Hits, Misses and True Confessions

Maybe we’re finally getting the hang of this. Maybe we finally understand how Hollywood works. Maybe we finally can separate the real blockbusters from the real stinkers.

OK, maybe we just got lucky. But whatever the reason, we picked a lot more hits for ’95 than we have in previous years.

Here’s what we thought would be among the year’s highlights: “Batman Forever,” “Pocahontas,” “Apollo 13,” “The Bridges of Madison County,” “Crimson Tide” and “Die Hard With a Vengeance.” Even “Waterworld,” which we also picked, ended up doing OK worldwide, though it has, er, a ways to go to recoup that budget.

Not too bad, right?

Well, in interest of full disclosure, we also highlighted “Judge Dredd,” “Kiss of Death,” “Jefferson in Paris,” “Bye Bye Love,” “Cutthroat Island” and “The Scarlet Letter.” Not to mention a fair number of films that never even managed to be released in ‘95, like “Mary Reilly,” “Faithful” and “City Hall.” (You’ll find them listed in these pages--once more with feeling.)

Better luck next year.