Best movies of 1998

It missed the list to the right due to my not seeing it until late '99 when a friend of mine insisted I watch it. Not only a visually amazing mindbender of a film, but a perfect adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's 2-part Rolling Stone piece (and later book) by the same name. The film also served as my introduction to the work of HST by pushing me to read anything of his I could get my hands on (after doing so my appreciation of the film deepened). This is, by far, the best performance I've seen Johnny Depp give, no doubt due to his becoming friends with Hunter when he stayed with him to learn his speech patterns and mannerisms. And he really becomes Hunter, or at least the version of him that exists in the world depicted in this story. Credit is also due to Benicio del Toro for bringing Dr. Gonzo to menacing, mood-swinging life.

Easily my favorite film that (almost) nobody has seen. If you ever find yourself in my home, I will insist we watch it.

I'm asking you to come there and make me look good. Alright? And if you make a fool out of me, I swear to God, I'll kill you right there. Boom! Right in front of Mommy and Daddy. And I'll tell you something else, you make me look bad... I will never ever talk to you again, ever. But if you do a good job, well, then you can be my best friend. My best friend that I've ever had. You hear me?

At first I avoided this movie because the only person I knew who ever talked about it also loves the majority of Troma films. Then in 2005 a girl I was into gave it to me to watch because she loved it. I watched it and wasn't impressed. It was interesting and different, sure, but it didn't really hit me at the time that it was anything special. Over the next week, however, I couldn't get it out of my head. I kept thinking about it, and saw humor in scenes that I hadn't laughed at before. So I watched it again, and that was the first time I truly enjoyed it. I've re-watched it at least once a year since, and every time I love it more...so one day this may end up at #1 on this list.

Review by AgentLexi

A simple vote. We've got two choices. One: we clean up this mess, right now, bury it out in the desert, go home, and never look back - or, we can easily call the police, roll the dice, take our chances, and pray to God that it's only Michael who falls. Our choices are simple: desert - or police.

I feel lucky because it's wrong, Danny. It's wrong and it was eating me up, it was going to kill me. And I kept asking myself all the time, how did I buy into this shit? It was because I was pissed off, and nothing I ever did ever took that feeling away. I killed two guys, Danny, I killed them. And it didn't make me feel any different. It just got me more lost and I'm tired of being pissed off, Danny. I'm just tired of it.