TOP 10 FILMS FROM 1999

Every so often a year comes around that manages to produce a huge number of great film. There are always great films that come out every year, but it's not every year that pumps out classic after classic. In my eyes, the year 1999 is one of those years - a year that has proven retrospectively to be a year that continues to reward cinephiles with a string of great movies. Here's a list of some of my favourites.

Honourable Mentions:

• Magnolia (MA15+)

• eXistenZ (M)

• 10 Things I Hate About You (PG)

• The Green Mile (MA15+)

• The Sixth Sense (M)

• South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (MA15+)

• Fantasia 2000 (G)

10. Toy Story 2 (G)

I will never understand why some people dislike this film. It's incredibly rare that a perfect trilogy comes along (I know Toy Story 4 is a thing, but it sort of exists outside of the original three films), and so it's important to acknowledge all three of those films that make up such a landmark trilogy in cinema. Toy Story 2 is underrated as hell, and going back to watch it as an adult is so incredibly rewarding; this is a film made by real cinephiles. There are so many treats to be found if you go looking for them, and the fact that this film was made entirely using computer-generated animation in 1999 doesn't get as much recognition as it should. 

9. The Blair Witch Project (M)

When I saw this film I knew that it was fake. I was born in 1998, so I was obviously way too young to remember the viral marketing around the film's initial release, claiming that it was genuine found footage, and what we were going to see was real. From what I have read it seems that at the time there was at least a portion of film fans who were sucked into the false reality of the film, but seeing it for the first years afterwards there was none of that mystery and lore attached to it. It is well established that it is just a movie, and has actually gone on to be known as one of the films responsible for kick-starting the current found-footage phase we are still stuck in. (If you want to do a real deep-dive on found footage cinema, check out Cannibal Holocaust.) Despite this, The Blair Witch Project scared the pants off me, and still does. There is an argument to be made for this movie being boring, and I totally get that once the mystery is taken away and you know what's happening it might start to become a bit boring. But something about this film freaks me out, even now. The refusal to show anything definitive regarding the supernatural works so strongly in this film's favour (something its sequels didn't get right), and the performances are so convincing that I'm completely drawn into the film every time I revisit it. Interestingly enough, there was supposed to be a big reveal of the monster in the film, but the cameras didn't pick it up in the panic of shooting the scene.

8. The Straight Story (G)

On the surface, The Straight Story seems like the odd one out in David Lynch's rich back catalogue, and in a lot of ways that's because it is. As the title suggests, the narrative of The Straight Story is incredibly straightforward - upon learning that his brother has suffered from a stroke and may not recover, 70-year-old Alvin Straight journeys to Wisconsin from Iowa on his ride-on lawnmower. On the level of narrative, it is an incredibly straight forward film, but it is one that takes on a sense of deep spirituality and real emotional depth, and delves into standard Lynch themes of identity. Many Lynch fans haven't seen this film, and while I want to encourage them to do so, I don't want to limit my recommendation of this film to just the Lynch fans. In a lot of ways The Straight Story is Lynch's most accessible work, and the linear narrative contributes to that a lot. 

7. The Iron Giant (G)

Brad Bird's hand-drawn gem is a film that doesn't seem to get as much praise or attention as it should. Better known for his other expeditions into animation (the Incredibles films and Ratatouille), Bird delivers on the gorgeous animation and the tear-jerking narrative in ways that are just as affective as his other animations, if not more. Like all of the best animated films, it is a film that is easy to understand on a basic story level, but filled with emotional richness and resonance that transcends the "kids film" label that it inhabits. I challenge you not to cry.

6. Eyes Wide Shut (R18+)

Stanley Kubrick's final masterpiece. I am always shocked at how a film filled with so much sex feels so completely devoid of eroticism, and I say that as a compliment to the film. It is so incredibly frosty and creepy that tonally it feels more in line with The Shining than Barry Lyndon or Lolita, films that on the surface seem similar in their storytelling motives. There is a really unnerving sense of complete lack of control, and an oppressive dream logic rules over the film. Tom Cruise is really great in it, as is Nicole Kidman, but that final line - c'mon, it doesn't get more perfect than that. 

5. Fight Club (R18+)

Every guy I know went through a phase of being obsessed with Fight Club. I think I was about 15 when I saw it for the first time and loved it, although in retrospect I was (like many others) obsessed with the very things about it that it was critiquing. There's something so special about a film like this that has such rich layers to it - the irony of the extent to which Brad Pitt's Tyler Durden was and still is idolised by so many is baked into the very philosophical and social fabrics of the film itself. Fight Club has so much to say about masculinity, and while some elements of its social critique have perhaps grown a little dated, there are other elements that feel like they are even sharper and even more relevant in 2021. 

4. The Matrix (M)

Do I even need to explain to you why The Matrix is one of the best films to come out in 1999? I mean, come on, it's one of the most important films of that decade, and it holds up today as one of the greatest science fiction films ever made. But on a more personal note, I vividly remember seeing this film for the first time aged 12, and the effect it had on me at that young age. I think it was the first time that I was explicitly aware that a film was about more than just it's plot - for the first time I was thinking about cinema as a vehicle for ideas and philosophy, and engaging with concepts and ideas that outlast the end credits of the film. Of course Reloaded would come out four years later, followed by Revolutions, a set of follow-up films that some believe dampen the greatness of the original, but I disagree. The Matrix stands alone as one of the great science fiction films of all time, blending martial arts and actions cinema in such a seamless way that it is no surprise that it is still considered one of the most important films to come out in the 1990s. 

3. American Beauty (MA15+)

Everyone's relationship with this film has changed in recent years, I'm sure, so my shifting opinion of American Beauty won't be a unique one. Despite that, I would be lying to myself if I didn't acknowledge that it is one of the most powerful films of the 1990s. There is so much to like about American Beauty, and the fact that it has become a somewhat problematic film in recent years is ironic given the fact that the film was already treading in potentially problematic territory upon its initial release. Much like great stand-up comedy, though, I think that it's decision to dive boldly into potentially uncomfortable subject matter simply lends the film a real earnestness and rawness that is incredibly rewarding to revisit every so often. 

2. Being John Malkovich (MA15+)

My favourite comedy of 1999 also happens to be one of the smartest science fiction films of the decade. It becomes almost absurd as its plot develops further and further away from the small glint of realism seen in its opening scenes, but a combination of great performances and Spike Jonze's direction keep Charlie Kaufman's script from derailing the film completely. This combination from heaven turns a script that was supposedly almost unreadable at one point into a sharp, hilarious and tragic sci-fi comedy for the ages. A real highlight for me in Being John Malkovich is seeing John Malkovich himself not only play a fictionalised version of himself, but also a fictionalised version of himself inhabited by John Cusack's character. The nuance and attention to detail in characterisation is hysterical. 

1. Audition (R18+)

The less you know about this film before you see it the better, so I won't say much about the film itself except that it is one of the most surprising and provocative films of all time, crossing genres and boundaries effortlessly and with the sort of confidence every filmmaker wishes to possess even an ounce of. If you're familiar with prolific Japanese director Takashi Miike, then no doubt you will be closely familiar with Audition, but don't spoil it for the poor souls that haven't experiences it yet.

Well, there you have it! Those are my favourite films from the year 1999. I'm sure I will have missed something that you love from that year (I can hear the typing as everyone asks where The Phantom Menace was), because there are so many great films to choose from 1999 and only so many available spots on my list. So hit me up either down below in the comments or on Instagram to chat about great films from 1999, shitty films from 1999, or anything film related, really - I'm looking forward to continuing the conversation with you.

See you next time, legends!