1998 Flashback An Essay by Dr. Daniel       (Jan. 5, 1998)  I'd be remiss, gentle readers, if I failed to look back at this past year. So, if y'all aren't too partied out, pour yourself one last glass of Cold Duck, sing another chorus of Auld Lang Syne, and let your mind wander back over these choice movie memories of 1998. the trailer for the new Star Wars movie, probably the most enthralling two minutes on screen all year... the trailers for Godzilla, and how much better they were than the movie itself... Jon Favreau's wide-eyed look of panic throughout Very Bad Things... ... and Christian Slater in the same movie, proving once again that there has to be a Nicholson in the woodpile over at the Slater house.... the incredible car chase sequences in Ronin... wallowing in the Bad Taste Mudhole that was BASEketball... Matt Dillon's teeth, Cameron Diaz's hair, Chris Elliott's skin, and Ben Stiller's, uh, well, you-know, in There's Something About Mary... learning the values of White Russians, bowling, and floor covering from Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski... the bone-crunching tackling sound effects in The Waterboy... the incredible all-star band known as the Louisiana Gator Boys in Blues Brothers 2000... Jamie Lee Curtis finally going postal on her faceless nightmare in Halloween: H20... the knowing and tender smile of Andre Braugher as he watches former angel Nicolas Cage swim in the ocean in City of Angels... Bill Murray's entire performance in the tragically ignored The Man Who Knew Too Little... watching the color come to the black-and-white world of Pleasantville... Ed Harris, reaching out to touch his "son" Truman's image on the TV screen in The Truman Show... Mike Myers' great portrayal of Steve Rubell, the only thing worth remembering in 54... Adam Sandler's performance of the now-classic song "Somebody Kill Me" in The Wedding Singer... finally getting to see Hunter S. Thompson's mystical sheep-people in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas... the hottest fantasy to be filmed in years -- Neve Campbell and Denise Williams tag-teaming their way in Wild Things... Christina Ricci, flipping a cigarette into the open grave of her step-father in The Opposite of Sex... realizing late into the movie that Kurt Russell had barely spoken more than forty words in Soldier... Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey facing off in The Negotiator... facing down the tidal wave in Deep Impact... Jet Lee's silent tiger personality and martial arts mastery in Lethal Weapon 4... seeing Sean Connery in a kilt and Uma Thurman in skin-tight leather in The Avengers (now, if we could only edit out the other 98 minutes...)... Giovanni Ribisi, as a wounded and dying medic in Saving Private Ryan, desperately trying to tell the others in his patrol how to save his life... wishing I could be George Clooney for five minutes as he and Jennifer Lopez get steamy in Out of Sight... wishing I could be an animal cracker for five minutes in Armageddon... Mulan's triumphant battle scene in the snow-covered peaks of China... the oil-painted Heaven and the shadowed bleakness of Hell in What Dreams May Come... Wesley Snipes being bad to the blood in Blade... rediscovering a hint of Laurel and Hardy while watching Nathan Lane and Lee Evans in Mouse Hunt... guiltily loving the one-take opening of Snake Eyes... the visual poem to basketball, thanks to Spike Lee in He Got Game... Edward Norton saving American History X with a fantastic performance... the gleeful depravity of Happiness.. Lloyd Bridges watermelon smile in Mafia!... the older, grayer, and wiser Musketeers in The Man in The Iron Mask... John Travolta NOT doing a Bill Clinton impression in Primary Colors... ...and Kathy Bates' sure Oscar-nominating performance in the same movie, especially in her last scene... watching the incredible IMAX presentation of Everest, and knowing the tragedy behind the film... feeling the Saturday morning serials come back to life, thanks to The Mask of Zorro... getting to see Gone With The Wind, The Wizard of Oz, and Touch of Evil again in the darkness of a theatre... Robin Williams restoring a little hope to the medical profession in Patch Adams... praying for Lost in Space to end, before William Hurt would actually burst into tears for being forced into this mess... both sets of "outtakes" in A Bug's Life, the best creativity onscreen in a long time... the jaw-dropping detail in the animation of Prince of Egypt, and wishing the story was as compelling... one of the best movies nobody's seen, Shakespeare in Love... the motorcycle ride in Waking Ned Devine... Tom Hanks, noticing the tremors in his hand in Saving Private Ryan... wishing HBO's The Rat Pack had been released theatrically, so Don Cheadle's performance as Sammy Davis Jr. could get more recognition... Get "reel" soon, Doc

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