The 1998 Retro Hollmann Awards Winners!

It has been difficult to actually sit down and write my personal winners for 1998. Familiarity is, I think, partly to blame: many of the past retrospectives have been treasure troves of discoveries, whereas 1998 was a year I actually experienced, so there were a lot of rewatches this time around. Shouldn't that make me more ready to write about films I've loved and enjoyed for years? Well, I guess it should, but knowing much of my readership has already heard me wax on about many of these films in real life or on social media, there's a feeling of redundancy. 

Still, winners I promised, and winners I shall deliver. To reacquaint yourself with all the parties involved: my Top Ten of the Year, and the full list of nominees. 

Now, on with the show...

The 1998 Retro Hollmann Awards Nominees!

There are 36 films nominated across 18 categories at the 1998 Retro Hollmann Awards. And here they are:

My Top Ten of 1998

I watched 75 films, whittled that down to a list of 21 favorites, came to a final 13, and now - with apologies to the three almost-made-its, The Last Days of Disco, Pleasantville, and Spice World - I present my Top Ten Films of 1998:

1998: The Scores

To close out the week, we're looking at two categories: Best Original Musical Or Comedy Score and Best Drama Score.

The Best Original Musical Or Comedy Score has its antecedents, of course, in the Original Song Score, Original Musical Score, and Adaptation Score categories, categories separate from Original Score or (briefly) Original Drama Or Comedy Score to delineate between wholly new compositions, orchestrations of previously existing music, and musicals written for the screen. The last time any of these were used was 1984, when Prince won for Purple Rain. Just 11 years later, the Academy, reportedly in response to Disney's domination of the Song and Score categories since 1989's The Little Mermaid, once again came up with an alternate honor for musicals. The weird thing is, comedies were mixed in this time, even though they're not similar approaches at all: a score for a comedy is still a score, different from composing music and lyrics that are later adapted into underscore. The category only lasted four ceremonies, with this one being its last:

Listen to the scores and you tell me who should've won:

1998: Wilde Things

I had wanted to begin in the month of April, when Lost in Space - starring William Hurt, in his third of four 1998 films - finally dethroned Titanic to take the #1 spot at the weekend box office. But, timing and availability difficulties worked against me, and so now I must skip a William Hurt film and go straight to May, beginning with...

Streamers: 2020, Day Nineteen

A day late, but here they are:

Casting Coup Tuesdays: Mulan

If you've been to the movies, or if you're alive, then you're well aware of Disney's recent trend of remaking its catalogue of animated movies as live action films. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs became Mirror Mirror; Sleeping Beauty was turned into the darker, more Maleficent-focused...Maleficent; Cinderella was stripped of its songs and became a sort go showcase for Cate Blanchett; The Jungle Book is on its way; and Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma "Hermione Granger" Watson, is currently shooting. Besides that, the studio has confirmed that Dumbo, somehow, is in the works, but the movie they told us to expect down the road may be the very one we want to see most.

I'm talking about Mulan.

(more after the jump)

May and June Casting Coups!

Casting Coup Tuesdays are coming back -- and not just as part of the Retro Series either!


MAY
Disney's been on a live action kick -- so let's join them.

May 5: MULAN - announced as among the next batch of intended live action remakes

May 12: ALADDIN

May 19: THE BLACK CAULDRON

May 26: POCAHONTAS

JUNE
Y'all know I love me a musical. So let's revisit some classic ones.

June 2: THE WIZ - already announced as NBC's next Live Musical production

June 9: ZORBA - musical version of the Oscar-winning film, the latter of which was discussed a bit back in the day

June 16: FLOWER DRUM SONG - Original Broadway version

June 23: A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC

June 30: CALAMITY JANE - the 1953 film, which we discussed a bit last year

JULY
Oh, we'll get there when we get there.


So mark your calendars, come up with your own casts, and make sure to share all your thoughts and feelings in the comments!

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