed with jabs at society's morals and lifestyle.

"She's All That," 1999 ☆☆☆☆☆

Oh my god, I loved this. This is about Zack Siler, the "big man" on campus who bets a bunch of jocks and the most popular guys on campus that he can turn any girl into prom queen. His friends choose this brainy art girl who always wears glasses and has art clutter around her. As he becomes friends with her, he starts to fall for her, until she finds out his original intent and feels betrayed. Zack's ex-best friend and his ex-girlfriend try to mess with her to get back at him, but it only gives him a chance to show her his true feelings. It's actually so cute and the perfect rom-com to watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

I hope you enjoyed reading about these movies and end up watching them yourself! I love 90's movies and whether you're having a night in, a sleepover, or Netflix-and-chilling, these are all movies that I highly suggest you watch.