Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: 1996 in films and TV-series

Top 10 of the Year

1. Fargo - Ethan and Joel Coen + Best American Movie of the Year + Best Breakthrough Actress of the Year: Frances McDormand + Best Cop Movie of the Year + Best Dark Comedy of the Year + Most Deserved Hit of the Year + Best $ Return of the Year: 8.65 Times the Cost + Best Mega-hit of the Year + Best North Dakota Movie of the Year + Best Poster of the Year

2. Frasier - season 4 - David Angell, Peter Casey, David Lee + Best Returning TV-series of the Year + Best Sitcom of the Year

3. The Cable Guy - Ben Stiller + Best Comedy of the Year

4. Beavis and Butt-Head Do America - Mike Judge, Yvette Kaplan, Brian Mulroney, Mike de Seve + Best Road Movie of the Year + Best Satire of the Year

5. Eraser - Chuck Russell + Best Action Movie of the Year + Most Under-Appreciated Movie of the Year

6. The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise + Best Big Hit Movie of the Year + Best Family Movie of the Year + Best Paris Movie of the Year + Best Religious Movie of the Year

7. From Dusk Till Dawn - Robert Rodriguez + Best Gore Movie of the Year + Best Vampire Movie of the Year

8. Bound - The Wachowskis + Best Big Flop Movie of the Year + Erotic Movie of the Year + Best Rainbow Movie of the Year + Best Thriller of the Year

9. Hard Eight - Paul Thomas Anderson + Best Box Office Disaster of the Year + Best Crime Drama of the Year + Best Debut of the Year + Worst $ Return of the Year: 0.13 Times the Cost + Best Independent Movie of the Year + Best Nevada Movie of the Year + Most Undeserved Flop of the Year

10. Black Sheep - Penelope Spheeris + Best Crazy-Comedy of the Year

Other good, recommendable movies (in alphabetic order):

Primal Fear - Gregory Hoblit + Best Shooting Star Actor of the Year: Edward Norton

Bottom 6 of the Year

1. The Glimmer Man - John Gray + Most Deserved Flop of the Year

2. Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco - David R. Ellis

3. Jerry Maguire - Cameron Crowe + Most Overrated Movie of the Year + Most Undeserved Hit of the Year

4. The Frighteners - Peter Jackson

5. The English Patient - Anthony Minghella + Most Profitable Movie of the Year: 65.76 mil. $ range

6. Hamsun - Jan Troell

Other failed, mediocre and/or poor films (in alphabetic order):

Escape from L.A./John Carpenter's Escape from L.A./Escape from Los Angeles - John Carpenter + Costliest Flop of the Year: 31.12 mil. $ range

Jingle All the Way - Brian Levant + Best Christmas Movie of the Year + Best Minnesota Movie of the Year

[19 titles in total]

Notes:

The wholly inadequate first edition of the 1996 lists pack just one masterpiece and no grade zero entries so far:

The best film of the year so far is Ethan and Joel Coen's sensational dark crime dramedy Fargo. Silver and bronze go to the 4th season of David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee's hilarious sitcom Frasier and Ben Stiller's off-beat madcap comedy The Cable Guy.

The Top 10 goes on with Mike Judge, Yvette Kaplan, Brian Mulroney and Mike de Seve's animated satire road movie Beavis and Butt-Head Do America; Chuck Russell's action-packed thrill-ride Eraser; Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise's gorgeous family animation musical The Hunchback of Notre Dame; Robert Rodriguez's gleefully grimy vampire action horror From Dusk Till Dawn; the Wachowskis' erotic thriller Bound; Paul Thomas Anderson's gambler debut Hard Eight; and finally Penelope Spheeris' wacky crazy-comedy Black Sheep.

The worst film of the year found so far is John Gray's preposterous cop actioner The Glimmer Man. Silver and bronze go to David R. Ellis' taxing talking-animal adventure Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco and Cameron Crowe's crowd-pleasing sports agent drama Jerry Maguire.

The Bottom 6 goes on with Peter Jackson's loud and tiring The Frighteners; Anthony Minghella's major hit, good-looking and boring The English Patient; and finally Jan Troell's depressing, overlong biopic Hamsun.

Another great filmmaker who churned out a subpar effort this year was John Carpenter with his major flop Escape from L.A.

Others who had bad luck at the box office include Arnold Schwarzenegger (Eraser and Jingle All the Way nevertheless both gave him hefty paydays), Jim Carrey (The Cable Guy), Steven Seagal (The Glimmer Man) and debuting master filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson: The terrible gross of his Hard Eight luckily didn't end his just starting career.

Brighter times were enjoyed by the likes of Frances McDormand (Fargo), Edward Norton (Primal Fear), Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient) and Tom Cruise, who reaffirmed his box office power impressively with Jerry Maguire, which also saw up-and-comers Cuba Gooding Jr. and Renée Zellweger charming most world audiences for the first time.

Subsequent updated versions of the lists will include many more titles and details of the year in films and TV-series.

Biggest flops of the year:

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

1. Escape from L.A. - 31.12 mil. $ range

2. The Glimmer Man - 30.44 mil. $ range

3. Jingle All the Way - 15.58 mil. $ range

4. The Frighteners - 14.28 mil. $ range

5. The Cable Guy - 5.88 mil. $ range

6. Bound - 3.2 mil. $ range

7. Eraser - 3.08 mil. $ range

8. Hard Eight - 2.84 mil. $ range

= Combined losses: 106.42 mil. $

Biggest hits of the year:

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

1. The English Patient - 65.76 mil. $ range

2. The Hunchback from Notre Dame - 60.12 mil. $ range

3. Jerry Maguire - 59.4 mil. $ range

4. Fargo - 17.24 mil. $ range

5. Beavis and Butt-Head Do America - 13.24 mil. $ (North America alone)

6. Primal Fear - 11.04 mil. $ range

7. From Dusk Till Dawn - 4.72 mil. $ range

= Combined profits: 231.52 mil. $

1996 titles currently on the watch-list:

Primus: The Devil Went Down to Georgia, Schizopolis, It's My Party, Hustler White, Sling Blade, Crash, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Waiting for Guffman, White Squall, The Delta, Temptress Moon, Crocodile, Fudoh: The New Generation, Chaplin's Goliath, Spy Hard, Particularly Now, in Spring, The Sunchaser

Previous annual lists:

2021 in films - according to Film Excess

2020 in films - according to Film Excess

2019 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

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

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2004 in films and TV-series - 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

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

1997 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

What do you think of the 1996 lists?
Which 1996 titles would make to your top and bottom lists?
Which worthwhile 1996 titles are missing on the watch-list?

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

7/27/2022

1996 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

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