Top 10 Movies of 1998

According to Dave Flapan

10)    Bulworth
Warren Beatty is a political candidate who is tired of all the 'cookie-cutter' candidates and wants to run a 'different' campaign.  So he gives speeches in rap, hangs out with his homeys, and more activities that endear him away from the Establishment.

9)     Last Days of Disco
The third entry in Whit Stilman's unofficial trifecta, this film is not actually about music, but rather about the period invoked by the title, the early 80s.   Peppered with trademark Stilman dialogue (and several of his regular cast members), much nostalgia is in the air, yet after, we are still glad that that era is long gone.

8)    The Spanish Prisoner
David Mamet weaves yet another intricately played out plot that invokes the age-old proverb, "Things aren't always what they seem."  Campbell Scott plays a businessman who thinks he is making new friends, when actually...

7)      Saving Private Ryan
Steven Spielberg churns out yet another 'event' movie.  Tom Hanks is the captain of a group of 8 soldiers who venture out to find just one, Private Ryan.  An abundance of emotion is torn at in what has been called one of the more accurate depictions of the horrors of war.

6)      A Bug's Life 
Of the four major studio animated pictures released this year, this one is the best, not only for crisp, brilliant animation from the Pixar Studio, but also because the story is timeless, it contains an abundance of humor, and can be watched by moviegoers of all ages.

5)     Pleasantville
This film was too often misunderstood.  It wasn't a representation, or even a parody, of the 1950s.  It is a parody of television sitcoms from the 1950s, which are skewered nicely here.  The effect of having the town change from black and white to color upon a character's insight is both original and technologically groundbreaking.

4)    Celebrity
 This film satirizes its own industry.  Leonardo DiCaprio satirizes himself, as a pampered, egotistical, Movie Star of the Moment.  Yet another brilliant, original effort from Woody Allen.
 
3)    There's Something About Mary
Ben Stiller, Matt Dillon, and Brett Favre are just a few of Mary's (Cameron Diaz) pursuers.  Virtual non-stop gags, some lacking in taste, but one doesn't mind, because, hey, it's funny.

2)      Shakespeare in Love
Shakespeare was like vegetables; you watched it because it was good for you, but as you grew up, you began to appreciate it more.   This movie isn't even Shakespearean.  It is about the Bard.  It is excellent because it depicts him before he is famous, and humanizes him, showing that even he, and even the (supposedly) repressed Elizabethans, knew how to have a good time.

1)    The Truman Show
Jim Carrey plays Truman Burbank, a man who has lived his entire life as the centerpiece of a TV show that chronicles his every move.  This original premise was explored deeply, and the movie made you think.  It leaves you very satisfied, yet still wanting more.