Whether playing Romeo or Juliet—she did both—in this wonderfully literate, fictional romp through the love life of William Shakespeare, Gwyneth Paltrow demonstrated she's a true leading lady.
In director Peter Weir's provocative drama about TV's hegemony, Jim Carrey proved he could be smart and smarter and, yes, act.
Okay, so we're suckers for a slick romantic comedy. You want to make something of it? As anonymous e-mail pals who click on the Internet but detest each other in person, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan couldn't have been cuter.
As full of sweet surprises as a piñata, this highly original comedy (opening nationally in February) is about a teenager (Jason Schwartzman) with way too much school spirit. Plus, Bill Murray slouches through in top comic form.
A perturbing drama by director Neil Jordan showed with chilling exactitude, but also humor, how one troubled Irish youth (marvelously played by Eamonn Owens) grew up to be a psychopath.
A totally contemporary sex farce by writer and first-time director Don Roos, this small sleeper hilariously showcased Christina Ricci as an avaricious nymphet who made Lolita seem like a Girl Scout.
It was a swell year for animated films (Antz and A Bug's Life), but this beautifully drawn feature about a cross-dressing Chinese girl gets our vote for the one kids themselves liked best.
Age is no barrier to possibility. That's the message of this moving film, in which a grumpy ex-schoolteacher (stage star Fernanda Montenegro) and a motherless boy travel deep into rural Brazil to find his father.
The scrambled chronology' in this thriller had viewers working hard to keep the plot straight, but the payoffs were plentiful. And George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez? Hot, hot, hot.
>[Tick]STICKY BUSINESS Although it will never qualify as tasteful, the hair-gel scene in There's Something About Mary provided this year's single biggest laugh.
[Tick]BALLOT STUFFERS Their political movies were disappointing box office duds, but John Travolta in Primary Colors and Warren Beatty in Bulworth get our votes for acting honors.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
