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1997 Reviews, Interviews, Features, Best & Worst, Awards, Oscar picks, etc.


Released in DECEMBER
**........"An American Werewolf in Paris"
***......."AMISTAD"
***......."AS GOOD AS IT GETS"
***......"THE BOXER"
****...."DECONSTRUCTING HARRY"
****....."GOOD WILL HUNTING"
***......"JACKIE BROWN"
***......."KUNDUN"
****...."OSCAR & LUCINDA"
**........"The Postman"
****...."TITANIC"
***......"TOMORROW NEVER DIES"
***1/2..."THE SWEET HEREAFTER"
***1/2..."WAG THE DOG"
**........"The Winter Guest"

Released in NOVEMBER
*........."Alien Resurrection"
**1/2...."Anastasia"
*1/2......"The Jackal"
****....."THE LITTLE MERMAID" (rerelease)
**........"Mad City"
****....."MIDNIGHT in the GARDEN..."
no stars.."Starship Troopers"

Released in OCTOBER
***......"BOOGIE NIGHTS"
***1/2..."THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE"
***......"GATTACA"
*1/2......"Going All the Way"
**........"Kiss the Girls"
**1/2...."A LIFE LESS ORDINARY"
**........"The Matchmaker"
***......."PLAYING GOD"
**1/2...."Red Corner"
***......"SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET"
**1/2...."U-Turn"
**1/2...."Washington Square"

Released in SEPTEMBER
**1/2...."The Edge"
**........"The Game"
***......."IN & OUT"
*1/2......"Kicked in the Head"
***1/2..."L.A. CONFIDENTIAL"
****...."THE PEACEMAKER"

Released in AUGUST
**........"Career Girls"
**1/2...."Conspiracy Theory"
***1/2..."CONTEMPT" (re-release)
***......."COP LAND"
*........."Event Horizon"
**........"Excess Baggage"
***......."THE FULL MONTY"
**1/2...."G.I. Jane"
**1/2...."Mimic"
***......."PICTURE PERFECT"

Released in JULY
**........"Air Force One"
***......"CONTACT"
***......"GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE"
**1/2...."MEN IN BLACK"
***......."MRS. BROWN"
**1/2...."187"
**........"Operation Condor"
**1/2...."OUT TO SEA"
***1/2..."PONETTE"
**........"Shall We Dance"
***......"WILD AMERICA"
***......"WHEN THE CAT'S AWAY"

Released in JUNE
**1/2...."Anna from 6 to 18"
no stars.."Batman & Robin"
**........"Con Air"
**........"Face/Off"
***......"HERCULES"
***1/2..."MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING"
***1/2..."THE PILLOW BOOK"
*........."Speed 2: Cruise Control"
**1/2...."Ulee's Gold"
**........"The Van"

Released in MAY
***......."ADDICTED TO LOVE"
*1/2......"Austin Powers"
***......."BRASSED OFF"
***......."BREAKDOWN"
***......."CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION"
*1/2......"Father's Day"
***......."THE FIFTH ELEMENT"
**........"The Lost World: Jurassic Park"
**1/2...."Night Falls on Manhattan"
*1/2......"'Til There Was You"
**........"Traveller"

Released in APRIL
****....."ALL OVER ME"
**........"Anaconda"
***......."CHASING AMY"
**1/2...."Grosse Pointe Blank"
***......"INVENTING THE ABBOTTS"
***1/2..."KISSED"
***......"LOVE & OTHER CATASTROPHES"
**........"Murder at 1600"
****....."ROMY & MICHELE'S...REUNION"
***......"THE SAINT"
*........."Volcano"

Released in MARCH
no stars.."B.A.P.S." (caps for acronym only!)
***......"CATS DON'T DANCE"
***......"CRASH"
****....."THE GODFATHER"
*........."Jungle 2 Jungle"
**1/2...."LIAR LIAR"
**........"love jones"
***......"RETURN OF THE JEDI"
**........"Smilla's Sense of Snow"
***......."WAITING for GUFFMAN"

Released in FEBRUARY
**........The Beautician & the Beast
*1/2......"Dangerous Ground"
**1/2...."Dante's Peak"
***1/2..."DONNIE BRASCO"
***......"THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK"
*1/2......"Fools Rush In"
****....."THE GRADUATE"
***......"LOST HIGHWAY"
***......"PRISONER OF THE MOUNTAINS"
***......"TOUCH"

Released in JANUARY
***......."EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU"
***......."EVITA" (1996 in NY/LA)
***......."FIERCE CREATURES"
***1/2..."HAMLET" (1996 in NY/LA)
***......."JACKIE CHAN'S FIRST STRIKE"
*1/2......"Metro"
**........"Mother" (1996 in NY/LA)
**........"The Portrait of a Lady" (1996 in NY/LA)
*1/2......"Shadow Conspiracy"
***1/2..."STAR WARS (Special Edition)"
no stars.."Turbulence"

The Best & Worst of 1997
The 1997 Movieolla Awards
The 1997 Oscar Pages


CRITIC-TO-HUMAN RATING TRANSLATION:
*........Don't say I didn't warn you
**......Coulda been but isn't
***.....A good way to spend 2 hours
****...Drop what you're doing and go see it NOW
Recommended films are IN CAPITALS



The BEST films of 1997:
"TITANIC"
"GOOD WILL HUNTING"
"ALL OVER ME"
"MIDNIGHT in the GARDEN of GOOD & EVIL"
"THE PILLOW BOOK"
"PONETTE"
"DECONSTRUCTING HARRY"
"THE PEACEMAKER"
"ROMY & MICHELE'S...REUNION"
"KISSED"
"L.A. CONFIDENTIAL"
"WAG THE DOG"
"THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE"
"DONNIE BRASCO"
"MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING"
"BOOGIE NIGHTS"


The WORST films of 1997:
"Batman & Robin"
"b.a.p.s."
"Starship Troopers"
"Event Horizon"
"Speed 2: Cruise Control"
"Alien Resurrection"
"Turbulence"
"Dangerous Ground"
"Kicked in the Head"
"'Til There Was You"
"Jungle 2 Jungle"
"Fools Rush In"
"Metro"
"Shadow Conspiracy"
"Volcano"



The Best & Worst Films of 1997
Big studios had a better year in '97 and science fiction hit the skids. Here's as good and bad as it got this year.

The 1997 Movieolla Awards
Tired of all the lame-o awards shows? Try the MOVIEOLLA awards, with categories like Best Movies Nobody Saw, Chameleon of the Year, Genres Beaten to Death, Best Gay Sidekick & The Big Duh Award. (SPLICEDwire used to be called Movieolla)

Interview: Jodi Benson, voice of "The Little Mermaid"
Eight years of Ariel hasn't gotten old for Jodi Benson. After albums, episodic TV and an upcoming video sequel, she's still belting out "Part of Your World" all over the world, and talking about the making of the movie that revitalized feature animation.

Interview: "Mad City" director Costa-Gavras
Movieolla gets off on the wrong foot with the director of "Mad City", questioning the plausibility of parts of the film. The discussion then turns to the larger picture: Is news manipulation the future of the American press?

Interivew: "In & Out" screenwriter Paul Rudnick
Tom Selleck plants one on Kevin Kline in this is-he-or-isn't-he satire. How on Earth did they get away with that in a mainstream comedy? Rudnick extolls the creation of The Kiss and what "romantic comedy" really means. Also available: text of the full interview Q&A style, in which Rudnick discusses the cast, the movie's lack of homophobia, Hollywood satire and why he insists that "Joan Cusack is god."

Interview: Author James Ellroy on "L.A. Confidential," the film
Retro-crime novelist Ellroy says writers who option a book have an obligation to keep their mouth shut about the resulting picture. So why is he talking about "L.A. Confidential"? He loves the movie, that's why.

Interview: "L.A. Confidential" director Curtis Hanson
When you've made a retro, noir crime and corruption drama that has the notoriously hard-to-please author grinning, you must be doing something right. Hanson talks about casting "L.A. Confidential," his attention to period detail and his penchant for stories where things are not what they seem.

Interview: "Face/Off" director & Hong Kong action king John Woo
Promoting "Face/Off" in San Francisco, director John Woo ("The Killer," "Hard Boiled") explains the John Woo Stand-Off, his predilection for Beretta handguns, and the orchestral maneuvers of his gunfights.


Ratings/no reviews:
***......."THE DAYTRIPPERS"
**1/2...."The Devil's Own"
***......."EVE'S BAYOU"
***......."THE HOUSE OF YES"
***......."THE ICE STORM"
***......."KISS OR KILL"
***......."MOUSEHUNT"
***......."ONE NIGHT STAND"
***......."PRIVATE PARTS"
**1/2...."Rosewood"
**1/2...."Selena"
***......."SOUL FOOD"
***......."THE WINGS OF THE DOVE"





Link to 1996 Archive

Link to 1995 & before


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