Best Movie of 1997

why is Chasing Amy on this list if the thread is about good movies

the only thing i remember about cop land is that sylvester stallone went on an all-out media blitz to let everyone know that he courageously gained 50 pounds for the role

i liked it at the time, alfred

Missing from the list: Funny Games, Happy Together, Fast, Cheap and Out of Control, Hana-Bi, Gridlock'd, THE SWEET HEREAFTER (which would be my vote).

lol I saw Cop Land in the theatre. I had never seen a "police corruption" themed film before so it sailed over my head, though I recall liking it as a teen.

not objectively the best movie, but I voted Waiting for Guffman, being a recovering community theatre fiend. so much laughter comes from pain in that one.

"Strike it? We've worked with Corky before, so we know all the acting terminology already.."

The Sweet Hereafter would've been my vote at the time but would go with Happy Together or Maborosi now

need more non-English movies on this list

I've seen all but 6 of these, of which the best is The Butcher Boy

HOWEVER, it wasn't commercially released in the UK, US, Ireland or any other country til '98! IMDb years often SUCK in real-world terms. TBB appears not to have played anywhere but festivals in '97.

yeah I read the first American reviews of TBB in spring '98. It made my top ten that year.

Hana-bi

I love Haneke but Funny Games is a bad film imo

OTHER in all caps is right on in this case.

I happen to have the top 20 i compiled at the end of '97 on hand:

*The Bread and the Vase (A Moment of Innocence) (Iran-France, Mohsen
Makhmalbaf)
Underground (France-Germany-Hungary, Emir Kusturica)
Nenette et Boni (France, Claire Denis)
Conspirators of Pleasure (Czech Republic-Switzerland-UK, Jan Svankmajer)
Family Name (nonfiction, US, Macky Alston)
La Promesse (Belgium-France-Luxembourg, Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne)
Amistad (US, Steven Spielberg)
Licensed to Kill (nonfiction, US, Arthur Dong)
4 Little Girls (nonfiction, US, Spike Lee)
Deep Crimson (Mexico-France-Spain, Arturo Ripstein)
The Sweet Hereafter (Canada, Atom Egoyan)

Sick: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist (nonfiction, US,
Kirby Dick)
Kundun (US, Martin Scorsese)
Happy Together (Hong Kong, Wong Kar-Wai)
*Nightjohn (US, made for TV, Charles Burnett)
Crash (Canada, David Cronenberg)
L.A. Confidential (US, Curtis Hanson)
Cyclo (France-Hong Kong-Vietnam, Tran Anh Hung)
*De Profundis (US, Lawrence Brose)
Donnie Brasco (US, Mike Newell)
Deconstructing Harry (US, Woody Allen)
Gummo (US, Harmony Korine)
Jackie Brown (US, Quentin Tarantino)

*no US release in '97

Happy Together would get my vote.

boogie nights tho I think the apostle was also '97 which I love too

of the available choices it'd be jackie brown vs. starship troopers which....i have no idea how to decide between

a bunch here i love. some here i used to love and look at them now and go.....eh ....

voted Gummo cos of all the ones i have re-seen it is the most surprising and entertaining and unique.

Men in Black

lol whut

Taste of Cherry def missing.

Butcher Boy is a fantastic film, but if it's actually '98, this is a slam dunk for Starship Troopers.

oh you

best listed alternatives are Crash and Nil By Mouth

if going by US release i'd have to say Underground

My favorites:

The Sweet Hereafter
Maborosi
Jackie Brown
Hard Eight
Underground
Happy Together
Nil by Mouth
Grosse Point Blank
Donnie Brasco
L.A. Confidential
The Wings of the Dove

where is PRIVATE PARTS ?

If the Breakdown listed above is the Kurt Russell/J.T. Walsh movie, it's from 1997, which is too bad, 'cause I'd have voted for it.

Disregard; for some reason I read the thread title as being movies from 1994. Breakdown it is.

Jackie Brown, didn't even have to think twice about it after scanning the list

I love the performances in Breakdown. Greil Marcus wrote a good essay about J.T. Walsh's anonymous Everyman quality.

actually wait, boogie nights was sweet - but JB is a cut above so no big deal

starship troopers

Jackie Brown, easily, but LA Confidential or Boogie Nights might've been my pick in many other years.

Really liked The Butcher Boy, Hard Eight and even Contact at the time, but haven't seen any of them since.

And fwiw, Chasing Amy > Titanic or The Fifth Element.

Also, I possibly owe My Best Friend's Wedding a rewatch. I hated it at the time, but Robin Wood makes a helluva case for it.

yeah, he was periodically crazy

Four that I love: 1) Boogie Nights, 2) Jackie Brown, 3) The Ice Storm, 4) Affliction.

My Best Friend's Wedding is one of the great rom-coms

I liked Jackie Brown a lot at the time, but I'm terrified to re-watch it given the wall-soaking shitshow Tarantino's career has been since.

The Ice Storm is another to rewatch one day. I think I was tainted by having read the novel so soon before seeing the film. I recall Lee following the book pretty meticulously, but the overall effect being somewhat diluted. The casting of Kevin Kline annoyed me at the time. I actually think I remember arguing at the time that the role called for a J.T. Walsh!

I don't remember liking Affliction much, but it did lead to the great moment at that year's Oscars where James Coburn yelled at the orchestra when they tried to play him off during his acceptance speech.

I'd go with Affliction or Hard Eight

(xpost) I didn't care for The Ice Storm the first time I saw it, which was not that long after Boogie Nights--I still had that version of the '70s on my mind, and I think I wanted more of the same. Dumb--they of course couldn't be more dissimilar. Something made me watch it again, and I loved it then and every time since. (Haven't read the novel.)

the only good poll is a dead poll

I found a cheap DVD of Ulee's Gold a few months ago that I haven't gotten around to (re-)watching. Remember it being like a good John Sayles film.

Also, I possibly owe My Best Friend's Wedding a rewatch. I hated it at the time, but Robin Wood makes a helluva case for it.

― Bitch I'm in the 2112 (cryptosicko), Monday, December 28, 2015

I rewatched it summer '13 based on his essay. It was like reading Edmund Wilson saying Joseph Hergesheimer ranked with Faulkner and Hemingway.

Affliction was fall '98, wasn't it?

IMDB says it was first shown at the Venice Film Festival in August 1997. Wasn't released in the US until end of 1998 apparently.

I think I'd have gone for Funny Games or Happy Together were they listed. Eve's Bayou is well worth a 1997 shout-out too.

Wag The Dog is a '97 one probably best left in memory vs re-watching, but pre-Monica and prescient.

The Apostle + Boogie Nights.

Gummo ahead of Tarantino's masterpiece.

So strange, I would never have thought Nil By Mouth and Grosse Point Blank came out in the same year. My memory is bad. Both great, I think, but they seem from different generations. I have to go for the latter, just cos.

Is "Gattaca" any good?

Gummo ahead of Tarantino's masterpiece.
― ewar woowar (or something), Monday, 28 December 2015 23:35 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That reads wrong. Should have said Gummo over Tarantino's only really good film.

Is "Gattaca" any good?

― i;m thinking about thos Beans (Michael B

Ethan Hawke looks like he showered.

The Ice Storm. No contest.

there's no end to what you ppl can overrate, especially if it's American.

I know there are far more deserving movies in this list, but I'll be damned if I haven't watched Lost Highway a stupid amount of times.

Is "Gattaca" any good?

― i;m thinking about thos Beans (Michael B), Tuesday, December 29, 2015 12:31 AM (11 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

GOOD GOD NO

was p good last time I saw it?

boogie nights or happy together

this was also the year of speed 2 and batman and robin

Hard eight & boogie nights came out in the same year?

Here they did, Hard Eight in the spring.

Sometimes I think HE remains his best movie.

Hard Eight was barely released.

dear lord, what does a bad year for movies look like

People endlessly wanking on about a children's SF movie I'd imagine

lol

i'm sure a list of films that haven't been mentioned yet would be a good one

no i'm not doing the research wtf

I only came here to vote for Gummo.

My favorite 1997 movie not listed here is definitely Gregg Araki's Nowhere. Still never issued on DVD.

other movies that havent been mentioned yet

U-Turn
Romy and Michele's High School Reunion
Love and Death in Long Island
Kolya
Henry Fool
Twenty Four Seven (Shane Meadow's 1st film)
Afterglow
The Eel
The Castle
Mrs Dalloway
Princess Mononoke
The Thief
Men With Guns
Open Your Eyes
Career Girls
Insomnia
Four Days in September
Comrades, Almost A Love Story
The River (Tsai Ming-Liang)
Public Housing (Wiseman)

Henry Fool

Was this '97? Might've actually voted for this over JB.

I saw it early summer '98.

we don't care when you saw it :)

Yeah, there were NO FUCKING REGULAR RELEASES TIL '98.

FUCK THE IMDB

Haven't looked at the rest of the list but Jackie Brown

Lot of fun ones here, though

Donnie Brasco is underrated

Mononoke on the basis of most times watched. That movie is burned into my brain.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

srsly no one else voted titanic??