1996: World Releases 1996: U.S. Releases 1996: Still Left to See 1996: Cannes Festival Looking Back Moving Ahead Browse Films by Title / Year / Reviews Home / Blog / E-Mail The Movies of 1996: U.S. Releases  By Grade // By Title, with Full Reviews Original Top Ten List When I built this website in January 1998, as a junior in college, I retroactively posted Top 10 lists for the years 1995, 1996, and 1997. Attending university in a large city enabled enough filmgoing opportunities that, for the first time, I could offer appraisals that weren't based on embarrassingly small fractions of what got released in a given year. These original Top 10 lists were based on U.S. theatrical release dates. 1.  Fargo Dir. Joel Coen. With Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi A 2.  The English Patient Dir. Anthony Minghella. With Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche A 3.  Lone Star Dir. John Sayles. With Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Peña, Kris Kristofferson A 4.  The Portrait of a Lady Dir. Jane Campion. With Nicole Kidman, John Malkovich A– 5.  Jerry Maguire Dir. Cameron Crowe. With Tom Cruise, Renée Zellweger, Cuba Gooding, Jr. A– 6.  Secrets & Lies Dir. Mike Leigh. With Brenda Blethyn, Timothy Spall, Marianne Jean-Baptiste A– 7.  The Hunchback of Notre Dame Dirs. Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise. Animated A– 8.  Big Night Dirs. Stanley Tucci & Campbell Scott. With Stanley Tucci, Tony Shalhoub A– 9.  The People vs. Larry Flynt Dir. Miloš Forman. With Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love A– 10.  Bound Dirs. Lana and Lilly Wachowski. With Gina Gershon, Jennifer Tilly A– (Click back to Full and Updated List)