I was just reading an article about how 1999 was one of the greatest in cinema history, and its incredible how right it is.
Can you imagine that in the same year the instant classics Fight Club and The Matrix were released. The Matrix is often lauded as the greatest SciFi movie ever while Fight Club was the movie that instantly turned Brad Pitt from a heart throb to THE No.1 mega star in Hollywood.
OK, maybe they are a bit blokey. No problem: How about the sine qua non of the high school rom com: Ten Things I Hate About You- the absolute pinnacle of the genre and incredibly smart and funny to this day.
Need more high school comedies? Well look no further than American Pie. The film that launched an entire genre on its own (the gross-out comedy).
Those four are already better then 99% of what has been made in the past ten years
Or Cruel Intentions, the film that had a tame girl-girl kiss that was seen as being the naughtiest thing ever committed to film.
OK OK I get the point, they made a lot of good movies that year, I hear you say.
Well don't forget one of the biggest romantic movies of ALL TIME: Notting Hill. "I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her" -COME ON!!
Want to leave the cinema a blubbering mess: we got you covered: just go see Tom Hanks and Mr Jingles in The Green Mile.
Let's not forget the iconic The Sixth Sense came out the same year.
Not creepy enough? It might seem silly and ridiculous now, but The Blair Witch Project had us all OBSESSED and I for one forswore forests for a long long time after.
For animation lovers, one of Pixar's true greats was released : Toy Story 2.
Honestly, how did we have time for anything else with so many amazing movies?
We haven't even gotten into the serious Oscar contenders from that year.
My own personal favourite in that catergory is Michael Mann's terrific "The Insider". Russell Crowe is the whistleblower in the tobacco industry, and Al Pacino actually puts in a restrained performance as a TV producer. This is up there with Gladiator as Crowe's best performance (Gladiator would follow the next year).
If you wanted Al Pacino being Al Pacino, look no further than "Any Given Sunday". His speech "Life's about inches" - one of the greatest motivational speeches ever delivered, and still shown to sports teams 25 years later.
At that time, an ever dependable shout for best actor was Denzel Washington. He delivered the goods yet again with The Hurricane. A tour de force from "My Man"
For the lovers of serious art house ish Oscar-y films, there are lots there were lots more to keep you happy such as
Magnolia
American Beauty
Being John Malkovich
All About My Mother
A year that will never be bettered IMO. Prove me wrong !
but it’s wound me up!
,John candy was taken to soon.
