The Films of 1999
1999. What a year. Often celebrated as one of, if not the most consequential years in cinematic history, it is the year that I turned 18, a factor that, coupled with the extraordinary excellence of the year, has made it my longtime favorite. This is a database, featuring a short review of potentially every film released that year. I will continue to add to this database as long as I am alive, or until I have catalogued every single 1999 film. If I haven't gotten to one you enjoy or want to see here, leave a comment, or e-mail me at bleedingstar1011@gmail.com.
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8mm -- 9/10
My full-length review of 8mm at this link.
10 Things I Hate About You -- 9/10
10 Things I Hate About You is the king of the 1999 teen rom-com, slightly surreal and satiric, limitlessly clever and funny, with sparkling chemistry between the leads, a star-making performance from Heath Ledger, and a Globe Theatre's worth of Shakespeare references.
Accelerator -- 6/10
A fun, low-budget Irish action film. It's goofy and loosely drawn, but I had a great time watching it. A bunch of troublemakers, many of them beautiful Irish women, pair up to race through Ireland. The pairs are fun and unique, and the actors, though raw, are all engaging. The film strays from the race in the final half-hour, either because of the low budget, or just to keep the viewer on their toes, but I didn't mind. There's even a fun, late-90s electronic/symphonic mashup score that just adds to that late 90s British Isles vibe of which I can't seem to get enough. Accelerator is not great, and barely even good, but good enough for me!
I've found over the years that I love the rhythm of Almodóvar's films, the way he frames a shot, the use of color, the tone, and often the pacing. I love all of that here. The Wikipedia entry for All About My Mother states that it "deals with complex issues," but fails to mention that the film does so in an extremely melodramatic way, with the final 20 minutes veering into bad soap opera territory. The two-year time-jump before the quick closing scene is one of the more ridiculously unearned things I've seen in a film. I wonder if an older Almodóvar would have played things a little straighter (no pun intended). I'm thinking in particular of the no nonsense, matter-of-fact scene in Pain and Glory where Antonio Banderas admits to his doctor that he's been badly abusing drugs for years. Overall, this was a wash for me. The performances are good, I didn't hate it, but I think a lot of the praise in 1999 was hyperbolic and more due to the fact that the film "deals with complex issues," than how it actually deals with them.
American Beauty -- 5/10
My full-length review of American Beauty at this link.
American Movie -- 10/10
American Movie is about as great a demonstration of the complexities of the human condition as a documentary has ever captured.
American Pie -- 8/10
American Pie is surprisingly sweet and good-natured (except that one part) for a film that single-handedly rebooted the teen sex comedy. Likable leads (especially Klein and Suvari, who are absolutely adorable and should have had their own film), and refreshingly feels like it takes place in a normal middle class American high school in 1999.
Analyze This -- 5/10
It's not just that Analyze This was released two months after the similarly-concepted The Sopranos premiered, or even that it completely lacks The Sopranos' thematic depth and artistic aspirations. It's that, despite fun performances from De Niro and Crystal, Analyze This is rather aimless and often fails to do anything interesting with its "a mafioso goes to a therapist" premise.
Angela's Ashes -- 7/10
Does a great job of portraying absolute squalor, with incredible production values, from the gorgeous, rained-out cinematography, to the intricate and detailed set design. The film is engaging, despite its great length, and yet...there's an emotional component and a sense of depth that's missing here. I began to think that the lack of characterization for the title character mother was due to some theme about her ultimately being unknowable to the central protagonist son character, but nope, By the end, it's clear that the film just doesn't really care about characterizing her. Angela's Ashes doesn't even present some moving final moment between mother and son, despite the fact that THE MOVIE IS NAMED AFTER HER. Still, the rare, Spielberg-divorced John Williams score does some heavy lifting, and the movie is good enough...but it could have been great.
Anna and the King -- 4/10
I hate when a movie vastly overestimates its ability to engage an audience. Anna and the King would have worked far better as five 30-minute episodes of a Disney Channel miniseries. Instead, it's a bloated, 150-minute movie that tries to be about so many things when really all it needed or wants to be about is Anna teaching the King's son, while Anna slowly softens the King himself. Instead, there is subplot after needless and tiring subplot, including a Bai Ling side-story that eats up an entire 30 minutes and just drains engagement from the film. There's also something weird with the cinematography--the use of vivid color is great, but the palette in every frame feels too busy, as if something went wrong with the grading process. The production design and costumes are excellent, Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat are great and have great chemistry as the titular characters, but the film just doesn't work. Cut out an hour and maybe it would be engaging, or go the aforementioned miniseries route. Don't do THIS.
Any Given Sunday -- 6/10
After watching Any Given Sunday, I'm convinced Oliver Stone has never watched a second of football, never mind played a down--he MAYBE played a half of NFL Blitz and called it a day. With his camera shaking, missile-launched staging, every hit is like a Mack Truck hitting a concrete wall. I'd be lying if I said I didn't find all 150 minutes of this film entertaining, though. There's a lot of great stuff here, but almost as much dumb stuff to offset it. This is Oliver Stone, so the expected sensory overload is constant, with rapid fire shots, dialogue playing over dialogue, camera spinning, slipping over. At one point, Stone needs to show an establishing shot for a party, and cuts to the entire planet of Earth from space for his exterior. It's insane, but it's part of the Stone Bargain. The movie also has its feet firmly set in 1999, with so many songs pulled from Moby's Play, Richard Melville Hall's got a credit for the film's score. Performances are excellent, with Pacino probably giving the last great one of his career. Cameron Diaz looks as good here as anyone ever has in front of a camera, but after her recent acting hiatus, I forgot just how great of an actress she can be. She holds her own with Pacino in every single one of their scenes, even when he's barking like a dog and throwing chairs across the room. Everyone else, from Jaime Foxx as a proto-Mike Vick, to Dennis Quaid as a proto-Tom Brady, bring their A-game. Ex-players turned actors like Jim Brown and Lawrence Taylor lend some authenticity to the overblown ridiculousness shown on the field. The production values stagger wildly, as a lot here looks great, but apparently Stone went to Dollar General for his graphic design, as all of the fake teams' logos (no NFL participation here) look extremely low rent, as do the jersey designs. There are just such wild swings in quality and tone, the inconsistency almost becomes a form of cohesion. Pacino delivers possibly the greatest speech in a sports film, but then a guy loses his eyeball in the endzone a few minutes later. There's a surprising amount of moral ambiguity here, but like many Stone films, the movie is also as in your face as possible. Any Given Sunday is a loud, gigantic, ridiculous mess, but part of me wishes movies today could still be as entertaining as this one.
Anywhere But Here -- 4/10
The first 70 minutes of Anywhere but Here is a surprisingly dark and high quality character study, as a wonderful Susan Sarandon plays an impulsive, narcissistic and flighty single mother who forces her long-suffering teenage daughter, played equally as wonderfully by Natalie Portman, to move from their small midwestern town to Beverly Hills. The two barely scrape by as Sarandon's mother character makes misstep after agonizing and egocentric misstep. It seems she'll never change and Portman's character will never be free, unless she can find some way to escape through her own sad realization of her mother's nature, and then the movie suddenly finds it is completely incapable of dealing with what it's presented, and it veers away from its source material into sentimental claptrap that feels completely irrepresentive of the characters as its previously presented them. Could have been a cult classic "bad parent" drama, and instead it's an untrue nothing of a forgotten film.
Arlington Road -- 7/10
My full-length review of Arlington Road at this link.
The Astronaut's Wife -- 3/10
My full-length review of The Astronaut's Wife at this link.
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me -- 6/10
The Spy Who Shagged Me is just so, so stupid. I can't count how many times I muttered "So, so stupid," while watching it. However, that was generally through laughter. Not throughout--I definitely muttered "So, so stupid" quite often without laughing too--but still laughed enough times to make this worth watching. You can already tell Myers is beginning a journey up his own ass that eventually killed his career just a few years later, but he's still funny at times, particularly as his Evil alter-ego. As Austin Powers' sidekick, Heather Graham is ridiculously beautiful. It's unreal. Her performance isn't anything I'd describe as "good,", but she's fun and seems to be having fun, and if you're a fellow admirer of her beauty, it's almost worth watching The Spy Who Shagged Me just to see what outfit the stellar wardrobe department is gonna trot her out in next. The film seems to recognize this and amp up the outfit changes to the ridiculous degree that it feels like if Graham turns down a corner of a hallway, she'll be in a new dress in the next shot. It's insane that New Line gave Myers so much money at the service of this insanity, and even crazier that the film made ten times that much. I'm not sure if this film could have existed in any other year--The Jerry Springer Show (movie the previous year), Star Wars (new movie that year), and James Bond (new movie that year) references and the general sensibility make this a definite artifact of 1999.
Bats -- 6/10
Everyone involved in Bats knows exactly what kind of movie this is and seems to want the audience to have as much stupid fun as possible (and they all seem to have had fun themselves). Diamond Phillips, Meyer and Leon quip about, run from, shoot at, and blow up a bunch of gnarly animatronic bats. Bob Gunton is a mad scientist. The film ends with massive explosions. I miss the 90s.
Beau Travail -- 4/10
What a boring, stupid movie. The pretentious arty Frenchie of pretentious arty Frenchies. In what plot exists, a charisma-free French Legionnaire officer is inexplicably jealous of one of his soldiers, and decides to get rid of him in the most drawn-out, passive aggressive and mind-numbing fashion. The movie features a lot of male skin, just so the film can put "male bodies under the eyes of the female gaze" in its ad copy, but director, Claire Denis, somehow never once thinks, "These men are in the Northeast African sun with their shirts off all the time and they never get so much as a tan, let alone the life-threatening sunburns they should be dealing with throughout the film. I have failed." Beau Travail is beautifully shot, though, with the scenery the star, particular the gorgeous Red Sea. However, a film needs more than just great visuals, and there is simply nothing else here of any apparent weight.
Being John Malkovich -- 5/10
My full-length review of Being John Malkovich at this link.
Beowulf -- 4/10
Beowulf is pure, low-budget trash from start to finish. Grime, cleavage, swords, monsters. Christopher Lambert hams it up with his French-accented English, while a busty Rhona Mitra scowls away. The action is nothing special and especially ridiculous. The acting is passable to grim. The vibe is late night, late-90s Sci-Fi Channel. The movie is not very good as an adaptation of the epic English poem or a movie. I enjoyed it immensely.
The Best Man -- 8/10
One of 1999s most purely enjoyable films, until the copout ending. The Best Man is at its best when it's not following the rom-com formula or its tropes, and it does that for the majority of its runtime. The four lead actors have incredible chemistry, and the standout scene here is simply ten minutes of them playing cards 1/3 of the way into the movie; as tensions slowly rise between these four guys who worked far better as friends when they were 20 than they do at 30, their dialogue and performances are so natural, I forgot I was watching a movie, which is about as high a compliment as I can give. The Best Man kept me guessing as to where it was going, and just what sort of fallout these characters would face, but then the last 15 minutes goes full happy ending formula, which might please the rom-com crowd, but stops The Best Man from reaching greatness. Up until then, this feels like a real exploration of four perfectly cast and likable, but very flawed men, and the guilt and secrets they carry. Then it's suddenly not, which is a great shame, as the film pushes the "Whoa, this movie is going to really go through with what should really happen!" thing to the limit, all the way to the moment the vows are being exchanged at the climactic wedding...but then, everything and everyone are just fine and everything is perfect. I enjoyed the 105 minutes that led up to that so much, from the incredible cast and their chemistry, to the rawness of the dialogue, to the perfect pacing, music, and hangout atmosphere, that I can't hold that ending too much against it. I just wish there was a REALITY CUT version that contains a realistic ending. The friendships and relationships would be shattered, and these guys and girls would have to go their separate ways, and figure out their lives on their own. Also, Terrence Howard. I forgot how great he can be. Wow! Also, Nia Long. Hubba. Hubba.
Bicentennial Man -- 6/10
What a sad, strange movie. Bicentennial Man is as far from the goofy family film of which it was advertised as possible. Instead an often somber meditation on human nature and mortality that suffers from lousy pacing and tonal inconsistency. Perhaps benefits from Williams' death. He was nominated for a Razzy (lost to Sandler), but his performance is actually very dialed back and nuanced, and would likely be just as strangely moving, even if he was still here with us. Williams was also up for Blockbuster and Kid's Choice awards (also lost to Sandler), and the higher audience scores for this film, particularly on IMDB, speak to that performance, particularly when Williams is no longer encased in steel in the movie's second half. I felt weird throughout, confused about the future this was set in (far less people, but also seemingly utopian...maybe after mankind has rebuilt from an apocalypse?), but I can't deny that some of this works. One of 1999's most bizarre and badly marketed films, but also a partially effective one.
The Blair Witch Project -- 8/10
In 1999, the skeptical 18-year-old me didn't get the hype around The Blair Witch Project, but upon revisit I much more appreciate its lo-fi, folk-horror charms, its built-in autumnal atmosphere, and its confidence in the modern found-footage blueprint it's creating. In...I am slowly growing to love it. Here's my longer review at this link.
Bleeder -- 5/10
There are a few acclaimed directors whose movies I can't seem to connect with, and Refn is near the top, even in this early film, Bleeder, where I still find his work to be mostly aimless, nihilistic, and populated by characters barely recognizable as humans. Some nice visuals, though.
Blue Streak -- 6/10
The dumbest of dumb fun, I won't even pretend like I didn't enjoy Martin hamming it up. If Blue Streak premiered on Netflix today, it would be considered a pleasant surprise, but in the late 90s world of action comedy, this was just considered average.
The Bone Collector -- 3/10
With this cast and this director, it's almost insane how much The Bone Collector doesn't work. Unfortunately, Noyce had little passion for the material, and didn't want to be accused of copying Fincher's work in Seven. Unfortunately, the only thing that would have made The Bone Collector's rote serial killer story interesting is a thick, heavy atmosphere like Seven. A few spare times, Noyce gives in, like the brilliant POV shot through a club as the killer searches out his second victim. However, Noyce unfortunately reins that impulse in so much, the rest of the film often feels like a CBS procedural that no amount of Washington or Jolie's charisma can salvage. It's no wonder Noyce is unhappy with his work here.
The Boondock Saints -- 6/10
This movie is so damn dumb. If you told me it was written by and maybe even
directed by a 12-year-old boy, I'd believe you. The editor seems to have found
a how-to manual that describes fades on the first page, then excitedly thrown
the book on the floor and immediately started working. Every second of Boondock Saints is puerile juvenilia, and the film never once looks beyond its ankle deep,
"Let's be good guys by killing all the bad guys" surface. The characters are
one-dimensional and ridiculously over-the-top, even if young Indiana Jones,
Daryl Dixon, and Willem "Wait, I can REALLY do whatever I want?!" Dafoe seem
to be having the time of their lives. The Boondock Saints is
a stupid crowd-pleaser in the guise of an experimental indie, and I now
completely understand why my younger friends talked about the movie like it
was Citizen Kane back in the early 00s. It's just so, so
stupid.
I enjoyed it immensely.
***
Gonna have to cover this on my podcast at some point. This is the Filmshake
ideal.
Bowfinger -- 8/10
Boys Don't Cry -- 4/10
Bringing Out the Dead -- 7/10
My full-length review of Bringing Out the Dead at this link.
Brokedown Palace -- 7/10
Watched this for the first time since my baby sister rented it 25 years ago. Brokedown Palace is not a great film, but I do think it is a good one, one the critics of 1999, like with that same year's Life, unfairly compared to other prison films instead of judging it by its own merits. Danes is great, and Pullman puts in one of the best performances of his career, as a sleazy lawyer in for a big payday, who eventually finds himself both possessing a heart and willing to go pro bono. I also dig the light trip-hop soundtrack. A product of its time, and all the better for it.
Buddy Boy -- 4/10
What a weird and miserable film. I'll give it this, it never shies away from its dedication to grime. It's gross from start to finish.
But I'm a Cheerleader -- 5/10
But I'm a Cheerleader is a campy, goofy rom-com with a few solid laughs, but an ending so cheesy, I'm going to be constipated for the rest of the month, especially considering I made the mistake of watching multiple rom-coms this week. I will say, Lyonne in the 90s had an It Factor I wish she could have parlayed into a better career, and she's as good here as anywhere she's been.
Cherry Falls -- 7/10
My full-length review of Cherry Falls at this link.
The Cider House Rules -- 3/10
A goopy, icky, manipulative melodrama that also seems strangely sympathetic with its parental rapist character. There are two versions of Tobey Maguire, and you get them both in 1999: the nuanced Tobey Maguire in Ride Like the Devil and the "I just walked in on my parents having sex" face for the entire movie Tobey Maguire you get in The Cider House Rules. Also, somehow Michael Caine won a best supporting actor Oscar for his entirely unremarkable performance in this film, beating out much stronger performances from 1999, i.e. Haley Joel Osment for The Sixth Sense. All I can think is that this is a Miramax film, and Harvey Weinstein must have demanded the film receive some Oscars (just like he did for Shakespeare In the Love the year before), or simply Hollywood really loves to pat themselves on the back when they make after school special style movies about the social issues this film flounders while exploring, a sunken, now mostly forgotten wreck. Either one of those could also explain how this treacly, melodramatic writing won Best Adapted Screenplay over several far more deserving contenders. Then again, the Oscars are a joke (just look at what else won awards that year), but so is this film.
The Confession -- 8/10
The Confession is slow. It's muted. A couple of early scenes are awkwardly staged. Most of the first half takes place in muted, heavily carpeted interiors, where Alec Baldwin continuously purses his lips. Then Baldwin's character gets baptized, really baptized, with whiskey because it's the only liquid available. At that point, you either buy into the film's complex moral exploration, or you just don't care. I found myself caring to a surprising degree. This is a quiet, dialogue-heavy courtroom drama where Baldwin is slowly, inexorably redeemed by Kingsley's character, losing the world, but gaining his soul. If that sounds like your sort of thing, this will also be right up your alley. If not, steer clear. Also, as good as Baldwin and Kingsley (as well as Amy Irving) are here, Kevin Conway steals the show. He's amazing.
The Corruptor -- 5/10
There is a really good movie somewhere in here. Director, James Foley, goes for a serious crime epic, but unfortunately, he, his editor, and to some degree the script are not up to the task. Chow Yun-fat and Mark Wahlberg play cop partners who have both been corrupted to some degree; by criminal elements, as well as different layers of law enforcement, and even their families. Chow Yun-fat is always going to be good, but the oft-derided Marky Mark is quite up to the task here as well, and these two have great chemistry as a pair who find that their bond has become stronger than the various ties pulling against it. There's even an incredible car chase halfway through (perhaps the best of 1999) that finally answers the question, "How do civilians always jump out of the way of the oncoming cars and never get hurt?" with, "Instead of that, let's have them all either get run over or mowed down in a hail of gunfire!" The chase even ends with heavy machinery, an explosion, and an innovative third party intervention. It's all beautifully lit and shot as well, as cinematographer, Juan Ruiz Anchía, turns in absolutely stunning work. All of these elements lift the film from "pretty bad" to just "mediocre." The issues are myriad, foremost Foley ordering a bunch of zoom and rapid pans that throw off the film's visual rhythm and combine with its shoddy editing to create a strangely glacial feeling of disinterest--shocking considering the actual events happening onscreen. Couple that with an inconsistent sound design, and a strangely passive Carter Burwell score that just doesn't fit the majority of the film, and you've got a perfect case study in "What went wrong here?" that offers numerous solutions. Again, quite a bummer considering the film's plentiful positives, and the fact that its title is ripe for exploration given the subject matter: who is The Corrupter? Well, unfortunately in this case, it's the studio and the filmmakers.
Cruel Intentions -- 5/10
The vast majority of my friends love it, but I just can't get into Cruel Intentions, a movie I find gross, cruel, nasty, & completely illogical, though I can't deny it's got two of the greatest needle drops in 1999 cinema, some good performances and a couple of iconic, if stupid moments.
The Curse of the Blair Witch -- 7/10
Curse of The Blair Witch has to be one of the greatest television tie-ins to a movie ever made--great pains were taken to make this thing feel like a real television documentary, and in the end it is almost as good as the actual film, probably scarier. Greatly enhances the film.
Deep Blue Sea -- 7/10
My full-length review of Deep Blue Sea at this link.
Detroit Rock City -- 5/10
My full-length review of Detroit Rock City at this link.
Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo -- 6/10
Awesomely, amazingly, offensively, incredibly, phenomenally, magnificently, defiantly stupid. I laughed so hard, so many times. Anyone who can't enjoy a film like this because it is "problematic" must be really fun at parties.
Dick -- 6/10
My full-length review of Dick at this link.
Dogma -- 2/10
Like if the stoner idiot down the street with a greasy pinky's grip on theology had $10 million to make a movie about it. Forget that, and you've still got a movie whose runtime is roughly 95% exposition through dialogue. Rickman is good, but he's good in everything. This movie is lousy.
Double Jeopardy -- 5/10
Drive Me Crazy -- 6/10
Drive Me Crazy is the other side of She's All That's dumb but fairly enjoyable 1999 teenage romantic comedy coin. She's All That leans more into the comedy, while Drive Me Crazy is lighter on the comedy but leans a little more into the romantic and is a little more thoughtful. This is best illustrated by how both films handle their "day out on the water" scenes. She's All That's stands out for Paul Walker's incredibly hilarious, "Hey look at the bobos on super freak!" line (I'm not being sarcastic, the moment is genuinely funny), and Drive Me Crazy's stands out for the quiet bonding conversation the male lead has with a tertiary character about how they're both uncomfortable with their newfound popularity. Both end with dumb, overblown dances and the predictable romantic unity of the leads, but while She's All That's spectacle is more impressive, I definitely cared and BELIEVED more when the couple kissed at the end of Drive Me Crazy. Also, and apropos of nothing, I completely forgot how much of an absolute babe Melissa Joan Hart was in 1999.
Drop Dead Gorgeous -- 3/10
I'm not a fan of camp, but if the tone is well-crafted and consistent, if there's some recognizable connection to the real world and there's some deeper purpose in mind, I can stomach it (i.e., John Waters' Serial Mom). Every single scene, moment, line, line-reading in Drop Dead Gorgeous goes so far over-the-top, there's nothing grounded in reality, and no sense of purpose or meaning for this film to exist outside of meanness itself. The movie was critically excoriated when it was released, and it's easy to see why. The cult status Drop Dead Gorgeous recently achieved seems strictly due to the fact that this perspective of a small town and its folk is totally and completely noxious. If you were the person who sat in the back of every town gathering growing up and hated everything, not because you saw something objectively wrong with those things, but simply because hating is the way you are, you will love this film's perspective. It laughs at and not at all with its small town Minnesota setting and characters, feels as mean and bitter as someone who was perennially picked last, not for their lack of skill, but for an awful attitude, and it is barely even funny, unless extremely obvious and off-putting humor is the viewer's cup of tea. Kirsten Dunst is absolutely luminous in this film, except for the moments where she opens her mouth, and as with all the other film's characters, her godawful, mean-spirited, fake Minnesota accent barfs out. I couldn't help but think of Fargo while watching this, and how the over-the-top accents in that film are endearing rather than some type of forced dialect assault on the ears like they are here. I think this is because, for all its darkness, Fargo is grounded in a sense of decency Drop Dead Gorgeous seems specifically crafted to mock and defecate upon. I don't hate everything, and I came into this movie thinking I would love it, but my feelings for Drop Dead Gorgeous are as negative and ugly as the film itself. It sucks.
End of Days -- 6/10
My full-length review of End of Days at this link.
The End of the Affair -- 6/10
Jordan's visuals are outstanding, and Moore and Fiennes have chemistry out the wazoo, getting fully naked again and again in copious sex scenes amongst stuffy, ornate, upper class British interiors, but The End of the Affair feels a bit stilted and rote. I think this is because the religious component, key to the novel, is handled with a strange uncomfortable awkwardness here, almost as if the film is embarrassed that this is what it's actually about. So it buries the religious themes under Moore's boobs and Fiennes butt in hopes that the viewer doesn't get distracted by them. But this is also an old story where Moore's frequent coughing is an obvious portend of her death, so if you're still going to follow that story faithfully, you probably should not mute the religious elements that surround it. Summarily, I enjoyed the film...but it was a muted enjoyment.
Eye of the Beholder -- 3/10
I'll give Eye of the Beholder credit for this: the first 45 minutes or so are a trip, with Judd continuously getting naked and brutally murdering people, and McGregor fawning over her from a distance as he fights off visions of his departed child. Writer/Director, Stephan Elliott, throws out every thrilling visual trick in the book during this half of the film to keep the viewer's attention. Unfortunately, Elliott does not appear skilled at telling an actual story through these visuals, so once the film slows down in its second half, there's essentially no reason to watch this incomprehensible film. I do appreciate the absolute 1999-ness of this, from the aesthetics to the electronics-heavy soundtrack, and also the strange way the movie almost metaphorically reflects on the decade, century, and millennia concluding, as the movie keeps moving to sparer and sparer locales with more and more minimal activity happening until it's in a bare, white Alaska at the end, and anything resembling narrative structure has disentangled into non-existence.
Eyes Wide Shut -- 7/10
Eyes Wide Shut is a decent erotic thriller. It's a case of one-upmanship between the Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman husband and wife characters, where Cruise flirts with some women at a party, but doesn't cheat, Kidman gets upset, Cruise says it's fine because men are always tempted like this, but he'll never cheat because he loves Kidman and they are married and besides, women are different, then Kidman says they aren't different, and she has been tempted too, giving Cruise a very specific case where that happened, though she didn't cheat either, which then causes Cruise to go out on one crazy night where he has escalating chances of cheating that he never takes, climaxing at an anonymous orgy for the extremely wealthy and powerful where Cruise has snuck in and does not belong. Cruise goes back to Kidman at the end, and the two admit that they are both awake to the temptations that can attack their marriage, but that their marriage is worthwhile and they will fight to keep it. There's a bit of a thriller aspect where Cruise is stalked after he is kicked out of the orgy, but Kubrick doesn't really follow through on it. And that's it for the film. As with every Kubrick movie, fans have assigned 100,000 words of meaning to images where Kubrick's chief thought was likely, "Perfect, this looks really cool." The whole secret society, illuminati, sex-trafficking subplot many have talked about simply isn't here unless someone brings that into the film with them. Kubrick certainly doesn't communicate any of these things as important or central through the basic language of his film. Yes, the orgy scene involves the rich and powerful, but it's a fairly milquetoast affair, and it feels like the actual message Kubrick is trying to convey there is a surface one: as much as Cruise's character tries to act like he is a suave, womanizing doctor, he doesn't belong to the amoral upper-crust; his home is nice, but comparatively modest next to most of the other interiors in the film. In truth, he's an upper middle-class monogamist, as is his wife, and it's easy to see Kubrick even using Cruise's character as a stand-in for himself, someone who is incredibly well-respected in his field, someone who is invited to some of the really nice parties, but someone who ultimately doesn't belong. I think that's all there really is to this film. As to the quality, Eyes Wide Shut is a good, but not great film. It goes on too long, some of the dialogue is clunky (in a Kubrick way), the fake New York streets feel horribly lifeless and sterile, and unfortunately, Kidman's Aussie accent sometimes peaks out like a frog from under an umbrella. Overall, though, Kidman and Cruise are quite good, and the film is solid enough, but no 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Felicia's Journey -- 7/10
Hoskins as a profoundly irritating man who lives in his dead celebrity chef mother's house that was lush in the 50s and hasn't been changed since, as he obsessively rewatches VHS tapes of her cooking program and bakes along, preparing elaborate meals for himself out of show-related appliances he keeps in a giant storage room, in-between his jaunts kidnapping and murdering teenaged girls, feels about as 1999 as you can get, plus Elaine Cassidy gives a knockout performance, but about 90 minutes into Felicia's Journey, the fun weirdness and remarkable tension wears off, and the ending feels rushed and kind of silly. I enjoyed it, but I feel like there's a better film here.
Fight Club -- 10/10
I'm fairly certain that anyone who thinks Fight Club hasn't aged well didn't catch its satire. Maybe that's because it is outrageously successful in having its cake and eating it too. It's as much a satire of disgruntled modern men acting out as it is insightful about the way modern men often rightfully feel. Hasn't aged a day. Still one of the 90s finest films and one of the many jewels in 1999s crown.
Flawless -- 4/10
What a damn mess! At least it's not as bad as Batman & Robin. Schumacher is definitely above this (and Batman & Robin), but like all his films, it at least looks good, and there are some isolated pockets of charm, including the final scene. I didn't absolutely hate Flawless, but it's...it's not good, Joel.
The Florentine -- 4/10
Following -- 8/10
With Following, Christopher Nolan comes right out of the gate with the blueprint for his asynchronous storytelling, served by a brilliant, lowdown noir vibe that perfectly reflects late 90s fin de siècle. The best $6K any aspiring filmmaker ever spent.
Freeway 2: Confessions of a Trickbaby -- 3/10
So over-the-top and stupid, it's impossible to make any emotional connection to the characters. After watching a meek and timid Natasha Lyonne in a cheesy rom-com, I wanted the assertive, boss-mode Lyonne, and she delivers here, but Freeway 2 is so dumb and badly made (Who the hell taught Lyonne to hold a gun? Could they not hire a firearms expert to visit the set for an hour?!) the excess and exploitation is tough to enjoy. I wanted to like this, and some of Lyonne's insane line deliveries had me cracking up, but I regretted giving it 80 minutes of my life by the end.
Galaxy Quest -- 10/10
A comedic film about actors from a cheesy old sci-fi show who are kidnapped by aliens that think that show is real has no busy working this well, let alone containing a scene that can illicit sobs. Perfect script, perfect execution. Galaxy Quest is one of 1999s shining, timeless jewels. Allen and the cast are pitch perfect. Newman's score is magnificent. The special effects are on par with that year's The Phantom Menace, despite a much smaller budget. Watch this.
Ghost Dog -- 7/10
Even though it's more a mood piece than an action film, I feel like Jarmusch's languid pace does hurt Ghost Dog a little bit, though his unique genre-bending and sense of mood and place also give it life. At a leaner 90 minutes, I think the movie would be an absolute classic. Still quite rad, especially RZA's soundtrack, Whitaker's performance, and an incredibly underrated turn by John Tormey.
Girl, Interrupted -- 6/10
The script here is a zero sum game, where the end result of the film feels like little to nothing is actually accomplished, but the performances, particularly Ryder as the lead, shine, as do the production values, including Jack N Green's strangely calming and muted, 60s-evoking cinematography, another unique and wonderful 1999 Mychael Danna musical score, and excellent costuming (Brittany Murphy's yellow jacket is magnificent). The direction by Mangold is solid, offsetting his less than stellar script, which features some great scenes, and great moments, surrounded by mediocrity. In fact, Girl, Interrupted is one of the more violent mashups of mediocrity and excellence I've seen. Even a mediocre 1999 film has to go to extremes.
Go -- 7/10
My full-length review of Go at this link.
The Green Mile -- 10/10
My full-length review of The Green Mile at this link.
Guinevere -- 8/10
Sarah Polley crushes it in Guinevere, as the naïve & vulnerable May to Stephen Rea's manipulative, commie, starving artist loser December, in a subtle, deeply shaded film that bangs Polley's character over the head more than the viewer. Also, Jean Smart gives arguably the best & most savagely delivered monologue of 1999 in a dressing down of Rea's character that should be legendary. Quite an underrated film.
The Haunting -- 2/10
My full-length review of The Haunting at this link.
Holy Smoke--5/10
Holy Smoke is an absolute mess that takes its audience's investment for granted--beautifully shot by Campion and well-acted by Winslet and Keitel, exploring a plethora of thematic depths, sometimes well, but never sets a baseline for any of the insanity. About as mixed a bag as a movie can be.
House on Haunted Hill -- 7/10
My full-length of House on Haunted Hill at this link.
Human Traffic -- 9/10
Plenty of late 90s films tried to capture that era's rave/drug scene, and most of those attempts just feel like a studio-noted corporate product. Justin Kerrigan's Human Traffic feels authentic, an actual real slice of life, the "one crazy night that DOESN'T change everything" that fellow 1999 flick Go was going for but failed miserably to conjure, mostly because almost everything in Go screams "LIFE CHANGING EVENT." Here, everyone gets inebriated, goes to a bar, gets more inebriated, goes to a club, gets even higher, goes to a house party, gets even more messed up, then comes down, and that's pretty much it. Sure, things happen because this is a movie and things have to happen, but even the most major events, i.e. romantic connections, just feel like they could eventually lead to change, but definitely won't any time soon, even to the point that the sobered up characters concede that eventually the clubbing life will grow boring and they'll transition to more traditional lifestyles...eventually. This feels like the halfway point to that destination. The performances are all stellar (John Simms in particular, as the lead), the gang of friends are all likeable in a way that feels real, and every psychedelic aside and cinematic affectation, of which there are multitudes, feels earned and natural. Loved this film.
The Hurricane -- 4/10
First of all, Denzel is expectedly great. He's one of the greatest living actors. Second, the film looks good and the jazzy soundtrack by Christopher Young is enjoyable. However, about 45-minutes into this two-hour and forty-five minute film, my BS-alarms starting going off. This guy who espouses making yourself from the ground up is also foiled at absolutely every step of his life by other people? So I paused the film and read about the true life events surrounding Rubin Carter. Wow. Biopics take liberties. This one may as well take "biopic" off the label. The next badly paced and overly sentimental two hours went over like a lead balloon. I'm glad Joey Giardello won his case against the film.
Idle Hands -5/10
My full-length review of Idle Hands at this link.
In Dreams -- 3/10
My full-length review of In Dreams at this link.
In Too Deep -- 8/10
No big twists, no crazy innovations to the undercover genre, just a straightforward story, told clearly, shot well, and brilliantly acted. Epps is at the absolute top of his game, and LL Cool J gives a surprisingly menacing and nuanced performance. Michael Rymer directed some of the greatest Battlestar Galactica reboot episodes, meaning he's directed some of the greatest television episodes, and he somehow gives urban Ohio of all places a definite, consistent, and unique tone and identify here. In Too Deep is a hidden 1999 gem, with some big standout moments, particularly when Epps' character starts to lose himself in his undercover alter ego. You know this type of movie has worked when you want the good guy to take the bad guy down at the end, but you DON'T want the bad guy to know that the good guy is the one who's done it.
The Insider -- 8/10
Extraordinarily well made and shot by Mann at his peak, but not without flaws, namely an overly studied and practiced performance by Crowe and Venora going full Scarlett O'Hara. The subject matter also isn't exactly riveting, and a tighter screenplay may have abated that. Still a very good, visually stunning film, featuring maybe the last great, subdued work by Pacino, and Plummer essentially becoming Mike Wallace.
Instinct -- 3/10
Started actually feeling sorry for this movie about halfway through because it is trying so hard, but almost nothing works. Whatever his vices, Cuba Gooding Jr. is an Oscar-winning actor for a reason--the guy can act, and he's good here, as is Anthony Hopkins, who it should go without saying, is one of the greatest. Instinct just outright fails to elicit care for its central quandary, then in the end, fails to resolve it in any satisfying way. There are extremely cheesy moments where Gooding Jr.'s psychiatrist character is assertive for the health of the patients at the movie's main asylum setting that are eye-rolling, no matter how hard Gooding Jr. tries to make them work. The only moment that does work is 90 minutes in, when the audience is finally shown what happened to Hopkins' character; it's a uniquely powerful, moving, and action-packed scene, featuring probably the best animatronic gorilla work Stan Winston has ever done...I just wish I cared even half as much throughout the rest of the film as I did throughout that one scene.
The Iron Giant -- 7/10
I don't know what I was expecting from The Iron Giant, but it was fine. Simple characters, simple morals, and good animation, musical score, and voice acting. Hearkens back to the space age like many '99 films. A good movie...but I can't see the classic here that some have posited.
Jawbreaker -- 3/10
To a degree I understand the cult status. The aesthetics and style are unique and Rose McGowan gives a mean girl performance for the ages--she's terrifying. On top of that, McGowan and Gayheart look about as beautiful as any women have ever looked on the screen. However, this movie is dumb. It is so, so dumb. The characters are goofy, stupid caricatures who don't act in any way believably. The plot is stupid. The film has a gross, nauseating atmosphere. Granted, I don't generally enjoy camp, and of all the myriad teen rom-coms of 1999, Jawbreaker is by far the campiest, but I CAN enjoy it if it's incisive and clever ala Serial Mom. There are a few incisive and clever moments underneath the many hard layers of stupidity here, but they are few and far between. Also, how is this the SECOND movie of 1999 to feature the Donnas playing prom? How good was their A&R that year? No knock on The Donnas, but from someone who graduated in that time period, that sound wasn't exactly the cool thing.
Lake Placid -- 3/10
My full-length review of Lake Placid at this link.
The Legend of Titanic -- 0/10
Life -- 7/10
Wisely turns the comedy down a bit to focus on the dual lead characters and their complicated relationship. The former bummed me out 25 years ago, even if there are still quite a few laughs, but the latter hit my emotions fairly hard this time around, especially the time jumps revealing them to be older and older. I just wish the script was a little tighter. This is a good movie, but it could have been great. I hate to negatively compare this to The Shawshank Redemption, as on many levels that simply isn't fair, but I think a comparison of the endings is fair game. Shawshank lays out breadcrumb after breadcrumb so that its ending is doubly impactful. Life does nothing to set its ending up other than try to convince the viewer the leads are dead at the start, and having one of those leads say "I have an idea" right before the ending happens. There are so many logical holes (SPOILER: the two missing bodies in the morgue would be immediately noticed, the leads are 90 and can barely get around let alone stowaway on a fire engine, and they have no money or means to get to New York, let alone attend a Yankee game SPOILERS END) the ending feels like a cheap cheat, especially after the movie puts so much effort into balancing its comedy and drama properly. Murphy and Lawrence are as good dramatically here as they've ever been and their chemistry is as good as Murphy and Hall's was in the 80s, albeit with a more dramatic flair. I'll likely revisit Life more in the future than every 25 years, but I'll likely be lamenting that "This movie could have been even better!" every time.
The Life Before This -- 2/10
Boring, dull, and borderline incompetent, The Life Before This wastes Polley, Pants, Rea, and O'Hara on poorly drawn, unlikeable characters, swinging for the thematic fences like a toddler trying to knock a whiffle ball over the Green Monster.
The Limey -- 8/10
Like if that scene in Fight Club where Norton and Pitt beat the Volkswagen Beetle with baseball bats if it was an entire movie. Plenty of 1999 films looked back at previous decades in the century, and particularly the 60s, but none of them with such merciless deconstruction as this. Crime caper, The Limey, pits a boomer career criminal against a boomer music mogul dabbling in crime against each other, embodied by two of the 60s most iconic actors. Both characters are living off of a commodified fiction of the past, but Soderbergh and cinematographer, Edward Lachman, with noirish lighting and yet another beautiful 1999 washed out palette, make 1999 L.A. look like the coolest place on Earth (and how I remember it in 1999, which is a whole other layer). Yet as good as The Limey is, and it is damned good, tightening and polishing the action cues (particularly the final shootout) may have put this film over-the-top into legendary territory.
The Loss of Sexual Innocence -- 5/10
About as artsy fartsy as a movie can get before it becomes completely untethered. There's a lot of food for thought in simply attempting to decipher what exactly Figgis is saying, and the ways he contrasts sex with death and violence. As ridiculous and pretentiously pompous as The Loss of Sexual Innocence is though, there is something here, enough to say that Figgis doesn't necessarily fail, nor does he necessarily succeed. The strange, avant-garde result of his work lands somewhere in-between.
Lost & Found -- 5/10
Thought this would be awful, but it just ended up being an average, adequate 90s comedy. Lost & Found is dumb, but pleasant and harmless. I laughed 15-20 times, and it was over. Sophie Marceau is one of the great beauties of the 90's and months after being won over by a dog-stealing David Spade, she seduced James Bond in The World Is Not Enough. What a year!
Magnolia -- 10/10
Is Magnolia brilliant? Is Magnolia terrible? Do I love it? Do I hate it? The line is so thin. It rides the line of things I love and hate in a film so close to the edge, self-indulgently portraying earnest, explosive, and pure emotion in a way that feels real and relatable, and yet heightened and alien. Too long, yet not long enough. So close, yet so far away. Today, I’m giving it a 10/10. Next time, I might give it a one.
Man On the Moon -- 8/10
Comes about as close as a biopic can to transcending the tropes of the genre without quite breaking orbit, flying so high and so far mostly fueled by Jim Carrey's powerful, total transformation into a multitude of Kaufman's personas, apparently to the point that, at least according to Jerry Lawler, he's eternally cracked the foundations of his mind. Despite the general shallow side-character characterizations, and the sometimes scattered jumps from event to event, the film does a great job of zoning in on the most interesting aspect of this story: what is real and what is a facade? Numerous scenes play out with glorious discomfort until the audience is given any sign that something has been pre-planned by Kaufman and his participants and isn't real, and sometimes the film never breaks character and leaves this up to the viewer. This perfectly positions the film into the 1999 zeitgeist, coming the same year that The Blair Witch Project posed the same questions--this is the final year such questions would be so pertinent to pop culture, with the advancing popularization of the Internet and its social media and Wikipedia. It's a shame this flopped, though it did at least get that damn R.E.M. song stuck in my head for the last 25 years. Flop or not, Man on the Moon is sewn into the fabric of 1999 forever.
Mansfield Park -- 6/10
Mansfield Park is a well made film, inventively shot, featuring great acting by all involved, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. The major flaws come from the way the filmmaker thought she could do better than Jane Austen. All of the protagonist's flaws from the source material are gone. She's now right about everything, she does everything right, she makes all the correct decisions except for once, but she immediately remedies that one bad decision to no ill effect, she knows everything, and near the end of the film, another character essentially states this to the audience, just in case they haven't yet realized it. Thus, the protagonist is difficult to empathize with or even pull for, as she doesn't really have anything to overcome, she just has to wait until everyone realizes that she's been (and will be) right all the time. In that way, she feels like a precursor for many of the lousy, unlikable, unrelatable heroines of the late 2010s/early 2020s. The filmmaker also puts greater negative emphasis on the central wealthy family's means of gaining that wealth, but to no final purpose, so that calling extra attention to it feels frivolous, as she is unequipped to explore that topic to any satisfying depth. That element is yet another precursor, this time for many late 2010s/early 2020s filmmakers who tried to inject social messages into their films. This could have been a great movie.
The Matrix -- 10/10
The Matrix is just as revelatory now as it was 25 years ago. A cyberpunk masterpiece, perfectly conceived, casted, & executed. A visual, aural, & philosophical work of art. Hang every frame in the Louvre. THIS is 1999! Not just a foundational film for the year, but a cornerstone.
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc -- 5/10
A mean, nasty, bleak, and downer postmodern take on the Joan of Arc story, that doesn't seem quite sure of what it wants to be, and burns too much time trying to figure it out. The production values, which feature lots of grime, slime, and body fluids feels fairly high, and Luc Besson unfurls shot after memorable shot, including a one-take of a fully-armored Milla Jovovich falling off a ladder into a crowd that has to be seen to be believed. Jovovich is...interesting in this film. I don't think she's bad, even though Besson has her mostly acting like a wide-eyed, rabid feral creature. Besson also has Jovovich speak in her native California accent, which is certainly...a choice, as is the choice to let French king, John Malkovich, speak in his native Chicago dialect. The Messenger is a weird film that works sometimes and flounders sometimes, like a descaled, yet somehow still twitching fish on a bloody, rotten pier. Not one of 1999's best.
A Midsummer Night's Dream -- 6/10
The Mod Squad -- 6/10
My full-length review of The Mod Squad at this link.
Mumford -- 5/10
Yet another of 1999s myriad weird, mid-budget, adult-minded dramadies. The concept of a fake therapist having a startlingly positive effect on the quirky citizens of his adopted town is fun, and the casting, including a charming Loren Dean as the lead, is excellent, but the movie fails to hold interest throughout.
The Mummy -- 9/10
Bowfinger -- 8/10
Brilliant comedy/satire/spoof of Hollywood, filmmaking, egocentrism,
narcissism, and the vampiric institutions that grow up around these things.
Perfectly casted, from Steve Martin's obsessed, amoral filmmaker, to Eddie
Murphy's paranoid actor/goofy nice guy dual role, to Heather Graham's
man-eater who uses her looks to sleep through every cast member to get
everything she wants. Frank Oz, aka Yoda, shoots this movie so well and even
injects some satisfying action beats, particularly the one where the goofy
Murphy character has to run across many lanes of packed, high-speed L.A.
freeway traffic like a terrified Frogger...twice! As perfectly paced and
continuously enjoyable as Bowfinger is, it does have one flaw for a
comedy: it really isn't that laugh-out-loud funny. I often found myself
smiling and smirking, but only laughing four or five times. Still, this is a
smart, well-made, incisive film, whose timeless, Hollywood-mocking humor has
stood the test of time. I enjoy it quite a bit.
Boys Don't Cry -- 4/10
The first 4/5 is a boring, unfocused slog that suffers from inconsistent
verisimilitude, while lacking a single likable character. The final
half-hour is brutal and sad, but at least less aimless. I can't figure out
if Swank's performance is good, or a weird, off-putting, gee-whiz
caricature of Matt Damon.
Bringing Out the Dead -- 7/10
My full-length review of Bringing Out the Dead at this link.
Brokedown Palace -- 7/10
Watched this for the first time since my baby sister rented it 25 years ago. Brokedown Palace is not a great film, but I do think it is a good one, one the critics of 1999, like with that same year's Life, unfairly compared to other prison films instead of judging it by its own merits. Danes is great, and Pullman puts in one of the best performances of his career, as a sleazy lawyer in for a big payday, who eventually finds himself both possessing a heart and willing to go pro bono. I also dig the light trip-hop soundtrack. A product of its time, and all the better for it.
Buddy Boy -- 4/10
What a weird and miserable film. I'll give it this, it never shies away from its dedication to grime. It's gross from start to finish.
But I'm a Cheerleader -- 5/10
But I'm a Cheerleader is a campy, goofy rom-com with a few solid laughs, but an ending so cheesy, I'm going to be constipated for the rest of the month, especially considering I made the mistake of watching multiple rom-coms this week. I will say, Lyonne in the 90s had an It Factor I wish she could have parlayed into a better career, and she's as good here as anywhere she's been.
Cherry Falls -- 7/10
My full-length review of Cherry Falls at this link.
The Cider House Rules -- 3/10
A goopy, icky, manipulative melodrama that also seems strangely sympathetic with its parental rapist character. There are two versions of Tobey Maguire, and you get them both in 1999: the nuanced Tobey Maguire in Ride Like the Devil and the "I just walked in on my parents having sex" face for the entire movie Tobey Maguire you get in The Cider House Rules. Also, somehow Michael Caine won a best supporting actor Oscar for his entirely unremarkable performance in this film, beating out much stronger performances from 1999, i.e. Haley Joel Osment for The Sixth Sense. All I can think is that this is a Miramax film, and Harvey Weinstein must have demanded the film receive some Oscars (just like he did for Shakespeare In the Love the year before), or simply Hollywood really loves to pat themselves on the back when they make after school special style movies about the social issues this film flounders while exploring, a sunken, now mostly forgotten wreck. Either one of those could also explain how this treacly, melodramatic writing won Best Adapted Screenplay over several far more deserving contenders. Then again, the Oscars are a joke (just look at what else won awards that year), but so is this film.
The Confession -- 8/10
The Confession is slow. It's muted. A couple of early scenes are awkwardly staged. Most of the first half takes place in muted, heavily carpeted interiors, where Alec Baldwin continuously purses his lips. Then Baldwin's character gets baptized, really baptized, with whiskey because it's the only liquid available. At that point, you either buy into the film's complex moral exploration, or you just don't care. I found myself caring to a surprising degree. This is a quiet, dialogue-heavy courtroom drama where Baldwin is slowly, inexorably redeemed by Kingsley's character, losing the world, but gaining his soul. If that sounds like your sort of thing, this will also be right up your alley. If not, steer clear. Also, as good as Baldwin and Kingsley (as well as Amy Irving) are here, Kevin Conway steals the show. He's amazing.
The Corruptor -- 5/10
There is a really good movie somewhere in here. Director, James Foley, goes for a serious crime epic, but unfortunately, he, his editor, and to some degree the script are not up to the task. Chow Yun-fat and Mark Wahlberg play cop partners who have both been corrupted to some degree; by criminal elements, as well as different layers of law enforcement, and even their families. Chow Yun-fat is always going to be good, but the oft-derided Marky Mark is quite up to the task here as well, and these two have great chemistry as a pair who find that their bond has become stronger than the various ties pulling against it. There's even an incredible car chase halfway through (perhaps the best of 1999) that finally answers the question, "How do civilians always jump out of the way of the oncoming cars and never get hurt?" with, "Instead of that, let's have them all either get run over or mowed down in a hail of gunfire!" The chase even ends with heavy machinery, an explosion, and an innovative third party intervention. It's all beautifully lit and shot as well, as cinematographer, Juan Ruiz Anchía, turns in absolutely stunning work. All of these elements lift the film from "pretty bad" to just "mediocre." The issues are myriad, foremost Foley ordering a bunch of zoom and rapid pans that throw off the film's visual rhythm and combine with its shoddy editing to create a strangely glacial feeling of disinterest--shocking considering the actual events happening onscreen. Couple that with an inconsistent sound design, and a strangely passive Carter Burwell score that just doesn't fit the majority of the film, and you've got a perfect case study in "What went wrong here?" that offers numerous solutions. Again, quite a bummer considering the film's plentiful positives, and the fact that its title is ripe for exploration given the subject matter: who is The Corrupter? Well, unfortunately in this case, it's the studio and the filmmakers.
Cruel Intentions -- 5/10
The vast majority of my friends love it, but I just can't get into Cruel Intentions, a movie I find gross, cruel, nasty, & completely illogical, though I can't deny it's got two of the greatest needle drops in 1999 cinema, some good performances and a couple of iconic, if stupid moments.
The Curse of the Blair Witch -- 7/10
Curse of The Blair Witch has to be one of the greatest television tie-ins to a movie ever made--great pains were taken to make this thing feel like a real television documentary, and in the end it is almost as good as the actual film, probably scarier. Greatly enhances the film.
Deep Blue Sea -- 7/10
My full-length review of Deep Blue Sea at this link.
Detroit Rock City -- 5/10
My full-length review of Detroit Rock City at this link.
Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo -- 6/10
Awesomely, amazingly, offensively, incredibly, phenomenally, magnificently, defiantly stupid. I laughed so hard, so many times. Anyone who can't enjoy a film like this because it is "problematic" must be really fun at parties.
Dick -- 6/10
My full-length review of Dick at this link.
Dogma -- 2/10
Like if the stoner idiot down the street with a greasy pinky's grip on theology had $10 million to make a movie about it. Forget that, and you've still got a movie whose runtime is roughly 95% exposition through dialogue. Rickman is good, but he's good in everything. This movie is lousy.
Double Jeopardy -- 5/10
The first 30 minutes of Double Jeopardy is like a low
rent Lifetime movie. However, from the moment Tommy Lee Jones is
introduced, as he looks up and frowns from his desk at that 30-minute
mark, the film is elevated to a fun, Fugitive-lite thriller
with some enjoyable action beats. Jones plays an older, wearier, less
effective version of his Fugitive character here, and
it's almost shocking how many plot beats Double Jeopardy follows from that film. From Jones' entrance, Double Jeopardy is about as half as good as The Fugitive, but
considering how great The Fugitive is, that's still
good enough to be entertaining. However, considering Double Jeopardy made so much money, it nearly cracked the 1999 box office top
ten, there's something more here than "good enough to be entertaining."
When I graduated high school several months after this film was
released, I made a bunch of top 25 lists. "Best Video Games." Best
Movies." "Best Babes." Yes, "Best Babes," and Ashley Judd was WAY high
on that list. Watching this film now, it's clear that Judd's acting
isn't spectacular, but her screen presence is off the charts...AND SHE'S
FINE AS HELL. Good grief. I may have not placed her high enough! In my
opinion, Judd is finer looking in this than just about anybody in
anything. Paramount parlayed that into big bucks, adding audience
favorite Jones to sweeten the deal. The famed studio can also brag, "Of
the two films that Ashley Judd, at the peak of her career, gets fully
nude in in 1999, coincidentally, also the only two films that Ashley
Judd stars in in 1999, ours is the one that is not terrible."
Sorry, Eye of the Beholder.
Drive Me Crazy -- 6/10
Drive Me Crazy is the other side of She's All That's dumb but fairly enjoyable 1999 teenage romantic comedy coin. She's All That leans more into the comedy, while Drive Me Crazy is lighter on the comedy but leans a little more into the romantic and is a little more thoughtful. This is best illustrated by how both films handle their "day out on the water" scenes. She's All That's stands out for Paul Walker's incredibly hilarious, "Hey look at the bobos on super freak!" line (I'm not being sarcastic, the moment is genuinely funny), and Drive Me Crazy's stands out for the quiet bonding conversation the male lead has with a tertiary character about how they're both uncomfortable with their newfound popularity. Both end with dumb, overblown dances and the predictable romantic unity of the leads, but while She's All That's spectacle is more impressive, I definitely cared and BELIEVED more when the couple kissed at the end of Drive Me Crazy. Also, and apropos of nothing, I completely forgot how much of an absolute babe Melissa Joan Hart was in 1999.
Drop Dead Gorgeous -- 3/10
I'm not a fan of camp, but if the tone is well-crafted and consistent, if there's some recognizable connection to the real world and there's some deeper purpose in mind, I can stomach it (i.e., John Waters' Serial Mom). Every single scene, moment, line, line-reading in Drop Dead Gorgeous goes so far over-the-top, there's nothing grounded in reality, and no sense of purpose or meaning for this film to exist outside of meanness itself. The movie was critically excoriated when it was released, and it's easy to see why. The cult status Drop Dead Gorgeous recently achieved seems strictly due to the fact that this perspective of a small town and its folk is totally and completely noxious. If you were the person who sat in the back of every town gathering growing up and hated everything, not because you saw something objectively wrong with those things, but simply because hating is the way you are, you will love this film's perspective. It laughs at and not at all with its small town Minnesota setting and characters, feels as mean and bitter as someone who was perennially picked last, not for their lack of skill, but for an awful attitude, and it is barely even funny, unless extremely obvious and off-putting humor is the viewer's cup of tea. Kirsten Dunst is absolutely luminous in this film, except for the moments where she opens her mouth, and as with all the other film's characters, her godawful, mean-spirited, fake Minnesota accent barfs out. I couldn't help but think of Fargo while watching this, and how the over-the-top accents in that film are endearing rather than some type of forced dialect assault on the ears like they are here. I think this is because, for all its darkness, Fargo is grounded in a sense of decency Drop Dead Gorgeous seems specifically crafted to mock and defecate upon. I don't hate everything, and I came into this movie thinking I would love it, but my feelings for Drop Dead Gorgeous are as negative and ugly as the film itself. It sucks.
End of Days -- 6/10
My full-length review of End of Days at this link.
The End of the Affair -- 6/10
Jordan's visuals are outstanding, and Moore and Fiennes have chemistry out the wazoo, getting fully naked again and again in copious sex scenes amongst stuffy, ornate, upper class British interiors, but The End of the Affair feels a bit stilted and rote. I think this is because the religious component, key to the novel, is handled with a strange uncomfortable awkwardness here, almost as if the film is embarrassed that this is what it's actually about. So it buries the religious themes under Moore's boobs and Fiennes butt in hopes that the viewer doesn't get distracted by them. But this is also an old story where Moore's frequent coughing is an obvious portend of her death, so if you're still going to follow that story faithfully, you probably should not mute the religious elements that surround it. Summarily, I enjoyed the film...but it was a muted enjoyment.
Eye of the Beholder -- 3/10
I'll give Eye of the Beholder credit for this: the first 45 minutes or so are a trip, with Judd continuously getting naked and brutally murdering people, and McGregor fawning over her from a distance as he fights off visions of his departed child. Writer/Director, Stephan Elliott, throws out every thrilling visual trick in the book during this half of the film to keep the viewer's attention. Unfortunately, Elliott does not appear skilled at telling an actual story through these visuals, so once the film slows down in its second half, there's essentially no reason to watch this incomprehensible film. I do appreciate the absolute 1999-ness of this, from the aesthetics to the electronics-heavy soundtrack, and also the strange way the movie almost metaphorically reflects on the decade, century, and millennia concluding, as the movie keeps moving to sparer and sparer locales with more and more minimal activity happening until it's in a bare, white Alaska at the end, and anything resembling narrative structure has disentangled into non-existence.
Eyes Wide Shut -- 7/10
Eyes Wide Shut is a decent erotic thriller. It's a case of one-upmanship between the Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman husband and wife characters, where Cruise flirts with some women at a party, but doesn't cheat, Kidman gets upset, Cruise says it's fine because men are always tempted like this, but he'll never cheat because he loves Kidman and they are married and besides, women are different, then Kidman says they aren't different, and she has been tempted too, giving Cruise a very specific case where that happened, though she didn't cheat either, which then causes Cruise to go out on one crazy night where he has escalating chances of cheating that he never takes, climaxing at an anonymous orgy for the extremely wealthy and powerful where Cruise has snuck in and does not belong. Cruise goes back to Kidman at the end, and the two admit that they are both awake to the temptations that can attack their marriage, but that their marriage is worthwhile and they will fight to keep it. There's a bit of a thriller aspect where Cruise is stalked after he is kicked out of the orgy, but Kubrick doesn't really follow through on it. And that's it for the film. As with every Kubrick movie, fans have assigned 100,000 words of meaning to images where Kubrick's chief thought was likely, "Perfect, this looks really cool." The whole secret society, illuminati, sex-trafficking subplot many have talked about simply isn't here unless someone brings that into the film with them. Kubrick certainly doesn't communicate any of these things as important or central through the basic language of his film. Yes, the orgy scene involves the rich and powerful, but it's a fairly milquetoast affair, and it feels like the actual message Kubrick is trying to convey there is a surface one: as much as Cruise's character tries to act like he is a suave, womanizing doctor, he doesn't belong to the amoral upper-crust; his home is nice, but comparatively modest next to most of the other interiors in the film. In truth, he's an upper middle-class monogamist, as is his wife, and it's easy to see Kubrick even using Cruise's character as a stand-in for himself, someone who is incredibly well-respected in his field, someone who is invited to some of the really nice parties, but someone who ultimately doesn't belong. I think that's all there really is to this film. As to the quality, Eyes Wide Shut is a good, but not great film. It goes on too long, some of the dialogue is clunky (in a Kubrick way), the fake New York streets feel horribly lifeless and sterile, and unfortunately, Kidman's Aussie accent sometimes peaks out like a frog from under an umbrella. Overall, though, Kidman and Cruise are quite good, and the film is solid enough, but no 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Felicia's Journey -- 7/10
Hoskins as a profoundly irritating man who lives in his dead celebrity chef mother's house that was lush in the 50s and hasn't been changed since, as he obsessively rewatches VHS tapes of her cooking program and bakes along, preparing elaborate meals for himself out of show-related appliances he keeps in a giant storage room, in-between his jaunts kidnapping and murdering teenaged girls, feels about as 1999 as you can get, plus Elaine Cassidy gives a knockout performance, but about 90 minutes into Felicia's Journey, the fun weirdness and remarkable tension wears off, and the ending feels rushed and kind of silly. I enjoyed it, but I feel like there's a better film here.
Fight Club -- 10/10
I'm fairly certain that anyone who thinks Fight Club hasn't aged well didn't catch its satire. Maybe that's because it is outrageously successful in having its cake and eating it too. It's as much a satire of disgruntled modern men acting out as it is insightful about the way modern men often rightfully feel. Hasn't aged a day. Still one of the 90s finest films and one of the many jewels in 1999s crown.
Flawless -- 4/10
What a damn mess! At least it's not as bad as Batman & Robin. Schumacher is definitely above this (and Batman & Robin), but like all his films, it at least looks good, and there are some isolated pockets of charm, including the final scene. I didn't absolutely hate Flawless, but it's...it's not good, Joel.
The Florentine -- 4/10
Sentimental as a Hallmark greeting card, featuring characters who act
like video game NPC's, speaking dialogue almost completely composed of
platitudes.
The Florentine feels like someone wanted to make one of those
1970s, "small town in deterioration" films, but set in then present day
1999. I wish this could have found a balance between the all-out
nihilism some of those 1970s films could fall into and the Lifetime
drama with F-bombs it itself falls into. Still...so many great actors,
and the unlucky loser, grey skies, molding bricks vibe is kind of
charming.
I didn't hate it.
Following -- 8/10
With Following, Christopher Nolan comes right out of the gate with the blueprint for his asynchronous storytelling, served by a brilliant, lowdown noir vibe that perfectly reflects late 90s fin de siècle. The best $6K any aspiring filmmaker ever spent.
Freeway 2: Confessions of a Trickbaby -- 3/10
So over-the-top and stupid, it's impossible to make any emotional connection to the characters. After watching a meek and timid Natasha Lyonne in a cheesy rom-com, I wanted the assertive, boss-mode Lyonne, and she delivers here, but Freeway 2 is so dumb and badly made (Who the hell taught Lyonne to hold a gun? Could they not hire a firearms expert to visit the set for an hour?!) the excess and exploitation is tough to enjoy. I wanted to like this, and some of Lyonne's insane line deliveries had me cracking up, but I regretted giving it 80 minutes of my life by the end.
Galaxy Quest -- 10/10
A comedic film about actors from a cheesy old sci-fi show who are kidnapped by aliens that think that show is real has no busy working this well, let alone containing a scene that can illicit sobs. Perfect script, perfect execution. Galaxy Quest is one of 1999s shining, timeless jewels. Allen and the cast are pitch perfect. Newman's score is magnificent. The special effects are on par with that year's The Phantom Menace, despite a much smaller budget. Watch this.
Ghost Dog -- 7/10
Even though it's more a mood piece than an action film, I feel like Jarmusch's languid pace does hurt Ghost Dog a little bit, though his unique genre-bending and sense of mood and place also give it life. At a leaner 90 minutes, I think the movie would be an absolute classic. Still quite rad, especially RZA's soundtrack, Whitaker's performance, and an incredibly underrated turn by John Tormey.
Girl, Interrupted -- 6/10
The script here is a zero sum game, where the end result of the film feels like little to nothing is actually accomplished, but the performances, particularly Ryder as the lead, shine, as do the production values, including Jack N Green's strangely calming and muted, 60s-evoking cinematography, another unique and wonderful 1999 Mychael Danna musical score, and excellent costuming (Brittany Murphy's yellow jacket is magnificent). The direction by Mangold is solid, offsetting his less than stellar script, which features some great scenes, and great moments, surrounded by mediocrity. In fact, Girl, Interrupted is one of the more violent mashups of mediocrity and excellence I've seen. Even a mediocre 1999 film has to go to extremes.
Go -- 7/10
My full-length review of Go at this link.
The Green Mile -- 10/10
My full-length review of The Green Mile at this link.
Guinevere -- 8/10
Sarah Polley crushes it in Guinevere, as the naïve & vulnerable May to Stephen Rea's manipulative, commie, starving artist loser December, in a subtle, deeply shaded film that bangs Polley's character over the head more than the viewer. Also, Jean Smart gives arguably the best & most savagely delivered monologue of 1999 in a dressing down of Rea's character that should be legendary. Quite an underrated film.
The Haunting -- 2/10
My full-length review of The Haunting at this link.
Holy Smoke--5/10
Holy Smoke is an absolute mess that takes its audience's investment for granted--beautifully shot by Campion and well-acted by Winslet and Keitel, exploring a plethora of thematic depths, sometimes well, but never sets a baseline for any of the insanity. About as mixed a bag as a movie can be.
House on Haunted Hill -- 7/10
My full-length of House on Haunted Hill at this link.
Human Traffic -- 9/10
Plenty of late 90s films tried to capture that era's rave/drug scene, and most of those attempts just feel like a studio-noted corporate product. Justin Kerrigan's Human Traffic feels authentic, an actual real slice of life, the "one crazy night that DOESN'T change everything" that fellow 1999 flick Go was going for but failed miserably to conjure, mostly because almost everything in Go screams "LIFE CHANGING EVENT." Here, everyone gets inebriated, goes to a bar, gets more inebriated, goes to a club, gets even higher, goes to a house party, gets even more messed up, then comes down, and that's pretty much it. Sure, things happen because this is a movie and things have to happen, but even the most major events, i.e. romantic connections, just feel like they could eventually lead to change, but definitely won't any time soon, even to the point that the sobered up characters concede that eventually the clubbing life will grow boring and they'll transition to more traditional lifestyles...eventually. This feels like the halfway point to that destination. The performances are all stellar (John Simms in particular, as the lead), the gang of friends are all likeable in a way that feels real, and every psychedelic aside and cinematic affectation, of which there are multitudes, feels earned and natural. Loved this film.
The Hurricane -- 4/10
First of all, Denzel is expectedly great. He's one of the greatest living actors. Second, the film looks good and the jazzy soundtrack by Christopher Young is enjoyable. However, about 45-minutes into this two-hour and forty-five minute film, my BS-alarms starting going off. This guy who espouses making yourself from the ground up is also foiled at absolutely every step of his life by other people? So I paused the film and read about the true life events surrounding Rubin Carter. Wow. Biopics take liberties. This one may as well take "biopic" off the label. The next badly paced and overly sentimental two hours went over like a lead balloon. I'm glad Joey Giardello won his case against the film.
Idle Hands -5/10
My full-length review of Idle Hands at this link.
In Dreams -- 3/10
My full-length review of In Dreams at this link.
In Too Deep -- 8/10
No big twists, no crazy innovations to the undercover genre, just a straightforward story, told clearly, shot well, and brilliantly acted. Epps is at the absolute top of his game, and LL Cool J gives a surprisingly menacing and nuanced performance. Michael Rymer directed some of the greatest Battlestar Galactica reboot episodes, meaning he's directed some of the greatest television episodes, and he somehow gives urban Ohio of all places a definite, consistent, and unique tone and identify here. In Too Deep is a hidden 1999 gem, with some big standout moments, particularly when Epps' character starts to lose himself in his undercover alter ego. You know this type of movie has worked when you want the good guy to take the bad guy down at the end, but you DON'T want the bad guy to know that the good guy is the one who's done it.
The Insider -- 8/10
Extraordinarily well made and shot by Mann at his peak, but not without flaws, namely an overly studied and practiced performance by Crowe and Venora going full Scarlett O'Hara. The subject matter also isn't exactly riveting, and a tighter screenplay may have abated that. Still a very good, visually stunning film, featuring maybe the last great, subdued work by Pacino, and Plummer essentially becoming Mike Wallace.
Instinct -- 3/10
Started actually feeling sorry for this movie about halfway through because it is trying so hard, but almost nothing works. Whatever his vices, Cuba Gooding Jr. is an Oscar-winning actor for a reason--the guy can act, and he's good here, as is Anthony Hopkins, who it should go without saying, is one of the greatest. Instinct just outright fails to elicit care for its central quandary, then in the end, fails to resolve it in any satisfying way. There are extremely cheesy moments where Gooding Jr.'s psychiatrist character is assertive for the health of the patients at the movie's main asylum setting that are eye-rolling, no matter how hard Gooding Jr. tries to make them work. The only moment that does work is 90 minutes in, when the audience is finally shown what happened to Hopkins' character; it's a uniquely powerful, moving, and action-packed scene, featuring probably the best animatronic gorilla work Stan Winston has ever done...I just wish I cared even half as much throughout the rest of the film as I did throughout that one scene.
The Iron Giant -- 7/10
I don't know what I was expecting from The Iron Giant, but it was fine. Simple characters, simple morals, and good animation, musical score, and voice acting. Hearkens back to the space age like many '99 films. A good movie...but I can't see the classic here that some have posited.
Jawbreaker -- 3/10
To a degree I understand the cult status. The aesthetics and style are unique and Rose McGowan gives a mean girl performance for the ages--she's terrifying. On top of that, McGowan and Gayheart look about as beautiful as any women have ever looked on the screen. However, this movie is dumb. It is so, so dumb. The characters are goofy, stupid caricatures who don't act in any way believably. The plot is stupid. The film has a gross, nauseating atmosphere. Granted, I don't generally enjoy camp, and of all the myriad teen rom-coms of 1999, Jawbreaker is by far the campiest, but I CAN enjoy it if it's incisive and clever ala Serial Mom. There are a few incisive and clever moments underneath the many hard layers of stupidity here, but they are few and far between. Also, how is this the SECOND movie of 1999 to feature the Donnas playing prom? How good was their A&R that year? No knock on The Donnas, but from someone who graduated in that time period, that sound wasn't exactly the cool thing.
Lake Placid -- 3/10
My full-length review of Lake Placid at this link.
The Legend of Titanic -- 0/10
Most people think that the Titanic, a massive ocean liner, sailed from
England in 1912 toward New York, hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic,
and sank soon after, killing over 1500 of the 2224 passengers aboard.
All of those people are wrong. No one died during the sinking of the
Titanic. After a giant octopus was tricked into throwing an iceberg at
the ship, he and his whale and dolphin friends sped to the ship to make
sure not a single soul died. And not a single soul died. All of the
humans, and talking mice and dogs made it alive to New York and had a
giant party in the harbor with the octopus, and whales, and dolphins who
saved them. At least that's according to 1999s
The Legend of the Titanic.
Imagine the plot I just mentioned, awfully hand-animated by a North
Korean team, voiced in the goofiest fashion possible, paced like a fever
dream. The Legend of the Titanic stakes a serious claim as the worst
movie ever made. It thankfully goes almost unimaginably far into the so
bad its good territory, that I highly enjoyed watching it...at 1.5 speed
on YouTube. The octopus throws that iceberg even faster that way.
Life -- 7/10
Wisely turns the comedy down a bit to focus on the dual lead characters and their complicated relationship. The former bummed me out 25 years ago, even if there are still quite a few laughs, but the latter hit my emotions fairly hard this time around, especially the time jumps revealing them to be older and older. I just wish the script was a little tighter. This is a good movie, but it could have been great. I hate to negatively compare this to The Shawshank Redemption, as on many levels that simply isn't fair, but I think a comparison of the endings is fair game. Shawshank lays out breadcrumb after breadcrumb so that its ending is doubly impactful. Life does nothing to set its ending up other than try to convince the viewer the leads are dead at the start, and having one of those leads say "I have an idea" right before the ending happens. There are so many logical holes (SPOILER: the two missing bodies in the morgue would be immediately noticed, the leads are 90 and can barely get around let alone stowaway on a fire engine, and they have no money or means to get to New York, let alone attend a Yankee game SPOILERS END) the ending feels like a cheap cheat, especially after the movie puts so much effort into balancing its comedy and drama properly. Murphy and Lawrence are as good dramatically here as they've ever been and their chemistry is as good as Murphy and Hall's was in the 80s, albeit with a more dramatic flair. I'll likely revisit Life more in the future than every 25 years, but I'll likely be lamenting that "This movie could have been even better!" every time.
The Life Before This -- 2/10
Boring, dull, and borderline incompetent, The Life Before This wastes Polley, Pants, Rea, and O'Hara on poorly drawn, unlikeable characters, swinging for the thematic fences like a toddler trying to knock a whiffle ball over the Green Monster.
The Limey -- 8/10
Like if that scene in Fight Club where Norton and Pitt beat the Volkswagen Beetle with baseball bats if it was an entire movie. Plenty of 1999 films looked back at previous decades in the century, and particularly the 60s, but none of them with such merciless deconstruction as this. Crime caper, The Limey, pits a boomer career criminal against a boomer music mogul dabbling in crime against each other, embodied by two of the 60s most iconic actors. Both characters are living off of a commodified fiction of the past, but Soderbergh and cinematographer, Edward Lachman, with noirish lighting and yet another beautiful 1999 washed out palette, make 1999 L.A. look like the coolest place on Earth (and how I remember it in 1999, which is a whole other layer). Yet as good as The Limey is, and it is damned good, tightening and polishing the action cues (particularly the final shootout) may have put this film over-the-top into legendary territory.
The Loss of Sexual Innocence -- 5/10
About as artsy fartsy as a movie can get before it becomes completely untethered. There's a lot of food for thought in simply attempting to decipher what exactly Figgis is saying, and the ways he contrasts sex with death and violence. As ridiculous and pretentiously pompous as The Loss of Sexual Innocence is though, there is something here, enough to say that Figgis doesn't necessarily fail, nor does he necessarily succeed. The strange, avant-garde result of his work lands somewhere in-between.
Lost & Found -- 5/10
Thought this would be awful, but it just ended up being an average, adequate 90s comedy. Lost & Found is dumb, but pleasant and harmless. I laughed 15-20 times, and it was over. Sophie Marceau is one of the great beauties of the 90's and months after being won over by a dog-stealing David Spade, she seduced James Bond in The World Is Not Enough. What a year!
Magnolia -- 10/10
Is Magnolia brilliant? Is Magnolia terrible? Do I love it? Do I hate it? The line is so thin. It rides the line of things I love and hate in a film so close to the edge, self-indulgently portraying earnest, explosive, and pure emotion in a way that feels real and relatable, and yet heightened and alien. Too long, yet not long enough. So close, yet so far away. Today, I’m giving it a 10/10. Next time, I might give it a one.
Man On the Moon -- 8/10
Comes about as close as a biopic can to transcending the tropes of the genre without quite breaking orbit, flying so high and so far mostly fueled by Jim Carrey's powerful, total transformation into a multitude of Kaufman's personas, apparently to the point that, at least according to Jerry Lawler, he's eternally cracked the foundations of his mind. Despite the general shallow side-character characterizations, and the sometimes scattered jumps from event to event, the film does a great job of zoning in on the most interesting aspect of this story: what is real and what is a facade? Numerous scenes play out with glorious discomfort until the audience is given any sign that something has been pre-planned by Kaufman and his participants and isn't real, and sometimes the film never breaks character and leaves this up to the viewer. This perfectly positions the film into the 1999 zeitgeist, coming the same year that The Blair Witch Project posed the same questions--this is the final year such questions would be so pertinent to pop culture, with the advancing popularization of the Internet and its social media and Wikipedia. It's a shame this flopped, though it did at least get that damn R.E.M. song stuck in my head for the last 25 years. Flop or not, Man on the Moon is sewn into the fabric of 1999 forever.
Mansfield Park -- 6/10
Mansfield Park is a well made film, inventively shot, featuring great acting by all involved, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. The major flaws come from the way the filmmaker thought she could do better than Jane Austen. All of the protagonist's flaws from the source material are gone. She's now right about everything, she does everything right, she makes all the correct decisions except for once, but she immediately remedies that one bad decision to no ill effect, she knows everything, and near the end of the film, another character essentially states this to the audience, just in case they haven't yet realized it. Thus, the protagonist is difficult to empathize with or even pull for, as she doesn't really have anything to overcome, she just has to wait until everyone realizes that she's been (and will be) right all the time. In that way, she feels like a precursor for many of the lousy, unlikable, unrelatable heroines of the late 2010s/early 2020s. The filmmaker also puts greater negative emphasis on the central wealthy family's means of gaining that wealth, but to no final purpose, so that calling extra attention to it feels frivolous, as she is unequipped to explore that topic to any satisfying depth. That element is yet another precursor, this time for many late 2010s/early 2020s filmmakers who tried to inject social messages into their films. This could have been a great movie.
The Matrix -- 10/10
The Matrix is just as revelatory now as it was 25 years ago. A cyberpunk masterpiece, perfectly conceived, casted, & executed. A visual, aural, & philosophical work of art. Hang every frame in the Louvre. THIS is 1999! Not just a foundational film for the year, but a cornerstone.
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc -- 5/10
A mean, nasty, bleak, and downer postmodern take on the Joan of Arc story, that doesn't seem quite sure of what it wants to be, and burns too much time trying to figure it out. The production values, which feature lots of grime, slime, and body fluids feels fairly high, and Luc Besson unfurls shot after memorable shot, including a one-take of a fully-armored Milla Jovovich falling off a ladder into a crowd that has to be seen to be believed. Jovovich is...interesting in this film. I don't think she's bad, even though Besson has her mostly acting like a wide-eyed, rabid feral creature. Besson also has Jovovich speak in her native California accent, which is certainly...a choice, as is the choice to let French king, John Malkovich, speak in his native Chicago dialect. The Messenger is a weird film that works sometimes and flounders sometimes, like a descaled, yet somehow still twitching fish on a bloody, rotten pier. Not one of 1999's best.
A Midsummer Night's Dream -- 6/10
About as hit and miss a Shakespeare adaptation as there is. Some of the
casting is great, the practical, fantastical sets are delightful, the
score is is a joy, and some of the performances are great. However, the
film is badly paced, badly in need of tighter editing, and some of the
actors interpret the bard's material far better than others. The worst
feel like they are reading their iambic pentameter straight off a page.
The best, particularly Calista Flockhart, go over the top, realizing
that this isn't a deathly serious stage play, but something Will
intended to be silly and fun. It's funny to see many actors who already
played memorable 1999 parts show up here too. The actor I feel best for
is Kevin Kline, who languished playing the straight man in the same
year's dreadful Wild Wild West. Here, he gets to ham it up,
donkey ears and all. The biggest surprise of all, though, is Sam
Rockwell, who played the wildest, most evil part in that year's
The Green Mile. When Rockwell's goofy visage popped up early
here, I was wondering what he was doing in the movie, but he steals the
final 15 minutes of the film. Overall,
A Midsummer Night's Dream isn't a total timewaster, but it isn't
very good either, merely decent and watchable.
The Mod Squad -- 6/10
My full-length review of The Mod Squad at this link.
Mumford -- 5/10
Yet another of 1999s myriad weird, mid-budget, adult-minded dramadies. The concept of a fake therapist having a startlingly positive effect on the quirky citizens of his adopted town is fun, and the casting, including a charming Loren Dean as the lead, is excellent, but the movie fails to hold interest throughout.
The Mummy -- 9/10
The Mummy isn't just possibly the best action-adventure film
of 1999, but the best horror-comedy, romance, creature feature--it's got
it all! Great cast, great cast chemistry, great blend of practical and
CGI effects, incredible, sweeping Jerry Goldsmith score.
It's magnificent!
The Muse -- 7/10
A light and breezy, funny comedy from Brooks that doesn't really follow the general comedy formula. There isn't a created normal that is then disrupted by a conflict that must then be resolved. The entire film is a conflict that is slowly resolved, creating a unique pace and feel. Sharon Stone gets to show an entirely different, lighter side of herself than usual, and she and the rest of the cast are a lot of fun. Nothing groundbreaking, as even the nonconventional storytelling is done fairly unremarkably, but The Muse is certainly an enjoyable film. Also, those cookies look so good!
Music of the Heart -- 7/10
How beautiful it is that the Master of Horror made one non-horror film in his entire life, and it's this random biopic about a down-on-her-luck Manhattan music teacher, made right between Scream 2 and Scream 3. Before she became known as a Harvey Weinstein-stumping Hollywood elite, Meryl Streep was considered a bit of an every-woman actress, and she's magnificent here as this caring, yet prickly, and at times harshly demeanered music teacher. The modern times "white savior" accusations against Music of the Heart are about as dumb as it gets, as Streep is not only playing a real person who really did the celebrated things she does here, but SHE'S the character in the film in most need of saving. Her students are also a nice mix of black, white, Latino, Asian, etc., and Streep lives in their neighborhood, so anyone coming to this gentle, well-meaning film looking for a fight is frankly just someone who is looking for a fight. The film isn't perfect, though. A time jump halfway through throws off the pacing, and it takes a minute for the film to find its footing again. Craven could have also shaved off ten minutes or so, though he probably wanted the slice of life feelings in the film to breathe as much as possible. The biopic genre isn't transcended here to any degree either, though the film is very well done, and makes the real life story feel compelling. Craven proves he could have had a great career outside of horror, as he gets the most out of his actors, including the myriad child actors here, and each scene is setup, staged, and plays out well with no psycho killers in site. Not necessarily a 1999 standout, but good, and a noteworthy film considering its place in its legendary director's filmography.
My Favorite Martian -- 2/10
For the umpteenth time in 1999, a studio said, "Hey, remember this 50s/60s/70s TV show? Let's make a move version!" Of all those, My Favorite Martian is nearly the worst. The only thing keeping it from that title is Wild Wild West, whose only minor saving grace is that Salma Hayek looks beautiful in it. My Favorite Martian features an Elizabeth Hurley who is so beautiful, there's a scene where she is supposed to make Darryl Hannah of all people look homely, and she miraculously somehow does. Unlike Wild Wild West, though, I actually laughed out loud at something that was SUPPOSED to be funny two whole times during My Favorite Martian, so I guess it's better. It's still incredibly terrible. What a miscalculation!
Mystery, Alaska -- 7/10
A very welcome surprise, ensuring both 1999 Hank Azaria-starring films featuring "Mystery" in the title are enjoyable. Kelley's worst writing instincts are tempered perfectly by Roach's more mainstream instincts, to where the film neither falls into a pit of annoyingly awkward humor nor over-sentimentality. Russell Crowe is far more natural here than he is in his more well known and critically lauded 1999 role, and acts as both a great lead and emblem for this fictional small town that feels very real. It's a feel good movie, and I felt good after watching it, so mission accomplished.
Mystery Men -- 8/10
The Ninth Gate -- 7/10
The Ninth Gate hits that 1999 fin de siècle neo-noir vibe just right, employing a relaxed pace as it ventures through old, smoky mansions, full of ancient books and old men and femme fatales who are trying to summon the end of the world. Depp is perfectly understated, playing a character who is passive and immoral, yet just self-interested enough to keep pushing on through the labyrinthine, obfuscated plot. If the film has a flaw (outside of the gentle pacing, which I enjoyed, but which may bore others), it's that perhaps the plot is a bit too obfuscated, but then again, deep five discussions about that plot are how this film became a cult classic in the first place.
October Sky -- 8/10
The Muse -- 7/10
A light and breezy, funny comedy from Brooks that doesn't really follow the general comedy formula. There isn't a created normal that is then disrupted by a conflict that must then be resolved. The entire film is a conflict that is slowly resolved, creating a unique pace and feel. Sharon Stone gets to show an entirely different, lighter side of herself than usual, and she and the rest of the cast are a lot of fun. Nothing groundbreaking, as even the nonconventional storytelling is done fairly unremarkably, but The Muse is certainly an enjoyable film. Also, those cookies look so good!
Music of the Heart -- 7/10
How beautiful it is that the Master of Horror made one non-horror film in his entire life, and it's this random biopic about a down-on-her-luck Manhattan music teacher, made right between Scream 2 and Scream 3. Before she became known as a Harvey Weinstein-stumping Hollywood elite, Meryl Streep was considered a bit of an every-woman actress, and she's magnificent here as this caring, yet prickly, and at times harshly demeanered music teacher. The modern times "white savior" accusations against Music of the Heart are about as dumb as it gets, as Streep is not only playing a real person who really did the celebrated things she does here, but SHE'S the character in the film in most need of saving. Her students are also a nice mix of black, white, Latino, Asian, etc., and Streep lives in their neighborhood, so anyone coming to this gentle, well-meaning film looking for a fight is frankly just someone who is looking for a fight. The film isn't perfect, though. A time jump halfway through throws off the pacing, and it takes a minute for the film to find its footing again. Craven could have also shaved off ten minutes or so, though he probably wanted the slice of life feelings in the film to breathe as much as possible. The biopic genre isn't transcended here to any degree either, though the film is very well done, and makes the real life story feel compelling. Craven proves he could have had a great career outside of horror, as he gets the most out of his actors, including the myriad child actors here, and each scene is setup, staged, and plays out well with no psycho killers in site. Not necessarily a 1999 standout, but good, and a noteworthy film considering its place in its legendary director's filmography.
My Favorite Martian -- 2/10
For the umpteenth time in 1999, a studio said, "Hey, remember this 50s/60s/70s TV show? Let's make a move version!" Of all those, My Favorite Martian is nearly the worst. The only thing keeping it from that title is Wild Wild West, whose only minor saving grace is that Salma Hayek looks beautiful in it. My Favorite Martian features an Elizabeth Hurley who is so beautiful, there's a scene where she is supposed to make Darryl Hannah of all people look homely, and she miraculously somehow does. Unlike Wild Wild West, though, I actually laughed out loud at something that was SUPPOSED to be funny two whole times during My Favorite Martian, so I guess it's better. It's still incredibly terrible. What a miscalculation!
Mystery, Alaska -- 7/10
A very welcome surprise, ensuring both 1999 Hank Azaria-starring films featuring "Mystery" in the title are enjoyable. Kelley's worst writing instincts are tempered perfectly by Roach's more mainstream instincts, to where the film neither falls into a pit of annoyingly awkward humor nor over-sentimentality. Russell Crowe is far more natural here than he is in his more well known and critically lauded 1999 role, and acts as both a great lead and emblem for this fictional small town that feels very real. It's a feel good movie, and I felt good after watching it, so mission accomplished.
Mystery Men -- 8/10
So, so stupid, but this is the movie, after all the great films I've
watched from 1999, that has finally convinced me it is the greatest
year in cinematic history. When else could a director be given $70
million ($132 million in 2024!) to create a superhero film featuring a
guy with a shovel, a guy who's angry, a guy who throws spoons, a guys
who farts, and a girl who throws a haunted bowling ball, and then that
director crafts the film like he's Wagner, pounding out Die Walküre?
Only in 1999 could you have this weird modernized retro space age
aesthetic somehow compounded with a loving, yet also satirical take on
Schumacher's sweeping hammy Batman and it somehow work this well or
even exist in the first place.
What a year!
The Ninth Gate -- 7/10
The Ninth Gate hits that 1999 fin de siècle neo-noir vibe just right, employing a relaxed pace as it ventures through old, smoky mansions, full of ancient books and old men and femme fatales who are trying to summon the end of the world. Depp is perfectly understated, playing a character who is passive and immoral, yet just self-interested enough to keep pushing on through the labyrinthine, obfuscated plot. If the film has a flaw (outside of the gentle pacing, which I enjoyed, but which may bore others), it's that perhaps the plot is a bit too obfuscated, but then again, deep five discussions about that plot are how this film became a cult classic in the first place.
October Sky -- 8/10
And yet again, another 1999 film looking back at the Space Age.
I don't care if October Sky is sentimental. It works! The film
quickly recognizes its most powerful dynamic and conflict is between
father and son, and the battle of wills between Gyllenhaal and Cooper
feels real. Cooper got saddled playing an awful bad dad caricature
this very same year, in the goofy American Beauty, but here Cooper
feels like a real person, a good, but flawed man. He wants the best
thing for his town, his family, but especially his son, and the entire
film is one long process of him realizing that what he thinks is best
for Gyllenhaal's character isn't. Meanwhile, Gyllenhaal shows his
talent even in his teens here, as he's also a portraying good person,
in his case who might be rebelling against his father, but still
clearly showing the love and respect he has for him. Gyllenhaal never
feels like an annoying, disrespectful, snot-nosed kid here, even when
he's yelling at his dad that he doesn't care about his approval. I was
reminded of the same year's Varsity Blues. which I certainly don't
hate, but whose "I don't want your life" son to dad affirmation feels
a little silly in the shadow of October Sky, considering
Varsity Blues does so little to develop its father/son
relationship in comparison.
I avoided October Sky in the past because I'd heard it was
schmaltzy, but I ended up loving it. I mean...the dad really lit off
the last rocket in the real life true story this is based upon too.
With Joe Johnston's sure direction and the great acting and dialogue
here, how can that not be effective?! It got me!
Office Space -- 9/10
Office Space is miraculously both timely (Y2K is a major plot point!) and timeless (office bureaucracy never changes!). A near perfect comedy, whose subtlety respects audience intelligence, though it's not afraid to be ridiculous. Also, it's 2024, how do printers still suck?!
The Other Sister -- 4/10
My full-length review of The Other Sister at this link.
Outside Providence -- 3/10
What a mess. The are five or six movies crammed into these 90 minutes, and none of them are given the amount of space they need to work. In the first five minutes Outside Providence is a lowbrow stoner comedy with some solid laughs, then it's a sitcom about middle-aged men playing cards and shooting the bull, then it's a serious domestic drama, then it's a fish-out-of-water comedy, then it's a romantic comedy, then it's a serious romance. It then starts cycling through these genres seemingly at random with no rhyme or reason, and few of them work or bring any satisfaction, and all of them are clumsy because the film is ill-equipped to deal with them, and then it ends.
Payback -- 7/10
My full-length review Payback at this link.
Pushing Tin -- 4/10
My full-length review of Pushing Tin at this link.
The Rage: Carrie 2 -- 3/10
My full-length review of The Rage: Carrie 2 at this link.
Random Hearts -- 5/10
A phenomenally wounded Ford is incredible, Kristin Scott Thomas is very good, the two have chemistry, and the premise is intriguing, and yet, after the dust of the plot setup settles, Random Hearts just kind of floats away until it aimlessly settles on the empty ground of an unsatisfying conclusion. With a tighter script, perhaps a director more suited to the material (I'm not saying Pollack is a bad director by any means, just that he's out of his depth here), and a scrapping of the silly, pointless cop beat B-plot that not even the faultless Charles S. Dutton can salvage, and this could have been a great film. Instead, it is just a what-could-have-been curiosity in everyone involved's filmography.
Ratcatcher -- 8/10
Both a difficult and beautiful watch, I enjoyed Ratcatcher's slice of (mostly awful) life up until its final 5 minutes, which I hated. Could have ended in 1000 satisfying ways, but goes overly artsy and nihilistic when it should have keep the tone of its previous 90 minutes...and it's still pretty damn good, regardless.
The Red Violin -- 8/10
Outstanding, hypnotic film, following a violin born of tragic circumstances, from its creation to its modern day rebirth...or at least to the late 90s. I don't think I've ever been so concerned about the fate of a fictional inanimate object, and I also don't think any other movie features Samuel L. Jackson quite like this one does. 1999 is not only an incredible year for film, but one for film music, and I've long had this film on my watchlist to see how it beat out so many great musical accompaniments that year for the Academy Award for Best Score, even if my actual respect for the Awards is minimal. After watching The Red Violin, I'm not sure if John Corigliano's score is 1999's best, but it is very, very good, and it certainly greatly augments the film's hypnotic power.
Resurrection -- 5/10
My full-length review of Resurrection at this link.
Ride With the Devil--10/10
When I say 1999 is the best year in film, I'm talking about movies like this. Ang Lee's Ride With the Devil would never be made now, likely not even be made just a few years later. Bravely tackling difficult, complex subject matter and themes, with its closing line, "It ain't right and it ain't wrong. It just is" as its ultimate ethos, Ride With the Devil never missteps. It just is, with beautiful visuals, incredible dialogue, brutal violence, surprisingly effective humor, and quiet moments of brilliance. If the Oscars actually meant anything, and they don't, Tobey Maguire would have been nominated for Best Actor for this incredibly nuanced, career-best performance. Everyone in this murderer's row cast is offering career best work, even Jewel, in her acting debut, exuding a sort of strange, naturalistic purity that's perfect for her role. All the talk this year of Alex Garland's Civil War being so topical for our times, when the 25-year-old Ride With the Devil reminds that human beings violently choosing sides, sometimes arbitrarily, is a timeless trait that's baked into our DNA.
A Room for Romeo Brass -- 7/10
This first half of A Room for Romeo Brass is one of the most delightful portrayals of childhood friendship I've seen, then about halfway through, it rather frustratingly becomes the Paddy Considine show. Considine's character is funny and enjoyable in small doses, but his constant noxiousness is overwhelming during the second half of the film, spending up a lot of the first half's goodwill capital. Thankfully, the kids at least get a couple scenes together again in the last five minutes, but splitting them up to focus on such an unlikeable character is an awful decision.
Rosetta -- 8/10
A character study on a teenaged girl, living in abject poverty, with an alcoholic mother. Rosetta is just trying to get a steady job and a normal life and won't take a handout, but predictably in a Dardennes film, nothing goes easy, and just about everything goes wrong. Rosetta teeters on the edge of misery porn throughout its runtime, but just barely doesn't fall into the void, most likely due to Émilie Dequenne's propulsive performance as the title character. She's always marching everywhere she goes, near feral, and slowly losing her humanity, but she remains, quite recognizably, human. Fabrizio Rongione is also great as a teenaged boy whose empathy for Rosetta only brings him pain and...misery. A powerful film that I won't soon forget.
Run Lola Run -- 9/10
Run Lola Run is 80 minutes of pure, inventive, outrageously curious adrenaline, fueled by writer/director Tom Tykwer's seemingly inexhaustible ingenuity, Franka Potente's breathless performance, and a killer techno soundtrack. 90s EXTREME at possibly its best.
Rushmore -- 8/10
After 25 years of the same Anderson tricks to diminishing returns, the first half of my Rushmore rewatch had me wondering what I ever saw in it...but as the ending came together, I found myself still charmed (and becoming strangely emotional) by this weird late-90s fairy tale.
She's All That -- 6/10
Inauthentic to an actual high school experience, with a rote story and a lead who's its least interesting character, the pretty damn dumb yet also pretty fun She's All That gets by on the backs of its stellar cast, great direction, and a revelatory turn by Rachel Leigh Cook.
Simply Irresistible -- 5/10
Completely ridiculous, nonsensical, maudlin, soundtracked by schmaltzy late-90s soft pop. A magical crab (bought from a mysterious man who never pops up again) gives Sarah Michelle Gellar cooking superpowers in the film's OPENING SCENE, and things get even sillier from there. And yet...Gellar and Sean Patrick Flanery are both perfectly charming and have incredible chemistry (maybe it's that they both have three names). Every single time both of their heads are in the same frame, I was begging for them to kiss, and I hate all that lovey dovey rom-com crap. Gellar is more beautiful here than she is in the same year's Cruel Intentions (maybe it's the lack of incest), and to show how much this movie cares about that, she's got a personal wardrobe designer listed in the opening credits. Gellar and Flanery levitate and conjure a big band into an empty ballroom. Patricia Clarkson inexplicably dresses and acts like a 50s bombshell for the final 20 minutes of the film. The crab wears a top hat. What a weird flick, and how much weirder that I didn't hate it.
Sleepy Hollow -- 8/10
My full-length review of Sleepy Hollow at this link.
Snow Falling on Cedars -- 8/10
Yet another visually resplendent 1999 film, Snow Falling on Cedars could have been lecturing, overly moralizing, melodramatic (I'm looking at you, Cider House Rules), but there's a lot of subtlety here (there's an entire, nearly unspoken underplot about the way the German residents of the island aren't treated like the Japanese ones). The central character's decision (and summarily the film's theme) to do the right thing and move on is not handled like an after school special here--it's done with much difficulty and pain, though it still feels like a victory. Ethan Hawke is fantastic as a bitter observer with close, hidden personal ties to the events of the film's central trial, inhabiting a character who plays to Hawke's considerable strengths. The only flaw I can hold against this film is that it's just a bit bloated, lingering on some of the more visually stunning moments (i.e. the children drinking rain) for a bit too long. At 110 minutes this might have been a perfect film. At 130 minutes, it's 20 minutes away from perfection.
South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut -- 9/10
A pro-free speech, anti-censorship laugh riot that flies directly in the face of the post-Columbine moral panic. A movie for 1999 and always. I think I laughed more watching it now than I did 25 years ago.
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace -- 8/10
My full-length review of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace at this link.
Stigmata -- 4/10
My full-length review of Stigmata at this link.
Stir of Echoes -- 7/10
My full-length review of Stir of Echoes at this link.
Storm of the Century -- 10/10
My full-length review of Storm of the Century at this link.
The Straight Story -- 7/10
Beautiful film. Farnsworth puts in a performance I can best describe as naturalistic and Lynch films in a way I can best describe as unobtrusive. There's also an undercurrent of things being lost to time, only accentuated by the 25 years since this movie was released. However, at the end of the day, The Straight Story is a film about a man riding his lawnmower for 250 miles and is mostly shots of that mixed in with terse yet pleasant conversations. Mileage will vary. I made it the full 250, but I was starting to feel distracted about halfway through the journey.
Stuart Little -- 5/10
Stuart Little is a kid's a movie. It doesn't transcend the genre. It doesn't sink to the bottom of the genre's barrel. It's just a quick, weirdly structured, middle of the road kid's movie, and then it's over. All of the color is nice. The performances are fine. Beyond that, the movie is bland. There's nothing to be excited about. The credits roll.
Summer of Sam -- 6/10
A well-made, overlong mess. Lee seems to be going to the much siphoned "When under stress, humans will act out against those who are different" well here, simply using New York City's incendiary summer of 1977 as a framework. Lee's two leads both have Madonna complexes--John Leguizamo's character can only have sex when he's cheating on his Mira Sorvino wife, and Adrien Brody can only have sex with his Jennifer Esposito girlfriend if they're filming a porno--but Leguizamo looks and acts "normal" in public, and is thus socially accepted, and Brody dresses and acts like a punk rocker, and is ostracized and beaten. Just to make sure you get that these characters have a Madonna complex, despite the fact that the film already and inexplicably dedicates 90 of its 150 minutes to footage showing it happen, Sorvino holds a Mary statue's hand at the end, and Brody wears a crown of thorns throughout. However, Lee muddles his themes again and again, particularly when Brody gives Leguizamo a speech about nature vs nurture, and staying true to your nature and who you are inside, when the other character who is explicitly doing that is literally David Berkowitz. And to muddle that even more, everyone thinks BRODY is the Son of Sam, simply because he is different...you know who else is different? BERKOWITZ! It just doesn't work. Even the generally reliable Terence Blanchard hits the wrong tone with the score here. I wish this thing wasn't such a mess because the production values and technical filmmaking are what you would expect from prime Spike Lee, and the performances are all incredible. I didn't hate it entirely (there are some incredible individual scenes), but Summer of Sam may be the biggest missed opportunity of 1999.
Sweet and Lowdown -- 7/10
A charming, pleasant mocumentary, with lovely performances by Penn and Morton. Sweet and Lowdown is almost a little too lowkey and light-hearted at times, but it does just enough to earn the emotional ending, and the music throughout is great.
The Talented Mr. Ripley -- 9/10
Varsity Blues -- 7/10
Despite some MTV stupidity & missteps, Varsity Blues triumphs on heart & the purity of James Van Der Beek's career-defining performance. Not sure if I should be proud that my own coach called me "the dumbest smart kid" he knew a full year before Jon Voight uttered the line here.
The Virgin Suicides -- 8/10
Sofia Coppola's beguiling and beautifully shot debut is not without its flaws, but The Virgin Suicides still holds up as a dreamy, mysterious, hypnotic, and haunting slice of 1970s suburbia, featuring an enigmatic Kirsten Dunst as the sun at its early morning fog of a center.
Virus -- 5/10
My full-length review of Virus at this link.
Wing Commander -- 3/10
My full-length review of Wing Commander at this link.
Wonderland -- 9/10
Wonderland is one of the loneliest movies I've seen. Perhaps because I'm from rural South Louisiana, where family is huge and everything, I felt this London family that barely has anything to do with one another, despite the fact that they live in the same city, seemed like alien beings...and yet the alienation in this film is universal. Featuring such subtle emotions and emotional connections that one character's brief, quiet moment of tearing up on a bus feels like someone falling into the street and sobbing, Wonderland won't be for everyone, especially considering it's just bouncing back and forth between the daily lives of family members who are all having a fairly unremarkable long weekend (until the climax, at least). However, last night and all morning, I've found I can't get this film and Michael Nyman's magnificent accompanying score out of my head. Winterbottom has created a resonant film that captures a lost moment of history in London, but more importantly, two full hours of the human condition and it's a SHAME that this film not only isn't streaming, but can only be seen either on an out-of-print DVD with 240p resolution, or on an equally low-res rip on the Internet Archive, which features enormous Korean subtitles. This film premiered at Cannes, won Best Film in the 1999 British Independent Film Awards, yet it's somehow slipping out of historical remembrance. I've now watched a large swath of great British films from 1999, and I'm starting to wonder what was in the water there that year. I guess it was the best year in history EVERYWHERE.
The Wood -- 9/10
Office Space -- 9/10
Office Space is miraculously both timely (Y2K is a major plot point!) and timeless (office bureaucracy never changes!). A near perfect comedy, whose subtlety respects audience intelligence, though it's not afraid to be ridiculous. Also, it's 2024, how do printers still suck?!
The Other Sister -- 4/10
My full-length review of The Other Sister at this link.
Outside Providence -- 3/10
What a mess. The are five or six movies crammed into these 90 minutes, and none of them are given the amount of space they need to work. In the first five minutes Outside Providence is a lowbrow stoner comedy with some solid laughs, then it's a sitcom about middle-aged men playing cards and shooting the bull, then it's a serious domestic drama, then it's a fish-out-of-water comedy, then it's a romantic comedy, then it's a serious romance. It then starts cycling through these genres seemingly at random with no rhyme or reason, and few of them work or bring any satisfaction, and all of them are clumsy because the film is ill-equipped to deal with them, and then it ends.
Payback -- 7/10
My full-length review Payback at this link.
Pushing Tin -- 4/10
My full-length review of Pushing Tin at this link.
The Rage: Carrie 2 -- 3/10
My full-length review of The Rage: Carrie 2 at this link.
Random Hearts -- 5/10
A phenomenally wounded Ford is incredible, Kristin Scott Thomas is very good, the two have chemistry, and the premise is intriguing, and yet, after the dust of the plot setup settles, Random Hearts just kind of floats away until it aimlessly settles on the empty ground of an unsatisfying conclusion. With a tighter script, perhaps a director more suited to the material (I'm not saying Pollack is a bad director by any means, just that he's out of his depth here), and a scrapping of the silly, pointless cop beat B-plot that not even the faultless Charles S. Dutton can salvage, and this could have been a great film. Instead, it is just a what-could-have-been curiosity in everyone involved's filmography.
Ratcatcher -- 8/10
Both a difficult and beautiful watch, I enjoyed Ratcatcher's slice of (mostly awful) life up until its final 5 minutes, which I hated. Could have ended in 1000 satisfying ways, but goes overly artsy and nihilistic when it should have keep the tone of its previous 90 minutes...and it's still pretty damn good, regardless.
The Red Violin -- 8/10
Outstanding, hypnotic film, following a violin born of tragic circumstances, from its creation to its modern day rebirth...or at least to the late 90s. I don't think I've ever been so concerned about the fate of a fictional inanimate object, and I also don't think any other movie features Samuel L. Jackson quite like this one does. 1999 is not only an incredible year for film, but one for film music, and I've long had this film on my watchlist to see how it beat out so many great musical accompaniments that year for the Academy Award for Best Score, even if my actual respect for the Awards is minimal. After watching The Red Violin, I'm not sure if John Corigliano's score is 1999's best, but it is very, very good, and it certainly greatly augments the film's hypnotic power.
Resurrection -- 5/10
My full-length review of Resurrection at this link.
Ride With the Devil--10/10
When I say 1999 is the best year in film, I'm talking about movies like this. Ang Lee's Ride With the Devil would never be made now, likely not even be made just a few years later. Bravely tackling difficult, complex subject matter and themes, with its closing line, "It ain't right and it ain't wrong. It just is" as its ultimate ethos, Ride With the Devil never missteps. It just is, with beautiful visuals, incredible dialogue, brutal violence, surprisingly effective humor, and quiet moments of brilliance. If the Oscars actually meant anything, and they don't, Tobey Maguire would have been nominated for Best Actor for this incredibly nuanced, career-best performance. Everyone in this murderer's row cast is offering career best work, even Jewel, in her acting debut, exuding a sort of strange, naturalistic purity that's perfect for her role. All the talk this year of Alex Garland's Civil War being so topical for our times, when the 25-year-old Ride With the Devil reminds that human beings violently choosing sides, sometimes arbitrarily, is a timeless trait that's baked into our DNA.
A Room for Romeo Brass -- 7/10
This first half of A Room for Romeo Brass is one of the most delightful portrayals of childhood friendship I've seen, then about halfway through, it rather frustratingly becomes the Paddy Considine show. Considine's character is funny and enjoyable in small doses, but his constant noxiousness is overwhelming during the second half of the film, spending up a lot of the first half's goodwill capital. Thankfully, the kids at least get a couple scenes together again in the last five minutes, but splitting them up to focus on such an unlikeable character is an awful decision.
Rosetta -- 8/10
A character study on a teenaged girl, living in abject poverty, with an alcoholic mother. Rosetta is just trying to get a steady job and a normal life and won't take a handout, but predictably in a Dardennes film, nothing goes easy, and just about everything goes wrong. Rosetta teeters on the edge of misery porn throughout its runtime, but just barely doesn't fall into the void, most likely due to Émilie Dequenne's propulsive performance as the title character. She's always marching everywhere she goes, near feral, and slowly losing her humanity, but she remains, quite recognizably, human. Fabrizio Rongione is also great as a teenaged boy whose empathy for Rosetta only brings him pain and...misery. A powerful film that I won't soon forget.
Run Lola Run -- 9/10
Run Lola Run is 80 minutes of pure, inventive, outrageously curious adrenaline, fueled by writer/director Tom Tykwer's seemingly inexhaustible ingenuity, Franka Potente's breathless performance, and a killer techno soundtrack. 90s EXTREME at possibly its best.
Rushmore -- 8/10
After 25 years of the same Anderson tricks to diminishing returns, the first half of my Rushmore rewatch had me wondering what I ever saw in it...but as the ending came together, I found myself still charmed (and becoming strangely emotional) by this weird late-90s fairy tale.
She's All That -- 6/10
Inauthentic to an actual high school experience, with a rote story and a lead who's its least interesting character, the pretty damn dumb yet also pretty fun She's All That gets by on the backs of its stellar cast, great direction, and a revelatory turn by Rachel Leigh Cook.
Simply Irresistible -- 5/10
Completely ridiculous, nonsensical, maudlin, soundtracked by schmaltzy late-90s soft pop. A magical crab (bought from a mysterious man who never pops up again) gives Sarah Michelle Gellar cooking superpowers in the film's OPENING SCENE, and things get even sillier from there. And yet...Gellar and Sean Patrick Flanery are both perfectly charming and have incredible chemistry (maybe it's that they both have three names). Every single time both of their heads are in the same frame, I was begging for them to kiss, and I hate all that lovey dovey rom-com crap. Gellar is more beautiful here than she is in the same year's Cruel Intentions (maybe it's the lack of incest), and to show how much this movie cares about that, she's got a personal wardrobe designer listed in the opening credits. Gellar and Flanery levitate and conjure a big band into an empty ballroom. Patricia Clarkson inexplicably dresses and acts like a 50s bombshell for the final 20 minutes of the film. The crab wears a top hat. What a weird flick, and how much weirder that I didn't hate it.
Sleepy Hollow -- 8/10
My full-length review of Sleepy Hollow at this link.
Snow Falling on Cedars -- 8/10
Yet another visually resplendent 1999 film, Snow Falling on Cedars could have been lecturing, overly moralizing, melodramatic (I'm looking at you, Cider House Rules), but there's a lot of subtlety here (there's an entire, nearly unspoken underplot about the way the German residents of the island aren't treated like the Japanese ones). The central character's decision (and summarily the film's theme) to do the right thing and move on is not handled like an after school special here--it's done with much difficulty and pain, though it still feels like a victory. Ethan Hawke is fantastic as a bitter observer with close, hidden personal ties to the events of the film's central trial, inhabiting a character who plays to Hawke's considerable strengths. The only flaw I can hold against this film is that it's just a bit bloated, lingering on some of the more visually stunning moments (i.e. the children drinking rain) for a bit too long. At 110 minutes this might have been a perfect film. At 130 minutes, it's 20 minutes away from perfection.
South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut -- 9/10
A pro-free speech, anti-censorship laugh riot that flies directly in the face of the post-Columbine moral panic. A movie for 1999 and always. I think I laughed more watching it now than I did 25 years ago.
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace -- 8/10
My full-length review of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace at this link.
Stigmata -- 4/10
My full-length review of Stigmata at this link.
Stir of Echoes -- 7/10
My full-length review of Stir of Echoes at this link.
Storm of the Century -- 10/10
My full-length review of Storm of the Century at this link.
The Straight Story -- 7/10
Beautiful film. Farnsworth puts in a performance I can best describe as naturalistic and Lynch films in a way I can best describe as unobtrusive. There's also an undercurrent of things being lost to time, only accentuated by the 25 years since this movie was released. However, at the end of the day, The Straight Story is a film about a man riding his lawnmower for 250 miles and is mostly shots of that mixed in with terse yet pleasant conversations. Mileage will vary. I made it the full 250, but I was starting to feel distracted about halfway through the journey.
Stuart Little -- 5/10
Stuart Little is a kid's a movie. It doesn't transcend the genre. It doesn't sink to the bottom of the genre's barrel. It's just a quick, weirdly structured, middle of the road kid's movie, and then it's over. All of the color is nice. The performances are fine. Beyond that, the movie is bland. There's nothing to be excited about. The credits roll.
Summer of Sam -- 6/10
A well-made, overlong mess. Lee seems to be going to the much siphoned "When under stress, humans will act out against those who are different" well here, simply using New York City's incendiary summer of 1977 as a framework. Lee's two leads both have Madonna complexes--John Leguizamo's character can only have sex when he's cheating on his Mira Sorvino wife, and Adrien Brody can only have sex with his Jennifer Esposito girlfriend if they're filming a porno--but Leguizamo looks and acts "normal" in public, and is thus socially accepted, and Brody dresses and acts like a punk rocker, and is ostracized and beaten. Just to make sure you get that these characters have a Madonna complex, despite the fact that the film already and inexplicably dedicates 90 of its 150 minutes to footage showing it happen, Sorvino holds a Mary statue's hand at the end, and Brody wears a crown of thorns throughout. However, Lee muddles his themes again and again, particularly when Brody gives Leguizamo a speech about nature vs nurture, and staying true to your nature and who you are inside, when the other character who is explicitly doing that is literally David Berkowitz. And to muddle that even more, everyone thinks BRODY is the Son of Sam, simply because he is different...you know who else is different? BERKOWITZ! It just doesn't work. Even the generally reliable Terence Blanchard hits the wrong tone with the score here. I wish this thing wasn't such a mess because the production values and technical filmmaking are what you would expect from prime Spike Lee, and the performances are all incredible. I didn't hate it entirely (there are some incredible individual scenes), but Summer of Sam may be the biggest missed opportunity of 1999.
Sweet and Lowdown -- 7/10
A charming, pleasant mocumentary, with lovely performances by Penn and Morton. Sweet and Lowdown is almost a little too lowkey and light-hearted at times, but it does just enough to earn the emotional ending, and the music throughout is great.
The Talented Mr. Ripley -- 9/10
I hate this movie so much! It's such a good film. Minghella puts so
much beautiful imagery on screen, John Seale makes sure it looks
great, and John Burch brilliantly edits. The performances are all
incredible. The ick factor breaks the thermometer, though!
Highsmith's material is pure misanthropy, with the sociopathic title
character, who ruins the lives of everyone he comes across,
essentially feeling like humanity's worst possible shadow self. He
sees other humans, likes his idea of who they are and what they
have, tries to imitate them, then takes everything they have before
moving on, sometimes after killing them.
I hate him! Every line reading, every step, every subtle movement
Damon makes here makes my skin crawl. What a movie.
Tarzan -- 8/10
A late century Disney triumph, featuring gorgeous "deep canvas" animation, perfectly blending 2D animation and computer techniques to portray its jungle environment and characters. Unlike its 90s Disney-animated contemporaries, not a musical, as the banger Phil Collins songs are all non-diegetic. The emotional beats are resonant, the voice acting is great, and the pacing is brilliant. The movie is not quite perfect, as Rosie O'Donnell's is a bit irritating as the "funny" gorilla, and the film could use maybe just one or two more minutes of character beats, but Tarzan is a fine film, bridging quadrants with adventure (and a strong, masculine hero) for the boys, romance for the girls, and the aforementioned resonant emotional beats for the adults. Hard not to feel something when the closing title card hits.
Teaching Mrs. Tingle -- 2/10
My full-length review of Teaching Mrs. Tingle at this link.
The Thomas Crown Affair -- 8/10
One of the most purely enjoyable films of 1999. McTiernan's zippy direction, Wright's snappy editing, Conti's jazzy soundtrack, and Brosnan and Russo's central performances ensure much fun is had. This jaunty caper received much attention for including a graphic sex scene featuring (GASP!) people in their 40's, but the way the film sets this scene up is what really makes it shocking: up until that point, the film does nothing to earn an R rating, no violence, minimal swearing, and suddenly Russo is dancing in a sheer dress, and then she and Brosnan are naked and going at it...and they are in various states of undress for decent (or indecent) portions of the rest of the film. Somehow, all the sexiness does nothing to derail the film's light, enjoyable tone, which the film carries from beginning to end. Add in a hangdog Denis Leary as a burned out beat cop surrounded by wealthy people with time to burn, and it's tough not to enjoy The Thomas Crown Affair.
The Thirteenth Floor -- 8/10
Not only unfairly compared to The Matrix (which came out a month earlier!), but The Matrix has been unfairly compared to it. While exploring deeps themes of existence, The Matrix, one of the greatest films ever made, is ultimately a movie about how the human race has been enslaved by robots, humanity's own creation. The Thirteenth Floor explores deep themes of existence, but it is a film about an artificial plane of existence that has been created by humanity. Thus, there are subtle and not so subtle differences in each film's philosophies and approaches. At their root, both movies are about a central protagonist who finds that his existence is a lie, but the films do split widely from there. Also, The Matrix is a perfect film, incorporating incredible action (because humanity is at war with the robots)) and unforgettable visuals and sounds...and The Thirteenth Floor is merely a good film. As the lead, Craig Bierko brings a bland, TV drama star charm that is actually perfectly exploited when we start getting different versions of him. Gretchen Mol was hyped hard as the next big thing back when this was released, and though that never panned out, she's so beautiful and enigmatic here, it's easy to see why she seemed the heir apparent. The Thirteenth Floor does feature some interesting production design too, bouncing between an artificially faded, fake 1930's world, to an LED-nightmare version of 1999. While the action beats are small and not stylized (there is no type of war happening here), The Thirteenth Floor is perfectly paced, and just noir enough in its atmosphere and dialog to where it rips right along. A young Dennis Haysbert ensures the noir tone remains throughout in his pitch perfect performance as the local gumshoe. There's a lot of philosophy to chew on here, and even story tangents that are left a little unopened--is the world in that final shot even real? This is a fun film to revisit, and like seemingly dozens of movies from that year, feels about as 1999 as possible.
Three Kings -- 4/10
Three Kings is strangely boring due to a dull performance from an exceedingly punchable George Clooney, the only washed out visual palette from 1999 that somehow isn't visually stunning, and a badly-paced script, full of clumsy, preachy moments (The moment the interrogator asks Wahlberg "you know what this is really about?" then dumps oil down Wahlberg's throat from a bucket, while the camera zooms in to the word OIL on that bucket made me groan back in 1999 and even louder in 2024. Also, why isn't Wahlberg dead 30 seconds after that happens? You can't drink oil!). Ice Cube is great and throws a football full of C4 at a helicopter, Wahlberg is solid, and Spike Jonze is obviously having fun as the crazy Southern guy soldier, though this being an affluent New Yorker playing a Southerner, written and directed by an affluent New Yorker, the portrayal often feels needlessly mean and ignorant (i.e., "this guy is from the South, so obviously he is a dumb racist"...SIGH...I wish there were more movies like Tucker and Dale vs. Evil...). There are some fun touches here, like the "organ wound cam," but overall, much of the film feels like the arrogant work of someone whose movie hasn't earned that arrogance.
Titus -- 9/10
A gobsmacking picture. The most overindulgent film of 1999, to such a degree that all of the hyper-indulgence begins to make perfect, coherent sense. An extremely faithful adaptation of Shakespeare's most brutal play, except for the fact that now it's set in a hybrid of its original classic Rome, with modern England, 1950's England, and wherever and whenever else director, Julie Taymor, decides to set it, through whatever things Taymor decides to do, which, in nearly three hours of runtime, are a considerable amount of things. The performances are all of the highest tier, from Hopkins going FULL Shakespeare as the title character, to maybe my favorite actor of 1999, Colm Feore, bringing a calm, vengeful resolve as Titus' loyal brother. As the chief villain, Alan Cumming flamboyantly hams it up, but in a way that makes him and all his little smirks and sniggles so annoying, you just want Hopkins to chop his head clean off. Jessica Lange is sinister as the Goth wife driving Cumming's character, as are Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Matthew Rhys as her wildly misanthropic sons. However, it's Harry Lennix who steals the show as Aaron the Moor, one of Shakespeare's most purely evil creations. Lennix is absolutely terrifying as a man who can and will do anything simply because it is the wrong thing to do. Aaron is a remarkable creation by the bard, and cruelly nurtured by both Lennix and Taymor's work. The score, by Taymor's husband, Elliot Goldenthal, follows his usually chaotic blueprint, and fits fantastically--he and Taymor are an experimental match here made in a place Aaron the Moor's soul will never venture. However, it is Titus' shockingly optimistic and beautiful ending, after all of the carnage and total impressionistic insanity, that won me over totally to this bizarre and wholly unique film.
Topsy Turvy -- 6/10
British excellence is on full display in Topsy-Turvy, in the incredible performances by Allan Corduner and particularly Jim Broadbent, in the flawless, highly detailed Victorian production design, and in Mike Leigh's direction. There's even a great twist in the final fifteen minutes that shows there was an entirely different movie underneath than the one that the viewer, or at least I thought I was watching. The issue here is that Leigh can't resist putting absolutely EVERYTHING he can think of into the film, creating a three-hour bloated runtime that makes it tough get through the film without distraction. Anytime Broadbent and Corduner are onscreen, I felt locked in, but when the film leaves them, which is quite often, it loses focus. Part of me would love to watch the film again under the lens of that last fifteen minutes, but the other part of me just doesn't want to sit through that three hours again.
Touch Me In the Morning -- 7/10
Touch Me In the Morning is about as different as you can get. I've spent a decent amount of time around trailer parks, and I lived in a trailer for seven years, so there's definitely something identifiable and to a degree empathetic about this aged crew of worn down, barely comprehensible losers, but at the same time, did I need to see three very drunk and gnarled old men have an orgy with an equally gnarled and inebriated prostitute? I don't know, maybe I did. Did I really need to see someone take a dump in a sink, then try to stomp it down with his bare feet? I don't know, maybe I did. Outside of the most outlandish moments, 3/4 of what happens in this movie resembles things I've either witnessed or heard hearsay of, but also it's clear Andrews is having a blast with trailer trash tropes and stereotypes and also with this goofy twist he puts on his own persona as the lead. His songs (Andrews' character makes keyboard-based music to cheer up the trailer park denizens) are borderline genius in the extremeness of their insipidity, forcing me to erupt in those bouts of laughter where you have to slam your fist down on the armrest to breathe.
Toy Story 2 -- 10/10
True Crime -- 6/10
Eastwood plays an unredeemable narcissist who sleeps with all his
fellow reporters' wives, while neglecting his wife and daughter. He
states without shame that he doesn't care about right or wrong.
However, he does care about "his nose," i.e. his hunches. They'd gone
sour during his days of drinking, but this newly sober version of him
feels that his nose is repaired, and is pointing him toward one thing:
a local man who is scheduled to be euthanized on death row that
midnight is innocent. As that death row inmate, Isaiah Washington is
excellent, and every scene featuring his tight knit family is
emotionally powerful, the antithesis of Eastwood's character's
family-neglecting nihilism.
True Crime features major pros. Many films would let Eastwood's
character off with a slap on the wrist for his bad behavior, and
considering the nepotism of director Eastwood, casting his wife and
daughter in key parts here, one would think the same about
True Crime. However, the final, noirish Christmas Square scene,
backed like most of the film by downer soft jazz, is an absolutely
brutal final dressing down of his character, who may have been a hero
for a day, but is still a stain on society. Despite the strengths I've
already mentioned, and the facts that the cast surrounding Eastwood is
A-tier and that the man knows how to direct a film,
True Crime is overall a pretty mediocre piece of cinema. The
film is overlong, the story is cliched, and the pacing is terrible.
This should have been a tight, 90-minute film, and yet it
overindulgently drags on and on. Perhaps Eastwood had too much freedom
here. Whatever the case, True Crime is worth a watch, but
probably not more than once.
Tarzan -- 8/10
A late century Disney triumph, featuring gorgeous "deep canvas" animation, perfectly blending 2D animation and computer techniques to portray its jungle environment and characters. Unlike its 90s Disney-animated contemporaries, not a musical, as the banger Phil Collins songs are all non-diegetic. The emotional beats are resonant, the voice acting is great, and the pacing is brilliant. The movie is not quite perfect, as Rosie O'Donnell's is a bit irritating as the "funny" gorilla, and the film could use maybe just one or two more minutes of character beats, but Tarzan is a fine film, bridging quadrants with adventure (and a strong, masculine hero) for the boys, romance for the girls, and the aforementioned resonant emotional beats for the adults. Hard not to feel something when the closing title card hits.
Teaching Mrs. Tingle -- 2/10
My full-length review of Teaching Mrs. Tingle at this link.
The Thomas Crown Affair -- 8/10
One of the most purely enjoyable films of 1999. McTiernan's zippy direction, Wright's snappy editing, Conti's jazzy soundtrack, and Brosnan and Russo's central performances ensure much fun is had. This jaunty caper received much attention for including a graphic sex scene featuring (GASP!) people in their 40's, but the way the film sets this scene up is what really makes it shocking: up until that point, the film does nothing to earn an R rating, no violence, minimal swearing, and suddenly Russo is dancing in a sheer dress, and then she and Brosnan are naked and going at it...and they are in various states of undress for decent (or indecent) portions of the rest of the film. Somehow, all the sexiness does nothing to derail the film's light, enjoyable tone, which the film carries from beginning to end. Add in a hangdog Denis Leary as a burned out beat cop surrounded by wealthy people with time to burn, and it's tough not to enjoy The Thomas Crown Affair.
The Thirteenth Floor -- 8/10
Not only unfairly compared to The Matrix (which came out a month earlier!), but The Matrix has been unfairly compared to it. While exploring deeps themes of existence, The Matrix, one of the greatest films ever made, is ultimately a movie about how the human race has been enslaved by robots, humanity's own creation. The Thirteenth Floor explores deep themes of existence, but it is a film about an artificial plane of existence that has been created by humanity. Thus, there are subtle and not so subtle differences in each film's philosophies and approaches. At their root, both movies are about a central protagonist who finds that his existence is a lie, but the films do split widely from there. Also, The Matrix is a perfect film, incorporating incredible action (because humanity is at war with the robots)) and unforgettable visuals and sounds...and The Thirteenth Floor is merely a good film. As the lead, Craig Bierko brings a bland, TV drama star charm that is actually perfectly exploited when we start getting different versions of him. Gretchen Mol was hyped hard as the next big thing back when this was released, and though that never panned out, she's so beautiful and enigmatic here, it's easy to see why she seemed the heir apparent. The Thirteenth Floor does feature some interesting production design too, bouncing between an artificially faded, fake 1930's world, to an LED-nightmare version of 1999. While the action beats are small and not stylized (there is no type of war happening here), The Thirteenth Floor is perfectly paced, and just noir enough in its atmosphere and dialog to where it rips right along. A young Dennis Haysbert ensures the noir tone remains throughout in his pitch perfect performance as the local gumshoe. There's a lot of philosophy to chew on here, and even story tangents that are left a little unopened--is the world in that final shot even real? This is a fun film to revisit, and like seemingly dozens of movies from that year, feels about as 1999 as possible.
Three Kings -- 4/10
Three Kings is strangely boring due to a dull performance from an exceedingly punchable George Clooney, the only washed out visual palette from 1999 that somehow isn't visually stunning, and a badly-paced script, full of clumsy, preachy moments (The moment the interrogator asks Wahlberg "you know what this is really about?" then dumps oil down Wahlberg's throat from a bucket, while the camera zooms in to the word OIL on that bucket made me groan back in 1999 and even louder in 2024. Also, why isn't Wahlberg dead 30 seconds after that happens? You can't drink oil!). Ice Cube is great and throws a football full of C4 at a helicopter, Wahlberg is solid, and Spike Jonze is obviously having fun as the crazy Southern guy soldier, though this being an affluent New Yorker playing a Southerner, written and directed by an affluent New Yorker, the portrayal often feels needlessly mean and ignorant (i.e., "this guy is from the South, so obviously he is a dumb racist"...SIGH...I wish there were more movies like Tucker and Dale vs. Evil...). There are some fun touches here, like the "organ wound cam," but overall, much of the film feels like the arrogant work of someone whose movie hasn't earned that arrogance.
Titus -- 9/10
A gobsmacking picture. The most overindulgent film of 1999, to such a degree that all of the hyper-indulgence begins to make perfect, coherent sense. An extremely faithful adaptation of Shakespeare's most brutal play, except for the fact that now it's set in a hybrid of its original classic Rome, with modern England, 1950's England, and wherever and whenever else director, Julie Taymor, decides to set it, through whatever things Taymor decides to do, which, in nearly three hours of runtime, are a considerable amount of things. The performances are all of the highest tier, from Hopkins going FULL Shakespeare as the title character, to maybe my favorite actor of 1999, Colm Feore, bringing a calm, vengeful resolve as Titus' loyal brother. As the chief villain, Alan Cumming flamboyantly hams it up, but in a way that makes him and all his little smirks and sniggles so annoying, you just want Hopkins to chop his head clean off. Jessica Lange is sinister as the Goth wife driving Cumming's character, as are Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Matthew Rhys as her wildly misanthropic sons. However, it's Harry Lennix who steals the show as Aaron the Moor, one of Shakespeare's most purely evil creations. Lennix is absolutely terrifying as a man who can and will do anything simply because it is the wrong thing to do. Aaron is a remarkable creation by the bard, and cruelly nurtured by both Lennix and Taymor's work. The score, by Taymor's husband, Elliot Goldenthal, follows his usually chaotic blueprint, and fits fantastically--he and Taymor are an experimental match here made in a place Aaron the Moor's soul will never venture. However, it is Titus' shockingly optimistic and beautiful ending, after all of the carnage and total impressionistic insanity, that won me over totally to this bizarre and wholly unique film.
Topsy Turvy -- 6/10
British excellence is on full display in Topsy-Turvy, in the incredible performances by Allan Corduner and particularly Jim Broadbent, in the flawless, highly detailed Victorian production design, and in Mike Leigh's direction. There's even a great twist in the final fifteen minutes that shows there was an entirely different movie underneath than the one that the viewer, or at least I thought I was watching. The issue here is that Leigh can't resist putting absolutely EVERYTHING he can think of into the film, creating a three-hour bloated runtime that makes it tough get through the film without distraction. Anytime Broadbent and Corduner are onscreen, I felt locked in, but when the film leaves them, which is quite often, it loses focus. Part of me would love to watch the film again under the lens of that last fifteen minutes, but the other part of me just doesn't want to sit through that three hours again.
Touch Me In the Morning -- 7/10
Touch Me In the Morning is about as different as you can get. I've spent a decent amount of time around trailer parks, and I lived in a trailer for seven years, so there's definitely something identifiable and to a degree empathetic about this aged crew of worn down, barely comprehensible losers, but at the same time, did I need to see three very drunk and gnarled old men have an orgy with an equally gnarled and inebriated prostitute? I don't know, maybe I did. Did I really need to see someone take a dump in a sink, then try to stomp it down with his bare feet? I don't know, maybe I did. Outside of the most outlandish moments, 3/4 of what happens in this movie resembles things I've either witnessed or heard hearsay of, but also it's clear Andrews is having a blast with trailer trash tropes and stereotypes and also with this goofy twist he puts on his own persona as the lead. His songs (Andrews' character makes keyboard-based music to cheer up the trailer park denizens) are borderline genius in the extremeness of their insipidity, forcing me to erupt in those bouts of laughter where you have to slam your fist down on the armrest to breathe.
Toy Story 2 -- 10/10
Toy Story 2 features just your run of the mill kid movie
themes:
Is it better to be admired by millions, or to truly be loved by a
few? To live a finite life where joy and pain are equal
possibilities, or to be safely shrink-wrapped forever and feel
nothing?
You know, your basic existentialist kid movie stuff.
The original Toy Story trilogy is on another level.
True Crime -- 6/10
Varsity Blues -- 7/10
Despite some MTV stupidity & missteps, Varsity Blues triumphs on heart & the purity of James Van Der Beek's career-defining performance. Not sure if I should be proud that my own coach called me "the dumbest smart kid" he knew a full year before Jon Voight uttered the line here.
The Virgin Suicides -- 8/10
Sofia Coppola's beguiling and beautifully shot debut is not without its flaws, but The Virgin Suicides still holds up as a dreamy, mysterious, hypnotic, and haunting slice of 1970s suburbia, featuring an enigmatic Kirsten Dunst as the sun at its early morning fog of a center.
Virus -- 5/10
My full-length review of Virus at this link.
Wing Commander -- 3/10
My full-length review of Wing Commander at this link.
Wonderland -- 9/10
Wonderland is one of the loneliest movies I've seen. Perhaps because I'm from rural South Louisiana, where family is huge and everything, I felt this London family that barely has anything to do with one another, despite the fact that they live in the same city, seemed like alien beings...and yet the alienation in this film is universal. Featuring such subtle emotions and emotional connections that one character's brief, quiet moment of tearing up on a bus feels like someone falling into the street and sobbing, Wonderland won't be for everyone, especially considering it's just bouncing back and forth between the daily lives of family members who are all having a fairly unremarkable long weekend (until the climax, at least). However, last night and all morning, I've found I can't get this film and Michael Nyman's magnificent accompanying score out of my head. Winterbottom has created a resonant film that captures a lost moment of history in London, but more importantly, two full hours of the human condition and it's a SHAME that this film not only isn't streaming, but can only be seen either on an out-of-print DVD with 240p resolution, or on an equally low-res rip on the Internet Archive, which features enormous Korean subtitles. This film premiered at Cannes, won Best Film in the 1999 British Independent Film Awards, yet it's somehow slipping out of historical remembrance. I've now watched a large swath of great British films from 1999, and I'm starting to wonder what was in the water there that year. I guess it was the best year in history EVERYWHERE.
The Wood -- 9/10
Watched a twofer of The Best Man and
The Wood because of their pairing in Brain Raftery's
Best Movie Year Ever. Watched The Wood second, and
was surprised to find that I enjoyed the first 3/4 of it just as
much as I did the first 3/4 of The Best Man. But then the
last 1/4 happened...and I still loved it! Unlike
The Best Man, The Wood's ending doesn't fall into
sentimental schmaltz. Both movies are about male friendships, but
The Best Man jumps genres at the end (to cheesy rom-com)
and sacrifices its focus (and sense of reality), while
The Wood stays about the friendships, while still feeling
real and true to what came before. I think The Wood is the
better movie. Famuyiwa's direction and dialogue are perfect, and
the kid actors are shockingly just as good as the adult ones. It
might not have The Best Man's gloss, but there's a
decidedly middle-class focus here, as opposed to the more upper
crust Best Man, so the tone is absolutely spot-on.
Everything just feels right, and the coming-of-age storytelling is
near perfect. When the guys are hanging at the pizza parlor near
the end, Pepsi's strewn across the table, with a Midway
Cruisn' USA cab in the background, I thought I had
physically transported back to 1999 for a minute. Watch nearly any
coming-of-age film from the 2020s and then watch this--the quality
won't come anywhere close.
I wish Famuyiwa had made more films like this!
The World Is Not Enough -- 7/10
My full-length review of The World Is Not Enough at this link.
I wish Famuyiwa had made more films like this!
The World Is Not Enough -- 7/10
My full-length review of The World Is Not Enough at this link.
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