1998

The Best Films Of The Year:

1. Saving Private Ryan
2. American History X
3. The Big Lebowski
4. Pleasantville
5. Out of Sight
6. The Truman Show
7. Dark City
8. Rounders
9. Fallen
10. BASEketball

After double-checking the list, rest assured, you did actually read that "BASEketball" made the top ten. How should I put this ... this year was weak. Now that's not to say I don't love "BASEketball". I can watch that film over and over again, it's retardedly funny. Most people saw Trey Parker and Matt Stone were in it and thought, 'Oh, the South Park guys want to act now.' While I love South Park, this film only starred Stone and Parker, it was made by the people who brought the world "Airplane", one of the best comedies of all time. That being said, I do rank "BASEketball" among my top 10 favorite comedies. It's rude, it's crass, it's funny. I put it in the top ten because I didn't see the point of finding some dull, dramatic movie that was just good enough to make the list. I already included "Rounders" and "Fallen", which while good movies, would probably not make the top 20 in many other years. So there you go.

"Saving Private Ryan" is amazing (though topped by the "Band of Brothers" mini-series a few years later). "American History X" is powerful and the "Big Lebowski" is one of the smartest comedies in the last decade. There were some good films this year, just not many great films.

The Worst Films Of The Year:

1. There's Something About Mary
2. The Last Days Of Disco
3. Snake Eyes
4. Sphere
5. Godzilla

If anyone is looking at 'Mary' heading my Worst Films list and thinking I have no sense of humor, I have two words for you: Go Away. It technically was not the worst movie of the year, but because everyone went nuts over it and found the 'hair gel' joke so gosh-darn funny, it is the movie-going public who drove my disdain for this movie over the top. Deal with it. This film isn't funny, the jokes have no intelligence behind them. A movie about lawnmower racing would have been much, much better.

"The Last Days Of Disco" should be called The Best Way To Fall Asleep. Nothing happens, it's boring, it's slow, it has no point. And it has Kate Beckinsale, who I would put on my Top 5 sexiest actresses list in a heartbeat. Even with her, I can't stand this movie.

"Snake Eyes" is an annoying thriller that tries to be too clever and falls flat on its face. "Sphere" is arguably Michael Crichton's best book (it's my favorite) but this movie doesn't cut the mustard. It lost all sense of suspense and intrigue in its translation from book to screen. And "Godzilla" was the first real miss from Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, the team that has brought us many of the better summer blockbusters, from "Stargate" to "Independance Day". While their films may not garner any artistic/dramatic credibility, they give us what we want in the summer: explosions, aliens and a big Hollywood star. America.

The Most Horrible Films That Are Fun To Watch:

1. The Faculty
2. Disturbing Behavior
3. Bride of Chucky
4. Wild Things
5. Armageddon

Some good 'bad' films this year. Any true Jon Stewart fan knows "The Faculty" is good ol'fashioned fun. "Disturbing Behavior" brought Katie Holmes further towards the big screen from being the naive ingenue on "Dawson's Creek". She made better choices later on ("Wonder Boys)", but every actor has at least one horror film on their list. I included "Bride of Chucky" on the list solely for the fight between the dolls at the end of the film. When they do overhead shots, you can see that they have two midgets fighting. Awesome. "Wild Things" shouldn't need any explanation and "Armageddon" is cheesy Michael Bay at his near-finest. It's like watching a Levi's commercial where American oil derrick workers save the planet from a large approaching asteroid.

The Most Underrated Films Of The Year:

Can't Hardly Wait
Dead Man On Campus
What Dreams May Come

Every decade or so, a seminal film comes out about high school and/or college that captures the spirit of the times. Like "Animal House", "The Breakfast Club", "PCU" and others before them, "Can't Hardly Wait" and "Dead Man On Campus" do a pretty good job at representing the mid 1990's. "Can't Hardly Wait", especially, is something no one who was in high school in the early to mid 90's should miss. It hits home, sadly.

And I put "What Dreams May Come" on this list for two reasons; it's melancholy, and it's gorgeous. The filmmakers did a wonderful job of bringing art to life and this is a film that helps justify that large plasma screen you conned your wife into letting you buy.