Big movies make bucks, but indies get raves

Heroin Addicts. Witches. Assassins. Eccentric pianists. It's just a routine year for the film-making industry.

In business terms, there were few surprises in 1996. The movies that raked in the dough were the same movies that sported huge ad campaigns and plenty of advance hype.

Twister sucked up $240 million despite being a movie primarily about bad weather and the geeks that go chasing after it.

Tom Cruise got into the production side of things with Mission: Impossible, which raked in $180 million with a plot that proved impossible to decipher, while The Rock rolled into theaters and came out with more than $134 million.

Rounding out the top five is The Nutty Professor which earned $129 million and resurrected Eddie Murphy's career all in the same year.

These may have been the top films of the year at the box office, but critics had very different ideas about the best films, including independent efforts and even some literary adaptations.

Joel and Ethan Coen have always been at the forefront of the American independent film scene, but their latest film has truly cemented that reputation. Fargo, a grisly tale of murder in snow-blanketed North Dakota, has been chosen by many critics as the best film of the year and is expected to receive a few Oscar nominations.

Another legendary independent, John Sayles, continued to show up Hollywood with his own brand of movie-making in the Texas murder mystery Lone Star.

Not so mysterious but just as strange is the story of Valerie Solanas, the woman who attacked Andy Warhol. Solanas' fifteen minutes of fame were renewed in the film I Shot Andy Warhol.

In Big Night, two immigrant brothers struggle to succeed with a restaurant that serves genuine Italian food. Unfortunately, their customers don't know enough to like it, leaving the brothers to decide whether the American dream is really possible.

With Welcome to the Dollhouse, Todd Solondz created an awfully real and awfully funny portrait of junior high hell for a geeky girl that can't seem to fit in anywhere and dreams of a better life with a studly high school student.

A few notable English films have also skipped over the pond to land on critics' pick lists, including Secrets & Lies. In this film, director Mike Leigh fashioned a wonderful little film that details the intense relationships within a modern dysfunctional family.

Lars von Trier told the compelling story of a young Scottish woman who sacrifices everything for her husband when he becomes paralyzed in Breaking the Waves.

Setting the string of independent hits aside, the real trend among films this year seemed to be literary adaptations though, such as the film version of Jane Austen's Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow.

The surprise hit, though, was probably Trainspotting. The film, God bless it, brought heroin addiction to the masses. The same Scottish trio that made Shallow Grave (director Danny Boyle, screenwriter John Hodge, and producer Andrew MacDonald) took Irvine Welsh's seemingly unfilmable novel and made a movie that had audiences cringing at one scene and then cheering at the next.

Even Arthur Miller's classic The Crucible got the film treatment with Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder starring.

But the real story among films this year didn't happen onscreen but off. When Australian filmmaker Scott Hicks set out to tell the true story of the David Helfgott, an eccentric piano player who was abused by his father and suffered a mental breakdown, the studios wouldn't touch it.

After getting funding from independent sources in Australia, Hicks made the film, Shine, and premiered it at the Sundance Film Festival. The film immediately caused a sensation. In the bidding war that followed, one studio even offered Hicks use of its private jet just to talk to him.

Now that the dust has settled, one can see that its not just hype. Hicks' film is a remarkable portrait of man who overcomes the enormous obstacles placed before him. It's uplifting without being sentimental or melodramatic.

It wouldn't be a year in film or an article about the year in film without some new faces, though. This year saw a number of newcomers break into film, including Ewan McGregor who finally made the big-time as drug-addict Renton in Trainspotting but then cleaned up his act for Emma.

Geoffrey Rush, who had previously worked only in theater, proved doubters wrong when he turned in a phenomenal performance in Shine as pianist David Helfgott.

Critics are still raving about Emily Watson's role as an faithful wife with an indomitable spirit in Breaking the Waves. Edward Norton surprised audiences in Primal Fear and then won a case before the Supreme court in The People vs. Larry Flynt.

I Shot Andy Warhol showcased the talents of Lili Taylor, a long underrated actress. And Matthew McConaughey made it onto the cover of just about every magazine when he starred in Lone Star and then A Time to Kill.

Not everyone makes it big, though. The cast of "Friends" learned it the hard way when people decided not to see Rachel in Edward Burns' She's the One, Ross in The Pallbearer, or even Joey in Ed.

Alien invasions, conspiracy theories and flying cows are fine, but an orangutan that plays baseball? Audiences just wouldn't buy it.