A freakier, rifer year we haven’t seen for a decade—in ’88, reverence had to be divided between Wings of Desire, Landscape in the Mist, The Last Temptation of Christ, Dead Ringers, The Thin Blue Line, and half a dozen other depth charges. Presently, the edge, stunningly, is Hollywood’s, and much of what
almost made my list—Rushmore, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Pleasantville, There’s Something About Mary, Ronin, Bulworth, etc.—were quixotic studio broodlings. When’s the last time you couldn’t say it was indeed the worst of times? Bless us, every one.
1. Taste of Cherry
2. The Truman Show (Peter Weir)
3. Fireworks
4. Sonatine
5. Comrades: Almost a Love Story
(Peter Chan)
6. Buffalo 66
7. Happiness
8. The Butcher Boy
9. Out of Sight
10. Mother and Son
Read other Voice critics’ 1998 favorite film lists.