Best films of 1997 (part 2)

Continued from last Wednesday (see #10-6)

Before I get to the top five films of the year, I must say that I didn’t like everything that came out this year:

Popular films from the year I simply cannot stand: AS GOOD AS IT GETS, MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING, THE APOSTLE (both Laureate and my dad would put THE APOSTLE on their top ten list, but the movie makes me literally sick to my stomach.)

Other movies were just popcorn flicks, but that didn’t stop me:

Popular films from the year that are very enjoyable: AIR FORCE ONE, CONTACT, STARSHIP TROOPERS, DONNIE BRASCO, THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE, THE GAME, BOOGIE NIGHTS, FACE/OFF, THE FIFTH ELEMENT

THE TOP FIVE MOVIES OF 1997

#5 WAG THE DOG – One of the most clever scripts of the decade (I really need to do an entire column on David Mamet), plus—and people always forget this—it came before Clinton, Monica Lewinski and Kosovo (not to mention the so-called bombing of bin Laden). Go watch this now and tell me it doesn’t seem to be about Bill. Anyway, a rollicking great satire. The president gets himself in a “situation” with a campfire girl, and a fake war is commenced to distract the public. Dustin Hoffman is fantastic, Anne Heche is surprisingly good, and De Niro gives one of only two good performances since HEAT. Totally recommended and jaw-droppingly prescient.

#4 AMISTAD – Not an easy film to watch, but such a necessary one. I have not felt this much collective shame and guilt since SCHINDLER’S LIST, and it’s no surprise Spielberg directed this. Spike Lee bitched and moaned when AMISTAD came out that only a black director could make this type of film, but why not let the greatest director alive do it? We need to be reminded of what happened here (the slave trade) and how it affected people, before slavery becomes no more than a memory that people talk about vaguely. Hyperion-fave Pete Postlewaite brings it, and Anthony Hopkins is great as John Quincy Adams, but the real revelation here is Djimon Honsou, who gives one of the five best performances of the decade without speaking a word of English. Thought a tiny bit slow in the courtroom scenes, this is a powerful film, a must see.

#3 L.A. CONFIDENTIAL – I sat in the theatre after L.A. CONFIDENTIAL was over to 20 minutes just saying “Damn” over and over; unable to move. I just couldn’t believe they had the balls to do that ending. This is a great film, a throw-back to the ‘50s with a ‘90s sensibility; and noir coming out your ears. Kim Basinger won an Oscar for the performance of her lifetime, but Guy Pierce is the find. They’re not the only two, though, as great performances abound from Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Danny DeVito and James Cromwell. Not a kids’ film, but an old-fashioned adult thriller. We need more of these films.

#2 GOOD WILL HUNTING – I really shouldn’t rank GWH this high, but as its one of my favorite films and it repeats so well I just can’t help myself. Maybe I just relate too much. Matt Damon makes his mark (in a lesser year he’d have had a legitimate chance for an Oscar), while Mini Driver and even Ben Affleck (that’s twice in one year!) are well. And Robin Williams finally did win an Oscar, a well-deserved one too. The real star here, though, is the script, which won an Oscar too. A boy, a genius, unable to topple his own walls. That scene at the end with Will and Sean? I cry every single flippin’ time!

and the number one film of 1997…

#1 TITANIC – There is this thing in popular culture, where once something reaches critical mass and gigantic momentum, along comes a cadre of haters who feel it is there divine right to trash the work in question. It happened with THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, THE MATRIX RELOADED, even STAR WARS to an extent. You see it happening with The Da Vinci Code, as people are lining up to say how awful the book really is and gleefully trash the film. This brings me to TITANIC, by far (by far!) the most popular movie of the modern age, the biggest box-office gross in history, the most nominations and victories in history; and the film actually earned them in what we see was a stellar year of Independent film. And yet people want to hate. I admit that some of the dialogue is cheesy; that’s sort of the point of a disaster flick and a epic, and TITANIC is both. I also admit that TITANIC works much better on the big screen than video, but that’s no reason to mark down a movie. Finally, I admit that like everyone else, I was moved by “My Heart Will Go On” but then got sick of it when he heard it on and on ad infinitum. All of that is chaff. TITANIC is a spectacle like nothing ever made. Somehow James Cameron got us to care about two idiotic people in love when thousands were perishing. That is the heart of a disaster movie, and it’s never been done better. I will not hear pretentious idiots trash this movie. It is: TITANIC.