THE DEFINITIVE list of the 15 best of 99
Aug 18 '00 (Updated Sep 11 '00)
I have finally seen them all, yes ALL of the full length films that received any notable acclaim from 1999. I told myself I would wait until this feat was accomplished to write my epinion, and finally, I am ready to write!
I truly believe 1999 was an excellent year for American cinema, the best of my 18 years of existence. So in effect, I have included 15 films on this list. They are all now available on video, and I highly recommend you check out anything you may have missed.
Having now written my "short" summaries of each film, I will go ahead and apologize to all of you who feel that I have written too much. I do not believe in the restriction of free thought, and this forum is not about abiding by guidelines, but rather allowing for your voice to be heard, any way you choose. So, without any further ado, I present to you the definitive list of the best films of 1999. (At least, according to me)
15. CRADLE WILL ROCK
Chances are you missed Tim Robbins' star studded film about a left-wing theatrical play. Set during the Great Depression, the government funded Federal Theater Project is looking for a musical to stage when it is delivered a gem in the form of Mark Blitzen's "Cradle Will Rock." But when the government learns that the musical is a radical left-wing piece that provides insight into the hardships of the lower class, funding is cut and the group is forced to cancel the play. This is a very complex film, with numerous side plots, that combines humor, satire, and drama into an inspirational tale that is not to be missed.
14. ARLINGTON ROAD
Some critics loved it, others hated it, but you cannot deny that its ending, implausible though it may be, is shocking, disturbing, and thought provoking at the same time. The story immediately absorbs you as Jeff Bridges' character (Michael Faraday) saves a young, injured boy's life by rushing him to the hospital after he finds him in a bloody mess in the middle of his street. Though they first appear friendly enough, something creepy about the boy's parents, played by Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack, always lurks in Faraday's mind. One thing leads to another, and before long, Faraday is convinced that his neighbors are terrorists planning an attack. The story remains fast paced and compelling as Faraday investigates more and more into his neighbor's past. Oh yeah, and did I mention the ending?
13. WAR ZONE
If there is one film on this list that you have never heard of, it is probably Tim Roth's disturbing and haunting affair, "War Zone." The story is of an English family (mom, dad, 15 year old son, and 17 year old daughter) living in a very secluded countryside home. Tom, the suspiciously quiet and expressionless boy, discovers that his father is molesting his sister. But to his dismay, his sister, and best friend, does not seem to be that upset about the situation and just wants Tom to butt out. "War Zone" is an emotionally powerful story boasting incredible performances from all four of the main cast members. Keep in mind though that it is a very "artsy" film, certainly not designed for mainstream audiences.
12. GIRL, INTERRUPTED
This is the true story of Susanna Kaysen, a young girl who is enrolled in a mental hospital for Borderline Personality Disorder. Winona Ryder (Susanna), the star of the film, plays the straight girl thrown in the middle of an insane bunch of characters. As she is accustomed to doing, Angelina Jolie, playing Lisa, a crazy, rebellious patient, steals the show as soon as she appears on screen. Jolie's performance won her a much deserved Best Supporting Actress Oscar and is certainly the main reason to see this film. "Girl, Interrupted" is about Susanna's quest to come to terms with herself, and it is certainly a film that men and women alike can enjoy.
11. SIXTH SENSE
Could it be that a box office hit starring Bruce Willis is actually one of the best films of the year? The story moves very slowly, but the Academy Award nominated performance by 11 year old star Haley Joel Osment steals the show. When I first reviewed "Sixth Sense," I was a little too caught up in the hype, had not had enough time to dissect the film, and thus praised it too highly. It delivers a few chills and has a great surprise ending, but there really is not much else to the film. I do highly recommend it, but it falls a little short of my top ten and is not even the year's best ghost story.
10. STIR OF ECHOES
While it was largely overshadowed at the box office and by film lovers alike by the popularity of "The Sixth Sense," "Stir of Echoes" is the superior ghost story of 1999. Instead of Osment, we have Kevin Bacon "seeing dead people" after he is hypnotized at a party on a dare. Following this terrific and chilling, mind altering scene, the relationship between Bacon and his son, who has been acting abnormally as of late, takes on a whole new meaning. Fueled by Bacon's haunting performance, "Stir of Echoes" is the most genuinely frightening film of the year and deserves a much bigger audience.
9. GREEN MILE
It is no "Shawshank Redemption," but Stephen King's latest prison story adapted for the big screen is touching, highly emotional, and brilliantly acted. If it were not for the three hour running time and subsequently slow story, it would easily be much higher on my list. The story is set in a death row of a southern prison in the early 1900s. Some prisoners are remorseful, some terribly spiteful, and one in particular is a bona fide miracle (Duncan - nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar). Tom Hanks, Michael Clark Duncan, Michael Jeter, Doug Hutchinson, a little mouse, and more portray characters who will not soon be forgotten. One scene in particular, that of a botched execution, is perhaps the single most emotional scene in any film of 1999.
8. INSIDER
Michael Mann teamed up with Al Pacino and perhaps the best cast ever assembled on film in 1995 to make "Heat," the best cops and robbers movie of the decade. The two paired up again in 1999 to film the story of the 60 Minutes investigation into Brown & Williamson, a major tobacco firm. Pacino's incredible performance is actually overshadowed by a quietly emotional, Oscar nominated turn from Russell Crowe (as the Insider) and a brilliant supporting job by Christopher Plummer (Mike Wallace - 60 Minutes anchor). Nominated for seven Academy Awards, "The Insider" is a lesson in film making, and definitely one of 1999's "must see" films.
7. BOYS DON'T CRY
Hilary Swank gives a brilliant, emotional, and extremely challenging performance that deservingly won her the Best Actress Oscar in the year's most heartbreaking film. Not a box office success due to its intense and disturbing subject matter, "Boys Don't Cry" has been praised by critics and film lovers world wide as a stunning achievement. It tells the true story of Teena Brandon, a girl who wanted to be a boy. She convincingly (probably more so in real life than Swank did on film) disguises herself as a boy and soon falls in love with a girl named Lana (Chloe Sevingy - nominated for Best Supporting Actress). Although it contains a lot of very offensive material and becomes tedious in a few scenes, the fact that "Boys Don't Cry" is a true story makes it all the more emotional and a not-to-be-missed film.
6. THREE KINGS
The best action and war film of the year, "Three Kings" does not quite have the power of 1998's "Saving Private Ryan," but it is fast paced, filled with excellent performances, and always exciting. Its Gulf War setting puts it apart from all other comparable films, making it is the most modern war film ever produced. George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Ice T, all underrated actors (who have made a few bad film choices in the past), as well as newcomer Spike Jonze (director of "Being John Malkovich"), deliver exciting, very realistic, and sometimes even suspenseful performances.
I am not a big fan of action films because most count on special effects and elaborate explosions to earn them an audience. "Three Kings" is an exception to this rule as more important than the action are its well established characters, strong story line, intelligent and funny dialogue, and even a few emotional scenes. "Three Kings" is one film that can please all audiences, which is why it ranks so highly on my list. My only complaint is that since there are four "kings," what's the deal with the title?
5. BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
The directorial debut of Spike Jonze is perhaps the most totally original film ever made. The concept is pure genius: A portal is discovered which allows anyone who enters to spend 15 minutes inside the mind of actor John Malkovich, to see what he sees, to feel what he feels, and to even get a glimpse into what it is like to actually "be" him. But believe you me, this is just the beginning! John Cusack and Cameron Diaz are both unrecognizable as they let Jonze hit them with the ugly stick to give the film much more emotional substance. If Ms. Diaz had looked anywhere near as gorgeous as she does in "There's Something About Mary," her character would never have been believable. Roger Ebert's number 1 film of the year, and my fifth pick, "Being John Malkovich" is NOT to be missed.
4. GO
Some call it a blatant "Pulp Fiction" ripoff; others call it a "Pulp Fiction" for teenagers; still others think of it as a "Pulp Fiction" with toned down violence. Well... I agree, with all of these generalizations. But hey, just because it doesn't live up to the original Tarentino masterpiece (what possibly could?) doesn't mean it can't be great! Doug Limon, who also directed the "money" independent hit, "Swingers," outdoes himself with "Go." To sum it up briefly, a drug deal goes bad. We are then presented with the whole story from three different points of view, one after another. I have already seen this film five or six times, and it never loses its appeal. The fact is, "Go" is the flat out funniest movie of the year. With inspired performances from its entire young cast, especially Desmond Askew and Breckin Meyer, "Go" is a hilarious thrill ride that deserves an audience it has not yet received.
3. MAGNOLIA
With a film as emotionally powerful and flat out extraordinary as "Magnolia" at only the three spot, it must be concluded that 1999 was an incredible year for cinema. Paul Thomas Anderson's masterpiece (yes, it is even better than "Boogie Nights") about inexplicable coincidences and the human relationships they can effect is a godsend to film lovers everywhere.
John C. Reilly gives one of the most vivid and accessible performances of a police officer character ever captured on film. Tom Cruise is brilliant, powerful, and even scary as a motivational speaker and the author of a womanizing program called "Seduce and Destroy." Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of the greatest character actors of our day, is moving as a bedside nurse who tries to connect his dying patient with his estranged son. Julianne Moore, also one of our best actresses, delivers another great performances as the dying man's young trophy wife who begins to actually fall in love with him as he lies on his deathbed. Some would even argue that performances from the likes of Jason Robards, William H. Macy, or Philip Baker Hall are even better than the ones I mentioned. Through Paul Thomas Anderson's masterful script, every character in "Magnolia" manages to exude a compelling human essence that most film makers can only strive for in one character.
2. FIGHT CLUB
It is hard for me to talk about David Fincher's masterpiece, "Fight Club," without referring to it as the best film of the year. Since it came out on video and then DVD just three months ago, I have seen the film in its entirety four times along two full commentaries; it's just that good. Edward Norton, the best young actor around, emerged on the scene just four years ago and has already earned my honorary lifetime achievement award for such brilliant films as "American History X," "Rounders," "People Vs. Larry Flynt," "Primal Fear," and now "Fight Club."
Norton, our narrator, is fed up with how materialistic and consumer based the world has become. He no longer gets any satisfaction from his job or from the goods with which his salary allows him to furnish his apartment. The only way for him to get any sleep is by visiting and pouring his soul out at various disease support groups. But soon he begins to run into Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter), another "tourist" or "faker," at a lot of his groups. With Singer around, the groups are no longer pure, and he can no longer get any fulfillment out of them. So once again, he cannot sleep.
Then he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), a man just like him, except that he has an answer, a philosophy if you will:
"You are not your job. You are not the money in your bank account. You are not the car you drive. You are not how much money is in your wallet. You are not your f****** khakis. You are the all-singing, all-dancing c*ap of the world."
Our narrator is ready to abandon his former self and begin anew, and we are privileged to be brought along for the ride. "Fight Club" is the combination of Norton, Pitt, a groundbreaking novel by Chad Palahniuk, and superb direction from Fincher which all together produce one of the smartest and most thought provoking films to come out in years.
1. AMERICAN BEAUTY
As much as I love "Fight Club," I must admit that it has a few flaws. There is a big twist to the film, and in certain areas, it just does not all fit together. That is why I have chosen the equally brilliant, but less violent, film, "American Beauty" as the cream of the crop of this incredible year. Kevin Spacey delivers one of the most dead on, flawless performances I have ever seen. He is Lester Burnham, a middle class working stiff who, like Norton's narrator in "Fight Club," decides he is fed up with his "miserable" existence, and he is ready for a change.
"American Beauty" is about one man's plight to make something out of his life upon his realization of the senselessness of the materialistic society in which he is trapped. Convention deceives us, leading us to believe that happiness lies in a 9 to 5 desk job, a house with a white picket fence, and a "normal" family. But as Lester discovers when his job is threatened, take one step to the side, and the system will screw you. Layer upon layer of analyzation can be applied to "American Beauty," but the truth of the film is laid out in one of its endless quotable lines. Ricky (Wes Bently), the Burnham's drug dealing next door neighbor and perhaps the sanest character in the film, says, "Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it." While "Fight Club" tells us that destroying the system is not the answer, "American Beauty" takes it one step farther, reminding us to appreciate the beauty of life itself.
Films that came close to making the definitive list:
Comedies:
Dick
Election
South Park
Topsy-Turvy
Dramas:
Cider House Rules
Felicia's Journey
Hurricane
Liberty Heights
Twin Falls Idaho
Film Awards:
Best Original Screenplay: "American Beauty"
Best Director: David Fincher - "Fight Club"
Best Supporting Actress: Chloe Sevingy - "Boys Don't Cry"
Best Supporting Actor: Tie: Tom Cruise / John C. Reilly / Philip Seymour Hoffman - "Magnolia"
Best Actress: Hilary Swank - "Boys Don't Cry"
Best Actor: Kevin Spacey - "American Beauty"
Best Film: "American Beauty"
Fun Awards:
Best Beginning: "Fight Club"
Best Ending: (Tie) "Sixth Sense" / "Arlington Road"
Best Ensemble Cast: "Magnolia"
Best Duo: Edward Norton and Brad Pitt - "Fight Club"
Most Original Film: "Being John Malkovich"
Best DVD Transition: "Fight Club"
Funniest Single Scene: The talking cat hallucination in "Go"
Most Emotional Single Scene: The botched execution scene in "Green Mile"
Worst films of 1999:
1. Blair Witch Project
This ridiculous mixture of hype and media attention made many viewers sick. While some literally threw up due to the nauseating camera work, I was instead sickened by the absurdity of the entire situation. The only scary thing about this film is that millions of people enjoyed sitting through an hour an a half of random swearing, watching three idiots wander through some woods.
2. Matrix
Can a film consisting of bad acting, a horrible script, a silly idea that thinks it is original, and a boring story survive by special effects alone. I am sad to say, apparently so.
Worst film news of the year:
Sequels in production: Blair Witch Project 2, Matrix 2, and Matrix 3. No, you do not win a prize for predicting they will all be huge box office successes.
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JonTurner
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Member: Jon Turner
Location: Raleigh, NC
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