Flashback 1998: My favorite movies from 20 years ago

The Big Lebowski

I figured I'd interrupt this run of Oscar prognostication with Brian Wezowicz (stay tuned for more though), and come down from the euphoria of seeing my perpetual underdog Philadelphia Eagles win their first ever Super Bowl, to do one of my little flashback blog posts about my favorite movies in ten year intervals back from the current year.

I've already broken down my faves from 10 years ago -- 2008 -- and now it's time to turn the clock back even more, to the Clinton years (this one in particular was mired in the Monica Lewinsky scandal ... sidebar) and weigh in on the best of 1998, in my humble opinion.

Perhaps ironically, this is the year that now disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein allegedly tipped the scales at the Oscars to push the rom-com Shakespeare In Love past the favorite, Saving Private Ryan, in the Best Picture category, but based on those film's staying power, I am guessing Spielberg and Hanks got the last laugh on that one.

10) He Got Game - While it indeed does have many of the late career Spike Lee excesses, I still think this film could arguably be called the best basketball film ever made. Denzel Washington gives a phenomenal performance (no surprise there) as an ex-con given a brief furlough from prison in order to persuade his NBA-bound son to sign with a particular school. Sure, it's convoluted, but Lee treats the father-son dynamic with such epic sincerity, I can't help but be effected by it.

9) Ronin - An old school action film with one of the best, sustained car chases I've ever seen. I saw this one in theaters and remained surprised that it wasn't a bigger commercial hit. Robert De Niro does his standard tough guy thing but he has a great ensemble to play with here, including Sean Bean, Stellan Skarsgård and 1998 MVP Natascha McElhone (whatever happened to her?). They never make adult thrillers like this anymore, and that's a damn shame.

8) Happiness - A wildly provocative indie film that asks you identify with a child molester, among other things. This Todd Solondz film is like a Rorschach test for audiences' tolerance for the inappropriate and absurd, but it also a profoundly funny exploration of a fairly straightforward theme. It uses stunt casting (Jon Lovitz!) and brilliant character work (RIP, Philip Seymour Hoffman) to stick the landing. And whatever you think of it, you will never forget it.

7) Saving Private Ryan - Before it led to a period of 'Greatest Generation' self-congratulatory nonsense, this was simply the most viscerally exciting and realistic World War II film ever made. It's often mistaken for a pro-war movie, because it certainly makes a case for the valor of its heroes (led by a typically terrific Tom Hanks), but more engaged viewers should see that this film is clearly about tragedy, albeit with a glimmer of hope. This film demonstrated that, for the most part, that serious Spielberg was here to say.

6) The Truman Show - This before-its-time riff on the coming tide of reality television could have been a gimmicky curio if it weren't for the heartfelt performance of Jim Carrey in the lead and the fluidity of the filmmaking by director Peter Weir. It's concept -- it's a man who unbeknownst to him has been the subject of a 24-hour TV show -- has so much potential, and the choice to make it entirely about his quest to break out of his hermetically sealed world is sweet and endearing to me.

5) The Thin Red Line - The 'other' less well know World War II epic of the year, and iconoclastic director Terrence Malick's big comeback film. This moody and gorgeous looking film manages not to be overwhelmed by it's incredibly star-studded cast (including Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, John Cusack, George Clooney, Woody Harrelson and John Travolta, just to name a few) and puts us in the minds of a diverse array of soldiers who very well may be marching towards their own deaths. One of the great war films that has a much more cerebral impact than its genre peers.

The Thin Red Line

4) Buffalo '66 -  A film that I briefly used to refer to as my favorite of all time. Since then cooler heads have prevailed, especially in light of the general aura of awfulness around its writer-director-star Vincent Gallo. Still, I'll never forget how much this little indie -- about a wannabe tough guy's attempt to make an impression on the world alongside his happenstance love interest (Christina Ricci) -- had on me as a young person. It's a great movie for outsiders, and for people who march to the beat of their own drum.

3) Out of Sight - Following Get Shorty and Jackie Brown, this film represents the high water mark of great Elmore Leonard adaptations. It also is the movie that at long last turned George Clooney into the movie star that he deserved to be (although it inexplicably underperformed at the box office). And, last but not least, it was the movie that revived Steven Soderbergh's career and proved that he was uniquely suited to make smart, character-driven crime capers, and the movie world is better for it.

2) Rushmore - Although Bottle Rocket had already come out, this was the movie that introduced me to the unique charms of Wes Anderson. As a lifelong Bill Murray fan, this film was a thrill, a real revival of his career that showed he could do more shades of drama than previously shown. And with this presumably semi-autobiographical tale about a precious, cinema-obsessed adolescent's coming-of-age, Anderson hit all of his signature moves out of the park. It's a triumph comedically, it's got a winsome air about it, and of course the production design is peerless.

1) The Big Lebowski - A big flop that has since turned into quite possibly the most popular Coen brothers film of all time, and certainly one of my favorite movies ever. A laugh-out-loud funny homage to classic detective stories, with a burnt out stoner (played to perfection by Jeff Bridges) in the lead. Clearly, this film has become one of the most quotable, instantly recognizable cult phenomenons in movies, but it is also slyly smart, wonderfully weird and consistently original in a way that really warms my heart. Sometimes, there is a man ...

PAST TOP 10 FAVORITE LISTS
1974 #1 movie - The Godfather Part II
1975 #1 movie - Nashville
1976 #1 movie - Taxi Driver
1977 #1 movie - Star Wars
1984 #1 movie - Ghostbusters
1985 #1 movie - Fletch
1986 #1 movie - Blue Velvet
1987 #1 movie - The Untouchables
1994 #1 movie - Pulp Fiction
1995 #1 movie - Heat
1996:#1 movie - Fargo
1997 #1 movie - Boogie Nights
2004 #1 movie - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2005 #1 movie - A History of Violence
2006 #1 movie - Casino Royale
2007 #1 movie - There Will Be Blood
2008 #1 movie - The Wrestler