On this day in movie history - City of Angels (1998):

City of Angels

directed by Brad Silberling,

written by Dana Stevens,

was released in the United States on April 10, 1998.
Inspired by Wings of Desire (1987), directed by Wim Wenders.
Music by Gabriel Yared.

Cast:

Nicolas Cage, Meg Ryan, Andre Braugher, Dennis Franz, Colm Feore, Robin Bartlett, Joanna Merlin, Sarah Dampf, Rhonda Dotson, Nigel Gibbs, John Putch, Lauri Johnson, Christian Aubert, Jay Patterson, Shishir Kurup, Brian Markinson, Hector Velasquez, Marlene Kanter, Bernard White, Dan Desmond, Deirdre O'Connell, Kim Murphy, Chad Lindberg, Alexander Folk, Rainbow Borden, Harper Roisman, Sid Hillman, Wanda-Lee Evans, Wanda Christine, E.J. Callahan, Tudi Roche, David Moreland, Kristina Malota, William Stanford Davis, Mik Scriba, Nick Offerman, Kieu Chinh, Geoffrey Thorne, Peter Spellos, Jim Kline, Cherene Snow, Keaton Tyndall, Kylie Tyndall, Amy Brenneman, Cabran E. Chamberlain, Tanya Douglas, Andrew Frankel, Alexander Gould, Aymara Limma, Steve Mora, Elisabeth Shue, Jimi Wheeler.

On this day in movie history - James Ellroy: Demon Dog of American Crime Fiction (1993):

James Ellroy: Demon Dog of American Crime Fiction

documentary directed by Reinhard Jud,

written by Reinhard Jud and Wolfgang Lehner,

filmed in 1993,

was released in the United States on March 25, 1998.
Music by Sam Auinger and Deedee Neidhart.

Cast:

James Ellroy, Elizabeth Short.

On this day in music history - Landmarks, by Clannad (1998):

Landmarks

Album by Clannad,

released March 3, 1998.

Track list:

An Gleann; Fado; A Mhuirnin O; Of This Land; Court To Love; The Golden Ball; The Bridge Of Tears; Autumn Leaves Are Falling; Let Me See; Loch Na Cailli.

On this day in movie history - Sliding Doors (1998):

Sliding Doors

directed and written by Peter Howitt,

was released in the United States on January 26, 1998.
Music by David Hirschfelder.

Cast:

Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hannah, John Lynch, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Zara Turner, Douglas McFerran, Paul Brightwell, Nina Young, Virginia McKenna, Kevin McNally, Terry English, Paul Stacey, Peter Howitt, Joanna Roth, Neil Stuke, Theresa Kartell, Evelyn Duah, Linda Broughton, Charlotte Fryer, Pip Miller, Christopher Villiers, Merryn Jones, Ella Jones, Julie McDowell, David Burrows-Sutcliffe, Carlton Jarvis, Jeremy Caleb Johnson, Barry Lee-Thomas, Tim Packham, Alexander Reid, Vivienne Soan.

On this day in music history - Frozen, by Madonna (1998):

The song Frozen,

by Madonna,

was released on January 23, 1998.

On this day in movie history - The Prophecy II (1998):

The Prophecy II

directed by Greg Spence,

written by Matt Greenberg and Greg Spence,

was released in the United States on January 20, 1998.
Music by David Williams.

Cast:

Christopher Walken, Russell Wong, Jennifer Beals, Brittany Murphy, Eric Roberts, Glenn Danzig, Steve Hytner, Bruce Abbott, William Prael, Renee Victor, Elizabeth Dennehy, J.G. Hertzler, Nicki Micheaux, Tom Towles, Danny Strong, David Lea, Jenna Rose, Stephen Earnhart, Jake Eberle, James Krieg, Jim White, Ethan Embry, David Kavin, Stephen Ramsey, Gary Paul, Michael Jimenez, Gil Zuniga, Alma Collins, Leonard O. Turner, Paul Muni, Kathryn Morris, Michael Raimi, Louis E. Rosas, Guri Weinberg, Jennifer Wellings.

On this day in music history - The Beautiful Voice, by Renée Fleming (1998):

The Beautiful Voice

Album by Renée Fleming

with Jeffrey Tate and the English Chamber Orchestra,

released January 7, 1998.

Track list:

Depuis le jour (Louise); Jewl song (Faust); Gavotte (Manon); Songs my mother taught me (Gypsy melodies); The last rose (Martha); Chi il bel sogno di Doretta (La rondine); Mariettas Lied (Die tote Stadt); In trutina (Carmina Burana); Morgen!; Vocalise; Csardas (Die Fledermaus); Vilja-Lied (Die lustige Witwe); Epilogo (Luna); Bailero (Chants d'Auvergne).

On this day in music history - A Streetcar Named Desire, by Renée Fleming ... (1998):

The album A Streetcar Named Desire,

by Renée Fleming, Elizabeth Futral, Rodney Gilfry, Anthony Dean Griffey, San Francisco Opera and André Previn,

was released on December 22, 1998.

Recommended reading - A Beautiful Mind (1998):

A Beautiful Mind

By Sylvia Nasar.

First published 1998.

Published by Simon & Schuster.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1451628420

ISBN-13: 978-1451628425

Description:

Also an Academy Award–winning film starring Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly – directed by Ron Howard.

The powerful, dramatic biography of math genius John Nash, who overcame serious mental illness and schizophrenia to win the Nobel Prize.

“How could you, a mathematician, believe that extraterrestrials were sending you messages?” the visitor from Harvard asked the West Virginian with the movie-star looks and Olympian manner. “Because the ideas I had about supernatural beings came to me the same way my mathematical ideas did,” came the answer. “So I took them seriously.”

Thus begins the true story of John Nash, the mathematical genius who was a legend by age thirty when he slipped into madness, and who—thanks to the selflessness of a beautiful woman and the loyalty of the mathematics community—emerged after decades of ghostlike existence to win a Nobel Prize for triggering the game theory revolution. The inspiration for an Academy Award–winning movie, Sylvia Nasar’s now-classic biography is a drama about the mystery of the human mind, triumph over adversity, and the healing power of love.

Recommended reading - The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession (1998):

The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession

By Susan Orlean.

Filmed as Adaptation (2002), directed by Spike Jonze.

First published 1998.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 044900371X

ISBN-13: 978-0449003718

Description:

A modern classic of personal journalism, The Orchid Thief is Susan Orlean’s wickedly funny, elegant, and captivating tale of an amazing obsession. Determined to clone an endangered flower – the rare ghost orchid Polyrrhiza lindenii – a deeply eccentric and oddly attractive man named John Laroche leads Orlean on an unforgettable tour of America’s strange flower-selling subculture, through Florida’s swamps and beyond, along with the Seminoles who help him and the forces of justice who fight him. In the end, Orlean – and the reader – will have more respect for underdog determination and a powerful new definition of passion.

In this new edition, coming fifteen years after its initial publication and twenty years after she first met the “orchid thief,” Orlean revisits this unforgettable world, and the route by which it was brought to the screen in the film Adaptation, in a new retrospective essay.

Praise for The Orchid Thief:

“Stylishly written, whimsical yet sophisticated, quirkily detailed and full of empathy . . . The Orchid Thief shows [Orlean’s] gifts in full bloom.” – The New York Times Book Review.

“Fascinating . . . an engrossing journey [full] of theft, hatred, greed, jealousy, madness, and backstabbing.” – Los Angeles Times.

“Orlean’s snapshot-vivid, pitch-perfect prose . . . is fast becoming one of our national treasures.” – The Washington Post Book World.

“Orlean’s gifts [are] her ear for the self-skewing dialogue, her eye for the incongruous, convincing detail, and her Didion-like deftness in description.” – Boston Sunday Globe.

“A swashbuckling piece of reporting that celebrates some virtues that made America great.” – The Wall Street Journal.

On this day in movie history - Very Bad Things (1998):

Very Bad Things

directed and written by Peter Berg,

was released in the United States on November 25, 1998.
Music by Stewart Copeland.

Cast:

Jon Favreau, Cameron Diaz, Christian Slater, Rob Brownstein, Jeremy Piven, Daniel Stern, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Joey Zimmerman, Tyler Cole Malinger, Kobe Tai, Carla Scott, Russell B. McKenzie, Pancho Demmings, Blake Gibbons, Angelo Di Mascio Jr., Lawrence Pressman, Steve Fitchpatrick, Brian Grandison, John Cappon, Linda Klein, Byrne Piven, Bob Bancroft, Trey Davis, Marilyn McIntyre, Wrangler (the dog), Trooper (the dog), Peter Berg, Brian Sampson.

On this day in music history - Second Sight, by Jami Sieber (1998):

The album Second Sight,

by Jami Sieber,

was released on November 24, 1998.

On this day in movie history - Lee Marvin: A Personal Portrait by John Boorman (1998):

Lee Marvin: A Personal Portrait by John Boorman

documentary directed and written by John Boorman,

was released in the United States on November 17, 1998.

Music by Richie Buckley.

Cast:

John Boorman, Lee Marvin, Robert Filkosky, William Hurt, Jim Jarmusch, Pamela Marvin, Harry Wilmer, Jess King, Robert James Raymond.

On this day in music history - Live in Italy, by Cecilia Bartoli (1998):

The album Live in Italy,

by Cecilia Bartoli,

was released on October 20, 1998.

On this day in music history - Blues on the Bayou, by B.B. King (1998):

The album Blues on the Bayou,

by B.B. King,

was released on October 20, 1998.

On this day in movie history - Phantasm IV: Oblivion (1998):

Phantasm IV: Oblivion

aka Phantasm: Oblivion,

directed and written by Don Coscarelli,

was released in the United States on October 13, 1998.
Music by Christopher L. Stone.

Cast:

A. Michael Baldwin, Reggie Bannister, Bill Thornbury, Heidi Marnhout, Bob Ivy, Angus Scrimm, Christopher L. Stone, Chloe Kay, Sylvia Flammer, David Gasster, Sasha Kassel, Aidan Kassel, Eric Avary, Andy John, George A. Craig, Steven C. Kassel, Robert Gates, Todd Mecklem, Jason Jacobs, Michael Perkins, Colin Jessup, Stanley Potter, Roger Avary, Bret Schweinfurth, Robert Tomaszewski.