Top Ten Films of 1996
1996: Disney buys ABC starting the domino effect of the eventual monopolization of entertainment and my current resentment for disney. The first animal, Dolly the sheep, was cloned successfully. Imagine all the others who were not successful. The centennial park bombing at the summer olympics. NASA announced a meteorite from Mars contains evidence of primitive lifeforms. And JonBenét Ramsey is found dead in her home.
1996 is also a one movie year for me. One movie dominates everything and that’s okay. It’s still a good year, but doesn’t have the weight at the top like 95 did. It was the 69th Academy Awards (nice) and The English Patient was the big winner. You won’t see that on this list. I considered leaving that sentence like it is without context so it seemed like I was saying I didn’t like it. I just have not seen it. One day I will.
1996 was also a one movie year for the world. Independence Day, which of course you’ll see on the list, doubled any other movie in worldwide box office that year. It is a top ten I really like with Twister, Mission: Impossible, The Rock, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 101 Dalmations, Ransom, The Nutty Professor, Jerry Maguire, and Eraser rounding out the top ten. I miss those kinds of highest grossing films.
Now my 11-25 in alphabetical order.
Crash (Directed by David Cronenberg)
First Kid (Directed by David M. Evans)
I Shot Andy Warhol (Directed by Mary Harron)
Independence Day (Directed by Roland Emmerich)
James and the Giant Peach (Directed by Henry Selick)
Jerry Maguire (Directed by Cameron Crowe) - Netflix
Kingpin (Directed by the Farrelly brothers)
Matilda (Directed by Danny DeVito)
Mission: Impossible (Directed by Brian De Palma)
Scream (Directed by Wes Craven)
The Birdcage (Directed by Mike Nichols)
The Cable Guy (Directed by Ben Stiller)
The First Wives Club (Directed by Hugh Wilson) - Amazon Prime, HBO Max, Tubi TV
The Long Kiss Goodnight (Directed by Renny Harlin) - HBO Max
The Rock (Directed by Michael Bay)
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10. Happy Gilmore (Directed by Dennis Dugan)
A fun and nostalgic way to start that still makes me laugh and happy every time I watch it. Not as important as Billy Madison was to me but I’ve seen this one more just because of TBS and USA channels. Sandler is on a roll but I don’t know if he will continue after this one for a bit. Julie Bowen, Christopher McDonald, Ben Stiller, and Carl Weathers are so good in this.
9. Irma Vep (Directed by Olivier Assayas) Criterion Channel & HBO Max
Just saw this recently and although I don’t consider it the masterpiece a lot of film lovers do, there are a few sequences in this that are stuck in my brain and I think about it often. Maggie Cheung is a star and I need to see more of her work. If I continue these lists into the 00’s she will show up again. Twice since 93 is good though.
8. Flirting with Disaster (Directed by David O. Russell) - HBO Go & HBO Max
Russell has gone on to make “prestige” ensemble movies trying to copy PTA and Scorsese but he never quite gets there. I wish he would’ve stayed in this lane and just made good comedies with high concepts. A road trip movie with a great cast. Stiller is very annoying and Patricia Arquette is all over these 90’s lists because she’s great. Lily Tomlin and Alan Alda steal the show here though.
7. Lone Star (Directed by John Sayles)
I have come to appreciate Sayles in just the last few years and this is maybe his best film. Part two of his morality in small town movies with Chris Cooper. Matthew McConaghey is very good in the flashbacks in one of his early roles. I was really touched by this and I love Sayles style.
6. Breaking the Waves (Directed by Lars Von Trier) Criterion Channel & HBO Max
A controversial director certainly had that style 24 years ago as he made a movie about sexual martyrdom and how horrible christians who claim moral superiority can be. Emily Watson gives one of the greatest on screen performances I’ve seen and it was her first time in a movie! It is a long and tense journey that leads to a perfect ending.
5. Waiting for Guffman (Directed by Christopher Guest) - Hulu
Rewatching Guest’s movies recently cemented how badly I miss movies like this. The incredible improv and character work here is so funny. I love all these people and I could watch his movies on a loop forever. I can’t recommend these hilarious silly movies enough.
4. Bottle Rocket (Directed by Wes Anderson)
He wasn’t the framing perfectionist that he is now known for yet but he was damn close and I think this might be my favorite film of his. It’s his most relaxed and loose. I would love to see him do that again. The Wilson brothers are so funny and I love heist movies.
3. Twister (Directed by Jan de Bont)
Maybe my first favorite movie holds up! I watch it maybe twice a year and I never get tired of it. The romantic plot is what keeps it important to me. Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton being already separated and signing divorce papers is a great start. The intimacy is there and because they are good you believe them. Philip Seymour Hoffman was a comedic timing genius and Dusty is a legend.
2. Hard Eight (Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson)
My favorite director’s debut film isn’t a near perfect movie but it is very good. His worst film is my second favorite movie of this year. John C. Reilly is great as the lead, and Phillip Baker Hall gets the lead role he deserves. Samuel L. Jackson is his usual easy to watch self, and Gwyneth Paltrow continues her streak of being maybe the best young actress of the mid to late 90’s.
1. Fargo (Directed by Joel Coen)
One of the best ever made. Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, William H. Macy, Peter Stormare, and truly every other role no matter how small is so good. There’s small scenes in this that are better films than most that come out each year. The Coen’s are some of the best artists to ever live and I recommend watching their movies again, or diving in for the first time. They have over 10 truly great movies.