Decade Breakdown
Other entries scattered, but it's interesting that 1996 and 1998 seem to be stuck in first gear.
I'm not terribly surprised.
1996 is, I think, a very weak year.
The English Patient, the Oscar Best Picture winner, has no chance. The top blockbuster of the year,
Independence Day, would have shown by now if it were coming. Comedies like
The Nutty Professor and
The Birdcage couldn't even place on the MoFo Comedy list, I don't see them landing in the top half of this one.
Happy Gilmore did make the Comedy list as Sandler's only entry, but I don't see it placing higher than sixty, here. I expect if something like
Jerry Maguire or
The Rock were gonna show, they would have done so by now.
So far, Jim Jarmusch's
Dead Man is the only 1996 flick to place. The only two absolutes I see remaining from that decade are
Fargo and
Scream, with
Trainspotting pretty likely as well. If one other title sneaks in, OK, but I would not be shocked to see 1996 top out at just four or five, when all is said and done. It sure ain't gonna get anywhere close to double digits. '96 only had five the first time around, and two of those -
Breaking the Waves and
Sling Blade - seem less and less likely the deeper we get in the countdown. There are some other, terrific, smaller arthouse type movies from that year, including
Big Night and
That Thing You Do!, that surely got
some votes, but I don't think they will make it, at this point. I have another beloved Indie on my own ballot that I am hoping beyond hope makes it, though I figure it would have been bottom twenty-five or so if it snuck on.
1998, on the other hand, was a stacked year and will do much better by the final reveal, but most of them will be in the top half of the list.
The Big Lebowski, Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line, The Truman Show, and
Rushmore are all sure or nearly-sure bets to be in the mix with
The Celebration, which is the only 1998 movie named so far, with
Lebowski very likely Top Three material.
Last time 1998 finished with eleven entries:
The Big Lebowski, Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line, American History X, The Truman Show, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, Happiness, Rushmore, Dark City, Fu*king Åmål, and
Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. They will not all reappear. I think the Guy Ritchie flick and
American History X have both fallen out of favor a bit, enough to miss the collective this time. While Terry Gilliam's 1980s classics endure, because his career has trailed off since the 1990s it seems to have weakened his overall popularity, and while
12 Monkeys should stay the course I don't know if there is enough Depp fandom to keep
Fear & Loathing in?
Speaking of
12 Monkeys, we're getting pretty high in the countdown for a lot more Sci-Fi to be represented.
T2 and
The Matrix must be there and very high up, and I suspect both Bruce Willis' starers
12 Monkeys and
The Fifth Element may make it (no way for 1998's
Armageddon, which didn't even make the Sci-Fi list), and
Galaxy Quest has been surging of late in these MoFo exercises and has pretty much gotta be there. But does all of that leave room for
Dark City? Though surely it got more votes than
The Crow, yes?
Show Me Love/Fu*king Åmål seems like it would have appeared already if it were coming back, and I kinda feel the same way about
Happiness at this point. Will those be in or near the top half of the list?
Shakespeare in Love and
Life is Beautiful, both of which were award season darlings at the time, have no real shot here. There may be a surprise or two left, but I'd put the 1998 over/under at eight. Definitely more than whatever 1996 winds up with, and The Duderino may take the top spot.
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