I definitely saw a lot of movies in the theater in '97. I think I was going to the theater once a week on Friday's. It's always interesting to see a movie near it's release. The theater is packed and you get to hear the reaction of the crowd. It's pretty neat. Lately I've been seeing movies in mostly empty theaters late on a Sunday, and it's just not the same. Anyway the list is kinda long so I thought I'd just list my top ten.
| Fifth Element |
| Austin Powers |
| Star Wars Trilogy SE |
| Men in Black |
| Starship Troopers |
| Kull the Conqueror |
| Spawn |
| Waiting for Guffman |
| Bean |
| In & Out |
Fifth Element was a scifi with an interesting art style imspired by the French comic artist Moebius. I love a wild visual flair in my scifi. It was my favorite film that year.
Austin Powers was my favorite comedy that year. I think I saw it twice too. It seemed dense with Bond and related film references both visual and otherwise. I thought it even encyclopedic in the amount of nods it made to other spy films. This is, of course, a spoof of all spy films, especially Bond films. Mike Myers was at his very best here. I loved every second of it.
Yes all the original Star Wars movies were rereleased to theaters with modern upgrades to the effects and added scenes. Of course I watched them again.
Men in Black I remember being a really fun scifi flick about government agents managing aliens living secretly in our midst. I love mixing humor (which is not much in evidence from the trailer) into my scifi . It's a rare specialty I savor when I find it, and, man, that Danny Elfman score really excites me too.
It was a good year for scifi stuff. Starship Troopers was a flick based of a Robert Heinlein novel I read in High School. I always thought it was meant to be critical of military propaganda, but apparently Heinlein was sincere in his interest in extreme patriotism. Anyway, the movie did come off rather silly and almost seemed to be a spoof. I liked it regardless; like a kid does his imaginary games with plastic army men.
And speaking of rather silly fantasy escapism, there's Kull the Conqueror. The story is actually a Conan story but who really cares. Kevin Sorbo stars. I never liked him much as Hercules or Kull or even Conan. He's just got that stupid smirk on his face all the time which is totally not Conan. He's too friendly. Still, since this was the only sword-and-sandals fantasy flick out that year, I had to make do.
Spawn on the other hand was a comic book character movie with a little more grit and interest. Based on a Todd McFarlane comic (and you can see his artistic design aethetic in the costumes), this movie featured my favorite movie magician, Nicol Williamson, as Spawn's mentor. Williamson played Merlin in the 1981 flick Excalibur, and I've been a fan ever since. No one's got a voice like him. Too bad this was his last film role before his passing in 2011.
Waiting for Guffman was a mockumentary about community theater by Spinal Tap's Christopher Guest. He used a very similar cast for Best in Show and A Mighty Wind years later. The mockumentary style is something to get used to. It's like a documentary, so it's slower paced than a fiction movie. Once you get the hang of it, it's really, really funny almost painfully so. I can't imaging doing the kind of improv acting they do to create these movies. I'd be so embarrassed, but that's sort of the point - awkwardness is funny.
Bean was the film debut of British TV show Mr. Bean staring Rowan Atkinson, previously famous for Brit TV smash Black Adder. To me Mr. Bean is Atkinson showing off his genius at physical humor after the mostly verbal humor of Black Adder. I saw a special preview screening at a tiny theater in Philly and got a plastic mask of Mr. Bean's face as a reward. I wonder where that thing went to. . .
In & Out stared the amazing Kevin Kline. After A Fish Called Wanda, I was a fast fan of his. Had to see this. This is a coming out story. Kline's character is outed publicly and he is forced to deal with the reactions of those around him. It's funny and warm and fuzzy.
Of the movies I haven't seen yet from '97, tops among them is WIlde staring Stephen Fry. He's a famous comedian in Britain and you might know him from voice work in the Fable and Little Big Planet video games. He was also the mayor in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit a year or so ago. The movie is the life of Oscar Wilde, Irish playwright and author, famous for his writting and flamboyant personal life.. . Darn, just watched the trailer. A very young Jude Law is in it too.
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