The Usual Choices
American Beauty (Sam Mendes)
Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze)
Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick)
Fight Club (David Fincher)
The Sixth Sense (M. Night Shyamalan)
But how about...
A Map of the World (Scott Eliott)
...and what about...
The Bone Collector (Phillip Noyce)
A superlative serial killer / old-cop-young-cop / battle of the brains movie with just enough gore + violence + old-school shock-cuts to achieve the necessary thrills. Angelina Jolie has never been better (read: more believable...she somehow comes across as an ordinary person who just happens to look stunning) and her bits of cop business are easy-natural. Denzel looks great in bed and his if-everyman-was-Morgan-Freeman voice has never been used to greater effect. Yeah, the ending is broadcast a bit early, but that's all that's wrong with this member of the Great Overlooked.
...not to mention...
Cookie's Fortune (Robert Altman)
A typical big-cast Altman-fest which atypically focuses on a single plot-thread: how to turn the attempted suicide of a rich aunt into a blameless murder (hence keeping the family reputation intact). Julianne Moore is an absolute HOOT (no natural-redhead nudes needed here), with Glenn Close as the key schemer, Patricia Neal as the matriarch on the way out, Charles S. Dutton as the unsuspecting patsy and Liv Tyler as the family tart. A quirky story that intrigues but deliberately stays small.
...and one personal unmentionable...
The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick; Eduardo Sanchez)
The only film which gave me a brown-trouser-moment was The Blair Witch Project. I've watched and turned off slasher flicks, psych-horror, torture porn, movies with evil dolls and weird children, anything at all to do with clowns, satanic cult chanters or any hint of sweaty sex with something monstrous or redneckian. Only TBWP has genuinely frightened me and still I could not turn it off. I knew the legend was marketing bullshit; I knew the "found footage" was just a budget measure; I knew that handheld does not equal documentary. But get to me it did. Had to sleep with the light on all night; haven't been in a tent since. Still can't look at a student if they've got their back to me. In a corner. Head down. I never want to see it again. Respected but absolutely loathed.
My Top 10 Films of 1999
 |
| "If I'm not back in ten minutes, assume the gopher got me." |
#02 A+ The Straight Story (Lynch)
#03 A Topsy-Turvy (Leigh)
#04 A The Sixth Sense (Shyamalan)
#05 A- The Bone Collector (Noyce)
#06 A- Notting Hill (Michell)
#07 A- Being John Malkovich (Jonze)
#08 A- Cookie's Fortune (Altman)
#09 A- Election (Payne)
#10 B+ American Beauty (Mendes)
Overflow: More A-/B+ Films
#11 B+ Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (Cox)
#12 B+ The Trench (Boyd)
#13 B+ A Map of the World (Eliott)
#14 B+ The Winslow Boy (Mamet)
#15 B+ Go (Liman)
#16 B+ Tumbleweeds (O'Connor)
#17 B+ Ride With the Devil (Lee)
#18 B+ A Walk on the Moon (Goldwyn)
#19 B+ The Blair Witch Project (Myrick & Sanchez)
Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> B The Insider [yeah, okay, just not riveting, which is what a conspiracy thriller calls for]
> B The Talented Mr Ripley [okay, just not riveting, which is what a film of a Patricia Highsmith book should be]
> B Three Kings [yeah, okay, just not...oh, stuff it. You know.]
> B Fight Club [I thought the big surprise ending was really stoopid]
> B Boys Don't Cry [an important story...which is why news and documentaries were invented]
> B Mystery Men [should've been funnier, but The Spleen makes it okay]
> B The Matrix [looks great, but...]
> B Stuart Little [cute, but not much more]
> B Anywhere But Here [pleasant, with nice people, but that's all]
> B Man on the Moon [I'd like it, but it's got Jim Carey in it]
> B Angela's Ashes [keeps its distance when it needs to bring you closer]
> B The Hurricane [Dylan's song tells the same story, better, in only 8 minutes]
> B In Dreams [psych-horror where the build-up is better than the pay-off]
> B- Bringing Out the Dead [just another "Everybody's Crazy in New York" movie]
> B- Galaxy Quest [I didn't laugh once, despite really wanting to]
> B- Ratcatcher [the most engaging thing about this film is its name]
> B- Analyze This [Robert De Niro is not funny]
> B- Flawless [Robert De Niro is not funny]
> B- Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me [I laughed more afterwards when friends acted out the routines]
> B- The Green Mile [a Twilight Zone episode inside a 188 minute movie]
> B- Mystery, Alaska [a small town movie which has replaced charm with ice hockey]
> B- Girl, Interrupted [just couldn't take my eyes off Angelina's pouty, full, meaty, moist lips]
> C Felicia's Journey [peculiar & unpleasant do not add up to a good psychological thriller]
> C Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace [how can we possibly be expected to believe that that cute kid grew up to become Darth Vader???]
> C Eyes Wide Shut [an Arty film for Kubrick fans, and vice versa]
> C The Cider House Rules [this is from a guy who directed 31 ABBA videos, so whaddya expect?]
> D The War Zone [ugly, ugly, ugly...God it's ugly]
> D Bicentennial Man [Robin...why? why?]
> E American Pie [oh, great...a comedy about a pastry-fucker]
"Ah!..Sweet Mystery of Life...": 1999 Films I Apparently Still Need to See
Beautiful People (Dizdar); Book of Stars (Miner); Cradle Will Rock (Robbins); The Debt Collector (Neilson); The Deep End of the Ocean (Grosbard); Dick (Fleming); Dogma (Smith); Double Jeopardy (Beresford); EdTV (Howard); 8mm (Schumacher); The End of the Affair (Jordan); Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (Jarmusch); Happy, Texas (Illsley); Human Traffic (Kerrigan); Limbo (Sayles); The Limey (Soderbergh); The Muse (Brooks); My Life So Far (Hudson); October Sky (Johnston); Office Space (Judge); Pushing Tin (Newell); A Room for Romeo Brass (Meadows); Simpatico (Warchus); Sleepy Hollow (Burton); Small Soldiers (Dante); Spring Forward (Gilroy); Strange Planet (Croghan); Summer of Sam (Lee); True Crime (Eastwood); William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hoffman)
Best Performances of 1999
Jim Carey - Man on the Moon
Tom Cruise - Magnolia
Richard Farnsworth - The Straight Story
Angelina Jolie - Girl, Interrupted
Kevin Spacey - American Beauty
Hilary Swank - Boys Don't Cry
Denzel Washington - The Hurricane
But how about...
John C. Reilly in Magnolia
Yeah, Tom Cruise had the flashier role (all those dreadful words, extremely loud and incredibly close), but Reilly, with his sweet cop portrayal turned out to be the moral and emotional heart of the movie. His instant love for a druggie girl who is two rungs away from the bottom is just so touching without even a drop of schmaltz (I didn't think that Americans could do that), that when he starts bawling because he has lost his gun, my reaction is one of pure mateship.
...and what about...
Philip Baker Hall in Magnolia
Did he or didn't he? Pretty sure he did and, like every other linked story in Magnolia, the man is desperately seeking redemption. Soft spoken, affable, respectable and respected, this quiz-compere soon demonstrates to us that the deeds throughout his life have led to this one fateful judgement by God (or maybe even by his own soul). PBH tries his damnedest to get us to feel something resembling sympathy for this guy, but ultimately, he doesn't entirely succeed (quite possibly by design). But kudos to the actor for shoving the questions right into our faces: Can the unforgivable be forgiven? And, if so, should it?
...not to mention...
Sissy Spacek in The Straight Story
Is this the most dignified, heartbreaking side-performance ever? Gets my vote. Sissy is a small-town woman who has had her kids taken away (by the Authorities...why hasn't Marvel used this title as a name for a team of super-villains?) due to glossed-over mental problems. You just know that she is a victim of abuse, is friendless and has dental hygiene problems. To do so much with so little - Sissy proves here more than any other film in her canon that she truly is one of the absolute great actors.
...and one personal unmentionable...
Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules
 |
| "I can't even throw up in American." |
My 10 Favourite Performances of 1999
#01 Richard Farnsworth (The Straight Story)
#02 Sissy Spacek (The Straight Story)
#03 John C. Reilly (Magnolia)
#04 Angelina Jolie (The Bone Collector)
#05 Annette Bening (In Dreams)
#06 John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich)
#07 Kevin Spacey (American Beauty)
#08 Julianne Moore (Cookie's Fortune)
#09 Charles S. Dutton (Cookie's Fortune)
#10 Janet McTeer & Kimberly J. Brown (Tumbleweeds)
Overflow: More List-Worthy Performances
#11 Philip Baker Hall (Magnolia)
#12 Diane Lane (A Walk on the Moon)
#13 Hilary Swank (Boys Don't Cry)
#14 Reese Witherspoon (Election)
#15 Rebecca Pidgeon (The Winslow Boy)
#16 Sigourney Weaver (A Map of the World)
#17 Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense)
#18 The entire cast (Topsy-Turvy)
#19 Chris Cooper (American Beauty)
#20 Tobey Maguire (Ride With the Devil)
#21 Julia Roberts & Hugh Grant (Notting Hill)
Sorry, They Didn't Make It...
> Russell Crowe in The Insider [I thought Al had more impact]
> Toni Collette in The Sixth Sense [I didn't believe that she was the kid's mum]
> Jim Carrey in Man on the Moon [it's his best acting...and I still can't stand him]
> Tom Cruise in Magnolia [I wonder if he'd been nominated for the Oscar if he hadn't said the 'c' word?]
> Denzel Washington in The Hurricane [doesn't rank with the great boxer portrayals by Garfield, Ryan, Crowe]
And so...onto the annual awards (with a nod of appreciation to Danny Peary)...
The Alternate Oscars for 1999 are:
FILM of the YEAR
GOLD: Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson)
SILVER: The Straight Story (David Lynch)
BRONZE: Topsy-Turvy (Mike Leigh)
LEAD ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Richard Farnsworth (The Straight Story)
SILVER: Kevin Spacey (American Beauty)
BRONZE: Tobey Maguire (Ride With the Devil)
LEAD ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Angelina Jolie (The Bone Collector)
SILVER: Annette Bening (In Dreams)
BRONZE: Diane Lane (A Walk on the Moon)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: John C. Reilly (Magnolia)
SILVER: John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich)
BRONZE: Charles S. Dutton (Cookie's Fortune)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Sissy Spacek (The Straight Story)
SILVER: Julianne Moore (Cookie's Fortune)
BRONZE: Angelina Jolie (Girl, Interrupted)
ENSEMBLE or PARTNERSHIP: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Janet McTeer & Kimberly J. Brown (Tumbleweeds)
SILVER: The entire cast (Topsy-Turvy)
BRONZE: Julia Roberts & Hugh Grant (Notting Hill)
JUVENILE: PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
GOLD: Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense)
SILVER: Jeremy Blackman (Magnolia)
BRONZE: Anna Paquin (A Walk on the Moon)
The Alternate Razzies for 1999 are:
CRAP FILM of the YEAR
American Pie (Paul & Chris Weitz)
CRAP MALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Michael Caine (The Cider House Rules)
CRAP FEMALE PERFORMANCE of the YEAR
Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense)
