1998 was a strange year for movies. For the first half of the frame, theatres were dominated by a film that actually came out the year before: TITANIC. But '98 had a lot of great movies in their own right. Though hardly top ten fare, I thoroughly enjoyed such fluffy popcorn flicks like ARMAGEDDON, MASK OF ZORRO, ENEMY OF THE STATE and RUSH HOUR.
There was other "less serious" work that was good to the point of great, and in another year might have made the top ten, movies like: THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, RONIN, PLEASANTVILLE, A BUG'S LIFE, BULWORTH and THE NEGOTIATOR.
There was even one terrible film that I probably saw more than any of the others, and don't hesitate to recommend it to friends: WILD THINGS.
(Of course, there was the bad too, as Worst Picture would be a contest between GODZILLA and VERY BAD THINGS.)
Then there were the films that I just didn't get to, that quite possibly would have made the top ten list (and feel free to send me your review if you've seen any of them): AFFLICTION, GODS AND MONSTERS, A SIMPLE PLAN, BELOVED, THE THIN RED LINE, and DARK CITY.
And while Laureate agrees with most of my list, he swears that LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS should be included as well.
Even with all that, I could only cut my top ten to 11. There were just too many films that needed to be acknowledged; films you need to see. These flms are for the most part not designed for mass appeal, but any fan of filmdom should see them. Remember, that's why I'm doing all of this.
With that in mind:
#11 THE TRUMAN SHOW - I assume most of you have seen this, so I won't waste my time with description, other than to say that TRUMAN predates much of our Big-Brother obsession with reality TV. In fact, I think we'll see this one day. (Who knows: maybe it's already happening to me.) Jim Carrey gives his best performance of his life; simply robbed of an Oscar nomination. If for some reason you haven't seen TRUMAN, make it a rental.
#10 ROUNDERS - I know most of you aren't intersted in Poker (as I am), but I think the wonderfulness of the film still comes across. About a man (played by Matt Damon), who has his whole life ahead of him, but just can't get the jones of Poker out of his system. Overcoming the near-fatal casting of Gretchen Mol, ROUNDERS snaps and crackles with great side characters to support Damon's stellar work, including Edward Norton, John Malkovich and Martin Landau. I only rank it this low because of the genre style, which has limited appeal.
#9 THE SPANISH PRISONER - Someday I'm going to write an entire Movie column on the genius that is David Mamet. This is possibly his best "con" film, a con within a con within a con. I got my entire family to watch it, and they all enjoyed the rhythms of speech as much as I. (That's why you see a Mamet film, not for the plot, but for the dialogue.) That said, PRISONER has a terrific plot, so smooth that one half hour after the last scene (where the big con is resolved), I realized Mamet had pulled one over on the audience. THE REAL CON TAKES PLACE AFTER THE MOVIE IS OVER!! Brilliant.
#8 RUSHMORE - Along with WILD THINGS, one of my two favorite films of the year. Max Fischer (played by Jason Schwartzman) is a out-of-place young man, who's only goal is to go to Rushmore Academy as long as possible. He falls in love with a teacher, and turns to local rich guy Herman Blume (Bill Murray) to help. Sadly, Herman also is in love, and the war begins. I first found out about the director Wes Anderson with BOTTLE ROCKET, and he also made THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS. RUSHMORE is superior to either, but if you've seen one you'll know whether this appeals to you. The film is very funny, but also quite sad at times. Some people can't handle that. They're idiots.
#7 MULAN - I think this is my favorite Disney film of all time, and it just goes to show you how strong a year 1998 is. MULAN has Eddie Murphy as Mushu, and it's as good as Robin Williams, in a more limited capacity. MULAN also features the best bad guy in Disney History. (Have we done that list? We should.) The songs are fun, the animation great...best yet, I got my two friends together by making them watch this movie.
Up next: the top 6
There was other "less serious" work that was good to the point of great, and in another year might have made the top ten, movies like: THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, RONIN, PLEASANTVILLE, A BUG'S LIFE, BULWORTH and THE NEGOTIATOR.
There was even one terrible film that I probably saw more than any of the others, and don't hesitate to recommend it to friends: WILD THINGS.
(Of course, there was the bad too, as Worst Picture would be a contest between GODZILLA and VERY BAD THINGS.)
Then there were the films that I just didn't get to, that quite possibly would have made the top ten list (and feel free to send me your review if you've seen any of them): AFFLICTION, GODS AND MONSTERS, A SIMPLE PLAN, BELOVED, THE THIN RED LINE, and DARK CITY.
And while Laureate agrees with most of my list, he swears that LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS should be included as well.
Even with all that, I could only cut my top ten to 11. There were just too many films that needed to be acknowledged; films you need to see. These flms are for the most part not designed for mass appeal, but any fan of filmdom should see them. Remember, that's why I'm doing all of this.
With that in mind:
THE TOP 11 FILMS OF 1998 (11-7)
Up next: the top 6
