FTC Forum
ENGLISH => GENERAL => Topic started by: MysteRy on October 07, 2014, 01:38:27 PM
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Great Films of 1999 That Are Worth Your Time
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It must have been all that pre-millennial tension. For one reason or another, 1999 truly brought out the best in cinema and film makers across the world. It saw great films from material that you would least expect, solid filmmakers step up to become excellent ones and some of the greatest films of the Nineties all in one year.
1999 inspired works that were challenging, intelligent, thought provoking and, in some cases, absolutely exceptional.
Here is a list of thirty movies from that year, illustrating the wide cross section that 1999 had in regards to influence and inspiration to cinema across the world.
Two Hands (Gregor Jordan)
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This one’s a little bit out of left field. “Two Hands” is an Australian black comedy/drama set in the crime underworld of Sydney. Heath Ledger plays a young man who wants to get into ‘the game’ that is the crime world. In a brilliant performance, Bryan Brown plays Pando, the underworld big key pin.
Although it features a supernatural sub-plot that doesn’t quite work, “Two Hands”, from debutante director Jordan, is a wonderfully written black comedy; sort of like what you would imagine an Antipodean take on “Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels” would be like. If you’re looking for a film that does something of a different dance with the crime genre, then “Two Hands” is for you.
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American Pie (Paul Wietz)
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A late nineties spin on the classic staple of teen comedy, losing one’s virginity, this was a fresh and charming take on a genre that many thought to be dead. With some great writing and acting to it, “American Pie”, while occasionally straying into ‘shock for shock’s sake’ territory, is a film that has a great deal of heart and empathy to it. It struck something of a chord across the world, becoming a massive hit at the box office.
Again, like “The Matrix”, the franchise was cheapened by lesser sequels, especially the direct to DVD ones that didn’t feature any major cast members. However, the original still rates for being highly entertaining and charming.
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10 Things I Hate About You (Gil Yunger)
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Following on from the massive success director Baz Luhrman had with his remarkable adaptation of “Romeo And Juliet” in 1996, this totally charming take on Shakespeare’s “The Taming Of The Shrew” was one of the more successful modern takes on The Bard.
Featuring heart and style to burn, “10 Things” had a bubbliness that was hard to ignore, managing to melt even the hardest of hearts. Thankfully taming down the more misogynist and negative elements of the original text, this film proved to be the launching pad for two very talented actors, Julia Stiles and the late Heath Ledger.
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Office Space (Mike Judge)
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An acidic comedy from Mike Judge, creator of MTV’S “Beavis And Butthead”, this takes a broad swipe at working life, with all its inconsistencies, frustration and ability to destroy the soul.
A standout in this underrated comedy is where three workers, sick of dealing with a malfunctioning photocopy machine, ‘abduct’ it, take it to a field and beat it with baseball bats! Who hasn’t wanted to do that at some time in their lives.
An accurate and very funny look at work and how it affects life, “Office Space” somehow didn’t fire at the box office upon release. Again, this is another film that found the audience it so rightly deserves in the home market.
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Man On The Moon (Milos Forman)
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Not the most prolific of directors, Czech expatriate Forman brings his sublime skills to the fore to create a highly entertaining biopic on cult American comedian Andy Kaufman. Wonderfully essayed by Jim Carey, this enigmatic and enjoyable film lets us into the mysterious life and times of Kaufman, an avant-garde comedian that many didn’t ‘get’ when he was alive.
Also starring Courtney Love and one of Kaufman’s compatriots, Danny De Vito (Kaufman’s co-star in the TV show “Taxi”), this is biopic at its most unconventional, but no less entertaining for being so.
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Romance (Catherine Breillat)
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Uncompromising in the way that only a French director can be, Catherine Breillat’s “Romance” was the film that really introduced her to a greater audience.
Depicting a female school teacher experiencing highly charged and challenging sexual situations, this is not pornography, despite how frank its depiction of sex is.
This is a film that will confuse and provoke in a highly emotional manner. While a bleak and depressing film, it stands out for its intelligence and depth in the way it looks at sex and what it means to us as human beings.
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eXistenZ (David Cronenberg)
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At a point where he was well into his career, Canadian director David Cronenberg was showing no signs of fatigue in regards to his keen intellect in cinema. “eXistenZ”, following hot on the heels of his highly controversial adaptation of the J.G. Ballard novel “Crash”, was a strong illustration of Cronenberg as provocateur, always wanting to push limits and boundaries.
Starring Jude Law and Jennifer Jason Leigh, this look at the video game world covers the director’s obsessions that have run throughout all of his films, such as love, sex, death, reality and insanity.
Visually stylish and thematically compelling, “eXistenZ” is a film that will challenge and provoke in equal measure.
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Boys Don’t Cry (Kimberly Pierce)
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Based on an explosive true story, “Boys Don’t Cry” was a lacerating, powerful film about gender identity and being. Hilary Swank, in an Oscar winning performance, plays a woman who dresses as a man, confused about her identity and being. The ramifications that follow are swift and deadly.
Co-starring Chloe Seivigny and Peter Saasgaard, this was cinema at its most personal and impactful. It’s a shame that talented director Pierce has only made two films since this, her debut feature.
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Go (Doug Liman)
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Fresh of the success of “Swingers”, this was director Doug Liman’s sophomore effort. Featuring a circular narrative where three stories dovetail into one, “Go” beautifully captured that time in one’s life where, in their late teens and early twenties, they are young, full of energy, think they’re bulletproof and all the strange and crazy adventures they get into.
Featuring a bright and energetic visual style, “Go” is a film with energy to burn. It also has a great cast to it, featuring the likes of Timothy Olyphant, Sarah Polley, Scott Wolf and Katie Holmes. “Go”, like its title, is punchy, energetic and really captures beautifully the time when one jumps off from being a child/teenager to being an adult.
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Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai (Jim Jarmusch)
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Jim Jarmusch is one of the most unique, highly idiosyncratic and individual directors working today. All of his films, from “Mystery Train” to his latest, “Only Lovers Left Alive”, have a truly different and personal sense of identity and being to them. His 1999 film, “Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai”, is no different.
A slow, meditative crime drama, Forrest Whittaker stars as an African-American hit man who models his way of life on that of the Japanese Samurai. A thoughtful look at a man who lives by a code, “Ghost Dog” is a wonderfully left of centre take on the crime film. “Ghost Dog” is definitely recommended if, as a lover of cinema, you’re searching for something out of the ordinary.
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South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Trey Parker)
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Taking everything that was rude and crude about the TV show “South Park” and turning it up to ten, this was a rude, crude and utterly hilarious expansion of the television universe of the show upon it was based.
A musical that sees America at war with Canada, this film is guaranteed to have something to offend everyone! “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” definitely lives up to its title. Basically, this defines that classic vein of humour that is extremely funny but very, very wrong at the same time.
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Three Kings (David O. Russell)
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Set during the first Gulf War in the early Nineties, “Three Kings” is an abrasive and in your face black comedy about three soldiers, played by George Clooney, Mark Whalberg and Ice Cube, fighting in the war and stumbling upon an illicit booty of gold bullion.
A powerful parable about American greed in foreign lands, this was a striking comment and a bone-shaking real depiction of what modern warfare is really like in a practical sense.
This was director Russell really stepping up to the plate as a director, showing the world what he was capable of. Years later, this would result in the amazing one-two punch that was the excellent “Silver Linings Playbook” being followed by the remarkable “American Hustle”.
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Titus (Julie Taymor)
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In a complete contrast to “10 Things I Hate About You”, which was a highly charming teen take on Shakespeare’s “The Taming Of The Shrew”, British theatre director Julie Taymor, in her debut film, creates a nihilistic and utterly brutal take on one of the Bard’s earliest plays, “Titus Andronicus”.
A violent and disturbing tragedy, “Titus” has an energy and visual style to it that is impossible to ignore. It also features some of the most disturbing, ‘can’t unsee’ imagery ever committed to film.
This is one of those films where everything, from direction to set design and costuming, combine brilliantly, creating an unforgettable vision of a world going to Hell.
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Bringing Out The Dead (Martin Scorsese)
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Based on the novel by Joe Connelly, “Bringing Out The Dead” is a seriously underrated film in director Martin Scorsese’s back catalogue.
Charting seventy-two hours in the life of a burnt out paramedic working in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen, this is a pounding and powerful work. Nicholas Cage, in one of his last great performances before a decade or so of godawful films, really embodies a man pushed to extremes by seeing human existence at its most suffering and miserable.
With that unmistakable visual flair and style you get with Scorsese, this is a compelling look at the human condition at its most extreme. With a brilliant scrip from his frequent co-collaborator Paul Schrader, it’s a shame that most people wrote this film off as a poor cousin to “Taxi Driver”, a film with which “Bringing Out The Dead” shares similar thematic concepts and ideas.
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The Limey (Steven Soderbergh)
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Without an ounce of cinematic flab on it, “The Limey” sees director Steven Soderbergh really step up his game. An ex-criminal in the United Kingdom (Terence Stamp) becomes an angel of death, looking for his missing daughter in America.
A classic ‘stranger in a strange land’ tale, this benefits significantly from a a visual style that is to absolutely die for, and two standout performances from Stamp and Peter Fonda, going head to head in a spectacular fashion.
A compelling work that often goes where you don’t expect it to, “The Limey”, for this scribe, is a great example of a good director becoming a better one.
It’s a somewhat lost work in Soderbergh’s career, but definitely one worth checking out.
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The Green Mile (Frank Darabont)
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Consolidating on his exceptional directorial debut “The Shawshank Redemption”, director Frank Darabont created a handsome and involving adaptation of the six-part novel that author Stephen King had released a few years earlier.
Set on Death Row in the Thirties, this is a classic story beautifully told. For a three hour film, it’s never dull or boring. In his second film, Darabont proves himself to be a director of talent and class, with a significant love and affection for the material.
“The Green Mile” is a class act all the way, and never talks down to its audience as so many films are guilty of doing.
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Toy Story 2 (John Lasseter)
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The follow-up to the ground breaking Pixar film “Toy Story”, the sequel deepens the affection we have, as lovers of cinema, for the characters presented in the story.
While telling a hugely enjoyable story, where “Toy Story 2” really hits the mark is how it depicts the way that, as people, we outgrow our toys and what happens to them as a result. That one thing alone totally endeared this film to many generations, not just the child audience it was intended for.
A classic case of a sequel expanding upon its original universe, “Toy Story 2” was one of the big success stories of the year, and further consolidated Pixar as the cutting edge of mainstream animation.
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The Talented Mr Ripley (Anthony Minghella)
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Directed with class by the late Anthony Minghella and set in sun kissed Italy in the Fifties, “The Talented Mr Ripley” is a psychological thriller that compels and enthrals in equal measure.
Featuring a cracking cast including Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Philip Seymour Hoffman, this thoughtfully written and involving look at identity and being rarely gets a mention as a great film of the late nineties. More’s the pity, as people are missing out on a class act of cinematic storytelling.
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Election (Alexander Payne)
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A total surprise and only the second film from Payne, “Election” was an incredibly funny comedy about high school politics. A metaphor for political campaigns in both America and across the world, “Election” really shone due to some great writing and acting, especially from Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon as opposing sides of the political fence in this microcosm of America.
Something of an underrated gem, this one.
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The Insider (Michael Mann)
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Based on the true story of whistle blower Jeffery Wigand and his expose of Big Tobacco, “The Insider” is a compelling example of the intellectual and visual precision that is director Michael Mann.
With some brilliant, perceptive writing and a top notch cast, including Al Pacino and Russell Crowe, this is topical cinema at its finest. Criminally underrated as far as the Mann back catalogue is concerned, “The Insider” remains and intelligent and thoughtful work.
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The Matrix (The Wachowskis)
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An intelligent and impactful work, “The Matrix” completely reinvented the ideas of both science fiction and action in the cinematic world. With visual style to burn, The Wachowskis, in only their second film as directors, created one of the most iconic works of the latter part of the Nineties.
To this day, some of the ideas, both regarding ideas and concepts, as well as the visual style, continue to influence the films that have been made over the past fifteen years. Although cheapened by two significantly lesser sequels (“The Matrix Reloaded” & “The Matrix Revolutions”), the original remains a true benchmark in science fiction cinema and cinema in general.
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Audition (Takashi Miike)
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A big hit at many film festivals across the world, this was the first real time that Western audiences discovered the work of maverick Japanese director Takashi Miike.
A workaholic that can sometimes make up to five films a year, Miike is a director that specialises in pushing his audiences and taking them somewhere they’ve never been before.
In “Audition”, a widower who works in the TV industry stages ‘auditions’ with young girls, looking for a potential future wife. In one such girl, he gets far more than he bargained for.
The genius of this film is the way that it wrong foots its audience, playing like a melodrama for about two-thirds of its running time. It then takes one almighty left turn in its climax. Put it this way. When I first saw the film at Melbourne Film Festival, when the film did its turn, people didn’t just walk out, they ran!
A wild and unique talent, Takashi Miike has, over the past two decades, been one of the directors, along with Gaspar Noe and Darren Aronofsky, that has changed the face of cinema as we know it.
“Audition” is a fantastic place to start.
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The Sixth Sense (M. Night Shyalaman)
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A film that never lets its audience feel comfortable, “The Sixth Sense” is director Shyalaman’s most complete work. A young child (Haley Joel Osmet) claims that he can ‘see dead people’. To tell you more would be a crime if you haven’t seen it.
A psychological horror film that never fails to involve its audience, “The Sixth Sense” was one of the best films of its type to come out in the latter part of the Nineties.
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The Straight Story (David Lynch)
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This could be director David Lynch’s most controversial film. A G-rated film with a linear narrative made for the Disney Corporation!
“The Straight Story” is a beautifully written, heartfelt road movie about an old age pensioner travelling on a ride on lawnmower across America to visit his sick and estranged brother.
Disarming in its simplicity, this is a film that truly lives up to its title. It also possesses an emotional warmth that can sometimes be missing in other films directed by David Lynch.
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Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze)
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A highly idiosyncratic look at fame and being famous, this was one completely out of the box. Written by Charlie Kauffman and directed by former music video maker Jonze, this posited the idea that one could inhabit the mind of a famous celebrity quite literally!
Featuring a game cast including John Cusack, Catherine Keener and Mr John Malkovick himself, this was an astoundingly original and fresh cinematic experience. Ostensibly a comedy, it was one with a highly dark and serrated edge to it. A true original.
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Fight Club (David Fincher)
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We’re breaking the first two rules of ‘fight club’ here. On only his fourth film, director David Fincher created what many to this day still consider to be his masterpiece.
Based on the novel by Chuck Palhinuik, “Fight Club” is a bold, challenging work attacking the way that corporations seem hellbent on taking over the world with, at the same time, a deeply affecting look at what it means to be a man. Unique, riveting and brilliant, there truly is no other film out there that is quite like this. “Fight Club” was truly a case of everyone involved, from Fincher to his stars, Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, really pushing the envelope to see how far it would go.
While something of a flop at the box office upon release, it rightly found its audience in the home market. A film impossible to ignore and a true love it or hate it experience, this is filmmaking at its ballsiest and most uncompromising.
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Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson)
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After the excellent “Boogie Nights”, this epic three hour meditation on life and being saw director Paul Thomas Anderson truly find his voice as an artist. Set on one day in Los Angeles, “Magnolia” is a deeply felt, challenging and, at times, deeply moving look at the human condition, flaws and all.
Featuring an utterly electric cast, including Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macey, John C. Reilly and an absolutely heartbreaking performance from Melora Walters, “Magnolia” really takes the viewer out of their comfort zone and makes them think about the world around them.
Another film that can enthral cinema goers as much as it can repel others, “Magnolia” is a truly unique work.
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American Beauty (Sam Mendes)
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A lacerating black comedy looking at the ‘American Dream’, namely those ideals of ‘success’ and ‘happiness’, this was British theatre director Sam Mendes’ stunning debut behind the camera. What he created in this funny and remarkable work was one of the most assured and accomplished debut films ever made.
With a brilliant script by Alan Ball and a cast to match, featuring Kevin Spacey and Annette Benning at their finest, this was very much a comment on Middle America at the turn of the century. Fifteen years later, it remains a timely and compelling work.
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Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick)
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After a twelve year absence from the screen, master director Stanley Kubrick made “Eyes Wide Shut”, after which he subsequently passed away.
This was a bracing, unflinching look at marriage and fidelity, featuring then-married couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Attracting controversy for its frank depiction of sex and sexuality on screen, this was no less than a challenging and unflinching work, which, over decades, we’ve come to expect from Kubrick.
A visual treat, this proved to be a fitting and uncompromising swansong from one of the all-time greats of cinema.
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All About My Mother (Pedro Almodovar)
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Winner of the 1999 Oscar for Best Foreign Film, this saw the bad boy of Spanish cinema, Pedro Almodovar, break out to a larger audience. Toning down some of the on-screen excesses that personified and, in some cases, limited his earlier work, “All About My Mother” was a deeply felt comedy-drama about love and loss.
Beautifully written, acted and directed, this really saw Almodovar mature as a filmmaker and a storyteller, while never losing his highly personal view of the world. Looking at ‘marginal’ characters such as transvestites and pregnant nuns suffering from HIV, “All About My Mother” is always a warm and deeply compelling work, looking at the role of women in the world.
This is nothing short of a masterwork from one of the brightest of cinematic talents.