Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: August 2021

8/30/2021

1998 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

The Top 10 of the Year

1. The Idiots/Idioterne - Lars Von Trier + Best Danish Movie of the Year + Best Experimental Movie of the Year + Most Undeserved Flop Movie of the Year

2. The Big Lebowski - Joel Coen + Best Comedy of the Year

3. The Celebration/Festen - Thomas Vinterberg + Best Drama of the Year + Breakthrough Actor of the Year: Ulrich Thomsen

4. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Terry Gilliam + Best Adaptation of the Year + Best American Movie of the Year + Best Huge Flop Movie of the Year + Best Las Vegas Movie of the Year + Shooting Star Actor of the Year: Benicio Del Toro

5. The Prince of Egypt - Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, Simon Wells + Best Family Movie of the Year + Best Religious Drama of the Year

6. Blade - Stephen Norrington + Best Action Movie of the Year + Best Gore Movie of the Year + Best Superhero Movie of the Year + Best Vampire Movie of the Year

7. Meet Joe Black - Martin Brest + Best Epic Movie of the Year + Best Romance of the Year

8. Happiness - Todd Solondz + Best Feel-Bad Movie of the Year

9. He Got Game - Spike Lee + Best Huge Flop Movie of the Year + Best Sports Drama of the Year

10. Black Cat, White Cat/Црна мачка, бели мачор (Crna mačka, beli mačor) - Emir Kusturica + Best On-Screen Couple of the Year: Florijan Ajdini and Branka Katic + Best Yugoslavian Movie of the Year

Other great movies of the year (in alphabetical order):

54 - Mark Christopher + Best Music Movie of the Year + Best New York Movie of the Year + Best Period Movie of the Year

American History X - Tony Kaye + Best Big Flop Movie of the Year + Best Crime-Drama of the Year + Best Los Angeles Movie of the Year + Career-Killer of the Year: Tony Kaye

Elizabeth - Shekhar Kapur + Best Biopic of the Year + Best English Movie of the Year + Best Historical Drama of the Year + Breakthrough Actress of the Year: Cate Blanchett

Frasier - season 6 - David Angell, Peter Casey, David Lee + Best Continuing TV-series

Gods and Monsters - Bill Condon

Pi - Darren Aronofsky + Best B/W Movie of the Year + Best Debut of the Year + Best Low-Budget Movie of the Year + Best Thriller of the Year

Good, recommendable movie of the year (in alphabetical order):

Enemy of the State - Tony Scott + Best Action-Thriller of the Year + Best Political Movie of the Year + Best Washington DC Movie of the Year

The Faculty - Robert Rodriguez + Best Sci-fi-Horror of the Year

Halloween H20/Halloween H20: 20 Years Later - Steve Miner

Hard Rain - Mikael Salomon + Best Heist Movie of the Year + Best Indiana Movie of the Year + Best Mega-flop Movie of the Year + Costliest Flop of the Year: 57.6 mil. $ range + Worst $ Return of the Year: 0.52 Times its Cost

Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart (documentary) - Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

Mulan - Tony Bancroft, Barry Cook

Out of Sight - Steven Soderbergh + Best Crime-Comedy of the Year + Best Erotic Movie of the Year

The Bottom 10 of the Year

1. Deep Impact - Mimi Leder + Most Undeserved Hit of the Year

2. Great Expectations - Alfonso Cuarón

3. Dangerous Beauty/A Destiny of Her Own - Marshall Herskovitz

4. Merlin (miniseries) - Steve Barron

5. Phantoms - Joe Chappelle

6. Following - Christopher Nolan + Best $ Return of the Year: 40 Times its Cost + Most Overrated Movie of the Year + Worst Poster of the Year

7. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer - Danny Cannon

8. Run Lola Run/Lola Rennt - Tom Tykwer

9. Celebrity - Woody Allen

10. Armageddon - Michael Bay + Most Profitable Movie of the Year: 81.48 mil. $ range

Other failed, poor and/or mediocre movies of the year (in alphabetical order):

Bride of Chucky - Ronny Yu

The Dentist 2 - Brian Yuzna

Fallen - Gregory Hoblit

Lethal Weapon 4 - Richard Donner

The Phantom of the Opera/Il Fantasma dell'Opera - Dario Argento

[38 titles in total]

Notes:

The first lists of 1998 contain 4 masterpieces and yet no grade zero titles:

Best of the year is Lars Von Trier's wildly original, thrilling Dogme masterpiece The Idiots; Joel Coen's slacker crime-comedy cult classic masterpiece The Big Lebowski takes silver, and Thomas Vinterberg's full-throttle family drama Dogme masterpiece The Celebration bronze.

The list goes on with Terry Gilliam's fantastic druggie Americana adaptation masterpiece Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner and Simon Well's religious animation spectacle The Prince of Egypt; Stephen Norrington's comics adaptation action horror thrill-ride Blade; Martin Brest's epic death romance remake Meet Joe Black; Todd Solondz's pitch-black dramedy Happiness; Spike Lee's riveting basketball youth drama He Got Game; and finally Emir Kusturica's gypsy music homage Black Cat, White Cat.

Other noteworthy films of the year include Mark Christopher's fabulous disco drama 54, Tony Kaye's controversial neo-Nazi drama American History X, Darren Aronofsky's striking mysticism debut Pi and Shehar Kapur's Cate Blanchett breakthrough biopic Elizabeth.

On the bottom 10 list, the year's worst is Mimi Leder's strangely horrible disaster movie Deep Impact; with Alfonso Cuarón's Charles Dickens' assault Great Expectations taking silver, and Marshall Herskovitz's phony Italy-set period romance drama Dangerous Beauty bronze.

The list of dreck goes on with Steve Barron's star-studded Merlin miniseries; Joe Chappelle's thrill-less sci-fi thriller Phantoms; Christopher Nolan's overrated, yawn-inducing B/W debut Following; Danny Cannon's insipid slasher sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer; Tom Tykwer's self-adoring, postmodernist bore Run Lola Run; Woody Allen's remote-controlled fluff Celebrity, and finally Michael Bay's massive Earth-saving noise-machine Armageddon.

The year saw favorable arrivals for later master filmmakers Darren Aronofsky (Pi) and Christopher Nolan (Following), breakthroughs for Cate Blanchett and Thomas Vinterberg and asserted and re-asserted screen power for stars Wesley Snipes (Blade), Bruce Willis (Armageddon), Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski), Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween H20), Mel Gibson (Lethal Weapon 4) and Will Smith and Gene Hackman (Enemy of the State).

At the other end of the spectrum Morgan Freeman saw himself heading both the year's 2nd most profitable film (Deep Impact) and its costliest flop Hard Rain: Christian Slater was additionally sent to jail following the mega-flop film's release; and director Salomon lost his feature career. The same happened for Kaye, who (unwisely) voraciously attacked the studio who financed his American History X. Denzel Washington's career impressively stayed on-track despite him heading two of the year's biggest money-losers: He Got Game and Fallen. Other well-faring major stars whose films lost big money include Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins (Meet Joe Black) and George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez (Out of Sight).

Biggest flops of the year:

[The loss is based solely on the cost and box office earnings for the films. Marketing spends and additional revenue (home video, TV rights and other auxiliary profits) are not taken into account]

1. Hard Rain - 57.6 mil. $ range

2. Meet Joe Black - 32.84 mil. $ range

3. Fallen - 32 mil. $ range

4. Out of Sight - 16.92 mil. $ range

5. He Got Game - 16.04 mil. $

6. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - 13.02 mil. $ range

7. American History X - 10.48 mil. $ range

8. Phantoms - 6.4 mil. $ range

9. Gods and Monsters - 6 mil. $ range

10. Dangerous Beauty - 5.2 mil. $ range

= Combined losses: 196.5 mil. $

Biggest hits of the year:

[The gain is based solely on the cost and box office earnings for the films. Marketing spends and additional revenue (home video, TV rights and other auxiliary profits) are not taken into account]

1. Armageddon - 84.48 mil. $ range

2. Deep Impact - 59.76 mil. $ range

3. Mulan - 31.72 mil. $ range

4. The Prince of Egypt - 17.44 mil. $ range

5. Lethal Weapon 4 - 14.16 mil. $ range

6. Halloween H20 - 13 mil. $ range

7. The Faculty - 10.28 mil. $ range

8. Enemy of the State - 10.24 mil. $ range

9. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer - 9.6 mil. $ range

10. Blade - 7.44 mil. $ range

= Combined profits: 258.12 mil. $ range

1998 titles still on the watch-list:

Buffalo '66, Brother Tied, The Entire History of the Louisiana Purchase, High Art, The Object of My Affection, On Our Own, Safe Men, The Last Days of Disco, Apt Pupil, Slums of Beverly Hills, The Legend of 1900

Previous annual lists:

2020 in films - according to Film Excess

2019 in films - according to Film Excess
2018 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2018 in films - according to Film Excess
2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2017 in films - according to Film Excess
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2016 in films - according to Film Excess

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
2001 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

2000 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

What do you think of the lists?
What 1998 titles would make it to your top and bottom lists?
What worthwhile 1998 movies and TV-series are missing on the watch-list?

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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8/30/2021

1998 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

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