Oh great, it's the movies from 1998.

Well, it's almost the end of the 1990's. We've only got two more to go. So, in case you never knew, or completely forgot, here's a few facts to remind you of what was going on in 1998. Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski pleads guilty, and accepts a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. Compaq buys Digital Equipment Corporation. Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The first XML specification is released. The Food and Drug Administration approves Viagra for use as a treatment for male impotence, the first pill to be approved for this condition in the United States. The Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World opens to the public for the first time. United States v. Microsoft: The United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states file an antitrust case against Microsoft. Actor Charlton Heston becomes president of the National Rifle Association. Microsoft releases Windows 98 (First Edition). Google, Inc. is founded in Menlo Park, California, by Stanford University Ph.D. candidates Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Jesse Ventura, former professional wrestler and actor, is elected Governor of Minnesota. America Online announces it will acquire Netscape Communications in a stock-for-stock transaction worth US$4.2 billion. The Sega Dreamcast is made available in Japan, a year later it will be released in North America. Frank Sinatra a member of the “Rat-pack”, comedian and actor Phil Hartman, American Western legends Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, famous actor Roddy McDowell, and Flip Wilson "TV's first black superstar" all pass away during the year.



Here they are again, in the order they released:


“Firestorm” am I the only one that thought a young Howie Long would have been a decent Thor?

“Fallen” one of the rare movies that I liked the second time around, but hated the first time I saw it.

“Half Baked” passed on this one because I was done with pothead movies.

“Hard Rain” was a hard movie to watch.

“Star Kid” just think of Guyver for kids, only better effects.

“Phantoms” a movie I found a bit lacking, but not horrible.

“Spice World” actors should act, singers should sing, and don’t confuse the two ever again.

“Deep Rising” a guilty pleasure movie, so I can’t recommend, but enjoy if you see it.

“Desperate Measures” not a bad movie, but the overall concept is better in John Q from 2002.

“Great Expectations” I was just expecting something a little greater.

“Blues Brothers 2000” a sequel that came too late and was too lame.

“The Replacement Killers” not a bad movie on it’s own. But I was used to Chow Yun Fat and John Woo, so sort of felt
flat.

“The Borrowers” crappy movie, made about a not quite as crappy cartoon.

“Sphere” just read the novel from Crichton, it’s better.

“The Wedding Singer” Adam Sandler scores another hit.

“Palmetto” an okay movie, but sort of stumbles during the second half.

“Senseless” a crappy try at remaking Zapped, and it fails because it’s trying too hard.

“Caught Up” passed on this one, and no one I know has even seen it, so no idea.

“Dark City” a good movie that got killed due to timing.

“Kissing a Fool” another movie that I passed up on.

“Krippendorf's Tribe” Ever heard of firing on all cylinders? Well, this one MIS-fired on all cylinders.

“An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn” so much potential, and so much failure.

“The Big Lebowski” big shocker, but I didn’t like this movie, even after 3 viewings.

“Hush” you can still hear this one thudding in theaters.

“Twilight” no sparklie vampires here, just pure Paul Newman greatness.

“U.S. Marshals” the not quite as good sequel to The Fugitive.

“The Man in the Iron Mask” a movie about twins, and it wins a Razzie for “Worst Couple” due to the TWINS.

“Mr. Nice Guy” not the best Jackie Chan movie, but due to the destruction left behind, he got barred from filming in
parts of Australia ever again.

“Primary Colors” a must see for any politico.

“Wild Things” boys, just be ready to fast forward and rewind a lot. You’ll be fine.

“Meet the Deedles” on second thought, SHOOT the Deedles.

“The Newton Boys” as much as I love history, I’m surprised I missed this one.

“Ride” better yet, ride a bike, read a book, play a videogame, masturbate… just don’t watch this movie.

“Lost in Space” confession time, I actually enjoyed this movie.

“Mercury Rising” not a bad movie, but not even close to one of Bruce Willis’ better movies.

“Barney's Great Adventure” yeah right. Like you were EVER going to get me to watch this movie.

“City of Angels” a decent movie that I thought was over blown, and still feel that way.

“My Giant” was a waste of my time.

“The Odd Couple II” another sequel that was too late, and sort of lame.

“Species II” see plot of first movie, add male counterpart, try to keep them apart.

“3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain” how many of these shitfests did they make?

“Major League: Back to the Minors” cute, but forgettable.

“The Object of My Affection” another movie I passed on.

“Paulie” I passed on this one too, can you really blame me?

“Nightwatch” anyone seen this one? And if so, do you recommend it?

“The Big Hit” wasn’t really a big hit, but it was funny.

“Tarzan and the Lost City” the only thing lost is your lunch after seeing this one.

“Black Dog” is the paved road, and if that’s a spoiler for you, then you can thank me.

“He Got Game” Spike Lee can piss me off sometimes, but he DOES make good movies.

“Les Miserables” yes, a movie about THAT Les Miserables.

“Deep Impact” the first blow up the world movie of the year.

“Woo” was more like boo-hoo.

“The Horse Whisperer” one of the most boring Robert Redford movies. At least to me.

“Quest for Camelot” a kid’s movie that I passed on and never looked back.

“Bulworth” was bullshit.

“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” I guess if you are going to Vegas, you might as well take anything you need to make it memorable.

“Godzilla” Here leezard, leezard, leezard. (If you get that one, kudos to you)

“Almost Heroes” was almost watchable, but not quite.

“Hope Floats” but this movie sinks in mediocrity.

“I Got the Hook-Up!” yep, Hook-up for another shitty movie.

“A Perfect Murder” was not a perfect movie, but it was pretty good.

“The Truman Show” the second of two Jim Carey movies that I like.

“Can't Hardly Wait” took me by surprise, cute little movie after all.

“Dirty Work” ug, Norm McDonald. The less said the better.

“Six Days, Seven Nights” must have been the time spent writing this movie, because it’s the blandest I’ve seen in a
long time.

“Mulan” Disney does a story of a Chinese princess, let the racism argument start, even though you completely over
look how positive the movie actually is.

“The X-Files” the story is out there, so we’ll just do a movie of the series.

“Hav Plenty” never heard of this one.

“Doctor Dolittle” okay, fine. I admit it. I actually liked this movie.

“Out of Sight” anyone else remember when Jennifer Lopez actually was a good actor?

“Armageddon” yeah it’s Michael Bay, but Steve Buscemi and the Russian makes it enjoyable. As long as you fast
forward pass all the Liv Tyler parts.

“Lethal Weapon 4” the death of a franchise.

“Madeline” another movie that I passed on.

“Small Soldiers” another guilty pleasure.

“The Mask of Zorro” Antonio Banderas makes a good Zorro.

“There's Something About Mary” what that is, I don’t know. I never liked this movie.

“Disturbing Behavior” My “punk friends” days would have beaten up on everyone in this movie.

“Mafia!” of course I’m going to see the parody of The Godfather, doesn’t mean it was worth seeing.

“Saving Private Ryan” finally we get a movie that I not only recommend, but think should be mandatory for several reasons.

“BASEketball” now be honest. If it wasn’t for Matt Stone and Trey Parker fame from South Park, you all know this is a shitty movie.

“Ever After: A Cinderella Story” of COURSE I passed on this movie.

“The Negotiator” an underrated performance from Kevin Spacey.

“The Parent Trap” hard to believe how cute Lohan used to be.

“Halloween: H20” how did they get Jamie Lee Curtis to agree to appear in this movie?

“Snake Eyes” I still have a hard time believing this is a Brian DePalma movie.

“Air Bud: Golden Receiver” yes, that’s a dog playing FOOTBALL. (rolls eyes)

“The Avengers” trust me, watch the TV show, unless you want to see Sean Connery’s only role as the villain. And that’s not worth it either.

“How Stella Got Her Groove Back” she got it back by getting laid.

“Return to Paradise” passed on this one too.

“Blade” you know, it’s good to see Snipes back on top again.

“Dance with Me” a movie about dancing, of course I passed on this one.

“Dead Man on Campus” was just brain dead.

“Wrongfully Accused” a parody of The Fugitive, you decide on your own.

“54” Passed on this one too.

“Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” Why, because Halle Berry, Vivica Fox, and Lela Rochon are hot as hell.

“Knock Off” was a rip-off.

“Rounders” a gambler must gamble to pay off gambling debts.

“Cube” Death traps done RIGHT. Screw that crappy Saw franchise.

“One True Thing” Anyone that had to deal with Cancer, should watch this movie.

“Rush Hour” Why Jackie Chan, why?

“Ronin” Did anyone else think this movie focuses more on the action than the actual story?

“Urban Legend” Whatever happened to Rebecca Gayheart? For awhile she was HOT.

“Antz” Communism in cartoons runs wild.

“A Night at the Roxbury” Another lame SNL skit gets made into a movie, and people blindly follow it because of it’s popularity due to SNL. This movie should burn in hell.

“What Dreams May Come” Does anyone else think that Cuba Gooding Jr. is overlooked in this movie all the time?

“Holy Man” Better than The Love Guru, but not by much.

“Beloved” The power of Oprah places a Hallmark movie into theaters.

“Bride of Chucky” Jennifer Tilly as a redhead is sexier. If you’ve seen her with red hair, you would understand.

“Practical Magic” has some cute little magic of it’s own.

“Apt Pupil” Gandalf makes one scary Nazi.

“Pleasantville” was kind of pleasant.

“Soldier” When a director you hate makes a movie you like, it’s a perfect definition of guilty pleasure.

“Orgazmo” Parker and Stone’s funniest thing, other than South Park.

“John Carpenter's Vampires” Can I ask ya somethin, Padre? When I was kickin your ass back there... you get a little wood?

“American History X” Curb service took on a whole new meaning.

“Belly” could have been better, if they had an entire new cast involved.

“The Siege” sometimes you can see it when an actor just ‘phones it in’, and this is where you see Bruce Willis doing it.

“The Waterboy” one of the few Adam Sandler movies that I liked, but I’m tired of the “You can do et” line.

“Elizabeth” Cate Blanchett should have won the Oscar over Gwyneth Paltrow.

“Gods and Monsters” this is one of those movies that creeps up on you. You don’t really expect it to be so good, but it is.

“I Still Know What You Did Last Summer” another sequel that doesn’t equal the first movie.

“I'll Be Home for Christmas” and I’ll be over to punch you if you like this movie.

“Meet Joe Black” really good movie, but also a really lame ending.

“Enemy of the State” High-tech paranoia meets Will Smith charisma.

“The Rugrats Movie” I actually enjoyed The Rugrats until this movie came out.

“A Bug's Life” Am I the only one that liked this one more than Antz?

“Celebrity” Anyone seen this one? I sort of burned out on Woody Allen at this point.

“Waking Ned Devine” Good luck and death go hand in hand to the Irish.

“Babe: Pig in the City” Okay, another one of these types of movies, and I’m going to make bacon out of that damn pig.

“Home Fries” will burn you if you pay for it.

“Ringmaster” Okay, I know that I’m going to get people hating me for this. But Jerry Springer needs to burn in hell, just for making THIS movie.

“Very Bad Things” Funny, but sort of forgettable.

“Psycho” A remake of a classic, that not only felt flat, but also became insulting.

“Jack Frost” Not to be confused with the direct-to-video horror movie. Trust me, THIS one is worst than the horror version.

“Star Trek: Insurrection” wow, a Star Trek movie I completely forgot about.

“Shakespeare in Love” a good movie, but one that I think got over-hyped.

“The Prince of Egypt” Okay, for the record. This is NOT a Disney movie, it’s a Dreamworks movie.

“You've Got Mail” and it says you aren’t as good as Sleepless in Seattle.

“The Faculty” maybe it was just me, but I was expecting more from this movie when it came out.

“Mighty Joe Young” mighty dull remake.

“Patch Adams” not a bad movie, but I prefer Awakenings.

“Stepmom” between Susan Sarandon or Julia Roberts, I’m going to pick staying a single parent father.

“A Civil Action” John Travolta’s most underrated movie.

“The Thin Red Line” one of the few World War 2 movies I’ve not seen.

Okay, let’s be blunt with each other. It’s no secret that every year you get several good movies mixed in with some real crappy movies. . But, for 1998 I was sort of feeling mediocre for the whole year. I have to admit, that I’ve got a few personal “guilty pleasures” from the year. But, even my “guilty pleasures” I have a hard time recommending to anyone to seriously hunt down and watch. Another thing that kept 1998 sort of feeling mediocre is the fact that we were still in the middle of the “Titanic Tide” at the theaters. For the record, Titanic would hold the number 1 spot until the release of “Lost in Space”. This was simply because it was a highly anticipated release due to the history of the TV show of the same name. Titanic would still be in the top 10 weekly earning movies until the release of “The X Files.”. That means, that it ran from December of 1997 until June of 1998, Titanic was the “beast to beat”. This alone caused a few movies to be overlooked or pushed aside. During it’s run in the number one spot, Titanic’s weekly earnings were still bigger than “Dark City” opening weekend, “The Wedding Singer” opening weekend and “The Big Lebowski” opening weekend. All three of these movies have built up their own following of fans, because of being overlooked or squashed by the Titanic movie rolling over them.


Speaking of being number 1. Here’s the top ten money earners of 1998.
Saving Private Ryan $216,540,909
Armageddon $201,578,182
There's Something About Mary $176,484,651
A Bug's Life $162,798,565
The Waterboy $161,491,646
Doctor Dolittle $144,156,605
Rush Hour $141,186,864
Deep Impact $140,464,664
Godzilla $136,314,294
Patch Adams $135,026,902