The Films of 1999

This year,  I'm reading through Brian Raftery's Best. Movie. Year. Ever.: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen, watching each of the 33 movies mentioned and keeping a running X thread of my thoughts on each film. HOWEVER, I'm actually watching far more 1999 films this year than those 33. So here, on The Nicsperiment only, I'll not only be keeping the same thread I'm running on X, but I'll be adding my thoughts on those other 1999 films I watch as well, plus I'll be giving all the movies review scores, which I also won't be doing on Twitter.  And finally, I'll be keeping a ranked list of all the 1999 movies I watch on Letterboxd. This is easily the most excited I've been about something on The Nicsperiment since my "Every Album I Own" project, but while that entailed thousands of posts, this project will only entail one: this very post, which I'll continue to update throughout the year. Let the fun begin!

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The Blair Witch Project -- 7/10
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.


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.


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.

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.


Guinevere -- 8/10
Sarah Polley crushes it 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.


Go--7/10
Go's opening act is a fun and visceral blast of late 90s raver energy, undercut by the progressively less interesting tales of its 2nd and 3rd acts. The needless Pulp Fictionesque time and perspective changes downgrade what could've been a great film into one that’s just okay.


Holy Smoke--5/10
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.


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.


Touch Me In the Morning -- 7/10
This 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.


Bleeder -- 5/10
There are a few acclaimed directors whose work I can't seem to connect with, and Refn is near the top, even in this early film where I still find his work to be mostly aimless, nihilistic, and populated by characters barely recognizable as humans. Some nice visuals, though.


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.


Ratcatcher -- 8/10
Both hard and beautiful to 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.


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?!


Wonderland -- 9/10
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.


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 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 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.


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.


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 in, 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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


The Confession -- 8/10
It's 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.


Go -- 7/10
My full-length review 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 it's 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 at this link.


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.


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. 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.