We have previously covered films from 1987-1996. Now we shall finish up the 90’s and take us to the edge of the NEW MILLENNIUM !! (That was far cooler, and scarier if you were around in the 90’s)
1998 was all about one thing: The count down to Episode I. As early as January, as Titanic was racking up records left and right, there was a lot of talk concerning whether Star Wars could top it.
64: Spice World – I am not proud of this. lol.
65: Blues Brothers 2000 – A great jam session at the end, but a piss poor movie.
66: Sphere – My favorite Michael Chrichton novel starring Dustin Hoffman. The movie was ok, but I think there is a remake that could do it justice.
67: The Man in the Iron Mask – a great early DiCaprio film. This got a bit lost in the Titanic frenzy. Great cast.
68: Wild Things – Pure trash. Best screen kiss of the year.
69: Lost in Space – Bizarre remake of the old show. Strange choices, but it works.
70: City of Angels – Silly movie, Nic Cage as an Angel. lol. Best soundtrack of the year though.
71: Odd Couple II – Poor decisions here. Should not have been made, but it was, and we are stuck with this being the last Matthau/Lemmon collaboration.
72: Deep Impact – The first of the Asteroid hitting Earth movies. Also the better. The Latter might be more famous, and better cast, but this one was a better film.
73: Godzilla – Oh Jesus….move along….move along.
74: The Truman show – Jim Carrey’s 2nd best film. So good. This showed the range he is capable of.
75: X-Files – Mulder and Scully on the Big Screen!! I remember enjoying this because it showed a lot more spaceship than ever before.
76: Armageddon – Such a big loud movie. Such a piece of crap. Good performances by the supporting cast though.
77: Lethal Weapon 4 – Should have stopped with part 3.
78: Mask of Zorro – Antonio Banderas was born to play this. A very good film.
79: There’s Something about Mary – A movie that is not as funny today as it was at the time. It was the big comedy of 98 though, and it solidified Ben Stiller and the Farrelly Brothers.
80: Saving Private Ryan – Spielberg’s 2nd best film. I could watch this one forever. Amazing stuff.
81: Halloween H20 – Jamie Lee Curtis returns to Halloween! Working off the Scream vibe, this was one of the best in decades for the series.
82: The Avengers – UGH! This movie saps my will to live!!!
83: Blade – The beginning of the Marvel Comics renaissance. This was Marvel testing the waters. If this movie bombed, there might not have been an X-Men.
84: Urban legend -Another 90’s horror film- this one I actually thought was superior to all but Scream 1.
85: Ronin – One of my all time favorite movies. De Niro was perfect, all was great. A classy, smart, movie.
86: The Siege – A film about terrorism forcing martial law in NYC, and the US government gets tyrannical. How close they were to the truth…
87: The Waterboy – It was this, or Meet Joe Black, and this was shorter. People only went to see this in November to see the STAR WARS trailer before, and after, the movie. I saw The Waterboy 3 times.
88: Enemy of the State – One of the last great Gene Hackman roles, with Will Smith starring. A great film. It could be a sequel to The Conversation.
89: Psycho – A shot for shot remake of Psycho. Just go watch Psycho.
90: Star Trek: Insurrection – The crew of the Enterprise discovers the Fountain of Youth….and it did not star William Shatner.
91: The Faculty – Pod People replace teachers at school.
92: The Thin Red Line – I hated it. Compared to Private Ryan, it was total garbage. It is so well regarded these days. Perhaps I need to revisit it.
Yikes, such a bad year for film. So many choices for worst…
Avengers: This movie is a travesty. A misfire on all levels. This was the first sign that Connery was on the downward slide to retirement. The closest I’ve ever come to walking out of a theater.
Ronin: It was close. For a long time I considered Saving Private Ryan the best, but this one is just too perfect. Acting, Cinematography, everything about it.
Now, that is the best of the films I saw in 1998. What was the REAL best film of 1998?
The Big Lebowski – I am saddened that I never saw this in theaters at release. It would go on to be a top 3 favorite film.
In case you were wondering:
- Chinatown
- The Empire Strikes Back
- The Big Lebowski
The Skinny from the Fatty 