Directed by: Dennis Hopper
Written by: Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, and Terry Southern
Produced by: Peter Fonda
Starring: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson, Robert Walker, Lu Anders, Karen Black, Toni Basil, Sandy Wyeth

This is one of the most overrated films of all-time. Wyatt and Billy are two motorcycle riders trying to find America. Throughout their journey, they meet many interesting people. They meet a Mexican family, a group of hippies, and a drunk lawyer. The problems in the film lies not in the brilliant performances of the actors, but how it's constructed. The script, and Dennis Hopper's direction fail to keep interest, and it's just not very interesting to looking at these two people riding motorcycles throughout the entire show. The film gets at it's worst near the end.

Oscar nominations: Best Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson), Best Orginal Screenplay

Directed by: Tim Burton
Written by: Scott Alexander, and Larry Karaszewski
Based on the book by: Rudolph Grey
Produced by: Tim Burton, and Denise Di Novi
Starring: Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jeffrey Jones, Patricia Arquette, Lisa Marie, George 'The Animal' Steele

Johnny Depp gave the best performance of his career playing the 'worst director of all-time' in this entertaining film that takes away all the usual biopic clichés. Ed Wood is a poor theatre director who moves to Hollywood to direct features. Along with his girlfriend, Dolores, and a bunch of his peculiar friends, he wants to be a success. He also meets his idol, Bela Lugosi, who has become a washed-up drug addict. His first picture, Glen or Glenda is a flop, but he is already planning for a come-back with Bride of the Atom. Each day, Lugosi becomes more and more sick and is soon put in the hospital. After Lugosi's death, Ed attempts to create the film that he 'will be remembered for', Grave Robbers from Outer Space (which would later become the infamous Plan 9). The entire cast is amazing especially from Depp and Martin Landau as Lugosi. Even the always annoying Sarah Jessica Parker is good as Ed's girlfriend. This is Tim Burton's best film to date, and was completely snubbed from audiences at the time of it's release.

Oscars: Best Supporting Actor (Martin Landau), Best Makeup

Directed by: Irvin Kershner
Written by: Leigh Brackett, and Lawrence Kasdan
Produced by: Gary Kurtz
Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Frank Oz (voice), James Earl Jones (voice)

This sequel to Star Wars starts in a frozen wasteland, where imperial troopers start to march. Luke Skywalker,and other Jedi knights are called upon to fight them. The evil Lord Darth Vader soon arrives, and Han Solo, Princess Leia, a droid named C3PO, and a Wokiee called Chewbacca leave on the infamous Millenium Falcon. Meanwhile, Luke, and the cyborg, R2D2 leave on a broken-down ship, and arrive on a jungle planet to seek the aid of Obi-Wan Kenobi's teacher, Yoda. Yoda then takes him through many trainings. Meanwhile, Han and the other people escaping land on a planet to take help from an old friend of his, Lando Calrissian. They then find out that he is working for Darth Vader. Back on the jungle planet, Luke senses his friends in danger, and goes out to save them, only to confront Vader in a climatic battle, where he learns a dark secret. This film is much more darker than the first film, which improves the story and the special effects from the previous adventure. Although it's a brilliant picture, Episode 4 is still the ultimate Star Wars.

Oscar: Best Sound
Other Oscar nominations: Best Original Score, Best Art Direction

Directed by: Alexander Payne
Written by: Alexander Payne, and Jim Taylor
Based on the book by: Tom Perrotta
Produced by: Albert Berger, David Gale, Keith Samples, and Ron Yerxa
Starring: Matthew Broderick, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Klein, Phil Reeves, Jessica Campbell, Holly Hagen, Delaney Driscoll

Alexander Payne directs a great cast in what is destined to be one of the greatest teen comedies. Matthew Broderick gives a really good performance as Mr. McAllistair, a teacher supervising the annual school elections. However the clear frontrunner is Tracy Flick, the world's most perfect student and one of McAllistair's biggest enemies which means that he will spend the rest of the school year with her. To prevent that from occurring, he convinces the most popular student in school to run against Tracy. His lesbian sister also decides to run for school council president. This is a very well-written production with a great ensemble cast. Matthew Broderick gives the best performance as well as Reese Witherspoon as Tracy Flick. The musical score is also well-done.

Oscar nomination: Best Adapted Screenplay

Directed by: Anthony Minghella
Written by: Anthony Minghella
Based on the book by: Michael Ondaatje
Produced by: Saul Zaentz
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Kirsten Scott Thomas, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Colin Firth, Naveen Andrews, Julian Wadham

Ralph Fiennes gives a stunning performance a man who tells his story while recovering in an abandoned house, and aided by his nurse, Hana. We soon learn about his life living in the desert and falling for his best friend's wife. The entire cast give amazing performances mostly from Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, and Willem Dafoe. It's a bit slow at times and there are many scenes that could have been deleted. Despite that, the film has good direction from Anthony Minghella, wonderful music, and a nice script. Although at times I felt like Elaine in that episode of "Seinfeld" when she goes to see it.

Oscars: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Juliette Binoche), Best Director (Anthony Minghella), Best Original Score, Best Sound, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing
Other Oscar nominations: Best Actor (Ralph Fiennes), Best Actress (Kirsten Scott Thomas), Best Adapted Screenplay

Directed by: Stven Spielberg
Written by: Melissa Mathison
Produced by: Steven Spielberg, and Kathleen Kennedy
Starring: Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace-Stone, Drew Barrymore, Robert MacNaughton, Peter Coyote, Sean Frye, K.C. Martel

While aliens land on a Earth to collect plants, one of them is left stranded. A young boy named Elliot finds and adopts him. Throughout the coarse of his stay. The alien and Elliot bond, and become connected in someway. While Elliot is at school, the alien (now named "E.T. becomes drunk and so does Elliot. When Halloween comes, Elliot and his younger sister, Gertie devise a plan to call E.T.'s parents, and get him safely home. Spielberg gives a skilled direction and proves that he can direct child actors as well as adult ones. John Williams's music is unforgettable (I'm humming the film's score right now). The special effects are flawless and who can forget E.T.'s classic drunk scene?

Oscars: Best Original Score, Best Sound, Best Sound Editing, Best Visual Effects
Other Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Steven Spielberg), Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing

Directed by: Michel Gondry
Written by: Charlie Kaufman
Produced by: Anthony Bregman, and Steve Golin
Starring: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, Tom Wilkinson, Kirsten Dunst, David Cross, Jane Adams, Debbon Ayer

Charlie Kaufman writes his usual strange and confusing, albeit wonderful screenplay in a charming film with with some great performances. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet do their best work yet as Joel and Clementine, a young couple who fall in love, but then break up. She gets involves in a treatment to rid her ex-spouse from her memory, so Joel does the same. However, when he starts to change his mind, things run amok. Kaufman's script is great, but it is the performances that are the heart of the film. The two leads are magnificient as are Tom Wilkinson, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo and Elijah Wood as the doctors who perform the treatment. The one problem with the film is it's very slow running pace.

Oscar: Best Original Screenplay
Other Oscar nomination: Best Actress (Kate Winslet)

"Film Website" Award: Best Actress (Kate Winslet)
Other "Film Website" nominations: Best Actor (Jim Carrey), Best Original Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing

Directed by: William Friedkin
Written by: William Peter Blatty
Based on the book by: William Peter Blatty
Produced by: William Peter Blatty
Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Lee J. Cobb, Max von Sydow, Jack McGowran, Reverend William O'Malley, Kitty Winn

Even though The Exorcist doesn't deserve the tagline as "The Scariest Film of All-Time," it is still a very gripping film. Reagon is just a regular twelve-year-old girl and the daughter of a famous actress. However, when she starts to act strangely, her mother gets worried and decides to take her to the doctor. They tell her that it's a brain problem, but she thinks it's something more. She then finds out that her daughter has been possessed by the devil so she calls a priest to perform an exorcism. Unlike today's teen horror films, The Exorcist moves rather slowly, but that just adds more to the suspense that William Friedkin's direction and William Peter Blatty's screenplay succeed in doing. The entire cast probably give the best performances in any horror film ever made and the special makeups effects are definitely worth mentioning.

Oscars: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound
Other Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Actress (Ellen Burstyn), Best Supporting Actor (Jason Miller), Best Supporting Actress (Linda Blair), Best Director (William Friedkin), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing

Directed by: Atom Egoyan
Written by: Atom Egoyan
Produced by: Atom Egoyan, Camelia Frieberg, and Robert Lantos
Starring: Bruce Greenwood, Don McKellar, Mia Kirshner, Arsinee Khanjian, Elias Koteas, Sarah Polley, Victor Garber

Canadian director Atom Egoyan's interesting drama, Exotica is head lined by great performances and an interesting and original story. Francis is a regular costumer for the strip club, Exotica. He visits there everyday to see Christina, a 19-year-old stripper who wears a school girl outfit in all of her appearances. When he is kicked out, he asks the help of a pet shop owner to kill the owner. Egoyan's crafty direction and editing work make this seem more then just a pornographic which the plot summary makes it out to be. A huge low point of the film, however, are the constant flash-backs of Francis's past life which don't move the plot forward. Overall, this is an interesting experience for any fans of Canadian films.

Independent Spirit Award nomination: Best Foreign Film