Desiree Cooper
The Apostle – Robert Duvall
Beloved – Jonathan Demme
Buffalo ’66 – Vincent Gallo
Bulworth – Warren Beatty
One True Thing – Carl Franklin
Slam – Marc Levin
Slums of Beverly Hills – Tamara Jenkins
Smoke Signals – Chris Eyre
There’s Something About Mary – Farrelly Brothers
The Truman Show – Peter Weir
Serena Donadoni
Buffalo ’66 – Vincent Gallo
Gods and Monsters – Bill Condon
Happiness – Todd Solondz
Live Flesh – Pedro Almodovar
The Real Blonde – Tom DiCillo
Slums of Beverly Hills – Tamara Jenkins
A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries – James Ivory
The Truman Show – Peter Weir
Velvet Goldmine – Todd Haynes
Unjustly maligned and destined for cult status:
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – Terry Gilliam
Orgazmo – Trey Parker
Psycho – Gus Van Sant
Very Bad Things – Peter Berg
Wild Things – John McNaughton
Timothy Dugdale
Top Five:
The Apostle – Robert Duvall
Bulworth – Warren Beatty
The Eel – Shohei Imamura
Ronin – John Frankenheimer
The Truman Show – Peter Weir
The Stink Quintet:
BASEketball – David Zucker
Happiness – Todd Solondz
Snake Eyes – Brian DePalma
Your Friends and Neighbors – Neil LaBute
You’ve Got Mail – Nora Ephron
Dead On Arrival:
Beloved – Jonathan Demme
Godzilla – Roland Emmerich
Cynthia Erb
The Apostle – Robert Duvall
Gods and Monsters – Bill Condon
Happiness – Todd Solondz
Happy Together – Wong Kar-Wai
Kundun – Martin Scorsese
The Last Days of Disco – Whit Stillman
Men With Guns – John Sayles
The Spanish Prisoner – David Mamet
Touch of Evil (reissue) – Orson Welles
Wild Man Blues – Barbara Kopple
Guilty Pleasures:
The Negotiator – F. Gary Gray
Psycho – Gus Van Sant
Jerry Herron
Deconstructing Harry – Woody Allen
Pleasantville – Gary Ross
Primary Colors – Mike Nichols
Ronin – John Frankenheimer
Saving Private Ryan – Steven Spielberg
Small Soldiers – Joe Dante
The Spanish Prisoner – David Mamet
There’s Something About Mary – Farrelly Brothers
Touch of Evil (reissue) – Orson Welles
The Truman Show – Peter Weir
Deborah Hochberg
The Big Lebowski – Coen Brothers
Henry Fool – Hal Hartley
Men With Guns – John Sayles
Pi – Darren Aronofsky
Public Housing – Frederick
Wiseman
Smoke Signals – Chris Eyre
Steam – Ferzan Ozpetek
The Tango Lesson – Sally Potter
Underground – Emir Kusturica
Wilde – Brian Gilbert
Andre Seewood
Five Best:
American History X – Tony Kaye
The Big Lebowski – Coen Brothers
Blade – Stephen Norrington
Happiness – Todd Solondz
There’s Something About Mary – Farrelly Brothers
Five Worst:
Enemy of the State – Tony Scott
Hav Plenty – Christopher Scott Cherot
Psycho – Gus Van Sant
Star Wars, Episode One trailer – George Lucas
The Truman Show – Peter Weir
Dayana Stetco
Dark City – Alex Proyas
The End of Violence – Wim Wenders
Enemy of the State – Tony Scott
Fallen Angels – Wong Kar-Wai
The Other Side of Sunday – Berit Nesheim
Picnic at Hanging Rock (reissue) – Peter Weir
Ronin – John Frankenheimer
Shakespeare in Love – John Madden
The Sweet Hereafter – Atom Egoyan
The X-Files: Fight the Future – Rob Bowman
Honorable Mention:
Insomnia – Erik Skjoldbjaerg
Slam – Marc Levin
George Tysh
The Eel – Shohei Imamura
For Ever Mozart – Jean-Luc Godard
Happiness – Todd Solondz
High Art – Lisa Cholodenko
Kundun – Martin Scorsese
Life is Beautiful – Roberto Benigni
Marius and Jeannette – Robert Guédiguian
Men With Guns – John Sayles
Out of Sight – Steven Soderbergh
Smoke Signals – Chris Eyre
Honorable Mention:
The Replacement Killers – Antoine Fuqua
Underground – Emir Kusturica
Richard C. Walls
Conspirators of Pleasure – Jan Svankmajer
The Eel — Shohei Imamura
Fireworks – Takeshi Kitano
Happiness – Todd Solondz
Henry Fool – Hal Hartley
The Opposite of Sex – Don Roos
The Real Blonde – Tom DiCillo
Saving Private Ryan – Steven Spielberg
The Truman Show – Peter Weir
Your Friends and Neighbors – Neil LaBute
A tally of critic picks and pans Top pick:
Happiness (5 votes)
The Truman Show (5 votes)
The rest:
American History X
The Apostle (3 votes)
Beloved
The Big Lebowsky (2 votes)
Blade
Buffallo ’66 (2 votes)
Bulworth (2 votes)
Conspirators of Pleasure
Cries
Dark City
Deconstructing harry
The Eeel (3 votes)
The End of Violence
Enemy of State
Fallen Angels
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (future cult)
Fireworks
For Ever Mozart
Gods and Monsters (2 votes)
Happy Together
Henry Fool (2 votes)
High Art
Insomnia (honorable mention)
Kundun
The Last Days of Disco
Life is Beautiful
Live Flesh
Marius and Jeanette
Men With Guns (3 votes)
Negotiator (guilty pleasure)
One True Thing
The Opposite of Sex
Orgazmo (future cult)
The Other Side of Sunday
Out of Sight
Pi (2 votes)
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Pleasantville
Primary Colors
Psycho (future cult, guilty pleasure)
Public Housing
Real Blonde
Real Blonde
The Replacement Killers (honorable mention)
Ronin (3 votes)
Saving Private Ryan (2 votes)
Shakespeare in Love
Slam (1 vote, 1 honorable mention)
Slums of Beverly Hills (2 votes)
Small Soldiers
Smoke Signals (3 votes)
A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries
Something About Mary (3 votes)
Spanish Prisoner
Steam
The Sweet Hereafter
The Tango Lesson
Touch of Evil (2 votes)
The Truman Show (5 votes)
Underground (1 vote, 1 honorable mention)
Velvet Goldmine
Very Bad Things (future cult)
Wild Things (future cult)
Wild Man Blues
Wilde
The X-Files: Fight the Future
Your Friends and Neighbors
The pans:
Enemy of the State
Hav Plenty
Psycho
Star Wars, Episode One Trailer
The Truman Show
Happiness
Snake Eyes
Friends and Neighbors
You’ve Got Mail
Beloved
Godzilla
This article appears in Dec 30, 1998 – Jan 5, 1999.
