1999 in film

One of my favorite theater marquees of that year, seen around town that summer:

DICK
THE IRON GIANT

Which I suppose would have read worse had the titles been reversed.

read better, you mean

Context is all.

seriously though, look how many movies on that list seemed like big pop culture or non-pop culture events of the time, crazy year

Movies I'm choosing from:
Being John Malkovich
Election
Eyes Wide Shut
Fight Club
Magnolia
Run Lola Run (actually '98)
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
The Straight Story
Toy Story 2

Movies you left out:
Beau Travail
L'Humanite
Ravenous
Summer of Sam
The Wind Will Carry Us

Movies you should've left out:

Analyze This
Baby Geniuses
Galaxy Quest
The Green Mile
Liberty Heights
Wild Wild West

Who am I kidding, Eyes Wide Shut pwns all.

aw i kind of liked liberty heights

Galaxy Quest is grate

i should not have left out galaxy quest u ingrate

it's better written than anything on your shortlist!!

xpost I didn't actually see it. I'm surprised I can't even remember there was a movie called Liberty Heights.

but ya, leaving out summer of sam and the kiarostami was a mistake. damn u wikipedia

xpost I didn't actually see it. I'm surprised I can't even remember there was a movie called Liberty Heights.

― really senile old crap shit (Eric H.), Sunday, December 13, 2009 1:55 PM (12 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

it's a pretty good barry levinson '60s jewish coming of ager iirc

also damn u 50 movie poll limit

I actually don't hate Galaxy Quest that much, but don't think it's a patch on Trekkies.

it's a pretty good barry levinson '60s jewish coming of ager iirc

― donde está mia farrow, fa la la la la, la la la la (s1ocki), Sunday, December 13, 2009 1:56 PM (26 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

otm.

galaxy quest is basically the best star trek movie ever.

write in for the wind will carry us.

nice thread! makes me kind of sad about how many movies i used to see in the theater and how i never do anymore

beau trav wasn't released anywhere till 2000... there is always leeway.

liberty heights is ok, nicely shot, but not a contendah.

Yeah, I'm also not sure if the Dumont was seen much until the next year either. I just didn't want to have only two movies on my "should've been nominated" list.

beau trav wasn't released anywhere till 2000... there is always leeway.

liberty heights is ok, nicely shot, but not a contendah.

― Smokey and the S'Banned It (history mayne), Sunday, December 13, 2009 1:57 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

chris doyle iirc

Weirdly, seeing the titles all in a row reminds me of all the movies I didn't want to see at all in 1999. I was a killjoy like that, even 10 years ago.

That was the side effect of working in a multiplex in high school. The constant, repeated exposure to the promotional materials.

this was the first year i wrote about film. it has gone down as a pretty legendary era (in the uk a lot of these were delayed till 2000) but that's not rly how i like 2 think about shit. ie imho 2009 has also been a good year for movies, maybe not AS good, but the world basically seems suckier than it did then (iirc) so people neg on films more.

ya i didnt really intend to start that conversation.

sry

sweet and lowdown was the last good woody allen flick. even woody allen haters like that one. slightly embarrased about raving to everyone to go see 'american beauty' when it came out.

slightly embarrased about raving to everyone to go see 'american beauty' when it came out.

everyone did it, so you shouldn't be. it is a helpful tool to judge people now though.

slightly embarrased about raving to everyone to go see 'american beauty' when it came out

I feel the same way about Blair Witch and Cruel Intentions.

At the time, I was calling the latter something like the best camp classic since Mommie Dearest, or something equally stupid.

'she's all that' >> 'baby geniuses'?

i got badly burned by 'american beauty', first exposure to 'quality press' hype that it did not live up to.

i remember both blair witch and cruel intentions fondly though i agree the latter isn't exactly a camp classic

Weirdly, seeing the titles all in a row reminds me of all the movies I didn't want to see at all in 1999. I was a killjoy like that, even 10 years ago.

― really senile old crap shit (Eric H.), Sunday, December 13, 2009 7:01 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

That was the side effect of working in a multiplex in high school. The constant, repeated exposure to the promotional materials.

― really senile old crap shit (Eric H.), Sunday, December 13, 2009 7:02 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah i worked at a theater for a year and a half after i graduated and it kinda dulled my interest in movies for a while. couldn't eat popcorn again for at least 4 years!

Me too. I learned how to again soon enough, tho.

I sound like a DJ on a lite rock station.

leaving out Kiarostami is always a good idea.

GIRUY

ha i remember now that i made a thread about my movie malaise way back in my early ilx days

I don't really like movies anymore

The Dreamlife of Angels is the best movie of '99, and not on the list, alas.

Most of this stuff has either not aged well or was crap then.

Damn, that's a hard year to pick one from:

Liked/loved:
10 Things I Hate About You
Cruel Intentions
Dick
Dogma
Election
Eyes Wide Shut
Fight Club
Galaxy Quest
The Insider
Office Space
Sleepy Hollow
The Straight Story
Sweet and Lowdown
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Three Kings

We had IMDB in '99 and knew even then that Angels was a '98 film.

Most of this stuff has either not aged well or was crap then.

Just goes to prove the theory that pop cultural artifacts always look at their most dated about 10 years out.

Of the movies that brought me the most enjoyment, Office Space over Being John Malkovich.

We had IMDB in '99 and knew even then that Angels was a '98 film.

In France! It got widely reviewed in spring '99.

Some really fantastic stuff here. CRUEL INTENTIONS is one of my all-time favorite films, so it gets my vote.

Only films I'd watch again:

Election
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
All About My Mother
The Insider
The Straight Story

In France! It got widely reviewed in spring '99.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. My 19-year-old self saw some of those reviews and thought it looked annoying, boring and French. Skipped it.

holy smoke! is a great and totally slept-on movie, u guys catch that?

Lots of people had their what-was-I-thinking moment with admiring American Beauty. Mine was with The Talented Mr. Ripley.

talented mr. ripley is eight hours long iirc

Pretty awesome PSH perf in that one, tho.

Maybe his last awesome one.

http://collegecandy.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/drive-me-crazy.jpg

Yeah, I remember '99 being a really great movie year. Seems like I saw a huge number of these in the theater. As opposed to the, what, 3 or 4 movies I've seen in the theater this year. Oh, aging.

Think I might have to go with Election here, but it's a really hard choice. Being John Malkovich and South Park are just a hair behind

and didn't have enough Cate Blanchett, Philip Baker Hall, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

xxpost

"Drive Me Crazy rocks!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKbj8-_50g0

shitting hell i really need to start reading these lists more thoroughly before voting!

xpost Now I'm nostalgic over how video used to look like on the internet in '99.

And may I just take this opportunity to ask: WTF was the deal with Man On The Moon? Jim Carrey wanted to do his (admittedly good) Andy Kaufman impression and so we just throw the flimsiest excuse for a biopic together to give him the opportunity to make money while he does it? Seriously. Here's something Kaufman did on TV...which you've already seen. Here's another thing Kaufman did on TV...which you've also already seen, except that the actors were twenty years younger the last time you saw it on TV! Just such crap.

hey guys remember this was the year we all thought Jude Law was going to be a great actor?

everyone did it
― The Devil's Avocado (Gukbe), Sunday, 13 December 2009 19:08 (24 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

nuhhuh; never knowingly extolled a kevin spacey movie no sir

Is there a Drive Me Crazy movie stand-in in Entourage?

"Drive Me Crazy rocks!"
- Eric H.

I only remember thinking WTF that EW had Man on the Moon down as the best movie of the year.

I had a subscription back then, is the thing.

he was also supposed to get an Oscar nod and crazy cred as Serious Actor.

Luckily The Almighty saved him.

haha.

I meant The Majestic, of course.

movies i will still rep hard for on this list:

Dick
Election
eXistenZ
Galaxy Quest
Holy Smoke!
The Insider
The Iron Giant
Sweet and Lowdown
Topsy-Turvy

I meant The Majestic, of course.

― Hell is other people. In an ILE film forum. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, December 13, 2009 2:38 PM (2 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

that's what i thought u meant, ha

I like the working title better, Alfred.

Never did see Topsy=Turvy. That's the one on this list I'm sure I need to see most.

heart says eyes wide shut, head says straight story, will probably vote ripley

'99 is definitely super heavy on movies that I was all "OMG BEST THING EVAR!!!!!!!1" about at the time and eventually came to my senses about. Which makes me doubt how good some of the ones that I still ostensibly like but haven't seen in a while actually are.

they reopened a mall cinema in '99, and the first weekend it played (amongst other things, of course) Topsy-Turvy and Titus. It abandoned the art-house stuff by the next weekend.

Oh yeah, Titus came out this year too.

Oh, also, Christopher Walken in Sleepy Hollow: "RAH! RAAAH!!!" Really, Christopher?

write-in for Ratcatcher, but for polling's sake i'll say EWS.

Three Kings, Sweet & Lowdown, Office Space, Bringing Out The Dead (yes, I know I'm only one of five people who will actually rep for it)! So much good stuff!

This thread has reminded me that I would like to watch Bowfinger again. I'm hard-pressed to remember another comedy that got such overwhelmingly positive reviews and word of mouth (and justifiably, from what I recall) only to pretty much disappear from the hearts and minds of the general public not very far down the road.

Bringing Out The Dead might not be top-tier Scorsese but i love the manic energy.

I thought I was just looking through the lens of nostalgia for a long time but 1999 was really a key year for recent pop culture. So many of the movies on this list were game changers, and if you look at pop music, too, so many early 00s pop stars first came on in '99.

x-post

Bowfinger's barely disguised mockery of Scientology was somewhat bold for a mainstream Hollywood flick at the time, pre-Cruise meltdown.

You forgot my absolute fave 1999 film, Crazy in Alabama which I still adore. Also forgotten:

Lovers of the Arctic Circle
An Autumn Tale
Black Cat, White Cat

and two videos which few saw (or could): Amerikanos and My Parents Read Dreams I've Had About Them

I made a top ten worst films list that year (always alphabetical):

American Pie
Detroit Rock City
The Dinner Game
Dogma
An Ideal Husband
Jawbreaker
The Mod Squad (although the actual screening of this had a sound snafu which made it one of the most unforgettable cinematic experiences of my life)
Mystery Men
The Out-of-Towners
Star Wars Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace

I don't even remember what The Dinner Game is and please don't remind me.

I voted for The Talented Mr. Ripley for reasons known only to me.

Jawbreaker looked pretty good iirc. Sort of like companion piece to Idle Hands.

the dinner game = le diner des cons, french comedy

sorry, i know you said dont remind me

The Dinner Game looked so bad. Of course I'm basing that on the fact that it had a really crappy, late '70s crayon-ed poster iirc. (Promotional materials, again.)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PjETEQ8gO7M/SZolswlgbVI/AAAAAAAAAOI/taGvItZ9NzQ/s400/Dinner+Game.jpg

"from the writer of La Cage aux Folles" not surprising

Ya know, I haven't seen Dogma since then. But a lot of smart people really dug it. So of those ten worst, that'd be the one I'd most likely check out again.

Also, I waaaay overrated, um, The Omega Code because I thought it was more delirious than it actually was. Turned out to be a pretty straightforward treatise on...well, look it up. Musta been sleep-deprived when I saw it.

By 00's batshit terrible movie standards, it's pretty tame.

http://www.sceneunseenpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/flick.jpg

Pick Flick!

Election was the first movie I saw in the 90's that actually looked like it was filmed in a real American high school.

Never did see Topsy=Turvy. That's the one on this list I'm sure I need to see most.

Great film, still my favorite one by Leigh. It's the antithesis of a Merchant-Ivory production while still looking like one.

shortlist:

Being John Malkovich
Election
The Iron Giant
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
Three Kings
Topsy-Turvy

runners up:
Fight Club
The Insider
The Matrix
The Straight Story

problematic but i like them:
Eyes Wide Shut
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
Magnolia
Run Lola Run
Sweet and Lowdown
The Talented Mr. Ripley

did their job, no need to see again:
The Blair Witch Project
Bowfinger
Boys Don't Cry
Dick
The Sixth Sense
The Thomas Crown Affair
Toy Story 2

not as good as you thought, not as awful as you think:
American Beauty

of things i haven't seen, ones i still want to:
eXistenZ
Galaxy Quest
Holy Smoke!
Rosetta

insane list *_* voted malkovich

i love this American Beauty parody

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2y0WebFULM

This thread needs more Rosetta love!

movies i will still rep hard for on this list:

Dick
Election
eXistenZ
Galaxy Quest
Holy Smoke!
The Insider
The Iron Giant
Sweet and Lowdown
Topsy-Turvy

this is basic my list just replace the iron giant w/wild wild west and sweet and lowdown w/10 things i h8 abt U (all time imo)

10 years ago i would've said either malkovich or three kings. now i think i'll vote for topsy-turvy, because of all of them it's the one i've most enjoyed going back to over and over. it's so completely immersed in that world, and so careful in how it develops its relationships and also i think is just one of the best movies ever about not just the creative process but work in general -- how people balance power and personalities and personal goals and rewards and all that to actually accomplish something together.

talented mr ripley is dope. didn't vote for it but.

hey guys remember this was the year we all thought Jude Law was going to be a great actor?

― Hell is other people. In an ILE film forum. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, December 13, 2009 7:32 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

oh great post, how wonderfully superior.

straw we

he is a sort of interesting case tho. feels like he's never really hit his stride, and i'm not sure why. (i.e. whether it's just bad luck/bad choice of roles, or if there's something about him as an actor that makes me better in supporting parts.)

haha, makes him better in supporting parts

(i am not jude law)

8 1/2 Women
Three Seasons
Kikujiro

Oh man I would vote for Kikujiro in a second.

In the absence of it I'm sorely tempted to vote Office Space out of favoritism, not really making a case for it being best.

Was this a particularly great year for good stuff from Hollywood. I'm only using 2009 as a comparison, but I can't recall being that excited about anything much, and only really saw 5 or so films at the cinema.

Anyway of what I've seen from this list, I love these:

Cruel Intentions
Fight Club
Galaxy Quest
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
Election

voted Fight Club

xpost clarified:

Was 1999 a particularly great year for good stuff from Hollywood? I'm only using 2009 as a comparison, but I can't recall being that excited about anything much in 2009, and only really saw 5 or so films at the cinema.

cruel intentions is fun enough, but coming a year after wild things it seemed sort of anemic on the teen-vixen camp scale.

ok judging from just these titles, not a bad year. Even most of the bad ones I've seen are tolerable. Some comments:

Bringing Out the Dead - upper tier, totally slept-on Scorsese which I'd take over...
Election - Eric Weisbard has a brilliant analysis if this floating somewhere on the interwebs
Eyes Wide Shut - Worship the first 3/4; despise the moralistic last 1/4
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - Still my fave of his and RZA's soundtrack makes my decade top ten
Holy Smoke! - Adored this!! The constant oscillation between attraction and repulsion made for a really nutty, unstable film.
The Insider - Wanted to love this. just wish it were as abstract as so many claim. Still megatons better than Public Enemies.
The Iron Giant - Still the best narrative English-speaking animated feature
Life - Had to look it up; barely remember its existence; Rosenbaum liked it; can watch the full movie online (presumably legally) for some reason
Office Space - Too brilliant for its own good given that there was nowhere left to go at the end (perhaps the point?)
Topsy-Turvy - Ned OTM above re: its superiority to Merchant-Ivory. See also The House of Mirth

Drive Me Crazy - Eh film; one of the greatest soundtracks of the 1990s

Malkovich vs Election vs Iron Giant. Hon mentions to Ghost Dog and Three Kings.

one of the greatest soundtracks of the 1990s

Call me cliche, but I'll take Romeo + Juliet.

he is a sort of interesting case tho. feels like he's never really hit his stride, and i'm not sure why. (i.e. whether it's just bad luck/bad choice of roles, or if there's something about him as an actor that makes me better in supporting parts.)

Before Ripley he was super as a louse -- embittered, nasty, and superior -- in Gattaca and Wilde. He showed some of the same pansexual glint in A.I. and was back to playing (well) a louse in Huckabees, after which he went pfffft.

oh great post, how wonderfully superior.

oh stfu I indicted myself too.

yeah but he tried and convicted you

then I got out and killed his parents.

excitable boy, they all said.

much as I love other, more imperfect films from this year, my three finalists from this list wd be The Iron Giant, Topsy-Turvy and BJMalkovich.

Uh, surely something great from Iran could be attached to this year? It was when A Moment of Innocence finally opened in NYC.

also, FLOWERS OF SHANGHAI and THE LIMEY.

Oh man I love 10 Things I Hate About You. It's such a guilty pleasure movie of mine.

Oh, forgot The Limey came out in '99. Good stuff there, too.

there are a number of very good films on this list, but 'being john malkovitch' is the one i still list as one of my all-timers

i concede that there is nothing remotely surprising about my choice but it really is that good

Cookie's Fortune!

Would probably vote either Malkovich or Election but idk - this is tough!

oh, flowers of shanghai is great stuff. i wanna see that again.

(imdb has it as '98, but i imagine its u.s. release was '99?)

Being John Malkovich is much easier to admire than love, but I'm still voting for it.

This was the Village Voice poll, which generally went by NYC release year:

1 Being John Malkovich
2 Topsy-Turvy
3 All About My Mother
4 Rosetta
5 Election
6 The Straight Story
7 Boys Don't Cry
8 Magnolia
9 Flowers of Shanghai
10 South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

11 Eyes Wide Shut
12 The Insider
13 Autumn Tale
14 The Limey
15 Run Lola Run
16 The Matrix
17 The Dreamlife of Angels
18 Beau Travail
19 American Beauty
20 Go

21 After Life
22 Fight Club
23 Holy Smoke
24 Three Kings
25 The Iron Giant

xpost

That's kinda the issue I have with Adaptation, actually, but I def. love Malkovich.

Woulda included Flowers of Shanghai (take back some of the things I've said about Hou upon finally watching this), Autumn Tale and Beau Travail.

Do people really remember Eyes Wide Shut that fondly?

I love Stanley Kubrick, but at the time, I felt the movie looked like the unfinished project that it was (at the time of Kubrick's death).

go and ravenous shoulda made it

I wish Tarantino's next project would be unstarted.

xp

how do u feel abt apatow

Voted Fight Club, and I wouldn't have thought that I would five years or even two years ago. I think the older I get and the more I understand how crazy I really am, the more I appreciate it. Also, the funnier it gets. Fascism or no, it's pretty damn brilliant.

fight club is a pretty awesome comedy film with some undeniable set-pieces and performances - it's aware of its own 'importance' but it carries it quite well. i even don't mind the ending! it's silly but aptly so.

however it & BJM are kinda the staples for student types everywhere from this list so i feel a bit embarrassed only talking about them

surprised at little or no mention of lola rennt here thus far although the dude's follow-up is admittedly a) superior b) insane and c) amazing

BJM is cutesy by comparison, imo. Not that I dislike it, but it falls apart in the last 20 minutes even worse than people (erroneously) think Fight Club does. It really goes completely off the rails.

we watched these in my high school film class:
American Beauty
Being John Malkovich
Magnolia
Run Lola Run
Three Kings

Three Kings is so so good.

agreed

yeah, liked that one a lot

although it hasn't really stuck with me a great deal - it hit the spot while viewing

ohfuck i remember absolutely hating Topsy-Turvy - which was weird because i loved mike leigh - obv wasn't in the mood (pos stoned?), i guess. i saw so many of these in the theatre - 24 yrs old + disposable income + free time, wow...
i remember v much loving at the time:
Being John Malkovich
The Limey
Fight Club
The Matrix
Existenz (saw cronenberg at a small talk at the van film fest too, awesome)
Election
Bringing Out the Dead
The End of the Affair

voting Matrix tho i mean i just can't help it

gah go and the limey were also out this year?

this was one heck of a year!!!

Maybe all of the filmmakers were just really pushing themselves to excel before all of the cameras stopped working on New Year's Day.

the last flowering of culture before Y2K swept it all away

ohman i loved Go!
lol the part with the cat

lol at this thread turning into movie nerds reminiscing about what herbs they were in 99

so many classix on this list though

I loved GO! too.

i probably own more movies on dvd from this year than any other

fyi to all--if u want to talk about GO on a thread that actually appreciates it started by a poster who remembers how totally radical it was: the movie go directed by doug liman starring sarah polley katie homes william fichtner timothy olyphant

ha i was about to link your thread, max

well why dont you "go" away

― 8====D ------ ㋡ (max), Sunday, January 4, 2009 7:01 PM (11 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

<3

:D

i probably own more movies on dvd from this year than any other

^This, although I realized on the 1979 Oscars thread that I also own and love a good number of movies from '79. Maybe 2019 is going to be another awesome, watershed year of cinematic greatness?

we watched these in my high school film class:
American Beauty
Being John Malkovich
Magnolia
Run Lola Run
Three Kings

We get it! You're young!

sleepy hollow love this.

fight club is a pretty awesome comedy film with some undeniable set-pieces and performances - it's aware of its own 'importance' but it carries it quite well. i even don't mind the ending! it's silly but aptly so.

^totally agree with this.

what's amusing about fight club is how SERIOUSLY both its detractors and admirers took it. i mean, it's a black comedy first and foremost, and on that level it's still pretty entertaining.

also one of the rare instances of the movie being better than the book in almost every conceivable way

also among the first 3 DVDS i bought. the other two being Jurassic Park and (lol) American Beauty

voting Matrix tho i mean i just can't help it

The new Star Wars. And true to these accelerated times, it's sequels started to suck instantly, instead of leaving us all in suspense. A+

No, really, I mean it. The Matrix is a kick-ass movie. REALLY.

I love Stanley Kubrick, but at the time, I felt the movie looked like the unfinished project that it was (at the time of Kubrick's death).

except for roughly splicing in the teaser trailer (which i'm guessing wasn't done by kubrick but who knows), i think it was complete.

straight story
todo sobre mi madre
iron giant

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Iron Giant

This list reminds me how much I used to go to the movies-- I saw 43 of these (as well as many not included here) in the theater. I've probably seen like 7 movies in a theater this year.

Sombre ('98 film, released '99)
Ciguri 99: le dernier chaman
Outer Space
True Crime
Sicilia!
Le vent de la nuit
The Wind Will Carry Us
As Bodas de Deus
A Carta

vote for Sleepy Hollow

Was going to list the movies on here which are better than any I saw in 2009 but it would be too long, so let me just say I'm cheered by the amount of attention this thread pays to the great "Election," the best of the year and one of my favorites ever. Maybe the most relentless movie I can think of. I like Sideways fine, I guess, but everyone in it is let off so easy!

Here's the Weisbard piece on Election, by the way:

http://www.villagevoice.com/1999-07-06/news/generation-ex/

Wait, maybe not, this Weisbard piece only has a little bit about Election at the end. Also, I have no idea what it's trying to say. Did 1999 really sound like this? I don't remember.

Best movie year ever.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Toy Story 2 0

http://proudatheists.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/wrong-7048801.jpg

wow,zero for Three Kings? great movie, but i suppose it sort of lost its charm after Iraq II, huh.

Ah, that Weisbard story brings back mem'rees.

not sure what 'the iron giant' (cartoon w. jennifer aniston?) is, so kind of surprised -- but three for 'the phantom menace'? really?

The Iron Giant is probably the best American animated feature film since Disney's golden age, even better than those early 90s Disney movies (as good as they were). It has a very touching (but never corny) pacifist message that's bound to appeal to pinkos like me.

pretty sure phantom menace votes were a joke

2 state ze obvious

who's my insider brother

or sister

or child

three kings is great, I would have voted for that had I seen it in 1999 and thus qualified for the "movie you remember most fondly" critical angle

the ninth gate

Slant revisited to name 10

http://www.slantmagazine.com/features/article/the-10-best-films-of-1999

moving Weinstein thread convo here:

IF the film itself doesn't espouse horrible views, it will still be watched. *The Pianist* will still be watched for decades, despite Polanski's acts in his personal life.

*American Beauty* is a flawed film, but in its era, it remains a standout for the mainstream. I haven't seen the nature of Spacey's transgressions. If it turns out he was a rapist, then *American Beauty* will be presented as a decent film that depicted the confusing and purposeless lives in its time, in which one of the ensemble cast was a violent sex addict. If he just patted asses and said sexist things, even that caveat won't be mentioned. He'll be a typical "entitled male" of his (and probably, that future) time.

― Sanpaku, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:04 PM (thirty-nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's a shitty film

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:07 PM (thirty-six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Compared to?

Its an Oscar-bait talky film, with no likeable, but the direction is superb. Compared to the 500 or so theatrical releases that year, it would have merited placing in the top 20 or so.

We live in an era of Transformers IV, in which most mainstream films are made for pre-teens and the Chinese market. I'll take Oscar-bait any day.

― Sanpaku, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:11 PM (thirty-two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^no likeable characters

― Sanpaku, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:11 PM (thirty-two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

bleeccch american beauty is so bad

most films are so bad

― brimstead, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:12 PM (thirty-one minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

most Oscar-bait films are not well-remembered, in terms of cinema history (see the many Annual Oscar polls for reference/evidence)

it's poorly written, poorly acted, poorly directed, poorly conceived, everything about it is bad. I think on the original "American Beauty" thread I called it a "crime against humanity". The smug self-satisfaction of the actors, writer, director and art director(s) oozes off the screen with every cliched image, thin caricature, and telegraphed plot twist.

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:16 PM (twenty-seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Better films released in 1999:

Election (by far the closest analogue to American Beauty, and superior in every way)
Office Space
Ghost Dog
The Straight Story
Dick
Three Kings
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Galaxy Quest

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:20 PM (twenty-three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

(American films, I guess I should specify)

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:20 PM (twenty-three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

xxp otm, even when i was susceptible to the most shamelessly schmaltzy Oscar bait (Crash) I hated American Beauty. specifically the ridiculous soaring score. but the whole conceit of the thing is so pretentious and silly, although i love that the movie was inspired by a PLASTIC BAG floating in the wind. I do like one line a lot, though: Spacey's boss comes over, asks if he has a minute. "For you? I have five."

― flappy bird, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:22 PM (twenty-one minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Also "American _____" is the most overused and annoying title template.

― jmm, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:24 PM (nineteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Not too hard to come up with 20 better films from 1999. It was a pretty good year.

― reggae mike love (polyphonic), Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:24 PM (nineteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's the third best movie from 1999 that starts with "American" ("Movie," "Pie")

― reggae mike love (polyphonic), Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:25 PM (eighteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Election (by far the closest analogue to American Beauty, and superior in every way)

Oh hell yeah, this is a great comparison, and yeah Election is one of my favorite movies, can't wait for the Criterion reissue next month.

― flappy bird, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:25 PM (eighteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I haven't revisited Magnolia in a while, have a feeling it could go either way now for me- although most people hate it for the frog scene and the spontaneous singing, which i love love love...

― flappy bird, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:26 PM (seventeen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's poorly written, poorly acted, poorly directed, poorly conceived, everything about it is bad. I think on the original "American Beauty" thread I called it a "crime against humanity". The smug self-satisfaction of the actors, writer, director and art director(s) oozes off the screen with every cliched image, thin caricature, and telegraphed plot twist.

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 5:16 PM (nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yes. I only saw it once but loathed pretty much every minute of it.

― The Harsh Tutelage of Michael McDonald (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:27 PM (sixteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I left off some respectable/well-liked things I don't particularly dig (like Magnolia, the South Park movie, American Pie, All About My Mother, Fight Club) but I wouldn't begrudge anyone liking those, they are not as objectively terrible as American Beauty.

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:29 PM (fourteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'd agree to Election and The Straight Story from your list. Personally, my canon would include Being John Malkovich, Herod's Law, All About My Mother, Kikujiro, Gloomy Sunday, The Hurricane, and yes, Fight Club.

― Sanpaku, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:29 PM (fourteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The Iron Giant obviously the best film released in 1999

― Number None, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:30 PM (thirteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

and I almost forgot - AB has the classic gay-panic-murderer plot device! one of the most loathsome tropes in American cinema.

oh shit dunno how I missed BJM, that movie is great would absolutely include it in a year's best of (decade's best of too, probably)

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:30 PM (thirteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

A hell in which I'm condemned to watch Oscar bait like The Danish Girl instead of Transformers would be beyond the scope of human language to describe.

― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:31 PM (thirteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

guys, surely there is another thread better served for this kind of discussion

― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:32 PM (eleven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Honestly, how common is the gay panic murder device? I don't get out to see many films, but I do watch politics, and discomfit with homosexual longing oozes from their pores.

― Sanpaku, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:32 PM (eleven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh god alfred that scene when Redmayne's characters turns into a scarf at the end, blowing in the wind

― flappy bird, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:33 PM (ten minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

guys, surely there is another thread better served for this kind of discussion

Rather.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:36 PM (eight minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yep, apologies

― Number None, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:37 PM (six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Honestly, how common is the gay panic murder device? I don't get out to see many films, but I do watch politics, and discomfit with homosexual longing oozes from their pores.

are you serious

Cruising, Hard, Silent Partner, (plus cross-dresser/gender confusion sub-group: Silence of the Lambs, Sleepaway Camp, Dressed to Kill)

this is off the top of my head, there are so many of these

but yes let's take this to another thread

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:37 PM (six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

surely there is another thread

This thread went off those rails long before the discussion of Oscar-bait films of 1999, which is at least tangentally related to Miramax.

If we can have a shooting spree rolling thread, surely we can have a thread on public figures who have been disclosed as sexual predators.

― Sanpaku, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:38 PM (five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i wonder if the likes of American Beauty, LA Confidential etc will become like Birth Of A Nation, never broadcast, nor issued on any upcoming formats, never shown at fests or anniversary screenings, ultimately spoken of in hushed tones and rotting away unloved on a studio shelf.

Well, tying in some other relevant names, James Toback's most well-known film (I'd guess, looking at his director credits) is his documentary on Mike Tyson - a convicted rapist who's been completely rehabilitated by the entertainment/sports world.

Unless this stuff is signaling a sea change in public attitudes that stick around (doubtful), sexual assault is the most forgivable crime.

― louise ck (milo z), Tuesday, October 31, 2017 3:40 PM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

'99 is probably my favorite movie year from my own lifetime. I liked American Beauty the first time I saw it and then wondered upon seeing it a second time if I'd suffered some kind of two-hour episode the first time I saw it. Still shocked that Alan Ball was subsequently responsible for something as good as Six Feet Under.

Amazed anyone voted Phantom Menace.

I'm just relieved The Green Mile received one less vote than Baby Geniuses.

I thought you guys would shit all over Being John Malcovich.

There's a number of films this year about fed up with your office job - Office Space, American Beauty, The Matrix, Fight Club.

*being fed up

The Insider - guy is fed up with his job making cigarettes
Three Kings - guy is fed up about going to war for no reason
Dogma - angels are fed up with their jobs

Princess Mononoke is about a woman who is fed up with demon boar attacks

Still shocked that Alan Ball was subsequently responsible for something as good as Six Feet Under.

also pretentious and hollow, at least the pilot

yeah theres only 60+ subsequent hours im sure thats representative

Existenz was robbed

jc I saw subsequent episodes of varying qualities, I'd guess the better ones had lesser Ball involvement