By Dale Nauertz

1999, what a year. It was a year of remarkable highs and only a couple of lows that I can remember. It was a stunning year in the world of cinema, I don’t think anyone will dispute me on that. We saw a great many wonderful things, a great many movies that did something totally new and unique.

So why am I only writing about it now, you might ask. And it’s a good question. After all, most people had their lists out about nine months ago. Well, I wanted to make sure that I gave everything a decent shot. I wanted to make sure that I had it all sorted out before I put down anything definite. To make sure that I didn’t kick myself later on for omitting something or forgetting something or for just plain being a dumbass. But I will probably be doing that at a later date anyway. It seems somehow unavoidable.

So finally, at long last and without any further ado, I shall launch right into it.

1. “American Beauty”

This movie is nothing less than mesmerizing. I still cannot watch this movie without being swept up by it and hypnotized until the last frame. The first half is hilarious. The second half is just plain amazing. Of all the great stuff of the past year, this one is still the one I come back to the most. Great score, great editing, great production design, great everything. Especially the performances of Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper and to a lesser extent Peter Gallagher, Annette Bening, and Mena Suvari. And, of course, the incomparable Kevin Spacey. This movie single-handedly made me a Spacey fan. Before this movie, I thought he was good, but very overrated. The internet hype, after all, is immense on him. I never saw “Seven”, I thought his performance in “The Usual Suspects” was good but not great, and I thought Dennis Hopper would have been a better Hopper in “A Bug’s Life”. After this performance, however, I think he can do no wrong.

He does, indeed, rule. So does this movie. Wow.

2. “The Green Mile”

There is nothing really groundbreaking about this one. It’s just an excellent story told with immense skill. It is a beautiful bit of filmmaking, old fashioned in the best possible sense. Every actor aces it. The production design is gorgeous. The screenplay is tender yet hard. The direction could not be better. And it made me cry buckets. Frank Darabont has done it again.

3. “The Matrix”

This movie kicks ass in a way that no movie of the decade had before it. Every action sequence is mind-blowing, no matter how often I see it. The acting isn’t award caliber, but it’s well suited to the material and it has some subtlety to it. But the greatest thing about it is that it is an action movie with a brain and some muscle. It is a sleek and well-made thrill machine that is actually thought provoking. One of the best sci-fi movies I have seen. Every frame of the movie is interesting, the editing is very good and the bad guys, even though they are just computer programs, are very menacing characters with some neat underlying things going on. Rarely do all these things blend so beautifully.

4. “Being John Malkovich”

Absurd, daring, hilarious. Again, a triumph of acting, writing and pure imagination. One of the best comedies of the Nineties. It’s the sort of movie where you find new laughs every time you watch it. And Malkovich proves himself the best of sports.

5. “Magnolia”

One of those great films that gets better and reveals new layers each and every time you see it, “Magnolia” was robbed of lots of nominations. Hell, at the end of last year, I probably wouldn’t have even put it in my top ten (even though I did like it) but now, well, it definitely grows on you. Startling, brainy, complex yet it never loses you. Filled to the brim with remarkable performances and wonderful twists and turns. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Jason Robards, Philip Baker Hall, Jeremy Blackmore, Melora Walters, John C. Reilly, the list is endless when you are naming off the great performances of this film. An awesome spectacle and a true calling card that there is a new cinematic genius in town. And, I suspect, PT Anderson’s best film is still ahead of him.

That’s what makes me really excited.

6. “Election”

Unfairly ignored by the public, this witty, dark little satire never fails to make me laugh, and hard. The simple way that Matthew Broderick gets deeper and deeper over his head always makes me howl, as does the beautifully bitchy performance of Reese Witherspoon, who I will never look at the same way again. And the sad thing? High school was exactly like this.

7. “Three Kings”

Ballsy, daring, go-for-broke cinema. George Clooney is our generation’s answer to Steve McQueen: a cool guy whose smooth facade hides the fact that he is one hell of an actor. If you haven’t seen this one yet, you’re in for a treat. A movie that manages to make you laugh, make you think and make you squirm with discomfort all at the same time. Bold stuff.

8. “Iron Giant”

The bittersweet story of a boy who befriends a giant robot. It has subtle humor where other kid movies have fart jokes, it has real emotion where other kid movies have sap, and it has more power in it than most of the year’s real-life movies. Why parents didn’t flock to this one in droves is beyond me.

9. “The Sixth Sense”

The year’s biggest surprise. I was expecting…well, nothing. And yet I got a movie that is surprising, even shocking, yet more than just a movie with a neat twist at the end thanks to the subtle work of Bruce Willis and the astounding work of Haley Joel Osment (I see gold people in this kid’s future), not to mention the awesome screenplay and assured direction of M. Night Shyamalan. And it all makes sense on a second viewing too!

10. “Fight Club”

Talk about a movie that gets better every time you see it. First time I saw this movie, I was pissing on its bones. Yet something about it stuck with me and now I watch it more than I ever thought I would. The second biggest twist of the year, the darkest of satires (and one of the year’s funniest) and damned if it doesn’t make you think. And I think Edward Norton deserved a nomination for his droll portrayal of a man so pissed off that even HE doesn’t know it.

Best Actor
1. Kevin Spacey (”American Beauty”)
2. Russell Crowe (”The Insider”)
3. Edward Norton (”Fight Club”)

Best Actress
1. Julia Roberts (”Notting Hill”)
2. Franke Potente (”Run, Lola, Run”)

Honorable Mention Movies:
“Notting Hill”
“Run, Lola, Run”
“Bowfinger”
“Arlington Road”
“The Insider”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 5th, 2000 at 9:04 pm and is filed under Dale Nauertz. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.