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The Best of 1999/Movies
Friday, December 31, 1999 By Ron Weiskind, Post-Gazette Movie Editor
What a long, strange year it's been at the movies.
OK, we all knew "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" would blast off at the box office (the current take is $430 million).
What we didn't expect is that the movie would fizzle artistically and create in the comic-relief figure Jar Jar Binks a character we could hate more than Martha Stewart.
But that was just the first of many surprises in this unusual cinematic year. No one could have predicted that an unheralded psychological thriller called "The Sixth Sense" would use its surprise ending to catapult into second place on the box-office chart, at $275 million.
For pure return on investment, no movie in history may be able to top "The Blair Witch Project," made for less than $50,000 and grossing $140 million.
And from a qualitative standpoint, who would have dreamed that so many good movies -- and especially so many good offbeat movies -- would emerge from major Hollywood studios? Almost all of them came out in the last four months of the year.
No 1999 movie could boast the overpowering brilliance of last year's best films: "Saving Private Ryan," "The Truman Show" and "Shakespeare in Love." But the sheer quirkiness of this year's top films more than makes up for whatever flaws they possess.
The Post-Gazette's list of the year's best films, selected in consultation with colleagues Barry Paris and Barbara Vancheri, includes films that are eligible for this year's Academy Awards even if the movies have not yet opened in Pittsburgh. We're still arguing, by the way, about whether "American Beauty" should have been on the list. I'm among the film's detractors.
We could not consider a few potential candidates that have been unavailable for screening at present. The most frustrating omission is "Boys Don't Cry," a drama based on the true story of a woman pretending to be a man in small-town Nebraska, which we may see here in February. Others include Mike Leigh's Gilbert and Sullivan film "Topsy Turvy" (possibly coming in late January), Pedro Almodovar's "All About My Mother" (opening Jan. 21 at Pittsburgh Filmmakers) and Tim Robbins' "The Cradle Will Rock," based on an incident in the life of Orson Welles (opening here Jan. 14).
1. "The Winslow Boy"
2. "King of Masks"
3. "The Harmonists"
4. "Eyes Wide Shut"
5. "The Red Violin"
6. "Twin Falls Idaho"
7. "Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl"
8. "Little Voice"
9. "Angela's Ashes"
10. "The Matrix"
With that in mind, here are what we consider the best films of 1999:
(Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson): This virtuoso effort from the director of "Boogie Nights" opens in Pittsburgh next Friday. It follows a day in the life of a dozen or so people in Los Angeles whose lives connect in ways they might rather not acknowledge. The stellar cast includes Tom Cruise (a lock for an Oscar nomination), Jason Robards, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman and William H. Macy. But the real star is Anderson, whose fluid visuals, soundtrack savvy and inventive audacity kept me wondering with delight where "Magnolia" would go next. Where it ends up is almost literally miraculous.
(John Lasseter): Speaking of inventiveness, this animated sequel outdoes the original in just about every way. The story line is similar -- this time, the toys have to rescue Woody instead of Buzz. The crowning touch comes when the movie turns them loose in a toy store, a ploy that leads to endless ingenuity in the interaction between playthings. But if you're not moved emotionally at the sad story of Woody's new cowgirl friend, you're a tin man without a heart.
(David O. Russell): One of the most unconventional war movies since "M*A*S*H" is a mixture of offbeat humor, action sequences, poignant personal drama and a scathing critique of U.S. policy during the Gulf War. George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube and Spike Jonze are soldiers hoping to steal Kuwaiti gold already plundered by Saddam Hussein. But they stumble into a world of upside-down logic where the right things aren't done, and for the wrong reasons.
(David Lynch): The man behind such bizarro projects as "Blue Velvet" and "Twin Peaks" cleans up his act with this true story of Alvin Straight (a magnificent Richard Farnsworth), who at age 73 rides his lawn tractor across the state of Iowa to visit his ailing brother. Along the way, Lynch reminds us about the generosity of strangers, the wisdom of age, the meaning of compassion and repentance and the value of things that won't be there for much longer.
(Alexander Payne): Smartly funny, ironic and bittersweet, this comedy of human foibles capitalizes on the seemingly endless capacity of human beings for self-delusion. As teacher Matthew Broderick tries to break up perky student Reese Witherspoon's seemingly unstoppable bid for the student council presidency, we see the personal pique and dark jealousy that motivates him, along with the ineptitude that leads to darkly comic disaster.
(Milos Forman): This film biography of the late, strange comic Andy Kaufman never tries to figure out what personal or psychological demons lay behind his penchant for alienating audiences or pushing them to their limits. Instead, it lets us in on the joke in a way that Kaufman never did, and even turns its back on its subject a few times. Jim Carrey's impersonation of Kaufman is nothing short of brilliant.
(Michael Mann): The normally flamboyant Mann holds back to create just the right blend of paranoia, entrapment and intensity in retelling the true story of Jeffrey Wigand, who blew the whistle on what Big Tobacco knew about the ill effects of cigarettes, and the corporate struggle at CBS about whether "60 Minutes" should put him on the air. Russell Crowe is superb as Wigand, with Christopher Plummer as Mike Wallace and Al Pacino as his producer.
(M. Night Shyamalan): A little boy whispers the phrase "I see dead people" but little do we know just how true it is in this spooky psychological thriller containing the best movie surprise since "The Crying Game." The film cuts to the heart of the nature of loneliness and human interaction or the lack thereof. Bruce Willis is strong as the psychologist on the case but if there is any justice, young Haley Joel Osment will come away with an Oscar nomination.
(Spike Jonze): In a year of wonderfully bizarre films, this one may be the spaciest of all. John Cusack works for an oddball company in the strangest office space ever imagined. He finds a small door that leads straight into the head of actor John Malkovich. The film offers insight into the nature of personality and the uncertainty of identity, but mostly the movie is a hugely enjoyable cosmic joke. Costars Cameron Diaz and Catherine Keener are excellent.
(Anthony Minghella): The more serious take on questions of identity can be found in this sumptuous drama about an impostor who horns in on the life of a wastrel playboy living la dolce vita in Italy. Minghella and cinematographer John Seale give the movie a golden glow that darkens ominously as events go awry. The top-drawer cast features Matt Damon in the title role opposite Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchett.
"Run Lola Run"
(Tom Tykwer): An exhilarating, fast-paced German movie about quirks of time, fate and how circumstances can change from one second to the next.
"Music of the Heart"
(Wes Craven): Meryl Streep scores again in the true story of a teacher who fights to establish and then save her inner-city violin program.
"Notting Hill"
(Roger Michell): Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant star in the rarest kind of romantic comedy -- one with a hard edge at the center.
"Iron Giant"
(Brad Bird): Wonderful animated allegory about paranoia and fear of the unknown as a boy in the 1950s befriends a giant robot from another planet.
"The Red Violin"
(François Girard): A sumptuous series of tales about the misfortunes of the various people who have owned the wondrous title instrument.
"Princess Mononoke"
(Hayao Miyazaki): This Japanese saga on the struggle between man and nature is the most visually stunning of this year's animated crop.
"After Life"
(Hirokazu Koreeda): If you had to take one reminiscence from life into eternity with you, which would it be? A moving look at memory and meaning.
"The Winslow Boy"
(David Mamet): There'll always be an England as long as men will fight for principle like the father of the wrongly accused title character.
"King of Masks"
(Wu Tianming): A street performer wishing to keep his art alive purchases a son -- who turns out to be a girl in this lyrical Chinese film.
"The Green Mile"
(Frank Darabont): Redemption and forgiveness on death row? What more extraordinary place is there to find miracles amid the routine?
1. "Baby Geniuses"
2. "Love Stinks"
3. "Lake Placid"
4. "200 Cigarettes"
5. "The Bachelor"
6. "Bats"
7. "Idle Hands"
8. "The Mod Squad"
9. "The Rage: Carrie 2"
10. "The King and I"
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1. "Magnolia"