1999 Movie Memories...

With all this talk about "The Phantom Menace" & "The Matrix" the last couple days it's probably time to create a catch-all thread to talk about the other fine movies that came out in 1999. I personally think it was a pretty good year (lots of films I've loved / a couple I HATED). Feel free to discuss ANY films made or released in 1999.

Judging by the responses in the prior two threads most people hated the second coming of Star Wars and "The Matrix" gets mixed reviews. Maybe you enjoyed both like me. Maybe you didn't. Doesn't matter. Nominate a film/(s) from 1999 and have at it. Post your memories / clips / memorabilia / whatever you feel like sharing.... Just have fun and remember not everyone's going to like / hate the same films so try to be respectful of others and try not to get offended. Thanks!

Here's a blurb from wikipedia to jog people's memories (1999 in film - Wikipedia ):

The year 1999 in film included Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, the science-fiction hit The Matrix, the Deep Canvas-pioneering Disney animated feature Tarzan and Best Picture-winner American Beauty and the well-received The Green Mile, as well as the animated works The Iron Giant, Toy Story 2, Stuart Little and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. Other noteworthy releases included Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman's breakout film Being John Malkovich and M. Night Shyamalan's breakout film The Sixth Sense, the controversial Fight Club and Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia. The year also featured George Lucas' top-grossing Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.

 

I think I'll start with this preview trailer for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me which I'm pretty sure I saw before The Matrix and references The Phantom Menace so seems appropriate...

Didn't get me to see the film in a theater but still makes me laugh every time I see it. Eventually rented the film on DVD and enjoyed it immensely... I think it's my favorite Austin Powers film. And they really packed those New Line discs with extras back in the day didn't they. I thought the Canned Ham spyography "The Dr. Evil Story" was a hysterical easter egg (can't find it on YouTube to verify if it holds up but it wasn't some throw away extra like most hidden extras.)

 

'99 was quite a year, for movies!

 

Very good year for movies.

One of my favorites was Entrapment with Sean Connery and Zeta-Jones.

 

Best movie of the year for me was David O. Russell’s Three Kings.

 

There was also this weird Japanese movie by Takashi Miike "Odishon" (Audition):
I still remember the sound of that wire saw cutting into the bone...brrrr, very disturbing.
Audition (1999) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD 1080p]
Being John Malkovich was great, I have it on DVD.
I also liked the French movie "Est - Ouest" with Sandrine Bonnaire and Catherine Deneuve. I love those French actresses, I always admired Juliette Binoche, Sandrine Bonnaire, Catherine Deneuve and others.

Majid Majidi's "The Color of Paradise" is a great movie from Iran.

 

Totally FORGOT that was '99, too!
Revolutionary...besides the girl going, "Dee-du-Dee-du-DEE!" while torturing, there's that scene with the phone ringing...

 

Aaah... my year of birth a great season for movies, imo.

I'm very fond of Eyes Wide Shut. A fascinating, mesmerizing masterpiece to me.

Then, we have Office Space (brilliant! I think everyone can relate to the scene where the three guys destroy the printer ), The Matrix (good, above-average film surpassed by its initial sequel in my book), Fight Club (a film I need to watch a second time... but my first watch was amazing).

Some more of my highlights from that year:

- The Straight Story: Such a simple outline, yet so touching I'm always crying at the end.
The Blair Witch Project: That one made a massive impression on me when I watched it at age 12. I still think it's an amazing horror film.
- The Talented Mr. Ripley: Not only is this an ensemble film for some of 90s cinema's greatest actors, this also has that extremely comforting, stylish 60s feeling to it (no wonder since it's a remake of a 60s film).
- South Park - Bigger, Longer & Uncut: Dirty, catchy, funny. I've seen this countless times and it still cracks me up.
- Buena Vista Social Club: The sheer joy this movie transports is simply not to be described with words. The music, the people behind it, their stories, their lives... it's a film that captures the heart of music. The one that made me a Wim Wenders viewer.
- Sonnenallee: One thing german comedy is great at is telling stories about the GDR and the lives of people living in that part of Germany. And Sonnenallee, alongside Good Bye Lenin, is the peak of this "genre" that was trending at the turn of the millenia.
- Alice In Wonderland: A made-for-TV version of the classic featuring Whoopi Goldberg as the Cheshire Cat, Ben Kingsley as Major Caterpillar, Gene Wilder as the Mock Turtle and Peter Ustinov as the Walrus. What could go wrong? That's right - almost nothing.
- American Beauty: I should probably cry because the plot is tragic, but really this is one of the most darkly hilarious films I've ever seen. Kevin Spacey quitting his job with a big bang... what a scene!
- Fantasia 2000: Why is this so unknown? It's a magical movie with great music and fantastic animation.

I hated Star Wars I and The Sixth Sense. The less said, the better.

 

The most disappointing year in film coming from a Star Wars kid.

 

Just to show how popular the Matrix music was, they used a snippet of The Propellerheads Spybreak in the middle of the Dogma trailer ).

Good picks. I feel like Galaxy Quest and Election are still a little underrated but that might be because I missed them the first time around. Galaxy Quest opened up the same day (Christmas) as another great '99 film Magnolia which I naively dismissed at the time as a poor man's Short Cuts / Robert Altman but I've come to appreciate it more over time...

I feel like Dogma was made right around the peak of hype for Jay and Silent Bob. Loved the movie (lots of star power) even if the plot was a little convoluted. I remember having a Buddy Christ on the dashboard of my car and a signed/framed Dogma "Prophets" poster so the film had some effect on me. Both are *still* available from jay and silent bob's secret stash site FWIW )

 

Three Kings was another great movie. Ended up seeing it in a theater the same day as David Fincher's Fight Club. This might be blasphemy but I don't think either directory has made a better movie and I admire both director's film careers...

I remember buying an official CD-R of the Three Kings soundtrack from amazon; glad that fad didn't last. I much prefer physically pressed discs...

 

Best Star Trek movie ever.

jerol

 

Also THE TALENTED MR.RIPLEY..

 

By far, I think the worst movie that came out in 1999 was Wild Wild West. It got horrific reviews and was a massive bomb, because it cost $170 million and only made $220 million. (It would've needed to make far more than $350 million just to break even.) I shake my head in sadness at the huge talent behind that film that did such a terrible job:



Even Will Smith has said in recent years he now greatly regrets making the film. Say what you will about Phantom Menace, but by god, that movie made over a billion dollars and sold a ton of toys. (Though that, too, was a terrible movie.)

 

I don't think any movie could have withstood the two year hype of The Phantom Menace. We should have known better after all of George Lucas's "tweeks" to the Special Editions but most people were thrilled just to see re-mastered versions of the "holy trilogy" on the big screen back in '97. The advance movie poster with a child Anakin should have raised red flags (kid movies never turn out good) but we ignored our gut. The hype of digital projection was real but ultimately underwhelming (not as bad as HRF but not worth the upgrade) and may have hastened the downfall of mega-seat movie theaters who already couldn't compete with multi/mega plexes. The plot was ridiculous and felt like an inferior blending of the original films. But at the end of the day it was still visually stunning and a "rare" peak into the Star Wars universe.

In my opinion if you wanted to see a sci-fi franchise with interesting characters / plot go see some Star Trek. Star Wars was always mostly popcorn eye-candy and I've enjoyed it for what it is... critics be damned.

 

I was actually looking forward to Wild Wild West till I read the scathing reviews of it. The TV show wasn't half bad and figured they could make a decent movie out of it. One of the few movies I've ever walked out on. I guess Will Smith thought he could re-create the magic of Men in Black with Barry Sonnenfeld but boy was everyone wrong....

 

I swear to god, about 90 minutes into the film (opening week, Saturday night at an LA theater), some idiot pulled the fire alarm and we all had to evacuate the theater. We gave up and went home. Six months later, we finally saw the ending on DVD... and that was suckier than the rest of the film. Bad, bad, bad experience. And yeah, the reviews were scathing. Deservedly so.

Funny story: noted filmmaker Kevin Smith has told a story about how he was hired by Warner Bros. to write a film script for a mid-1990s Superman reboot. Producer Jon Peters told him there were only three rules: 1) don't use the old costume, because the cape sucked; 2) don't show Superman flying, because flying sucks and is too hard to do; and 3) the story must have a giant mechanical spider in it. Smith asked why, and Peters told him, "because giant mechanical spiders are cool!" That movie never got made, but Peters did eventually produce Wild Wild West in 1999... and that had a giant mechanical spider in it.

 

I agree about David O. Russell. But Fincher has made some better ones, IMO.

 

I think it was a great year in film.
Favorites:
Double Jeopardy - Ashley Judd, Tommy Lee Jones, Bruce Greenwood. Thriller.
The General's Daughter - John Travolta, Madeline Stowe. Crime Drama.
Fight Club - Brad Pitt, Edward Norton. Thriller.
Mickey Blue Eyes - Hugh Grant, Jeanne Tripplehorn, James Caan.
The Talented Mr. Ripley - Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Thriller.
The Thomas Crown Affair - Pierce Brosnan, Rene Russo. Crime Drama.




Mickey Blue Eyes - Trailer

 

I like both movies as well.
"The Straight Story" is such a wonderful story. I bought it on DVD back then.
I think you would like the Canadian movie "Le démantèlement" (English title; The Auction). Very sad and touching as well. I still get teary-eyed just by watching the trailer again.

 

Thank you for the tip - the trailer is very interesting. I've no idea as to how this movie might turn out eventually. I like such things - will get hold of it and watch it asap