21. Pi
Year of Release: 1998
Overall Rating: 2.8 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Actors: Sean Gullette, Mark Margolis, Ajay Naidu, Lauren Fox, Ben Shenkman
Plot: A paranoid, genius mathmatician thinks he has discovered the key to all the universal patterns in nature. Soon he is pursued by a Hasidic Jewish sect looking to decode the 216-digit number of God's true name to Wall Street brokers hoping to crack the stock market. What he decides to do with the knowledge is the true shocker.
22. Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows
Year of Release: 1998
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary/Biography
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Paul Jay
Actors: Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Brian Pillman, Blade Hart, Julie Hart, Stu Hart
Plot: Documentary focusing on the career of pro wrestler Bret Hart & his controversial exit from the WWF.
23. Eel, The ( Unagi )
Year of Release: 1998
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Shohei Imamura
Actors: Kôji Yakusho, Misa Shimizu, Mitsuko Baisho, Akira Emoto, Fujio Tsuneta, Sho Aikawa
Plot: After finding out his wife is having an affair while he is working,
Yamashita strikes out - murdering her in a crime of passion. Eight years
later, he is out of prison and moves to a village to begin again. Working
as a barber (a trade he picked up in prison) he leaves everyone alone -
until a young woman comes into is life - one that reminds him very much of
his dead wife.
24. Little Dieter Needs to Fly
Year of Release: 1998
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Documentary/Biography
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Werner Herzog
Actors: Dieter Dengler, Werner Herzog, Eugene Deatrick
Plot: A story of sorrow and survival - Dieter Dengler grew up in German postwar poverty and suffered abuse before leaving at age 18 for the United States. From peeling potatoes to enlisting in the Navy he learns to fly. In 1966, he shot down over Laos during the Vietnam War. Captured, and emaciated, he still escapes and manages to survive the harsh conditions and finally rescue. This is his story.
25. Rush Hour
Year of Release: 1998
Overall Rating: 2.8 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Action/Comedy
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Brett Ratner
Actors: Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Ken Leung, Tom Wilkinson, Tzi Ma, Robert Littman
Plot: A by-the-book Hong Kong detective and a fast-talking loose canon L.A. cop team up to track down a kidnapper.
26. Live Flesh ( Carne trémula )
Year of Release: 1998
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama/Romance
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Actors: Javier Bardem, Francesca Neri, Liberto Rabal, Penélope Cruz, Ángela Molina, José Sancho
Plot: A pizza delivery man, Victor, thinks he has found his one true love in Elena - but she was high when they met a few days ago and now wants nothing to do with them. Their argument draws the police - the rookie David and his older partner Sancho. They arrive - and a gun is accidentally fired. In the present David is a wheelchair basketball star, married to Elena and Victor is just out of prison... but he hasn't forgotten about Elena in the least.
27. Enemy of the State
Year of Release: 1998
Overall Rating: 2.8 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Action/Drama
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Tony Scott
Actors: Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, Lisa Bonet, Regina King, Stuart Wilson
Plot: Robert Clayton Dean is a lawyer and family man but a chance encounter with an old friend leaves him with evidence of a politically-motivated murder. On the run from a corrupt NSA official and his lackeys, his only hope to stay alive is an ex-government operative and surveillance specialist.
28. Fireworks ( Hana-bi )
Year of Release: 1998
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Crime/Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Actors: Takeshi Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto, Ren Osugi, Susumu Terajima, Tetsu Watanabe, Hakuryu
Plot: Nishi is a police offer struggling to balance his personal and professional life. As his wife succumbs to Leukemia, a former partner becomes suicidal after suffering an accident that leaves him confined to a wheelchair. Nishi eventually leaves the force, but as he falls deeper into despair, makes questionable decisions to help those he loves.
29. Ringu
Year of Release: 1998
Overall Rating: 2.8 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Horror
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Hideo Nakata
Actors: Nanako Matsushima, Miki Nakatani, Hiroyuki Sanada, Yuko Takeuchi, Hitomi Sato, Yoichi Numata
Plot: A reporter investigates a video tape that is supposed to kill you seven days after viewing it.
30. First Love: The Litter on the Breeze ( Choh chin luen hau dik yi yan sai gaai )
Year of Release: 1998
Overall Rating: 3.4 out of 4 stars
Language: Cantonese
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Eric Kot
Actors: Karen Mok, Vincent Kok, Maggie Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Wai-Wai Lee, Eric Kot
