After feeling the sting of Oscar defeat the year before when Saving Private Ryan was outflanked by Miramax and Shakespeare in Love, Dreamworks rallied in 1999 to end the millennium with a victory in 5 top categories for American Beauty. Despite Harvey Weinstein’s aggressive push for The Cider House Rules and The Talented Mr Ripley, the early critical infatuation with Sam Mendes directorial debut held on strong enough to withstand savvy campaign onslaughts from every direction.
Purely on the basis of the nominations handed down, it may not have seemed like such a terrible outcome at the time. But I can’t be alone in recalling a pervasive sense of anti-climatic meh.
Remarkably, in the six years from 1994 to 1999, five Best Picture nominees had starred Tom Hanks — to the extent that it was beginning to seem absurd when a flabby entry like The Green Mile could be deemed good enough and smart enough and, doggone it, likeable enough to fill the obligatory Hanks BP Vehicle slot. Especially in comparison to all the films Shawshank’s far sillier spinoff edged out — films that now stand so proud in retrospect.
Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich, David Lynch’s The Straight Story, Alexander Payne’s Election. David O’ Russell’s Three Kings, Mike Leigh’s Topsy-Turvy, The Wachowski sibling’s The Matrix. What else am I forgetting? Yes, say it with me: David Fincher’s Fight Club! For me, any one of those films looks 10 times more mature and 100 times less smug than American Beauty. So in my eyes the Oscars ended the 20th Century not with a bang but a self-righteous simpering whimper. Many of you will disagree. (“I am Jack’s complete lack of surprise.”)
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American Beauty is one of my favorite films.
I hate to see so much dislike for it, but I’m happy people either love it or hate it, than just kinda like it enough or not even have an opinion.
The script, cinematography, score and performance by Chris Cooper are the standouts to me. It can start to feel dated perhaps, since it was one of those “zeitgeist” movies but part of the impact of that film was how it felt to watch it at the time. Similar to The Social Network, which will always be great, but feels best in the context of our world today.
1999 is my favorite year for movies. EW had a cover story 1999: The Year that Changed Movies.
Since I was in high school then, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the fantastic string of teen films that came out that year: American Pie, Dick, Drop Dead Gorgeous, 10 Things I Hate About You, Varsity Blues, Never Been Kissed, and Cruel Intentions (a guilty pleasure that I don’t really feel guilty about loving). They don’t make ’em like they used to.
The biggest Oscar snub that year for me was Reese Witherspoon for Election. Her best performance to date and pushed out for a standard Meryl performance in Music of the Heart.
Happiest surprise? Toni Collette’s nomination for for Sixth Sense. She was phenomenal, and I was shocked when I learned she was an Aussie. All 5 nominees in the sup. actress category were first timers that year.
And does anyone else remember Toy Story 2 winning Best Comedy at the Globes?
Looking forward to the podcast!
“I should have asked earlier in the discussion, but everyone, get on record about this shit:
TALENTED MR. RIPLEY > PURPLE NOON”
Not for me. Purple Noon > The Talented Mr. Ripley.
I’m surprised to not see any other mentions of Twin Falls Idaho. I know it was a small film at the time and it’s practically forgotten, but Roger Ebert did give it four stars, so I know I’m not the only one that fell in love with it.
Did they share it?
You’re right, Bryce – just checked. Must be confusing the scene with wishful thinking.
The skin was nice, but it was the facial expressions by Damon and Law that made the scene, surprisingly – they could have been wearing snowsuits and we would have “gotten” both completely.
I love American Beauty. Great little film. I thought it should have swept with Being also winning Best Actress.
I should have asked earlier in the discussion, but everyone, get on record about this shit:
TALENTED MR. RIPLEY > PURPLE NOON
American Beauty is better than Argo, The Artist, The King’s Speech, The Hurt Locker, Slumdog Millionaire and all the other year 2000+ era winners except No Country for Old Men.
My goodness, love love love American Beauty. Cant believe some of the comments here.
The Talented Mr. Rip,ey is also amazing and should have received more accolades.
And I also have a soft spot for Cider House Rules; average direction aside.
It’s so difficult to pick a fav from 1999, but The Matrix is my number 1 movie of that particular year. Then:
The Insider
The Talented Mr Ripley
The Virgin Suicides
Eyes Wide Shut
Fight Club
Todo Sobre Mi Madre
Girl, Interrupted
American Beauty
The Sixth Sense
Being John Malkovich
Election
Sleepy Hollow
The Boondock Saints
Magnolia
The End of the Affair
The Thomas Crown Affair
Stigmata
Summer of Sam
Go
Arlington Road
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
Human Traffic
And by the way, The Cider House Rules is so booorrring. The only good thing is how incredible beautiful Charlize Theron is in that movie!
Steve,
Did they share it? Ripley wanted to, but I think Dickie refused. That scene makes my head hurt.
Tony,
You seem pretty in tune with the motherland
Jpns Viewer,
Amen. It hurts to look at him + he’s douche.
Chris,
Yeah, just explaining it and RUSHMORE’s absence. I considered LOLA 98 too. GO was fun. Favorite scene? Confederated Products
Just to add – really disliked Cider House Rules.
Has any novelist been so badly served by Hollywood as John Irving? The potential for great filmmaking is practically built-in to Prayer for Owen Meany, Garp and CHR, yet what we get is weak and unimaginative Coles Notes with the marrow completely sucked out.
Late to the conversation, as usual.
Had American Beauty not won BP, I doubt we’d have as much hate for it. I enjoyed it for what it was – a cartoonish slam against middle class angst. There is little empathy towards the characters, but I thought it worked as a very broadly drawn satire.
That said, 1999 for me was the year of:
The Talented Mr Ripley (great looking film, terrific performances and script – and Jude Law lounging on the beach and sharing a tub)
Fight Club (hammer-heavy anarchy that converted me to Fiincherdom)
Being John Malkovich (simply brilliant and brilliantly simple)
The Insider (Crowe’s best performance in probably his best film)
Titus (Shakespearean excess via Taymor – seriously overlooked and/or dismissed)
Magnolia (loopy PTA, enough said)
Three Kings (Russell’s last great film, before he became the bigger story by standing in front of his films instead of behind them)
Guilty Pleasure: Election (light but hysterically funny)
Guilty Dislike: Boys Don’t Cry (should have liked it, but just didn’t – sorry)
My personal choices for 1999 would be:-
Best Picture: THE CIDER HOUSE RULES
Best Actor: Richard Farnsworth in THE STRAIGHT STORY
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon in ELECTION
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer in THE INSIDER
Best Supporting Actress: Angelina Jolie in GIRL INTERRUPTED
Best Director: Michael Mann for THE INSIDER
Best Original Screenplay: ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER
Best Adapted Screenplay: THE INSIDER
Best Cinematography: EYES WIDE SHUT
Best Art-Direction: ANNA AND THE KING
Best Costume Design: ANNA AND THE KING
Best Film Editing: THE iNSIDER
Best Sound: DEEP BLUE SEA
Best Original Score: THE STRAIGHT STORY
BestOriginal Song: ‘How can I not love you’ from ANNA AND THE KING
Best Visual Effects: THE MUMMY
Best Make-Up: THE MUMMY
Best Foreign Language Film: ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER
i MUST admit that even I think there are some strange choices here, but this is what I documented 14 years ago. At the time I underrated one of my favourite films of the year retrospectively, and that is ‘THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY’. Yes, I know, I also over rated ‘The Cider House Rules, but at the time I loved it. Now I just like it.
I still don’t like ‘The Matrix’ and ‘Topsy Turvy. I think ‘The Sixth Sense’ and ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ are over rated and it took me years to finally appreciate ‘American Beauty’.
Bryce says: ‘”The Talented Mr. Ripley [minus the microphones; hoping I’m not hallucinating. . . .]
Viewer,
Wut you mean when they sing Jazz? That part is fucking fantastic!!”‘
—
[MILD SPOILERS ALERT]
@Bryce,
The scene(s) where JLaw’s character went upon stage to jam with the band give or take – that’s what I’m talking about. [He was seen playing sax, looking devilishly handsome, all eyes on him, er, and all that jazz and swing . . . . ]
Here’s the deal: I might be wrong, but I think I saw part of the crew members’ microphone sets somewhere on top of the silver screen; they were #not# supposed to be there since they were not part of the scene(s) in question.
Other than that, I love it (the scene). JLaw nailed it. Kudostorm!
Anyway, sidenote: Just a guy checking out other guys – JLaw, himself wearing this character, was uber cool and so handsome that it hurt. I almost couldn’t imagine anybody else in this role. Great casting!
I really like American Beauty. The Insider is pretty great too.
1999 is a rather limp year for Best Picture nominees, especially in retrospect. That said, it could be claimed that American Beauty was the most acclaimed winner from 1994-2006, it would definitely be in there with a shout.
The Standouts
1. Eyes Wide Shut
2. All About My Mother
The Rest
3. Fight Club (would have been top a few years back, but it’s a film you grow out of in a way)
4. The Wind Will Carry Us
5. American Beauty
6. The Matrix
7. Boys Don’t Cry
8. Magnolia
9. Being John Malkovich
10. Girl Interrupted
It’s a weak-ish top 10 for me.
I’ll probably remember 1999 most for some great scares. The SLJ moment in Deep Blue Sea, a couple moments in The Sixth Sense, the camcorder moment in House on Haunted Hill, a few creepy scenes in The Mummy and The Haunting.
If these podcasts have taught me anything, it is that 1997 was an incredibly underrated year.
American Beauty is one of the greatest films ever for me. Perfect winner for me.
My Top 20:
American Beauty
Magnolia
The Straight Story
Toy Story 2
All About My Mother
Fight Club
The Sixth Sense
The Iron Giant
The Matrix
The Limey
The Color of Paradise
Election
Eyes Wide Shut
Three Kings
Boys Don’t Cry
Rosetta
October Sky
The Blair Witch Project
Earth
Sweet and Lowdown
Bryce,
I, too, love that scene where they sing “Tu vuo fa l’Americano.” It’s on the CD soundtrack. (I also like The Puppini Sisters’ version in which they weave a short piece of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”)
Ryan,
Your list reminded me I haven’t seen Sweet And Lowdown, The End Of An Affair and Cradle Will Rock. I need to get on that.
Bryce, I just noticed you claim Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels for 1998. It did come out in the UK in ’98, but I didn’t see it until it was released in the US in spring 1999, so I don’t know. I’d count it for ’99 because I go by US release dates.
I LOVE American Beauty. 🙂
Kane,
I meant #2 out of the whole 1999 year of movies, #1 is Jar Jar Binks. I love everyone else in TOY STORY, love Slink.
1999 was a truly GREAT year…and not only do I LOVE your thoughts Ryan…but I love the passion on this site!
Although I like “American Beauty”…
My 5 favs from 1999 are:
Magnolia
Election
The Insider
Eyes Wide Shut
The Red Violin
Bryce, which character is #1 then? Please don’t say Slink…not Slink…
I love the Matrix, definitely one of the best of the year.
Side note – Anyone else remember the controversy that surrounded the film in the late spring / early summer in 1999; I believe people in the media said this film influenced the Columbine killers because the killers dressed like Neo so therefore there was a connection w/ the movie.
On the Fence.
That may be true that the 20th Century didn’t official end until December 31, 2000, but most people think of a Century as
1900 – 1999. As soon as there is no more 19… the Century is over. But yes, there was no year zero, but you don’t start with one either. Technically the 1 means that a year has passed. You technically start with 0 and build up to 1.
“So in my eyes the Oscars ended the 20th Century not with a bang but a self-righteous simpering whimper.”
The 20th Century ended at the end of the year 2000.
The Talented Mr. Ripley [minus the microphones; hoping I’m not hallucinating. . . .]
Viewer,
Wut you mean when they sing Jazz? That part is fucking fantastic!!
Ryan,
THE INSIDER #1, vicious <3
——————–
OK, I need the feel to address this situation. TOY STORY 2 would figure somewhere on my list, albeit not near the top 10, if it wasn't because of Jesse. I fucking hate her, ruins the whole thing for me. It’s the 2nd film character I most despise from that year. Just turn it off.
I definitely think 1999 was the best year out of the decade; its riches are numerable, and I do think it was a year that provided a cinematic sea change, for better or worse. In the end, even with so many choices, the end result came down to my top five, and I could not deny that the winner had to be:
PICTURE: MAGNOLIA, Topsy-Turvy, The Insider, Eyes Wide Shut, Election, The Iron Giant, All About My Mother, The Matrix, The Gods of Times Square, Fight Club, Office Space, The Straight Story, The Talented Mr. Ripley, American Movie, Three Kings, Toy Story 2, My Best Fiend, Ratcatcher, Kikujiro, Buena Vista Social Club, My Voyage to Italy, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, Galaxy Quest, eXistenZ, Being John Malkovich, The Wind Will Carry Us, Mystery Men, Titus, The Limey, American Beauty, Limbo, Bringing Out The Dead, The Virgin Suicides, Beau Travail, Humanite, The War Zone, Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr., The Color of Paradise, Sweet and Lowdown, Cremaster 2, Genghis Blues, The End of the Affair, Dick, Girl on the Bridge, Mansfield Park, The Winslow Boy, A Map of the World, An Ideal Husband, One Day in September, Judy Berlin, Boys Don’t Cry, Aimee and Jaguar, Cradle Will Rock, The Cider House Rules, Bowfinger, The Blair Witch Project, Audition, October Sky, Three Seasons, Cookie’s Fortune, A Walk on the Moon, Mifune, Guinevere, Fantasia 2000, Felicia’s Journey, Go, Jesus’ Son
DIRECTOR: Paul Thomas Anderson, MAGNOLIA (2nd: Mike Leigh, Topsy-Turvy, followed by: Stanley Kubrick, Eyes Wide Shut; Michael Mann, The Insider; Richard Sandler, The Gods of Times Square; Pedro Almodovar, All About My Mother; Brad Bird, The Iron Giant; Spike Jonze, Being John Malkovich; David Lynch, The Straight Story; Alexander Payne, Election)
ACTOR: Richard Farnsworth, THE STRAIGHT STORY (2nd—and VERY close: Russell Crowe, The Insider), followed by: Terrence Stamp, The Limey; Matt Damon, The Talented Mr. Ripley; Kevin Spacey, American Beauty; Jim Broadbent, Topsy-Turvy; Al Pacino, The Insider; Matthew Broderick, Election; Ray Winstone, The War Zone; Sean Penn, Sweet and Lowdown)
ACTRESS: Reese Witherspoon, ELECTION (2nd: Annette Bening, American Beauty, followed by: Nicole Kidman, Eyes Wide Shut; Cecelia Roth, All About My Mother; Julianne Moore, The End of the Affair; Hillary Swank, Boys Don’t Cry; Sigourney Weaver, A Map of the World; Diane Lane, A Walk on the Moon)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Tom Cruise, MAGNOLIA (2nd: John C. Reilly, Magnolia, followed by: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Magnolia; Harry Lennix, Titus; Christopher Plummer, The Insider; John Malkovich, Being John Malkovich; Timothy Spall, Topsy-Turvy; Haley Joel Osment, The Sixth Sense; Sam Rockwell, Galaxy Quest; Jude Law, The Talented Mr. Ripley)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melora Walters, MAGNOLIA (2nd: Julianne Moore, Magnolia, followed by: Shirley Henderson, Topsy-Turvy; Catherine Keener, Being John Malkovich; Samantha Morton, Sweet and Lowdown; Chloe Sevigny, Boys Don’t Cry; Janeane Garafalo, Mystery Men; Thora Birch, American Beauty; Helena Bonham Carter, Fight Club; Toni Collette, The Sixth Sense)
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Conrad Hall, AMERICAN BEAUTY (2nd: Larry Smith, Eyes Wide Shut, followed by: Freddie Francis, The Straight Story; Robert Elswit, Magnolia; Newton Thomas Sigel, Three Kings; Richard Sandler, The Gods of Times Square; Dante Spinotti, The Insider; Dick Pope, Topsy-Turvy; Bill Pope, The Matrix)
ORIGINAL SCORE: Thomas Newman, AMERICAN BEAUTY (2nd: Angelo Badalamenti, The Straight Story, followed by: Pieter Bourke and Lisa Gerrard, The Insider; Gabriel Yared, The Talented Mr. Ripley; Jon Brion, Magnolia; Carter Burwell, Being John Malkovich; Michael Kamen, The Iron Giant; Randy Newman; Toy Story 2; Damon Albarn and Michael Nyman, Ravenous; Air, The Virgin Suicides)
SHORT FILM: THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA (Aleksandr Petrov)
FURTHER:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Paul Thomas Anderson, MAGNOLIA (2nd: Mike Leigh, Topsy-Turvy, followed by: Charlie Kaufman, Being John Malkovich; John Ridley and David O. Russell, Three Kings; Pedro Almodovar, All About My Mother; Alan Ball, American Beauty; David Howard and Robert Gordon, Galaxy Quest; John Roach and Mary Sweeney, The Straight Story; John Sayles, Limbo)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, ELECTION (2nd: Mike Judge, Office Space, followed by: Eric Roth and Michael Mann, The Insider; Anthony Minghella, The Talented Mr. Ripley; Stanley Kubrick and Frederic Raphael, Eyes Wide Shut; Matt Stone and Trey Parker, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut; Jim Uhls, Fight Club; Tim McCanlies and Brad Bird, The Iron Giant)
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: THE GODS OF TIMES SQUARE (Richard Sandler) (2nd: American Movie (Chris Smith), followed by: My Best Fiend (Werner Herzog), followed by: Buena Vista Social Club (Wim Wenders); My Voyage to Italy (Martin Scorsese); Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (Errol Morris); Genghis Blues (Roko Belic); One Day in September (Kevin Macdonald))
NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM: ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER (Spain, Pedro Almodovar) (2nd: Kikujiro (Japan, Takeshi Kitano), followed by: The Wind Will Carry Us (Iran, Abbas Kierostami); Beau Travail (France, Claire Denis); Humanite (France, Bruno Dumont); The Color of Paradise (Iran, Majid Majidi); Girl on the Bridge (France, Patrice Leconte); Aimee and Jaguar (Germany, Max Farberbock); Audition (Japan, Takashi Miike))
ART DIRECTION: TOPSY-TURVY, The Matrix, Sleepy Hollow, Titus, Eyes Wide Shut, Mystery Men
COSTUME DESIGN: TOPSY-TURVY, Titus, Mystery Men, Sleepy Hollow, William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sweet and Lowdown
FILM EDITING: THE MATRIX, The Insider, Magnolia, The Gods of Times Square, Fight Club, American Beauty
SOUND: THE MATRIX, The Insider, Magnolia, Toy Story 2, The Iron Giant, Fight Club
ORIGINAL SONG: (TIE) “When She Loved Me” from TOY STORY 2 (music and lyrics by Randy Newman) and “Save Me” from MAGNOLIA (music and lyrics by Aimee Mann) (2nd: “I Can Change” from South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (music and lyrics by Trey Parker) followed by: “Wise Up” from Magnolia (music and lyrics by Aimee Mann); “Beautiful Stranger” from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (music and lyrics by Madonna and William Orbit); “Uncle Fucka” from South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (music and lyrics by Trey Parker))
ADAPTATION SCORE/SCORING OF A MUSICAL: Marc Shaiman and Trey Parker, SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER AND UNCUT (2nd: Gary Yershon, Topsy-Turvy)
SPECIAL EFFECTS: THE MATRIX, Fight Club, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Mystery Men, Stuart Little
MAKEUP: TOPSY-TURVY, Titus, eXistenZ, Sleepy Hollow, Galaxy Quest
ANIMATED FEATURE: THE IRON GIANT, Toy Story 2, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, Fantasia 2000
(Part 2)
(Unfortunately, for some reason my train of thoughts just didn’t run smooth this time round. And I didn’t want to force-feed my own words. So, I was just going to write down my own Top 15 in 1999.)
[English-speaking films only]
1. American Beauty (Best [English-speaking] Film of the Year).
*
[#NOT# in any particular order (to prevent my head from exploding while trying to figure it out)]
The Insider
Topsy-Turvy
The Cider House Rules
The Sixth Sense
The Matrix
Election
Being John Malkovich
Three Kings
Fight Club
The Green Mile
The Talented Mr. Ripley [minus the microphones; hoping I’m not hallucinating. . . .]
Magnolia
Sweet and Lowdown
The Straight Story
American beauty is fckin amazing still,
I get you guys aren’t fans, given your “Insider” article a year ago,
But how long will you try to make a fact out of this opinion ?
Some objectivity from the Monitors please
Thank you .
I get you guys aren’t fans, given your “Insider” article a year ago.
For the record, Sasha said in a tweet last night:
I should get specific to. My list will only include movies in English (in order to to better represent feasible Oscar Best Picture options)
1. The Insider
2. The Talented Mr. Ripley
3. Fight Club
4. Being John Malkovich
5. The Straight Story
6. Topsy-Turvy
7. The Matrix
8. Election
9. Three Kings
10. The Sixth Sense
11. Boys Don’t Cry
12. Toy Story 2
13. Eyes Wide Shut
14. Iron Giant
15. American Beauty
16. Magnolia
17. The Limey
18. The Hurricane
19. Bringing Out the Dead
20. Sweet and Lowdown
21. October Sky
22. The End of the Affair
23. Ride with the Devil
24. Bowfinger
25. Go
26. Cradle Will Rock
27. Girl Interrupted
28. Office Space
29. Payback
30. The Blair Witch Project
Sliding Sam Mendes in the tier alongside Kubrick, Anderson, Scorsese, and Soderbergh is hardly what I’d call despising him. I like everything Sam Mendes has done since American Beauty better than I like his debut, that’s all.
My problem with American Beauty is with the script — which immediately struck me as tiresome, mean-spirited, pretentious, intentionally spurious and crude. Honestly I could just as easily put American Beauty out of the Top 20 altogether and wouldn’t miss its absence. of all the titles on this list, American Beauty is dead last in terms of my desire to watch it again. I don’t hate it. It just bores me. I’m just sick of it and the fabricated ugliness it pretends to uncover.
It’s the very common feeling that we all get when we try to tolerate and respect a movie until the whole world tells us it’s the greatest thing they saw all year.
I’m late to the party, but I’ll chime in anyways. I didn’t agree with ANY of the final 5 nominees, but I generally liked if not loved all of those movies. I could see endless combinations of different films thrown together to make a satisfying 5, deep as the bench of films was that year. Here’s my list, and keep in mind that if there’s something missing on here you loved, I didn’t see it or you’re wrong 🙂
1. Fight Club
2. Being John Malkovich
3. The Matrix
4. Magnolia
5. Election
6. Toy Story 2
7. Office Space
8. American Beauty
9. The Sixth Sense
10. All About My Mother
11. South Park: Bigger, Longer And Uncut
12. Run Lola Run
13. The Iron Giant
14. The Talented Mr. Ripley
15. Man On The Moon
16. The Limey
17. Three Kings
18. Bowfinger
19. Eyes Wide Shut
20. Bringing Out The Dead
21. Go
22. The Straight Story
23. Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels
24. Boys Don’t Cry
25. Dogma
26. American Pie
27. The Insider
28. Topsy Turvy
29. The 13th Warrior
30. The Blair Witch Project
31. October Sky
32. Dick
33. Girl, Interrupted
34. Payback
35. The Cider House Rules
36. Notting Hill
37. The Green Mile
38. Jawbreaker
39. Life
40. Summer Of Sam
Oh man! Eyes Wide Shut! I can’t believe I forgot all about that!!!
ACTUAL NOMINEES (Ratings out of five):
American Beauty*****
The Cider House Rules**
The Green Mile***
The Insider****1/2
The Sixth Sense***1/2
MY PICKS
1. American Beauty
2. Magnolia
3. The Straight Story
4. Mansfield Park
5. Children of Heaven
6. Three Kings
7. Being John Malkovich
8. The Insider
9. Bringing out the Dead
10. Toy Story 2
Best Director:
1. Sam Mendes, American Beauty
2. Paul Thomas Anderson, Magnolia
3. David Lynch, The Straight Story
4. Spike Jonez, Being John Malkovich
5. David O. Russell, Three Kings
Best Lead Actress:
1. Anette Benning, American Beauty
2. Hilary Swank, Boys Don’t Cry
3. Frances O’Connor, Mansfield Park
4. Glenn Close, Cookie’s Fortune
5. Reese Witherspoon, Election
Best Lead Actor:
1. Kevin Spacey, American Beauty
2. Richard Farnsworth, The Straight Story
3. Jim Carey, Man on the Moon
4. Nicholas Cage, Bringing out the Dead
5. Denzel Washington, The Hurricane
Best Supporting Actor:
1. Chris Cooper, American Beauty
2. Dan Hadaya, Dick
3. Haley Joel Osment, The Sixth Sense
4. Harold Pinter, Mansfield Park
5. Tom Cruise, Magnolia
Best Supporting Actress:
1. Julianne Moore, Magnolia
2. Julianne Moore, Cookie’s Fortune
3. Thora Birch, American Beauty
4. Cameron Diaz, Being John Malkovich
5. Angelina Jolie, Girl Interrupted
Best Original Screenplay:
1. American Beauty
2. Magnolia
3. Being John Malkovich
4. Cookie’s Fortune
5. Dick
Best Adapted Screenplay:
1. Mansfield Park
2. The Insider
3. Bringing out the Dead
4. Toy Story 2
5. Election
Best Original Song:
1. “When She Loved Me” Toy Story 2
2. “Wise Up” Magnolia
3. “Save Me” Magnolia
4. “You’ll Be in My Heart” Tarzan
5. “Beautiful Stranger” Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Best Original Score:
1. Mansfield Park
2. The Straight Story
3. American Beauty
4. The End of the Affair
5. Snow Falling on Cedars
Best Film Editing:
1. Magnolia
2. American Beauty
3. Three Kings
4. Bringing out the Dead
5. Being John Malkovich
Best Cinematography:
1. Snow Falling on Cedars
2. The Straight Story
3. Children of Heaven
4. Bringing out the Dead
5. American Beauty
Best Production Design:
1. Being John Malkovich
2. Three Kings
3. Topsy Turvy
4. Mansfield Park
5. American Beauty
Best Sound Mixing:
1. Three Kings
2. Topsy Turvy
3. The Sixth Sense
4. Tarzan
5. The Matrix
Best Visual Effects:
1. Three Kings
2. Bringing out the Dead
3. The Matrix
Best Costume Design:
1. Topsy Turvy
2. Mansfield Park
3. Dick
4. Cookie’s Fortune
5. The End of the Affair
Best Makup:
1. Being John Malkovich
2. Cookie’s Fortune
3. American Beauty
4. Bringing out the Dead
5. Mansfield Park
1) The Talented Mr. Ripley
2) The Green Mile
3) Three Kings
4) Being John Malkovich
5) Summer of Sam
I really appreciate “Bowfinger” and “The Iron Giant,” as well…
I recently rewatched American Beauty after having seen it just once in 1999. Back then, I thought it was a great film. Now, think it’s simply a good film. Nonetheless, I can understand why it had so much hype back then.
For me, the standout film from 1999 was The Matrix. It’s the only film that I’ve ever seen three times in a theater. I love the way that the film blended elements of sci-fi, action, and horror. And its innovative special effects were quite amazing. I consider The Matrix a “game changer” in a way. It rightfully won 4 Oscars, including the Best Editing award.
Hilary Swank’s performance in Boys Don’t Cry was phenomenal. At the Golden Globes ceremony, when she was walking toward the stage to accept her Best Actress award, Meryl Streep grabbed her arm and said, “You deserve it.
Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow was a visually stunning film, and should’ve won the Oscar for cinematography.
1999, the year in which a final Line Up as subversive as…
All About My Mother
The Blair Witch Project
Fight Club
The Matrix
South Park, Bigger Longer and Uncut
would have been as shocking as deserving. Out of the 5 actual nominees, I do think The Green Mile was probably the best (I haven’t seen The Cider House Rules) and a virtually perfect adaptation of Stephen King’s book. The Insider, close second, then The Sixth Sense. American Beauty was a great film, too. So they were Magnolia, Galaxy Quest (soooo underrated), Toy Story 2, Being John Malkovich… it’s a year in which you could have had 15 Best Picture nominees and little complaint about that fact.
While AMERICAN BEAUTY does travel well-worn territory (THE ICE STORM, for one, which came out two years earlier, is a better movie), I think it skirts the line of caricature where it’s still funny (something Alan Ball, IMHO, has not been able to replicate in his later work, except for parts of “Six Feet Under”), and is lifted by fantastic performances across the board (even in the small parts, like the desperation Allison Janney brings to her role as Wes Bentley’s mother). Also, it’s the one Sam Mendes movie, for me, that holds up.
I do agree, considering what a landmark year for movies 1999 was that they really dropped the ball, nominating a bloated film like THE GREEN MILE instead of any of the great movies that came out that year. And while I like CIDER HOUSE RULES and THE SIXTH SENSE, they also pale next to the best of the year. Which, IMHO, was:
1. THREE KINGS
2. MAGNOLIA
3. EYES WIDE SHUT
4. BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
5. THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY
6. TOPSY-TURVY
7. THE INSIDER
8. AMERICAN BEAUTY
9. BOYS DON’T CRY
10. THE DREAMLIFE OF ANGELS (since it was released in the U.S. in 1999)
Honorable Mention: AN AMERICAN LOVE STORY, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, COOKIE’S FORTUNE, THE IRON GIANT, LIMBO, THE LIMEY, MAN ON THE MOON, MR. DEATH: THE RISE AND FALL OF FRED A. LEUCHTER, MUMFORD, THE RED VIOLIN, RIDE WITH THE DEVIL, RUN LOLA RUN, TOY STORY 2
Oh wait, caveat, I always root for Evan Peters, but other than him?
AMERICAN BEAUTY is a comedy. Mean comedy? Depends. Nobody likable? pssh so. Not nearly as smart as it thinks it is? *shrugs* Doesn’t “work” as a drama? is it supposed to? It isn’t “subtle” satire, Rufus? That line is hilarious, sorry it just is, if you didn’t laugh when she said hat I don’t know what to say to that, I just don’t get it. It’s a great comedy, and I appreciate that too much. Glorified AMERICAN HORROR STORY episode? I’m in.
Unlikely hood,
Never liked it that much. I even liked 3 better, and it was the exact same story as 1
Ryan,
obvi
Flawless = 100% faithful
MCCABE’s haze was and should be protected as THE GODFATHER’s darkness and blacks.
As far as I remember, back in the 1999 Oscar Race, nobody (and I mean NOBODY) thought “American Beauty” was overrated. That year it was the fronrunner, and, yes, there was people cheering for other films, but no one could deny the quality and brilliance of “American Beauty”.
Like it always happens, when we see the race with the benefit of Father Chronos, we tend to criticize the Academy’s choice. I’d like to say, that even when I’m still fond with Sam Mendes’ opera prima, I like other films much more, and can appreciate the quality of other movies made that year, such as “Magnolia”, “Snow Falling on Cedars”, “Being John Malkovich”, “All About My Mother” or even the nominated “The Insider” and “The Green Mile”.
And yet, I can still remember that, the moment Mr. Clint Eastwood opened the envelope, we all kind of felt the Academy was making a brave choice, a risky one, due to the nature of the film.
Back then, nobody believed “The Matrix” or “Being John Malkovich” could crack the Oscar’s Top 5, yes “The Green Mile came as a pleasent surprise, but it was believed to take the place of “The Talented Mr. Ripley”, “The End of the Affair” or even “Toy Story 2″… there was no talk about “Topsy-Turvy”, “Election”… nor “Fight Club”.
I still believe the Academy made the right choice.
I remember seeing American Beauty in early 2000 after hearing everyone talk about how great it was. I thought it was good, but nowhere near as good as other films I saw that year. Three Kings was my favorite movie of that year and I don’t think Russell has made a better film yet. Fight Club and The Matrix both blew my mind when I saw them and The 6th Sense was really good as well. The Insider, Being John Malkovich and Magnolia were great too.
I also really enjoyed Bowfinger and thought it was a fun satire and featured an incredible performance by Eddie Murphy that I wish he was nominated for in the supporting actor category. Still shocked Damon didn’t get nominated that year for Ripley.
Be sure to talk about Boys Don’t Cry! Probably my favorite film from that year, along with American Beauty.
Such a brilliant year!!
My choices are:
BEST PICTURE
1. Magnolia
2. Eyes Wide Shut
3. Being John Malkovitch
4. American Beauty
5. Girl, Interrupted
6. Fight Club
7. The Virgin Suicides
8. The Blaire Witch Project
9. Election
10. Audition
11. South Park: Bigger, longer, uncut
12. Tumbleweeds
13. The Talented Mr. Ripley
14. Dogma
15. Sweet and Lowdown
BEST DIRECTOR
1. Stanley Kubrick – Eyes Wide Shut
2. Paul Thomas Anderson- Magnolia
3. Spike Jonez – Being john Malkovitch
4. Sophia Coppola – The Virgin Suicides
5. David Fincher – Fight Club
BEST ACTOR
1. Tom Cruise – Eyes Wide Shut
2. Edward Norton – Fight Club
3. Kevin Spacey – American Beauty
4. Richard Farnsworth – The Straight Story
5. Sean Penn – Sweet and Lowdown
BEST ACTRESS
1. Hillary Swank – Boys Don’t Cry
2. Annette Benning – American Beauty
3. Wynonna Ryder – Girl interrupted
4. Reese Witherspoon – Election
5. Nicole Kidman – Eyes Wide Shut
BEST S ACTOR
1. Phillip Baker Hall – Magnolia
2. Tom Cruise – Magnolia
3. Phillip Seymore Hoffman – Magnolia
4. Chris Cooper – American Beauty
5. Jude Law – talented Mr Ripley
BEST S ACTRESS
1. Angelina Jolie – Girl Interrupted
2. Cameron Diaz – Being John M.
3. Julianne Moore – Magnolia
4. Chloe Sevigny – Boys Don’t Cry
5. Brittany Murphy – Girl Interrupted
It’s not just that there were many better films than “American Beauty”. “American Beauty” just didn’t work at all. This is not retrospect. I left the theatre in 1999 knowing this and foolishly believing that it was just as apparent to other astute moviegoers.
Great year! And as much as I loved Fight Club. The Matrix etc…. I had to side with the Academy on American Beauty. Its just right!
How it Should have been
Best Picture:
American Beauty – Winner!
Being John Malkovich
Eyes Wide Shut
Fight Club
The Matrix
Best Director:
American Beauty
Being John Malkovich
Eyes Wide Shut – Winner!
Fight Club
The Matrix
The Play is a murder mystery thriller where a famous theater group in Kolkata is ravaged when the members of the group gets killed one by one in a span of one night. Only three of the members survive. The task of finding out the truth falls on one member, but the answers the member was looking for are not the answers the member will get. Will the truth kill the member or just make the member even stronger. Find out as The Play begins.
https://www.facebook.com/theplaythemovie
Come on, Ryan. I didn´t intend to be mean or anything. I´m just pointing out, that we could´ve discussed one of the best years in movies in a different way. I think it´s a shame that people who comment here, must trash another movie before they can tell the world what they think is the best movie. It doesn´t add anything to the discussion. When I say Notting Hill is the best movie of 1999 I don´t want a shitstorm coming my way. Do I feel the need to tell everyone how god awful All about my mother was because it had those annoying subtitles? No.
therealmike, I didn’t think you were being mean. You didn’t hurt my feelings. You just weren’t mincing words. Neither do I. By the same token, I wasn’t being mean with this headline either. It’s just a headline. Its meant to grab attention. It needs to be brief. In my sincere opinion, American Beauty was not a strong BP winner — but neither was the movie nipping at its tail. In my sincere opinion, there were 3 BP nominees weaker than movies the Academy didn’t nominate at all. We reduce Best Picture history as if its a 5-way battle each year. Once in a while I like to point out what an artificial construction that is. I think there were a dozen better movies than half the Best Picture nominees in 1999. That happens in a lot of years, in my opinion. Occasionally I like to say it out loud. Today I said it in headline form. Nobody has any trouble on these discussion pages saying what they think, pro and con. Nobody ever holds back from knocking any movie or raving about another one. I’m sorry if you feel that I somehow gave license to people to beat up on a movie you love. But surely you know well-regarded writers were beating up on American Beauty already in 1999. In print. Online.
If a few people don’t like American Beauty why can’t they say so? You must know that most people seem to agree with you. Isn’t that satisfying?
Picture
1. The Sixth Sense
2. The Insider
3. American Beauty
4. The Cider House Rules
5. The Green Mile
Director
1. Spike Jonze “Being John Malkovich”
2. M. Night Shyamalan “The Sixth Sense”
3. Sam Mendes “American Beauty”
4. Michael Mann “The Insider”
5. Lasse Hallström “The Cider House Rules”
Leading Actress
1. Hilary Swank “Boys don’t Cry”
2. Annette Bening “American Beauty”
3. Janet McTeer “Tumbleweeds”
4. Julianne Moore “The End of the Affair”
5. Meryl Streep “Music of the Heart”
Leading Actor
1. Richard Farnsworth “The Straight Story”
2. Russel Crowe “The Insider”
3. Sean Penn “Sweet and Lowdown”
4. Kevin Spacey “American Beauty”
5. Denzel Washington “The Hurricane”
Supporting Actress
1. Chloe Sevigny “Boys don’t Cry”
2. Catherine Keener “Being John Malkovich”
3. Angelina Jolie “Girl Interrupted”
4. Toni Collette “The Sixth Sense”
5. Samantha Morton “Sweet and Lowdown”
Supporting Actor
1. Haley Joel Osment “The Sixth Sense”
2. Tom Cruise “Magnolia”
3. Michael Clark Duncan “The Green Mile”
4. Michael Caine “The Cider House Rules”
5. Jude Law “The Talented Mr. Ripley”
All About My Mother! Glad to see it getting some love on here.
I also don’t know why there is so much extreme disdain for American Beauty. Coming after the Shakespeare in Love win the year before, it was a much better choice. That said, it was an incredible year of cinema, with such vast accomplishments in several genres, and time really has played a part in voicing which ones have stood out. In this area, I believe American Beauty has struggled, as I think certain films (and even TV shows) have trumped it, however, at the time it was well-received and appreciated.
Toy Story 2, Fight Club, Office Space, All About My Mother, Election, The Matrix, Being John Malkovich, The Blair Witch Project, Magnolia, Summer of Sam, South Park Movie are all films which come to mind when I think of the diverse year which 99 was. Really cool to look back on actually.
Best moment from that year’s telecast: Billy Crystal joking that one of the missing Oscars was found under Erykah Badu’s hat.
At the time “American Beauty’s” victory was both expected and popular, although the bloom has come off the rose petals (heh) over the years. It’s a good movie, but it’s been over a decade since the last time I saw it.
“Ripley” is probably the one I’ve seen most often. Shout out to Jude Law and Cate Blanchett, my faves in the film.
“The Matrix” as BP? Thank God, no.
With a Fincher movie in the mix, I can only imagine how much tingling will be taking place in Sasha and Ryan’s naughty bits during the podcast.
🙂
Topic: Maggie Smith’s scorpione-in-chief in 1999’s “Tea with Mussolini” or AD — which has more snark? Discuss.
this was such a good year for movies and performances, but Academy gave two Oscars to The Cider House Rules (a typical Oscar bait). screenplay was undeserved and Michael Caine’s win (especially given that it was his second) and for such a mediocre performance, and in that competition, was the worst decision they ever made. I love Michael Caine but that win was ridiculous. I blame Weinsteins who should have pushed The Talented Mr. Ripley, which was way better.
By which I mean Bryce – TS2 should be at least #42 on your list
I am shocked, shocked that 50 comments in I’m the first to mention Toy Story 2. I’m hardly Mister Animation, but you can make a convincing case that that’s the best cartoon ever.
Sorry Bryce, but I think I’ve seen your list and all 46 of those films aren’t better than Toy Story 2.
I agree with Tero that American Beauty’s win sorta kinda made up for The Ice Storm’s snub. I just wish they hadn’t done the same thing for Magnolia with Crash
A great companion piece to McCabe and Mrs Miller is Michael Winterbottom’s The Claim. It’s just another totally awesome gritty old western film. Can’t recommend it highly enough.
KT, I can’t recall the exact line, but you reminded me of that horrendous drive-up scene in American Beauty, but that line, delivered by Bening as the scene begins, is emblematic of why I find the movie to be so terrible. She and her newfound boytoy are driving up into the window and she says something like “We just had sex and worked up an appetite, I guess we deserve to treat ourselves to some greasy junk food.” Now, I know my wording is choppy (but probably still better than Ball’s) but it’s not why I hate that line. I hate the line because no one in human history would have said such a thing in that situation. It’s clearly meant to be expositional rather than revealing of character. It’s a pointless stupid line that serves no purpose (having seen them have sex earlier in the picture in grotesque detail, it’s safe for the viewer they were doing the nasty probably 15 minutes before they decided to get the fast food. That line, like the fast food, was empty, shallow, and probably full of shit.
The whole movie is just filled with out and out clunkers in the dialogue department. What makes a good satire (in my mind) is when you look at small chunks of it, you don’t realize it is a satire. The satirical elements need to be subtle, and it needs to dawn on the viewer over time that what they are watching is a satirical piece. Satire is not a bludgeoning device. And American Beauty is a sledgehammer.
————
I really need to step up and say something about Three Kings (written by 12 Years a Slave’s John Ridley). Now that’s a great satire about war and American values and geo-politics. And it’s a tight suspenseful action flick as well. It’s easily David O Russell’s best film and years later I would probably pick it as my favorite of the year simply because it stands out as a one-of-a-kind flick that hasn’t even been remotely duplicated since. It’s a genuine triumph.
This post is a disaster. Instead of hating on films, we should celebrate them. “American Beauty” isn´t a bad movie. You can have different views about it, you can have certain issues with it, but you can´t say its painfully bad.
I´t also a movie a lot of people love. It won 5 Oscars, made 300 Million world wide, it´s very high on the imdb 250. I don´t say this makes it a better movie, but with the headline of this post you forced many people to defend a movie they like and hate on a different movie. And that leads us nowhere.
therealmike, When we record the Oscar Podcast each week, we want to do more than parrot what the Academy did and nod along in agreement like bobblehead dolls. We very often talk about how weak some of the Oscar winners look in hindsight 20 years later, or a year later (or the day after). We spend a lot of time each week talking about how movies that were completely ignored by the Oscars have risen in esteem to be regarded as classics. Last week, for example, we spent more time talking about the Oscarless Big Lebowski than we wasted discussing Life Is Beautiful.
(Life is Beautiful got 7 Oscar nominations and earned $230 million worldwide. Someone might say “that doesnt neccesarily make it a better movie than The Big Lebowski” — and holy cow, they’d be right. It doesn’t mean anything. Except that there are a lot of people who got conned into thinking Bozo Benigni was some sort of Italian Charlie Chaplin).
In fact, a recurring theme of the Oscar Podcast is to acknowledge how tides of now-stale sentiment and forces of PR machinery can maneuver and finnagle to acheive wins that are hard to fathom in retrospect. The Oscars are frequently a piss-poor measure of the year in cinema. We can agree on that even if we don’t all agree on the specifics of individual winners. I’m sure thousands of people everywhere (or maybe at least a few dozen somewhere) believe Roberto Benigni deserved to win Best Actor. That is not an opinion I am obliged to agree with. It’s not what I think and it’s not what I write. I came with a different approach in framing this week’s Oscar preview than what you’re used to seeing Sasha do. Sasha rightly and fairly usually names two BP nominees in the headline — the movie that won and the movie that almost won. This year, more than most, I can’t see a title of “almost won” among the losing nominees. It was probably The Cider House Rules, but I’m sorry — it would make me sick to put that in the headline. It sounds like a joke. Just wait for 2000 — the year Gladiator beat Chocolat! How’s that for a headline? My name under this particlar headline means this post is my opinion. I didn’t piss on American Beauty in this post but I’m not going to pretend I love it either. Everybody’s name attached to each comment here is a similar individual opnion. I see lots of loving appreciation for lots of movies on this page. Lots of people explaining why they love American Beauty. I don’t see much bashing happening. Every day on this site we all praise the movies we love and we scoff at the ones we dislike. How is this any different? Personally, I thought there were a dozen better movies than American Beauty in 1999 so I said it. Yes, it was intended to be a provocative headline. It was meant to generate passionate reaction — for and against. I’m not here fighting about American Beauty, am I? Everybody is responsible for the tone of their own comments here. The headline can’t turn people into haters or victimized defenders. I’m being told today by plenty of people that American Beauty is the bee’s knees. Am I mad about it? No. But hey, thanks for saying what I wrote created a disaster. That’s such a fair and evenhanded way to headline your comment.
“For me, Magnolia would have been the 1999 BP winner, but you don’t even mention it.”
No need to remind people, because we all KNOW that Magnolia was the best film of 1999. Still PTA’s best. I’ve seen Magnolia close to 30 times and it just gets better and better.
Best thing about Fight Club is its Blu-ray’s menu selection that makes you cut the disc in half if your attention span doesn’t last for more than 7 seconds.
I really don’t like FC so much. It’s not bad, but it’s terribly overrated, as someone said earlier in these comments, too. I’d take Alien 3 any time over Fight Club – something where David Fincher would disagree.
Wow… this post has wayyy too much bad-mouthing of movies. A lot of people still like/love The Green Mile and American Beauty and Hanks was constantly getting nominated in the 90s because he OWNED the nineties like few actors have owned other decades.
For me, Magnolia would have been the 1999 BP winner, but you don’t even mention it.
Summer of Sam is a masterpiece. Technically perfect.
I’ve had a looks over the year and I’m calling it a dead rubber. There is way too much shit to call it best of the 90s.
Bryce, Mattoc,
WOW, how did I NOT see that coming!? That is too funny!!
Yeah, the first rule about Fight Club is….. (silence)
I REALLY need to re-watch Fight Club. I think it’s been at least 5 years now. WAY too long.
Sorry Big Al i Bryce is right!
Fight Club is probably my favourite of that year ( it was when we did this last year)
I am Brit Ekland’s ass in Wicker Man.
then*
I hope Criterion get their paws on MCCABE & MRS. MILLER. I demand a flawless transfer! Al, I think Mattoc is just joking. You know, about FIGHT CLUB’s first rule, and then about split personalities.
Just be ready to accept that a flawless transfer of McCabe and Mrs Miller can only extend to the limits of a faithful transfer. I’m sure you know, Altman and Vilmos Zsigmond deliberately decided to “flash” the master negatives — exposing them to traces of light during the first step of processing. They wanted to make sure the studio would never be able to strike any crisp vivid prints that didn’t look gauzy and faded. It’s going to be a challenge for Blu-ray technicians. But the intentional haze will hopefully be reproduced in ways a DVD could never capture.
You know what Mattoc just reminded me of… The fact that there is NOT ONE movie that EVERYONE likes or loves together. Everyone has something they don’t or do like about this movie or that movie. I like Fight Club, Mattoc doesn’t. Oh well.. who cares! That’s what makes our opinions and differences so great.
“One nation under film, but divisible by all”….
Why is everyone talking about Fight Club?
I am Mattoc’s utter disappointment.
Wow, this hate for American Beauty is kinda unexpected. Personally, I find it one of the bes movies of the 90s. I know a lot of people who have it as one of their favourite films. Here is a very thoughtful review I got from imdb which I think justifies the film’s greatness quite well:
Of the 250+ films I’ve seen and rated on IMDb, only one other (Schindler’s List) is as good as American Beauty. A film like this not only entertains while you’re in the theater but also drops subtle questions in your head about the nature of human behavior and the gulf between fantasy and reality. After watching this movie, viewers will think long and hard about their own lives as well as the lives of people around them. The movie spells out the social disillusionment phenomenon everyone experiences but can’t really grasp.
American Beauty reminds us that, like Lester, we really have no idea what we really want. We’re not rational creatures as economists assume we are. Our instinct might lead us to perform one action, yet our brains might tell us to perform the complete opposite. We may lust after material belongings, yet how do we know we will still treasure those material belongings once we obtain them? Lester may lust after Angela, yet once he feels her in his hands and finds out the truth about her sexuality, an entirely different feeling comes over him.
Ricky Fits, the drug-dealing boy next door, is able to look beyond conventional notions of attractiveness and find beauty in non-promiscuous, solemn girls as well as in plastic bags floating in the wind. When many criticize the movie, they say, “Where’s the beauty in a plastic bag?” And that’s the point. We live in a world of aesthetic subjectivism. What one person finds attractive, another may find repulsive, yet the urge is there for people to assume aesthetic absolutism. “It’s just a plastic bag! How can there be beauty in it?” Well, a human being is just an aggregation of tissues, bones, and blood. How is that attractive? It depends on how you look at it. Reality is shaped by perspective.
Some people criticize the Ricky Fits character because he records his life experiences on tape and doesn’t actually experience them. But time moves inexorably in one direction. Time cannot be stopped. In a physical sense the past and the future don’t exist. We are only conscious in the present. Everything we do, everything we achieve, every bit of happiness we experience — they are all eventually buried in the past by time. Recording subjective beauty is a means by which one can attempt to salvage beauty from the past into the present because time eventually destroys all beauty. If you don’t believe me, walk into a pre-school and then walk into a nursing home. Remember that all the old men and women in the nursing home were once little kids.
Another profound element of American Beauty is in the tag line: look closer. An individual’s behavior is not independent of his environment. Humans are conformists by nature, and humans will modify their behavior to assimilate into existing social categories. If any individual dares to stray from the category to which he has been assigned, he is shouted down and ostracized. No one can resist the urge to conform, so why bother? Everyone is nice in public, yet on the streets they blare their horns, scream, and swear. Some boys I know pretend to hate American Beauty because on the surface it seems like a “chick flick.” They force themselves to watch gory horror movies and show off to others how they can stomach intense violence and excessive sex scenes. In American Beauty, Angela acts like a total slut, as many girls seem to be nowadays. In the end, however, she is not what she makes herself out to be. Colonel Fits tries to act like such a man, yet in the end it’s all just a giant facade. Civilization is but one giant movie, and members of society must start acting their parts if they want to belong to this civilization. Otherwise, they’re outsiders. Try walking into a job interview without a tie. You’ll be thrown out. That is the power of convention.
What if I asked you this question: What do you want in life? Most people would say, “happiness.” But is happiness worth deluding yourself for? Carolyn Burnham shields herself from sadness by adopting a positive-thinking philosophy, a philosophy of self-affirming mantras and harsh self-discipline. Positive thinking may help you attain your goals, but positive thinking also blinds you from reality. Is it wise or moral to change the channel when you hear about mass starvation in Africa so you can enjoy moments of fleeting happiness from a cheap romance movie? Self-help is just a euphemism for self-deception. All humans need some complex fraud to distract them from the harsh and nihilistic realities of life, whether it’s religion, money, or even love.
In spite of American Beauty’s greatness, there are problems. Characters are stereotypical, but viewers will hardly notice unless they’re ultra-critical. Anyway, exaggeration is essential in satire so that certain points are made obvious to viewers. Furthermore, Alan Ball’s original screenplay is slightly edited. The ending is more optimistic.
Problems aside, Sam Mende’s debut movie is one of the greatest I’ve seen. Not only is it entertaining but it is also filled with interesting ideas. It’s an important film for society because there’s so much society needs to learn. One boy I knew refused to watch American Beauty because, as he said, “I’m not gonna watch a movie with a name like that!”
Look closer.
I thought that American Beauty was simply awful and unwatchable …..I would rather have a root canal than ever have to endure such rubbish again
Jerry Grant,
Thank you for that article. That was funny AND informative. To quote:
“The world does not miss Blockbuster, and never will or should. Return your DVDs with blood on them. Poop in the return box. If you see one burning, ensure all neighboring businesses are safe and then let it burn. If a collections agency comes after you for a $3.00 balance on a video you rented in 2002, then MAIL THEM A LIVE PIT BULL. Blockbuster video was the worst kind of business; a trap designed for stupid people to lose money in until they find a better service.
I still have one of those copies of The Fugitive. Come after it if you like, Blockbuster. Oh, that’s stealing, you say? To quote Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard: I don’t care.”
IDK, I think part of me will still miss eyeing each box cover to see what next movie I should check out. 🙂
http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2013/4/26/4270310/friday-random-blockbuster-video-was-a-thing-that-existed
Ryan / Sasha
I hope you spend time talking about Hilary Swank and Boy’s Don’t Cry. It is my favorite win in the Best Actress category. Also please mention South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut. It was one of the best movie musicals in my opinion.
I believe that Being John Malkovich should have been nominated for Best Picture and Cameron Diaz should have been nominated for Supporting Actress.
Also, I think Meryl Streep’s nomination for Best Actress for Music of the Heart was a mistake. I think when you look at all her nominations this is the weakest of the bunch. I think Witherspoon was more deserving for her brilliant work in Election (a film and performance much better than her eventual win for Walk the Line…)
Bryce, thanks for that. 🙂
Yeah, Blockbuster has so many memories for me, but I eventually embraced the whole “digital” realm. I have always been slow to convert. I like having a hard-copy of DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs. I still buy Blu-ray discs.
And McCabe & Mrs. Miller is fantastic. Wish you guys had done that year, 1971, just before where you started. Nice to hear someone found the film. The AFI leaving that off its top 100 list instantly invalidates it for me. Truly inspired filmmaking all around, with magnificent Julie Christie and Warren Beatty at his best. One of the best endings of a movie I’ve ever seen.
Al,
I had a love/hate relationship with Blockbuster, so the feelings are mixed but significant. Of all places I did find GOODBYE, LENIN! there, my first foreign film -of all places, after that I had my older brother check out shit like THE DREAMERS and BAD EDUCATION for me, which I think scarred him for life, yeah act of checking out movies. So those are nice memories. I quickly found that their selection sucked, especially foreign so I had to seek out independents which always had a hard time because of Blockbuster, I hated their excessive fees, I hated the ever-increasing prices, then came Netflix, everything happened very fast for me.
P.S. I loved the score in Sixth Sense. The cue To the Church as Haley walks on the block and feels someone is following him is great.
I may have to revisit American Beauty, haven’t seen it in years. It has nothing on Shakespeare in Love, Tero. I remember laughing a lot in American Beauty, especially the fast food drive-up scene. The plastic bag ooooo.
Love The Matrix. That’s my top film of the year. What an incredible journey the Wachowskis take us on. Too bad the sequels failed to recapture the same magic. Love the training sequence in particular with the lady in red, and of course the finale. Woah! Just saw Cloud Atlas and enjoyed the ambition of that story too.
Talented Mr. Ripely is a haunting film, engrossing at first and then scary as you follow the main character through stunning Italy. Matt Damon was great going against type. Great supporting turns by Cate Blanchett and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Best Supporting Actor was a killer race, five strong performances though quite clear the winner’s was probably the weakest. But Michael Caine gave a great speech at the Oscars, a highlight of the night.
Galaxy Quest is a hilarious romp of a film. It got quite strong reviews too.
Two more guilty pleasures that I think are pretty good: The Thomas Crown Affair, great score, a lot of fun, love the jazz dance, Pierce Brosnan in a Bond-like role but better than any of his Bond films. And Entrapment, with the laser scene to end all laser scenes, and the tremendously charismatic Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones thieving it up, also a lot of fun.
Throw FAR FROM HEAVEN somewhere in there, I might as well set myself on fire.
I have to stand up for “The Sixth Sense.” It’s a whole lot more than its gimmick. Its stupid gimmick at the end is the only thing people talk about, but that’s a shame. The movie’s a treasure because of its tremendous three performances, as well as its bold and controlled direction.
The scene between Toni Collette and Haley Joel Osment in the car near the end is actually the emotional climax of the movie, not the Bruce Willis surprise. It’s a deeply sad film all the way through, if you know how to sympathize with a deeply lonely child. It merits a re-viewing.
American Beauty’s win helped me forget the fact that The Ice Storm was ignored. They are sort of related to each other, these two movies.
Hmm yeah. I kind of like that. I can see people going along with that. Perhaps even more disparate and indefensible is how I think (feel) that ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS and BIGGER THAN LIFE are distant cousins from previous generations –with SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY on the opposite of the spectrum. Hell, I just defended PHANTOM MENACE, I got love for everyone.
I just thought about this, and I know it has nothing to do with the Oscar Podcast Preview – 1999, but is anyone sad that Blockbuster is going out of business? At least their stores. I think this is a BIG thing in what’ll be the ultimate history of how we watch movies. I guess it feels important to at least me. 🙁
Yeah, 1999 is a really bad year, Oscar-wise, when you look at the nominees in comparison to what was available for AMPAS to nominate.
I mean, The Green Mile? The humiliation! And The Cider House Rules? Please, make it stop! The Sixth Sense was fun and all, but it’s not a whole lot more than its gimmick. American Beauty is probably my second favorite of the nominees, which isn’t saying much…I don’t hate American Beauty, but it’s just not going down in history as a great movie, either. I’m kind of “meh” about it. The Insider is the best of the five nominees, in my estimation.
But what AMPAS missed! Gawd! Being John Malkovich! (I freakin’ love that movie!) Magnolia! (I like Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood, and maybe The Master better than Magnolia, and Magnolia is still one of the very best of the year! Well, okay, a tie between The Master and Magnolia!) All About My Mother! Three Kings! The Blair Witch Project (which disturbed my sleep for a couple months after I saw it, and I don’t scare easily)! I could go on and on but probably shouldn’t.
Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m not as huge on Fight Club as I’m supposed to be, and I also wasn’t big on Eyes Wide Shut when I first saw it. *hides from AD* I should probably revisit them both.
I’ve never seen Topsy-Turvy. *adds to Netflix queue*
P.S. Ryan, thanks for advising me to watch McCabe and Mrs. Miller a few weeks ago. I FINALLY saw it…and straight it goes to my Top 100 of All Time list. I still have it in my head all these weeks later.
PHANTOM MENACE? Yeah it’s terrible. But, but I did give Lucas my hard earned dollars last year was it that came out on 3D? Don’t recall exactly. Story is stupid, Jar Jar Binks is stupider, it’s deadly noise.
Now,
The specific stuff I always liked about is still pretty great.
-The racing VFX
-Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor are a great duo; Neeson’s character is great
-John Williams score continues to be majestic all through the horrible prequels
-The final lightsaber battle between Qui-Gon Jinn/Obi-Wan and Darth Maul is a technical wonder and pretty damn exciting.
I’d say it’s still better than 90% of Michael Bay’s filmo
Supporting Actor was a really great match-up that year:
Haley Joel Osment, The Sixth Sense
Michael Clark Duncan, The Green Mile
Michael Caine, The Cider House Rules
Jude Law, The Talented Mr. Ripley
Tom Cruise, Magnolia
In my opinion, it should have gone to Tom Cruise (agreeing with Bryce). It’s the best performance of his career, and the best performance of that film. But any of them are arguable, including Osment, who provides the child performance of the decade, but obviously should have been lead Actor. Caine was extraordinary of course, as always.
One of the two editors, or both, write: “Oscar Podcast Preview 1999 – American Beauty beats a Dozen Better [what!?] Movies”
I was in the middle of something and being here for a quick skim. And then I saw this. To me, American Beauty was the best film I have seen that year, not to mention the well-deserved BP win for the Oscar.
The thread title, above-shown, just cracked me up. Someone should be invited for a short skit at SNL. Seriously . . . . [Duh]
(In the middle of something, I’ve got to run now; might be back for more, later.)
I saw AMERICAN BEAUTY, and THE INSIDER again after many came down hard on the former a few weeks back. I’ve consequently tweaked my Top 10. It’s still a pretty swell trick.
What AMPAS missed:
Best Picture
1. THE MATRIX
2. MAGNOLIA
3. EYES WIDE SHUT
4. FIGHT CLUB
5. ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER
Best Director
1. Andy & Lana Wachowski
2. Paul Thomas Anderson
3. Stanley Kubrick
4. David Fincher
5. Pedro Almodovar
Best Actor
1. Edward Norton – FIGHT CLUB
2. Russel Crowe – THE INSIDER
3. Brad Pitt – FIGHT CLUB
4. Richard Farnsworth – THE STRAIGHT STORY
5. Tom Cruise – EYES WIDE SHUT
Best Actress
1. Cecilia Roth – ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER
2. Emilie Dequenne – ROSETTA
3. Nicole Kidman – EYES WIDE SHUT
4. Elena Rufanova – MOLOCH
5. Anette Bening – AMERICAN BEAUTY
Best Supporting Actor
1. Tom Cruise – MAGNOLIA
2. Christopher Plummer – THE INSIDER
3. Laurence Fishburne – THE MATRIX
4. Phillip Seymour Hoffman – MAGNOLIA
5. John Malkovich – BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
Best Supporting Actress
1. Helena Bonham Carter – FIGHT CLUB
2. Antonia San Juan – ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER
3. Julianne Moore – MAGNOLIA
4. Cameron Diaz – BEING JOHN MAKOVICH
5. Carrie-Anne Moss – THE MATRIX
Best Original Screenplay
1. Andy & Lana Wachowski – THE MATRIX
2. Paul Thomas Anderson – MAGNOLIA
3. Pedro Almodovar – ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER
4. Charlie Kaufman – BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
5. David O. Russel – THREE KINGS
Best Adapted Screenplay
1. Stanley Kubrick, Frederic Raphael – EYES WIDE SHUT
2. Michael Mann, Eric Roth – THE INSIDER
3. Jim Uhls – FIGHT CLUB
4. Brad Bird, Tim McCanlies – THE IRON GIANT
5. Lewis Colick – OCTOBER SKY
Best Cinematography
1. Jeff Cronenweth – FIGHT CLUB
2. Larry Smith – EYES WIDE SHUT
3. Bill Pope – THE MATRIX
4. Dante Spinotti – THE INSIDER
5. Robert Elswit – MAGNOLIA
—criminally missing the cut—
6. Freddie Francis – THE STRAIGHT STORY
7. Newton Thomas Siegel – THREE KINGS
8. Conrad L. Hall – AMERICAN BEAUTY
9. Aleksey Fyodorov – MOLOCH
10. Affonso Beato – ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER
Best Editing
1. THE MATRIX
2. FIGHT CLUB
3. THREE KINGS
4. MAGNOLIA
5. EYES WIDE SHUT
Best Original Score
1. Pieter Bourke, Lisa Gerard – THE INSIDER
2. Don Davis – THE MATRIX
3. Angelo Badalamenti – THE STRAIGHT STORY
4. Jon Brion – MAGNOLIA
5. The Dust Brothers – FIGHT CLUB
Best Art Direction
1. EYES WIDE SHUT
2. THE MATRIX
3. TOPSY-TURVY
4. MOLOCH
5. OCTOBER SKY
Best Costume Design
1. EYES WIDE SHUT
2. THE MATRIX
3. THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY
4. OCTOBER SKY
5. TOPSY-TURVY
Best Animated Feature
1. THE IRON GIANT
2. SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT
3. STREET FIGHTER ALPHA: THE ANIMATION
Best Foreign Languege Film
1. Spain – ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER
2. Russia – MOLOCH
3. Belgium – ROSETTA
4. France – HUMAN RESOURCES
5. Turkey – JOURNEY TO THE SUN
Best Special Effects
1. THE MATRIX
2. GAMERA 3: THE REVENGE OF IRIS
3. WING COMMANDER
4. FIGHT CLUB
5. DOGMA
Best Sound Mixing goes to FIGHT CLUB
Best Sound Editing goes to THE MATRIX
Best Makeup goes to TOPSY-TURVY
Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
1. Mark Wahlberg – THREE KINGS
2. Ryan Phillippe – CRUEL INTENTIONS
3. Jamie Foxx – ANY GIVEN SUNDAY
4. Josh Harnett – THE VIRGIN SUICIDES
5. Chris Klein – ELECTION
I wasn’t crazy about any of the nominees that year. American Beauty was my favorite of the pack though – and Sixth Sense was fun enough that I was happy to see it nominated.
At the time I thought Magnolia was the best pic of the year. I still think it’s great – but Boogie Nights is the Paul Anderson film I find myself returning to. Being John Malkovich is just plain brilliant.
This year was the first of two battles between Benning and Swank.
Sasha, Ryan,
For the podcast, have you already decided which movies you’re going to talk about? I would go in this order: American Beauty, The Cider House Rules, The Sixth Sense, The Green Mile, then the non-BPs, The Matrix, Fight Club, Being John Malkovich, Magnolia, etc., etc.
BTW, does anyone think the America Pie is any good, or at least, any good anymore?? I was for a time, in love with that movie. Of course, I was still in high school.
We’re running behind schedule a day or two again this week. We won’t record until tomorrow. Sorry for the last-minute preview post!
Nobody is mentioning The Phantom Menace??! 🙂
When looking back on 1999, I like to think that the smart half of the academy had so many films to choose from that they couldn’t decide on one, therefore the nominations were pretty weak in a field that so many good options.
Films worthy of a top 10 placement in most years (in no particular order)
1) All About My Mother
2) The INsider
3) Being John Malkovich
4) Three Kings
5) Magnolia
6) The Straight Story
7) The Blair Witch Project
8) Election
9) Audition
10) Boys Don’t Cry
11) The Talented Mr Ripley
12) Eyes Wide Shut
13) Twin Falls Idaho
14) The End of the Affair
15) South Park (Bigger, etc.)
It was a pretty damn good year (and I think we dumped on American Beauty enough a couple of weeks ago so I won’t do it again unless someone wants me to!)
Been anticipating this one. Most recently been able to catch up with Dogma III MIFUNE and Hong Kong’s THE MISSION, and yes, had to find them a spot.
1. THE MATRIX, Andy & Lana Wachowski
2. MAGNOLIA, Paul Thomas Anderson
3. EYES WIDE SHUT, Stanley Kubrick
4. FIGHT CLUB, David Fincher
5. ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER, Pedro Almodovar
6. BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, Spike Jonze
7. THREE KINGS, David O. Russel
8. THE INSIDER, Michael Mann
9. THE IRON GIANT, Brad bird
10. AMERICAN BEAUTY, Sam Mendes
11. BRINGING OUT THE DEAD, Martin Scorsese
12. OCTOBER SKY, Joe Johnston
13. THE STRAIGHT STORY, David Lynch
14. MOLOCH, Aleksandr Sokurov
15. ROSETTA, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
16. TOPSY-TURVY, Mike Leigh
17. GALAXY QUEST, Dean Parisot
18. HUMAN RESOURCES, Laurent Cantet
19. THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, Anthony Minghella
20. JOURNEY TO THE SUN, Yesim Ustaoglu
21. DOGMA, Kevin Smith
22. PEPPERMINT CANDY, Chang-dong Lee
23. THE WIND WILL CARRY US, Abbas Kiarostami
24. SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT, Trey Parker
25. AUDITION, Takashi Miike
26. GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI, Jim Jarmusch
27. HUMANITÉ, Bruno Dumont
28. THE LIMEY, Steven Soderbergh
29. GAMERA 3: THE REVENGE OF IRIS, Shusuke Kaneko
30. CRUEL INTENTIONS, Roger Kumble
31. MIFUNE’S LAST SONG, Soren Kragh Jacobsen
32. WATER DROPS ON BURNING ROCKS, Francois Ozon
33. TWO HANDS, Gregor Jordan
34. DEAD OR ALIVE, Takashi Miike
35. ELECTION, Alexander Payne
36. THE MISSION, Johnnie To
37. THE WAR ZONE, Tim Roth
38. EXISTENZ, David Cronenberg
39. ANY GIVEN SUNDAY, Oliver Stone
40. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Shanchez
41. RATCATCHER, Lynne Ramsay
42. TRICK, Jim Fall
43. WING COMMANDER, Chris Roberts
44. 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU, Gil Junger
45. BOYS DON’T CRY, Kimberly Peirce
46. THE VIRGIN SUICIDES, Sofia Coppola
47. THE SIXTH SENSE, M. Night Shyamalan
Most Underrated: PASSION: THE STORY OF JOAN OF ARC
Guilty Pleasures: TEA WITH MUSSOLINI + VARSITY BLUES + SHE’S ALL THAT + DRIVE ME CRAZY
Hidden Gem Award: ATTACK THE GAS STATION!
**I know some people will talk about RUSHMORE in this thread, but that’s 1998, Ok? So is LS&TSB!
My top 5 of 1999:
1. The Matrix
2. Fight Club
3. American Beauty
4. October Sky
5. Being John Malkovich
I must be living in opposite world because I think Fight Club, outside of the three amazing lead performances, is one of the most overrated movies of all time. It’s just a very unsubtle film that hammers down its message in an unappealing way. It’s just total sensory assault. I don’t see how this movie is more mature, let alone less smug, than American Beauty at all. I prefer The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as far as David Fincher movies go.
The Matrix is better but too gimmicky. Still, it’s better than the other three movies that were nominated that year.
“The Insider” was top of that class, along with “Magnolia”, but your list (sans “The Matrix”, of which I’m not a particular fan) is quite solid.
1999 was a good year, but when did this hate for American Beauty start? Because I sure have missed it. People still seem to love it very much. I think it was a worthy winner (of the nominees) and certainly better than Shakespeare In Love the year before, but what is listed there up front – Being John Malkovich – was better, for example (just too weird for Academy).
To me, American Beauty’s win helped me forget the fact that The Ice Storm was ignored. They are sort of related to each other, these two movies.
1999 was a good year, but when did this hate for American Beauty start?
For me, the hate started one night in the first months of 2000, about 30 minutes into the movie.
I just found it to be false, cartoonish, hateful, facile and insulting. I was living outside the country because I was sick of America for a lot of reasons, but I didn’t like how the movie had such a ham-handed condescending attitude. Also, I’d been led to believe it was some deep sharp scalpel gutting satire, but instead it just felt dumb and exaggerated to me. That’s not good satire in my eyes. To me, that’s sitcom snottiness, barely a step above I Love Mallory (Natural Born Killers).
1. American Beauty
2. The Insider
3. The Cider House Rules
4. The Sixth Sense
5. The Green Mile
1999 was a pretty stellar year, but you wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell that from the nominees. At least the winner was actually the best of those five movies.
The Green Mile isn’t complete garbage like I know many people would suggest, but it’s very close to mediocre. Outside of the last 30 minutes and Michael Clarke Duncan’s amazing performance it is a very unremarkable film. If you take out Tom Hanks’ bladder problems, the mouse, Sam Rockwell spitting in other people’s faces, the poorly developed inmates, and the framing device and just leave the parts involving Duncan’s character, then you would have a great movie.
Ah, The Sixth Sense. Had it not relied so heavily on its blatantly obvious plot twist, I probably would have enjoyed it more. But that doesn’t take away from Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, or Haley Joel Osment’s great performances or M. Night Shyamalan’s confident direction. Shyamalan actually showed promise with this movie. That he has delivered mostly garbage films since is laughable.
What really hurts The Cider House Rules the most for me is the overly safe direction Lasse Hallstrom gives it. It’s a bit of a letdown given the strong performances and very well written screenplay.
And finally we get to the cream of the crop. Of the Michael Mann films I’ve seen, The Insider is easily my favorite. That he was able to change the material to fit his style without sacrificing quality is amazing. Given the 2 hr. 40 min. running time it has moments that drag, but the moments that don’t are sensational. It ranks among Crowe and Pacino’s best performances easily.
And what else can you say about the cinematic brilliance of American Beauty? It hits all the marks with a daring screenplay, controlled direction, lush cinematography, explosive acting from Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening, attention-grabbing opening scene, and tragic ending. Making me sympathize with nasty characters is a challenge, and Mendes succeeds. Without a doubt, it is one of the most deserving winners ever.
Other things to discuss would include the unbelievably strong supporting actor lineup that year. All five of those performances are pretty great. And of course M. Night Shyamalan’s career up to this point is bound to come up.
I haven’t seen a lot of stuff from that year (including Topsy-Turvy and Magnolia), but my current top ten would be along the lines of:
1. American Beauty
2. Toy Story 2
3. Being John Malkovich
4. The Iron Giant
5. Election
6. The Insider
7. Boys Don’t Cry
8. The Talented Mr. Ripley
9. The Limey
10. Tarzan
I fully agree with you, Ryan.
But you failed to mention a huge movie phenomenon that year that I still think is a truly great and historic film: The Sixth Sense!
Being John Malkovich
Election
Fight Club
The Insider
Magnolia
The Matrix
The Sixth Sense
The Talented Mr. Ripley
^Some of these movies are flawed (Magnolia, The Matrix), but they all stand out.
American Beauty was one of those films that Oscar just was not going to be ignored. It really captured the zeitgeist for its time and had it all. Great performances, solid writing, and a promising new director at the helm. Yes there were films that in retrospect was perhaps better, but still when you look at 1999 I personally would think many would go and think that it is a disgrace that American Beauty won.
I went to American Beauty with no chip on my shoulder, expecting to like it, and just never stopped cringing at its missteps: Benning, too obvious to root against, Spacey too obvious to root for, just a big mess without an ounce of subtlety.
I remember EW running a cover story about how 1999 was a great year for movies.
American Beauty is one of the best Oscar wins. A modern masterwork and one of my all-time favourite films. A perfect blend of comedy, drama, satire and social comment.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE American Beauty and am tired of people shitting on it. I suppose I’ll have to sit through this podcast listening to everyone hate on it, but it’s become such a popular thing to do that I’m just sick of it and don’t think I can handle two hours of that happening again.
I suppose I’ll have to sit through this podcast listening to everyone hate on it
maybe not! I have no idea how Sasha and Craig feel. I’m not going to spend 30 minutes arguing if I’m outnumbered. I don’t need to try to convince anybody to feel the way I do. I can only speak honestly about my own feelings. But I’m fine if everybody else loves the hell out of it.
I love American Beauty and think it is one very deserving Oscar Winner.
I hope you include this quote from Damien Bona’s Inside Oscar 2, the title for the chapter on 1999. It has actually mystified me as to the meaning.
“The gods seemed to be angry at the Academy.”
Anybody else have an idea about it?
Yes! 1999 was a terrific year, and “America Beauty” blows. Smug is the perfect word for it. I would add “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Magnolia”, but my two faves were “Malkovich” and “Topsy-Turvy”.