1997 - Titanic: "You ever been to Wisconsin?"

Premiered December 14, 1997 in Los Angeles

Budget $200 Million

Gross $657.7 Million

History has not been kind to this movie. Marketing and hype was reaching new levels in America in the late 90s and the media was beginning to understand the 24 hour news cycle. Just because radio over plays a great song does not meant that the hit song is terrible all of the sudden. It is the same with Titanic. When we watched the movie we attempted to watch it with fresh eyes.

The haters have some points with this movie: it does go over the top at times and it can be far fetched at times. However, it is a solid film overall. This movie change film-making forever because the shots, the special effects and the audio were so great. It changed movies the way no movie had since Gone With The Wind. 

The acting was marginal at times but DiCaprio was quite good and he used his success to build a great career. The story moves along nicely and it was engaging. At the end we felt for those who did not make it into the life boats. In summary, culture was too obsessed with Titanic when it came out and soured it for many but it was, and remains a great movie.

Callie

Favorite: I liked the sets. It was fun to imagine what it would have been like.

Least Favorite: It was hokey at times.

Joel

Favorite: I loved the special effects and the sound effects that James Cameron included in the movie. It raised the bar in those two areas in a big way.

Least Favorite: At times the story is too over the top.

1996 - The English Patient: "In Italy, you get chickens by no eggs. In Africa there were eggs but...never chickens."

1996 Best Picture

Premiered November 6, 1996 in Los Angeles

Budget $31 Million

Gross $78.6 Million

This movie will be making our "All Time Worst" list. The art of film was not advanced by The English Patient. The cinematography was unoriginal and the story was slow and left the viewer without a hero to root for. This movie is definitely one to pass on if you've never seen it.

Callie
Favorite: I liked the mystery of the movie.
Least Favorite: The pace was way too slow.

Joel
Favorite: I like the mystery that surrounded Almsay at first. However, as the story unfolded I began to get bored with the character.
Least Favorite: There was a disconnect between the flashback scenes and the scenes in the present day. The sequences often went too long that I forgot was what going on in the "other" story.

1995 - Braveheart: "Ever man dies. Not every man lives."

1995 Best Picture

Premiered May 19, 1995 in Los Angeles

Budget $72 Million

Gross $76 Million

Mel Gibson called Clint Eastwood to ask what it was like to act as the Director and the lead on the same film. However, Braveheart and Unforgiven are totally different. Braveheart is about one hundred times better than Unforgiven. 

The story is compelling and has redeeming value. William Wallace begins to fight because of pure hate but it turns into a desire for freedom that fuels his quest. Gibson does a great job as Wallace and the score is excellent as well. The film editing was very well done too. I (Joel) had seen the movie before so I paid special attention to the editing and detail in the battle scenes and it was impeccable. Overall, the movie is one of the best that we've seen so far.

Callie
Favorite: I loved the fact that the movie is honorable and inspiring.
Least Favorite: I didn't like the fact that Wallace gets together with the Princess in the end. He never loved her and it doesn't add to the story.

Joel

Favorite: I love the fact that Wallace desires freedom for his fellow Scots that he is willing to be tortured for it. 

Least Favorite: I wish that Wallace would have made a quicker turn from being driven by hate to being driven by the desire to be free.