End Of The Century
Jesse Walker has now taken a look back at 1999 in film. I agree with him that it was a fine year. But what about the particulars?
He didn't think much of that year's Oscar winner American Beauty after a second viewing. Here's how I felt after a second viewing. In any case, it didn't make the list. Here's what did:
2. The Limey
3. Being John Malkovich
4. Mr. Death
5. Toy Story 2
6. Belfast, Maine
7. Magnolia
8. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut
9. Fight Club
10. Limbo
I like Election, though I think it's overrated (on this list and in general)--it's good, but not that good.
Both The Limey and Being John Malkovich would make my top ten. Probably Mr. Death as well.
Toy Story 2 is pretty good, but like all the sequels, doesn't match the original.
Haven't seen Belfast, Maine, though it sounds like my cup of tea.
Magnolia is a pretentious mess, like most P.T. Anderson films after Boogie Nights.
The South Park film is a lot of fun--should be at least top twenty.
Fight Club is a problem film. There's much that's brilliant about it, yet much that's stupid. For what it's worth, it does seem to have gotten better over time.
Limbo is a passable John Sayles film--far from his best. And I hate the ending.
Here are Jesse's honorable mentions:
12. All About My Mother
13. Felicia's Journey
14. The Sopranos
15. Ghost Dog
16. Time Regained
17. Oz 3
18. The Matrix
19. Boys Don't Cry
20. Titus
I'm usually a fan of David O. Russell, but 11 was a huge disappointment (and the scene where he reveals the secret of trouble in the Middle East--it's all about oil!--was the worst movie moment of 1999). 12 is one of Almodovar's better films. Haven't seen 13, 16 or 20. 14 and 17 are TV shows so shouldn't be on the list. 15 might make my top ten. 18 is pretty good (though silly) and the sequels only remind you how hard it is to pull off this stuff. 19 is also good, though I haven't seen it since it opened--I wonder if it plays differently today.
Princess Mononoke
Go
Run Lola Run
Galaxy Quest
Topsy-Turvy
Audition, Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels (though the title is a false play on words), Office Space (especially the first half), The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Green Mile (minus the awful framing device), 10 Things I Hate About You, eXistenZ, Dick, Bowfinger, The Muse (sort of)
The Sixth Sense, Man On The Moon, Cider House Rules, Eyes Wide Shut, The Thin Red Line, The Blair Witch Project, The Insider, The Iron Giant, The Straight Story, Tumbleweeds, The End Of The Affair, Music Of The Heart, Sweet And Lowdown, The Hurricane, Girl Interrupted, Under The Sun, Buena Vista Social Club, One Day In September, Genghis Blues, The Red Violin, Angela's Ashes, The Mummy, Star Wars: Phantom Menace, Anna And The King, Sleepy Hollow, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Snow Falling On Cedars, The End Of The Affair, Life, Bicentennial Man, Stuart Little, Notting Hill, The World Is Not Enough, Varsity Blues, At First Sight,
posted by LAGuy @ 4:00 AM
12 Comments:
In a year that didn't have so many good contenders, Office Space and Audition would have made my top 20. (Since you're disqualifying those two TV shows, you can imagine they're there instead.) Also The Sixth Sense, though it looks like you didn't like that one so much.
If you remove the gimmick, there's not much to The Sixth Sense. And there's plenty of cheating to keep the gimmick going. I went into the film knowing the secret, so maybe that took away a lot of the fun.
Audition would also make my top ten if it didn't creep me out so much.
A lot of people loved The Insider, which I thought was pretty dull. And while a fair number of David Lynch films make my top ten list, The Straight Story is one of his less interesting.
I think most people would say "Fight Club" is now considered the film of the year. Also, there's a lot of strange new respect for "Eyes Wide Shut", so I'm surprised not to see it make anyone's list.
I've seen all of Jesse's picks except for Belfast and the TV stuff. There's some overlap with my list.
The only one I didn't like was South Park. I find the show pretty uneven and unfortunately the movie fell mostly on the bad side at the time, and I've never seen it again.
Some others (Election, Being John Malkovich, Mr. Death) I liked 20 years ago but don't know if I still would. They're honorable mentions for me.
Magnolia is also uneven but okay, maybe would make my list on a particularly week year.
I didn't find most of the complaints about American Beauty compelling but also just found it okay.
Some of the others LAGuy mentioned are on other years' lists for me.
1. Limbo - I like all of Sayles's films (and books) but this is the best. Probably in my top 20 of all time, maybe near the bottom of my top ten even.
2. The Ninth Gate - I feel about this the way I think a lot of people feel about North by Northwest. A slick self-aware thriller that pokes fun at the genre and the directors' past films. But while I find NNW to be a somewhat clunky take on Hitchcock, The Ninth Gate is Polanski's most fun and rewatchable for me.
3. The Straight Story - I've seen this twice and had opposite emotional reactions each time. I think there's a tension between the surface story and the underlying style that brings some an underappreciated level of subtlety to the film. This and The Elephant Man are Lynch's best.
4. Mystery Men - Very stylish (in a kind of grotesque excessive way), funny and weird film. Lot's of great lines and incongruous performances that adds to the silliness. Geoffrey Rush is hilarious as Casanova Frankenstein.
5. The Matrix - at the time this really seemed like something new. Then I went a couple decades without watching it again and thinking it was probably pretty bad, only to discover something about it that made it seem even better. It marked a sort of afterlife for Hong Kong cinema after the collapse of the industry. Face/Off is great, but this one one really feels like a thorough hybrid of the two styles, a Cyberpunk Wuxia.
6. Time Regained - I really liked this the first time I saw it about five years ago, and am fairly confident that I'd only appreciate it more now that I've finished the book(s). Ruiz's last film would make an interesting companion piece to this as well.
7. Cradle Will Rock - This feels like a cross between John Sayles and Robert Altman, two of my three favorite American directors. Plus the subject is (partly) my other favorite American director. This all more than makes up for whatever flas this movie has.
8. The Limey
9. Ravenous - can a soundtrack lift a film that has an interesting premise but is otherwise nothing special into greatness? This film is the best argument I can think of that it's possible.
10. Fight Club
11. In Dreams - Similar to 9 but with cinimatography instead of soundtrack. This feels like Wes Craven but looks like the best European art house. Not sure it totally works but it's an interesting enough combo that I keep coming back to it.
12. Galaxy Quest
13. Taboo (Gohatto)
14. Go
15. Wonderland
16. Toy Story 2
17. eXistenze
18. Sweet and Lowdown
19. The Blair Witch Project
20. Ghost Dog
Some others I liked (unranked): Cookie's Fortune; The Minus Man; The Iron Giant; Kikujiro; Bowfinger; Eyes Wide Shut; The Road Home; Deep Blue Sea; Mansfield Park; Sleepy Hollow, Sixth Sense.
I know people who think The Iron Giant was the best film of the decade. I can't judge it properly because I was so put off by the anachronism of the kid naturally liking the beatnik and distrusting the G-man.
Sweet And Lowdown was better than average for Woody in this period, but still not good enough.
Cradle Will Rock tells a story that should be told but tells it poorly.
Mystery Men was a very expensive comedy that flopped. It's not without interest, but doesn't quite make it (as comedy or action).
I (obviously) like Iron Giant but agree about the anachronism and best of the decade was insane. 91, 95, and 99 each have multiple all-time favorites of mine.
I just read Jesse's comments on his blog and have a guess at the year ending in 9 that has an undeserved (good) reputation: 1939.
Sorry about the bad typing: stupid smart phone
What a year.
For me?
The Matrix - still an inspired and audacious film, far beyond what the Wachowskis did since.
The Limey - fine crime film, nicely understated.
Being John Malkovich - speaking of inspired.
Fight Club - one of the great doppelganger films. A hilarious and often misunderstood commentary on American masculinity.
Galaxy Quest - a gifted film, combining satire with love for the same target. It ends up being fine sf, too.
Audition - a splendid horror film.
eXxistenZ - even though I'm a Cronenberg fan it disappointed me on first viewing, but it's grown on me like a fungus or mutating organ. A fun take on the virtual world, with a good mix of horror and comedy.
Also:
Eyes Wide Shut - some misfires, but some fine scenes and proof Kubrick could make any actor do their best.
The Thin Red Line - 1st half is great, and a great experiment for Malick, but the end falters.
Ghost Dog - I do want to see it again.
Office Space - a fun comedy with staying power.
Titus - a hard play, and I admire filming it.
October Sky - a movie my son and I find inspiring.
My top ten has 3 animations - Princess Mononoke (best Miyazaki imho), Toy Story 2 (which I thought beat the curse of the sequel), and Iron Giant. In Iron Giant, it seemed to me that the kid was clearly presented as rebellious, plus the G-man was clearly a jerk and hitting on his Mom, so I had no problem with the kid disliking him from the get go.
Galaxy Quest is on my top 10 comedies of all time, but I especially like comic sci-fi. Matrix is a top 10 sci-fi of all time. The Sixth Sense has to be a top ten suspense/horror movie, though, as always in this genre, it only really works on the first viewing.
Green Mile and Topsy Turvy are personal favorites. I round ou my top ten for the year with Bowfinger, Fight Club and The Straight Story.
Princess Mononoke, Toy Story 2, Iron Giant, Galaxy Quest, Matrix, Sixth Sense, Green Mile, Topsy-Turvy, Bowfinger, Fight Club, Straight Story.
Sorry, Denver Guy, but I'm counting eleven films in your top ten.
Easy fix: Move Princess Mononoke to 1997, where it belongs.
Thanks Jesse.
Post a Comment
<< Home