JACKSON -- Rodney Bollinger oversees planning and zoning for the city of Jackson like Dirty Harry, making sure everybody lives by the rules. In his heart he's more like Roger Ebert.

During the late 1990s, Bollinger was a movie reviewer for publications in Carbondale, Ill., and Jackson. That job ceased when he became the city's building and planning superintendent, but each year he still dispatches to publications and friends his recap of the best and worst Hollywood offerings of the previous 12 months.

Going to the movies has been an essential part of his life ever since he saw "Star Wars" in 1977.

"Seeing images on the screen takes you to different places and lets you experience things you wouldn't ordinarily get to do otherwise," he says.

Even though VCRs have become standard equipment in most households, he is encouraged that people still go to movie theaters.

"There's something about watching your favorite stars on a big screen," he says. "It takes your breath away. It's a mysterious thing for me."

He has strong convictions about the components of a good movie and uses his top film of the year, "Magnolia," as an illustration.

"It has a great script, a good director, it's ambitious, it breaks the mold and has a willingness to take risks," he says. "`Magnolia'" does all those things."

In the best tradition of providing quotable reviews, he calls "Magnolia" "a powerhouse of a movie."

Conventionality is not what Bollinger wants to see in a movie theater. The creepy indie film "The Blair Witch Project" was his second pick for best movie, and the dark insights of "American Beauty" earned the film his No. 3 spot.

"The Haunting" won his vote as worst film of the year, bringing up the rear with the ultra-violent "8mm" and the teen flick "Cruel Intentions."

His question for the makers of these films: "Why even put this idea up on the screen to begin with?"

Movies with a low intelligence quotient irk him most. He didn't bother to see "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo," for instance. "You couldn't' drag me into that show," he says.

Bollinger doesn't have anything against "popcorn" movies. "Lake Placid' was a total popcorn movie ... a no-brainer, but I thoroughly enjoyed that," he said. The star of "Lake Placid" was a very large alligator.

"Every once in awhile you have to just go to laugh at things," he says.

Tom Cruise in "Magnolia" is his choice for best casting of 1999. Cruise plays an expletive-spouting huckster selling methods for seducing women. "It's not a role you thought Cruise would have taken, but he exploded on the screen," Bollinger said. "It's unlike anything he's ever done before, and he should get rewarded for it."

Cruise won a Golden Globe as best supporting actor for the role.

The worst casting choice goes to Denise Richards, who played a bare-midriffed nuclear physicist in the James Bond film "The World is Not Enough." "She wasn't even close," he said.

Some of Bollinger's categories are quirky. His award for Most Frequent Use of Profanity went to the animated feature "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut." He counted 294 curse words.

Best Cameo was ET, who appeared so briefly in "The Phantom Menace" that most people missed it. Bollinger did, too, but his wife, Danette, spotted the alien in the meeting of the counselors.

Bollinger began writing for the Carbondale, Ill.-based entertainment tab Nightlife in 1995 even though he had never written a review before. "I had a passion for movies, and I felt like I could put it down on paper," he said. "How hard could it be?"

He stopped writing reviews for Nightlife at the beginning of 1998 when he was promoted by the city.

"I really regretted it," he says. "But I just didn't have time."

He also wrote reviews for a time for the weekly Cash-Book Journal in Jackson. Both publications continue to publish his year-end review.

He keeps up on the movie news and trends by subscribing to Premiere magazine, Cinescape and Rolling Stone.

His best hopes for the next century: Star Wars episodes two and three, naturally.

"I love being able to watch new adventures and stories unfold," he says. "... And I love being with an audience, seeing their reactions, and having a popcorn and a soda."

BOLLINGER'S MOVIE RATINGS

1999: The Year in Movies

(A partial listing)

Ten Best Movies

Magnolia, The Blair Witch Project, American Beauty, Bringing Out the Dead, The Sixth Sense, The Matrix, Three Kings, Toy Story 2, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Bowfinger.

Just Missing the Cut

Election, Go, The Iron Giant, Man on the Moon, Notting Hill

Ten Worst Movies

The Haunting, 8mm, Cruel Intentions, The Mod Squad, Big Daddy, Mystery Men, Gloria, The Thirteenth Warrior, The Out-of-Towners, Simply Irresistible.

Best Director

Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia)

Best Actress

Annette Bening (American Beauty)

Best Supporting Actress

Julianne Moore (Magnolia)

Best Actor

Kevin Spacey (American Beauty)

Best Supporting Actor

Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense)

Best Casting

Tom Cruise (Magnolia)

Worst Casting

Denise Richards (The World is Not Enough)

Number of Movies Released in 1999

227

Biggest Box Office Smash

Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace ($430 million)

Most Frequent Use of Profanity

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (294 curse words)

Big Stars in Bad Movies

Robins Williams in Bicentennial Man, Nicolas Cage in 8mm

Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn in the Out-of-Towners

Most Under appreciated Films

The Iron Giant, Summer of Sam, The Winslow Boy

Best Sequel

Toy Story 2

Worst Sequel

The Rage: Carrie 2

Funniest Scene

Steve Martin's dog stalking Eddie Murphy in a parking garage (Bowfinger)

Best Cameo

ET (The Phantom Menace)

Most Bizarre On-Screen Duo

Saddam Hussein and Satan (South Park)

Action Without Satisfaction

Deep Blue Sea, Entrapment, The Thirteenth Warrior

Comedies Without Laughs

Big Daddy, Forces of Nature, Never Been Kissed

Best Villain

Hugo Weaving (The Matrix)

Guilty Pleasure

Lake Placid

Best DVD release

The Wizard of Oz: Special Edition