1998 Mochrie Award Winners!

1998 was a decent year in film - not too great, not too bad.

Best Film Affliction, A Simple Plan, Saving Private Ryan, The Truman Show Winner: Saving Private Ryan Saving Private Ryan is one of the most powerful films I have ever seen. It portrays all the carnage, confusion, heartache, and... well, everything, about war. Brilliantly written, shot, and acted.

Best Screenplay Affliction, A Simple Plan, Out of Sight, Saving Private Ryan, Shakespeare in Love, The Sweet Hereafter, The Truman Show Winner: A Simple Plan A tough call - no nominee was clearly better than the other, and no nominee was clearly out of the race. I finally chose A Simple Plan because of it's beautiful simplicity - it's 'old school!' And I just love small-scale thrillers.

Best Director Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels), Peter Weir (The Truman Show), Steven Soderbergh (Out of Sight), Steven Speilberg (Saving Private Ryan) Winner: Steven Speilberg (Saving Private Ryan) Wow. Speilberg made some daring and terribly successful choices in directing this brutal and beautiful war story. George Lucas is a fool for turning down his offer to direct the Star Wars prequels - Speilberg alone would have elevated those awful scripts into the trilogy of tolerable movies they aren't.

Best Actor Billy Bob Thornton (A Simple Plan), Clive Owen (Croupier), Edward Norton (American History X), Johnny Depp (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), Nick Nolte (Affliction) Winner: Edward Norton (American History X) Edward Norton has the best role among the contenders, and that put his routinely solid performance past Nick Nolte's into first place.

Best Actress Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth), Christina Ricci (The Opposite of Sex), Gwyneeth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love), Meryl Streep (One True Thing) Winner: Meryl Streep (One True Thing) While the movie is a little manipulative, that doesn't mean that Streep's spot-on performance of a dying cancer patient is any less impressive.

Best Visual Appeal A Bug's Life, Armageddon, Godzilla, Saving Private Ryan, What Dreams May Come Winner: Saving Private Ryan Saving Private Ryan's dirty cinematography and rough cutting underscore the messiness of its content. A stunning choice.

Best Score/Soundtrack Kundun, Pleasantville, Prince of Egypt, Saving Private Ryan Winner: Prince of Egypt Prince of Egypt has the most reliably enjoyable songs of any non-Disney animated musical I can think of.

Worst Quality to Box Office Ratio Armageddon, BASEketball, Blues Brothers 2000, Deep Impact Winner: Blues Brothers 2000 Armageddon and Deep Impact made a lot more money, but Blues Brothers 2000 is an unexcusable travesty.

Most Important Film Saving Private Ryan, Shakespeare in Love Winner: Shakespeare in Love Shakespeare in Love did a lot for the indie film industry, raking in loads of cash and awards (including the Oscar for Best Picture). I just didn't particularily enjoy it (even if the screenplay and acting were solid).

Best Scene Discovering the Truth (The Truman Show), Ending (Fallen), Jack and Karen in the Hotel (Out of Sight), Surviving the Storm (The Truman Show), The Beach (Saving Private Ryan), Tunnel Chase (Ronin), Zipper (There's Something About Mary) Winner: The Beach (Saving Private Ryan) All the scenes here are memorable and wonderful, but only the beach scene from Saving Private Ryan rips out your heart, stomps on it, stabs it, and fills it with lead.

The most nominated films of 1998 were:

Saving Private Ryan - 7
The Truman Show - 5
Affliction - 3
A Simple Plan - 3
Out of Sight - 3
Shakespeare in Love - 3

Saving Private Ryan won 4 times, including Best Picture. No other film won more than once. The Truman Show, with 5 nominations, did not win a single award.