I'm going to use my friend Wikipedia to kickstart my brain, year by year, and I'll throw out a Favored Five here and there. If you want to refresh your memory in a similar fashion, just go to Wiki and type "[four-character year] in film." Here's the one for 1997. I won't pretend that Wiki is the end-all, be-all of filmic knowledge or that these yearly lists are 100% accurate, but they're an excellent place to start and a great resource.
1997
I was 20 for most of 1997. Not coincidentally, the thing I noticed most while scanning the list of films that came out that year was, "Damn, I think I've seen them all...and multiple times!" I guess something about being in college yet not being the legal drinking age just yet leads to increased movie viewing amongst film geeks. It's also possible that I was living in a house with a coughillegalcough cable box at the time and I watched the same films time and again just because they were there and free. But I could be mistaken about that.
Potentially also tied in with that whole "I watched a ton of these, and multiple times" thing is my thinking that 1997 was a pretty damn good one for movies - not a ton of great prestige flicks, but loads of very good-great ones. In other words, time has been good to 1997.
Notable movies not yet seen:
The Apostle
The Full Monty
Princess Mononoke
The Sweet Hereafter
Wag the Dog
Honorable Mentions
Anaconda (the guiltiest of pleasures)
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Chasing Amy
Grosse Point Blank
Starship Troopers (guilty, but an awesome satire as well)
5. Good Will Hunting - Here's how you know I have problems: I spent a good five minutes debating what would place in this position. I couldn't make up my mind between this, Grosse Point Blank, and Chasing Amy. In the end, the inclusion of some terrific songs by Elliott Smith, the knowledge that this is the film that truly launched Matt Damon and the fact that Gus Van Sant's film is the most complete were enough to overcome the others.
4. Men in Black - I haven't done a comparison, but this has got to be my favorite of all of the tent pole, mega-budget blockbusters that have been released over the last 15 years. Director Barry Sonnenfeld was just off of Sunday's SGC flick (Get Shorty) with the Addams Family flicks not far behind in his rear-view mirror as well. So what does he do? Gets Will Smith, blazing hot after ID4 and Tommy Lee Jones, not far removed from his Oscar win from The Fugitive. That trio, combined with a crackerjack script, some great CGI (for the day) and a deep supporting cast (Rip Torn, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D'Onofrio) were enough to win critical kudos all-around and box office success to the tune of #2 for 1997, trailing only overall leader Titanic.
3. Gattaca - Writer/director Andrew Niccol was supposed to be the Next Big Thing. This sci-fi murder mystery/drama about DNA was a cricital hit and his next project was The Truman Show. Then the wheels came off, in the form of the bomb S1m0ne and the almost-universally panned The Terminal. Lord of War made for a slight comeback, but he hasn't been seen since...until this year, when his The Cross, with Orlando Bloom, will be released. One can only hope he eventually finds the potential that Gattaca hinted at.
2. Jackie Brown - Right away, I knew that this and the eventual number one were my top two for 1997. The only question was in what order. Ultimately, for all of my love for Jackie, from the resurrections of Pam Grier and Robert Forster (and even Michael Keaton, to some extent) to the soundtrack to the slow burn pace that Tarantino used to maximum effect, I had to give the top spot to...
1. Boogie Nights - ...Paul Thomas Anderson's crowning achievement (or is that spot reserved for There Will Be Blood?). Boogie is a pop culture behemoth. An epic tale that really doesn't tell all that much of a story, but rather lets you be a fly on the wall of Jack Horner's living room, getting to know a carnival of characters and letting you watch one of the tracking shots this side of Children of Men that no one seems to talk about anymore (the pool party). This is Altman-esque filmmaking at its finest, perhaps even finer than the player himself.
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