Vintage '98
Monday, July 19, 2021 at 3:00PM The Smackdown of '98 (with special guests) arrives in just one week. Before we get to the main event let's just soak in that year a bit. Were you old enough to be conscious of pop culture in that year? If so, nostalgia warning. If not, here's what people were talking about before your time.
Great Big Box Office Hits: Titanic (1997) reigned long into 1998 as the then the biggest hit of all time. In fact it didn't fully cede the #1 of the weekend placement from Christmas '97 through Easter of '98. What's more it didn't leave the top ten box office chart until JUNE. That kind of run is unthinkable now. But the biggest hits released in the actual calendar year of 1998 were...
- Saving Private Ryan
- Armageddon
- There's Something About Mary
- A Bug's Life
- The Waterboy...
- Doctor Dolittle (the Eddie Murphy remake version)
- Rush Hour
- Deep Impact
- Godzilla
- Patch Adams
The list reminds us that general audience taste has always been questionable. Godzilla and Patch Adams were instantly reviled but huge hits nonetheless. Just outside the top ten better films like The Truman Show, Mulan, You've Got Mail, Shakepeare in Love, and Prince of Egypt lurked.
Oscar's Best Picture Nominees:
Shakespeare in Love (13 noms / 7 wins) and Saving Private Ryan (11 noms / 5 wins) infamously battled it out at the Oscars, leaving not much gold for anyone else. In a curious homogenization of the field that was widely discussed at the time you could fit the nominees into just two categories: female-led costume pictures set in the Elizabethan era and war dramas. The other nominees were Holocaust dramedy Life is Beautiful (7 noms / 3 wins), biopic Elizabeth (7 noms / 1 win), and contemplative war drama The Thin Red Line (7 nominations).
Expanded Roster?
With the Oscars reverting to a simple 'top ten' this coming season after a decade of experimentation with a 5-10 fluid Best Picture field (though it always ended up being 8 or 9), which films would have benefitted in 1998 from a double-size field? The Truman Show scored 3 major nominations (but was passed over in craft categories it ought to have been competitive in) while Gods and Monsters also scored 3 but then actually surprised to win Best Adapted Screenplay. So we think those two definitely would have been nominated despite whatever Academy reservations existed at the time about them.
After that it gets much harder to imagine given the dominance of the top five.
Armageddon and Pleasantville scored multiple craft nominations but nothing in the above-the-line categories and didn't seem exactly "respected" at the time. Affliction, Hilary and Jackie, and Little Voice were popular with the actors branch but with seemingly no one else. Films with just two nominations included A Simple Plan, Primary Colors, Out of Sight, A Civll Action, Prince of Egypt, Mask of Zorro and Brazil's Central Station (which would have easily taken the Foreign Oscar in a year without Life is Beautiful in the running.)
COMMENT PARTY QUESTION: Which films would you argue for if the Oscars had had a top ten?
The Celebration was a veritable who's who of Danish cinema in the late 90s / early Aughts
Films that endured (in some way) that were neither Oscar players nor box office blockbusters
Denmark's Oscar submission Festen / The Celebration was an international hit but Oscar voters were obviously skeeved out by it (and the Dogme '95 manifesto itself which was anti all the things Oscar loves). They wouldn't come around to Thomas Vinterberg until a dozen years later with The Hunt (2012) and last season in a big way with Another Round (2020).
People have long since forgotten this truth but in 1998, The Big Lebowski by the Coen Brothers was regarded as a disappointment. It was coming on the heels of the critically lauded sleeper hit Fargo and people were like 'what is this?'. Now of course it's one of their most beloved films. Two auteurs who went on to much greater fame had their key breakthroughs that year, too: Wes Anderson's Rushmore (his second feature) and Darren Aronofsky's Pi (his debut).
But what else? The remake of The Parent Trap, which made Lindsay Lohan a star, is still widely loved which is quite a feat for a remake since enthusiasm about those generally vanishes just a month after the initial release, reverting to the original. Many people would cite The Wedding Singer and You've Got Mail as a fine example of the romantic comedy genre which was big throughout the 1990s. Other films that have enthusiastic fanbases to this day are Practical Magic, Wild Things, and Ever After.
Notable films listed as 1998 at IMDb that US audiences didn't get until a year or two later
Germany's international smash Run Lola Run became an enormous arthouse hit in the summer of '99 and the Swedish teen lesbian classic Show Me Love (or Fucking Amål) crossed the Ocean a few months after it. Taiwan's acclaimed Flowers of Shanghai kicked around festivals for some time for years before a video release, Lars Von Trier's The Idiots was released two years after its original infamy for a short arthouse run in the US, and the classic Japanese horror film Ringu, never got a US theatrical release at all though its 2002 English-language remake became a blockbuster.
Nathaniel's Top Ten of 1998 (actually released)
If it has an arrow I've seen it recently enough to defend its placement. The others are much duller in memory. Time for a rewatch in a couple of years when they all hit their 25th birthdays!
- The Truman Show (Peter Weird, US)
- Festen / The Celebration (Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark)
- Velvet Goldmine (Todd Haynes, US) 🔺
- Central Station (Walter Salles, Brazil)
- High Art (Lisa Cholodenko, US)
- Gods and Monsters (Bill Condon, UK/US) 🔺
- Shakespeare in Love (John Madden, UK/US) 🔺
- The Thin Red Line (Terence Malick, US)
- Living Out Loud (Richard LaGravenese, US)
- The Opposite of Sex (Don Roos, US) *listed as '97 at IMDb but it didn't open anywhere until 1998
But if either Run Lola Run or The Idiots had been released in 1998 this list would be different. Yes, I love The Idiots even though you're not suppposed to say so.
Magazine Covers for Context...
(You can click to enlarge)
Typical covergirls (and boys) that year were, in no particular order: The Clintons and Monica Lewinsky, Lauryn Hill, Madonna, Brandy, Ben Affleck, Chris Rock, Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, Harrison Ford, Nicole Kidman, Johnny Depp, Cameron Diaz, Liv Tyler, Christina Ricci, both Titanic stars, and anything related to the TV shows Ally McBeal, Seinfeld, South Park, The X-Files, and Dawsons Creek (note one of Michelle Williams first covers -- she was just a wee baby!)
And to give you a taste for how cyclical and long-running drama tends to be in pop culture there's even a headline about Disney "coming out of the closet" (the Lea Delaria "Out" cover). 23 years later the queer community is still having drama around whether or not Disney is sufficiently embracing them with their continual noncommittal queerbaiting.
Mix Tape (Select Smash Hits of '98): "My Heart Will Go On" Celine Dion, "The Boy is Mine" Brandy and Monica, "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" Aerosmith, "You're Still the One" Shania Twain, "How Do I Live" LeAnn Rhimes, "Together Again" Janet Jackson, "I Don't Want to Wait" Paula Cole, "Getting Jiggy wit It" Will Smith, "Adia" Sarah McLachlan, "Quit Playing Games with My Heart" The Backstreet Boys, "This Kiss" Faith Hill, "Gone Til November" Wyclef Jean, "Tubthumping" Chumbawamba, "One Week" Barenaked Ladies, and "Show Me Love" Robyn.
More Music: The Grammy Awards the following February, honoring the music of mostly 1998, would go big for Lauryn Hill's phenomenal "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" while Madonna FINALLY won long overdue Grammies including Best Pop Album for "Ray of Light".
Besides those two masterpieces other key albums released in 1998 included Rufus Wainwright's eponymous debut, Air's "Moon Safari", Hole's "Celebrity Skin", Tori Amos' "From the Choirgirl Hotel", Beastie Boy's "Hello Nasty", Marilyn Manson's "Mechanical Animals", Dixie Chick's "Wide Open Spaces", Alanis Morrissette's "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie", Cher's "Believe", Vonda Shephard's "Songs from Ally McBeal", Whitney Houston's "My Love is Your Love", and Massive Attack's "Mezzanine"
TV: Frasier won its fifth consecutive Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy for its fifth season, the most of all time (later tied by Modern Family) and David E Kelley's hit lawyer drama The Practice won Outstanding Drama for its second season. Though the Emmys are prone to repeat themselves, even more then than they do now, the mid 90s were unusually volatile in terms of Drama series winners with a different show selected for five consecutive years despite the nomination slate being mostly identical. The most talked about Emmy speech was definitely Camryn Manheim's "this is for the fat girls!" Supporting Actress win two decades before body positivity became a mainstream cause. Check it out...
Long running shows that ended in 1998 were Seinfeld, Dr Quinn Medicine Woman, Murphy Brown (though it later resurfaced), The Closer, Cybil, Ellen, and daytime talk show Geraldo. Key debuts for new series in 1998 included sitcoms Wil & Grace, That 70s Show, Sports Night, The King of Queens, as well as MTV's claymation Celebrity Deathmatch (remember that?) and the delightful Powerpuff Girls.
Literature:
Portuguese author José Saramago won the Nobel Prize (his most recent novels had been "Blindness" and "All the Names") and Philip Roth won the Pulitzer for his novel "American Pastoral".
Stage: The Pulitzer went to Paula Vogel's "How I Learned To Drive" while the Tony Awards went to Yasmine Reza's "Art" (Best Play) and Disney's "The Lion King" (Best Musical). The Lion King had stiff competition from "Ragtime" which took Best Score and actually had the most Tony nominations that year. At that same ceremony Audra McDonald won her third "Featured" Tony Award (she later went on to the sensational record of six Tony wins -- the most for any actor and remains the only performer to win in all four Tony acting categories: Leading wins in both Play and Musicals plus Featured wins in both Play and Musicals). The revival sensation of the season was "Cabaret" which took home the Lead acting trophies for both of its stars, Alan Cumming (The Master of Ceremonies) and Natasha Richardson (Sally Bowles).
Meanwhile over in London, Patrick Marber's "Closer" was the Olivier winner for Play of the Year. It would transfer to Broadway in 1999 (one Tony nod, Best Play) and then to the big screen in 2004 where it would receive two Supporting Oscar nominations, one of which was for Clive Owen. He had originated the role of "Dan" on the London stage but switched to the role of "Larry" for the film, leaving Dan to be played by Jude Law.
ShowTunes To Go: "Ragtime" from Ragtime with Marin Mazzie, Audra McDonald, and Brian Stokes Mitchell and our favourite showtune of that particular year "I Will Never Leave You" from Side Show with Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner.
Reader Comments (44)
Madonna’s RAY OF LIGHT era was so satisfying!!!
My favorite films of the year are Central Station and Wong Kar-wai's Fallen Angels. They are both masterpieces for the ages. Right behind them I'd place Taste of Cherry and Fireworks. My favorite American film is Todd Solodz's Happiness. I know everyone is made that The Ceremony and Run Lola Run were passed over for Foreign Film, but I think the very best submission was France's Dreamlife of Angels, an extraordinary film that at least got a decent theatrical release in the USA in 1999.
As for negatives, Saving Private Ryan is so so so so overrated (except for Tom Hanks, surprisingly) and Life Is Beautiful is total garbage.
If the Best Picture roster had been expanded to 10 in 1998, I wonder if Waking Ned Devine might have been the very rare movie to get nominated for Best Picture only.
It had a PGA nomination (in a field of five), 2 SAG nominations (including Ensemble), and Entertainment Weekly predicted it would receive a Best Picture nomination a la The Full Monty a year prior.
It feels like a mostly forgotten movie now, but at the time, it was a seemingly major contender, only to blank on nominations morning. But maybe with 10 Best Picture spots... it doesn't?
I tend to think this one is quite a weak year in entertainment overall. The two big albums by Lauryn & Madonna are pretty overrated and are carried by a couple of great singles/videos (the sophomore efforts of Alanis & Jewel are more rewarding) and it's basically Believe that defines the year which is not something to be proud of.
Most of the movies I've seen are far from great, except Antz, Gods and Monsters and of course American History X. Elizabeth is my preferred from the otherwise tiresome best picture lineup but mostly because of the lead performance. The Thin Red Line could have worked better had it been shorter...
Have yet to see the likes of Without Limits, A Simple Plan, Affliction, Wilde and The Mighty...
Ray Of Light is easily Madonna's best work. In fact, I feel like she carried that energy through to her follow-up Music which is underrated, and although I can't speak for American Life (the experimentalism remained, that's for sure, but I haven't given a good enough listen to really deduce merit), Confessions on a Dance Floor was also top tier effort. That stretch was easily Modern Madonna's artistic peak. Now she's too busy trying to feature hot artists and hop on trends rather than doing her own thing and attracting the audience ;( ah well. I thought Madame X was a solid album, but yeah, she needs to remember who she is.
Anywho, RoL is definitely one of my favorite albums of all-time; it's a masterpiece. Her and William Orbit killed it.
"As for negatives, Saving Private Ryan is so so so so overrated (except for Tom Hanks, surprisingly) and Life Is Beautiful is total garbage."
I'm gonna have to give you a 100% AGREE on all of that, Amy Camus.
Wow, 1998 really was the year of Calista Flockhart and Ally McBeal. No wonder her show won so many Globes and Emmys. I'll admit, I think the show's first 2 seasons are quite strong and Calista is perfect.
I love Ray of Light. Some of those songs truly were everywhere - it's impossible to think about Felicity and even Kerri Russell without hearing "The Power of Goodbye."
I think rounding out the top five would have been:
The Truman Show
Gods and Monsters
Affliction
Central Station
Primary Colors
Pleasantville was critically loved, and Ebert gave it 4 stars, but it was a flop. So was primary colors, but that seems closer to what the academy likes. Central Station was a big hit and the 90s academy was friendly to foriegn language films. Affliction, while not a big hit, feels like the type of film that could have made it in an expanded field.
If the Best Picture nomination list were to expand and we assumed both The Truman Show and Gods and Monsters were assured to make the cut, I would argue for Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Sight to snag one of the additional Best Picture nominations.
The film was a hot commodity that year. That steamy scene of J Lo and George Clooney in the car trunk prompted a media frenzy, and the Academy had Lopez present at the Oscar ceremony that year.
In addition to Oscar nominations for screenplay and editing, the script won the Writer’s Guild top honor and the film was named the year’s best by the National Society of Film Critics.
My top 10
1.The Truman show
2.The thin red line
3.On connait la chanson
4.Happiness
5.Central station
6.Saving Private Ryan
7.Cosi ridevano
8.Beloved
9.Los amantes del circulo polar
10.Shakespeare in love
Bonus (my number 11) : Gods and monsters, Ian McKellen deserved the Oscar,
When I visited the USA and went to Universat Studios that set where Jim waves goodbye was still in situ on the Universal Tour.
I think Gods and Monsters The Truman Show would have been no's 6 to 7 maybe Little Voice at 8 then A Simple Plan and no 10 probably Central Station.
Anyone who says Madonna's ROL is overrated should listen to it again and should question their memebership,it's a flat out masterpiece and I wish she had 1 more like this in her cos it's been a real drought this past 10 years.
My top ten of 1998:
1. Crna Macka, Beli Macor, (Black Cat, White Cat) Emir Kusturica
2. El DÃa Que Murió el Silencio, (The Day Silence Died) Paolo Agazzi
3. Le Dîner de Cons, (The Dinner Game) Francis Veber
4. Lola Rennt, (Run Lola Run) Tom Tykwer
5. Fibra Óptica, (Optical Fibre) Francisco Athié
6. Kirikou et la Sorcière, (Kirikou and the Sorceress) Michel Ocelot, Raymond Burlet
7. The Truman Show, Peter Weir
8. A Bug's Life, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton
9. National Geographic: The Photographers
10. Los Amantes del CÃrculo Polar, (Lovers of the Arctic Circle) Julio Medem
[MILD SPOILERS]
The Truman Show is just brilliant, firing on all cylinders the entire time. The closing shots of Natascha McElhone watching Truman teray-eyed, then flying down the stairs to presumably meet him is the perfect catharsis.
Re: 1998's top 10 box office.
I saw and liked both Saving Private Ryan and A Bug's Life. Rush Hour has its charms, too. I had to stop watching both Patch Adams and The Waterboy halfway through because I couldn't stand watching them. I haven't seen the rest of the top 10 because I had no desire to. Audiences didn't have the best taste in 1998, did they?
Best Album of 1998: Massive Attack-Mezzanine
Best Film of 1998: The Thin Red Line.
I hadn't discovered those great pieces of art at that time as I was only 17 and was bored by not just a lot of the films coming out but also the music as alternative rock had ended (it was getting uninspiring) and rap-metal emerged (I thought I could get into it but no) while I was waiting for the new NIN album (it came out a year later and.... it was worth it) where I devoted my time re-discovering David Bowie and going retroactively to discover music by the Cure, Depeche Mode, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground. As for films, other than 2 amazing Adam Sandler films. Not a lot was exciting.
Aw, look at little Lea Michele in that Ragtime video!
Ben Affleck.. Looking Good then. Looking Good now. (But still a mess.)
Ray of Light is just perfect. PLEASE do another one like this, My Queen!
Best Film of 1998: The Thin Red Line
Others I liked:
Happiness
Dil Se
Fallen
Like It is
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Beefcake
Ever After
Best Performances (all supporting):
Elias Koteas "The Thin Red Line"
Dylan Baker "Happiness"
Lisa Kudrow "The Opposite of Sex"
There was a 1998 Penelope Cruz movie from Spain called "La Nina de tus Ojos"(English title: "The Girl of Your Dreams"). A period piece about a Spanish film crew shooting a frothy musical in Nazi Germany. Doubt if the film had a '98 release in the States. But it was crammed with terrific supporting performances.Including one from Hanna Schygulla who -with only a scene or two to do it - absolutely slayed as the wife of Goebbels.
I want a gallery of Michelle Pfeiffer sitting next to David E. Kelly at the Emmys through the years.
This is controversial but, in hindsight, American History X is a great examination of what led to Trump twenty years later. Ed Norton should've won Nest Actor.
a) After the five nominated and the two you mention, I'll go with WAKING NED DEVINE, A SIMPLE PLAN and BELOVED. I know the last wasn't a success, but I think it would have been pushed harder to grab a final slot. OUT OF SIGHT is too contemporary and wasn't a huge hit - it's reputation definitely improved over time as Soderbergh's reputation grew.
b) I'll echo the love for LIVING OUT LOUD and THE BUTCHER BOY.
Reminder that in the era of category fraud you all need to give Judi Dench an extra heart.
1998 was a GREAT year in music. Lots of great artists put out some of their best work:
Garbage--Version 2.0
Lucinda Williams--Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
Massive Attack--Mezzanine
PJ Harvey--Is This Desire?
Air--Moon Safari
Madonna--Ray of Light
Elliott Smith--XO
Tori Amos--From the Choirgirl Hotel
Liz Phair--Whitechocolatespacegg
Mercury Rev--Deserter's Songs
Lauryn Hill--The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Hole--Celebrity Skin
Smashing Pumpkins--Adore
REM--Up
Sheryl Crow--The Globe Sessions
Beck--Mutations
Saint Etienne--Good Humour
The Velvet Goldmine soundtrack
Peggy, I do not understand - I loved her performance and the the win. What does that mean?
#1 (far above the competition) El Milagro de P. Tinto, by Javier Fesser (who later went on to win TWO Best Picture Goyas and be nominated for an Oscar). My favorite spanish film of all time.
I should add... if Life is Beautiful was out of the equation, there was another wonderful holocaust-related dramedy in 1998, Fernando Trueba's La Niña de tus Ojos, with an Oscar-winning-worthy lead turn by Penelope Cruz, and that would have filled that void to perfection. So, I am unsure that Life is Beautiful not competing, would have resulted in Central Station winning Foreign Film at all. It would actually endangered Montenegro's nomination, being substituted by Cruz, I guess, as the film was Oscar worthy as well in Art Direction and Costume - even Cinematography - so it could have been a multiple Oscar nominee, if Life is Beautiful wouldn't have eclipsed it completely.
Jesus -- i just typed up a really long comment and the blog ate it (ARGH) but the film youre talking about never came out in the US (or at least i can't find any record of it ever showing in US theaters) and was not submitted to the Oscars (Spain went with The Grandfather that year). But regardlesss, there's no way Central Station would have lost. Even the mainstream media was talking about it (rare for foreign films) and it was the third biggest subtitled hit of the year in US theaters after Life is Beautiful and The Red Violin and more popular than Almodovar's Live Flesh and Denmark's The Celebration (which rounded out the top five biggest foreign hits.
JF -- that would be lovely
Arkaan -- Totally agree on OUT OF SIGHT.
Tony -- i've been scared to rewatch that one but remember Norton being pretty genius in it.
Jack, The Globe Sessions is a good one indeed. Need to check out Air & Elliott Smith.
I think both Norton & McKellen would have been deserving winners, both are performances for the ages. The actual winner is among the bottom three from the last fifty years in this category.
Forgot about Pleasantville, that's a great picture but I'm sure we'll discuss that more in detail in the smackdown thread.
F*ck I love this site. Hope you talk about Opposite of Sex (how can you not when supporting actress comes up) - which has probably become my favourite film of this great year - which was the first year I started going to the cinema.
Thin Red Line, Shakespeare in Love, Life Is Beautiful and Out of Sight also remain among my all-time faves
God, I miss Anne Heche...
1998 was arguably peak adolescence for me -- still coming off the high of Titanic and Celine Dion and heading into the '98 Oscar season (the first season in which my parents let me come in late to school so I could watch the Oscar nominations live on television).
I was also obsessed with Ally McBeal and Calista Flockhart. To this day I cannot forgive Helen Hunt for her ridiculous sweep of every award from the mid-'90s to the end of the century. Just terrible.
God. Remember magazines?! Remember magazine covers? Ugh. No wonder the '90s are so easy to be nostalgic for lol.
Out of Sight should have won the top 5, Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor and Actress.
It's that good.
The Truman Show was almost certainly in 6th place, as I recall it was considered a minor surprise that it didn’t make it into the Best Picture lineup. I’m even more surprised in retrospect that it didn’t get nominated for Film Editing, Art Direction, and Original Score, all of which it seemed tailor made for. The movie got 3 nominations, but it’s not hard to imagine it was within reach of as many as 8 (the aforementioned categories plus Actor).
After that, I think the other four in a field of ten nominees would’ve been Gods and Monsters, A Simple Plan, Waking Ned Devine, and Out of Sight, probably in that order of likelihood.
Looking at the magazine covers made me miss Movieline and then even Entertainment Weekly. And looking at the music made me miss...CDs? Was this the peak of both of them before the internet destroyed them? I guess not, but maybe the beginning of the end really.
I can't believe all these years later, I've never seen The Thin Red Line. I've always wanted to and am still not sure how it has slipped through my fingers/eyeballs all these years later.
Cate Blanchett still remains for me the fastest turnaround in my mind from a presumed terrible actress to a fantastic one. I remember watching Oscar & Lucinda and thinking who was this irritating unattractive actress and how did she ever get this opportunity? And then being so impressed with her in Elizabeth and realizing she was just a really good actress able to play irritating and unattractive.
True confession: I've never particularly liked Madonna and don't understand the obsession at all, but even I thought the two hits from Ray of Light were excellent songs, so I think Madonna was rightfully rewarded for the best music she ever put out. Don't hate me.
These year in review posts might be my favorite part of the smackdowns!! Thank you (Nathaniel and chatty movie goers) for reminding me that Wild Things and The Butcher Boy exist, I loved both at the time and need to revisit. I usually quote The Thin Red Line as my favorite of 1998, but I have not seen it since then so definitely need to find 3 hours to revisit it too.
You've Got Mail is so underrated! I watched it last year for the first time in 20 years and was gobsmacked by how good it is (way better than Sleepless in Seattle). It honestly may be my favorite film of 1998.
Other 1998 films I love:
Out of Sight
The Last Days of Disco
Beloved
Down in the Delta
Primary Colors
Rushmore
The Wedding Singer
Run Lola Run
@Nathaniel
I think you're mixing 2 films I am talking about
El MIlagro de P. Tinto (which is a masterpiece), I think it never made it to the USA... in Spain it became a cult film back then, but now it is an icon. I hope some day you will get the chance to see it (I have 2 DVDs of it, one the original spanish edition, and also the german DVD so I could show it to my german ex-boyfriends).
The other film I talk about, and is the one that touches similar ground to Life is Beautiful is "La Niña de tus Ojos" (The Girl of your Dreams), that scored SEVEN Goyas, including Best Picture, out of EIGHTEEN nominations. It's vastly superior to Live Flesh, and I could argue if it is better than Lovers of the Artic Circle (it was a great year at Spanish cinema). and has a star-studded cast, with everyone giving on-target performances and a great ensemble work.I checked out and my memory betrayed me... it was José Luis Garci's "El Abuelo" (The Grandfather) the film that the Spanish Academy submitted for Oscar. But it was released on DVD in the USA, and I highly recommend it to you, it was the first film in which Penélope Cruz showed how huge of a star she was going to be (plus, it is a delight)
My 1998 nominees...
Gods and Monsters
El Milagro de P. Tinto (winner)
The Thin Red Line
The Truman Show
La Vita é Bella (Life is Beautiful)
(if 10)
Primary Colors
Affliction
Velvet Goldmine
Babe: Pig in the City
AntZ
In a ten-wide field, I think THE TRUMAN SHOW's Best Picture nomination (I often forget it didn't make the five, especially since Weir was in Director) would have carried momentum enough for Jim Carrey to make it in for Best Actor.
I think the other inclusions could/would have been:
Primary Colors
Out of Sight
Gods and Monsters
The Truman Show
They all show up with nominations in other important categories and I remember the buzz around them at the time. I also wonder if Pleasantville might not have snuck in as well.
Peter Weird?? LOL.
Theoretical Best Picture Nominees (if they had 10):
Shakespeare in Love (Miramax)
Saving Private Ryan (Dreamworks)
The Thin Red Line (Fox)
Elizabeth (Gramercy/Focus Features)
Life is Beautiful (Miramax)
The Truman Show (Paramount) - nominated for Best Director and Screenplay
Gods and Monsters (Lionsgate) - Screenplay, Actor, Supporting Actress
Pleasantville (New Line) - Warner Brothers is a perennial contender (1998 was one of the few misses since 1988)
A Bug's Life (Disney) - in the years of ten nominees a Pixar movie was nominated and this would be the makeup nomination for "Toy Story"
Hilary and Jackie (October, which is now part of Focus Features) - had support among actors and October Films had joined the Oscar campaigning in 1996.
My Top Ten of 1998 (never updated):
A Simple Plan
The Thin Red Line
Life is Beautiful
Pleasantville
The Spanish Prisoner
Saving Private Ryan
Happiness
Gods and Monsters
Shakespeare in Love
The Truman Show
Hilary and Jackie in BP is plausible, I think the supporting actress nomination wasn't as a given as the lead. But didn't the picture receive some bad reputation among the portrayed family?
I wish it was a stronger movie overall and that Watson got a more acclaimed career...
@Paul, you and me both! Heche should've gotten Blanchett-/Kidman-level opps. well into the new millennium—and till today.
A bit late on commenting, but 1998 is still a very special year for me. It was the year that I became fully involved with the Oscar scene (after watching Titanic sweep the awards in March), and I still have fond memories of reading about these movies, both good and bad. And beyond the world of movies, who can ever forget the McGwire/Sosa home run chance or the domination of the Yankees in the world of baseball, while Michael Jordan and his Bulls made their run for the NBA title as documented in The Last Dance. And then in the world of video games it was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time vs Metal Gear Solid in the console wars with Pokemon taking over the world after its US release.
That said my favorite film from 1998 was another one that didn't come stateside until a year later: the Japanese version of Pokemon The First Movie, also known as Mewtwo Strikes Back. It featured the typical Pokemon action with an attempt to delve into the ethics of cloning, a year after the news of Dolly. I still cherish it, even if the movie was ruined by its poor localization in its transition to the US.