1999-10 years on from a benchmark year for movies

[krudler]

If look back at 1999, it really was the year that changed,or at least redefined modern movies, take what came out that year (this isnt a list thread btw)

The Matrix
Star Wars Episode 1
Fight Club
American Pie
The Blair Witch Project
American Beauty
The Green Mile
Toy Story 2
Sleepy Hollow
The Sixth Sense
South Park:Bigger, Longer and Uncut
Being John Malkovich
10 Things I hate About You
Boys Dont Cry
Man on the Moon
Cruel Intentions
Election
eXistenZ
The Insider
The Iron Giant
Lake Placid
Mystery Men
Office Space
Run Lola Run

We had incredible hype for the new Star Wars movie, granted the movie was a let down but the run up to its release was a great time to be a Star Wars fan, the anticipation, the teaser trailers, trying to find any new info online long before the internet ruined movies.

The biggest dark horse blockbuster ever in The Matrix, in what was meant to be the summer of Star Wars along came an unhyped sci-fi actioner that blew audiences away, I remember only seeing a few brief tv spots and teaser for it, went to see it with some friends on opening night and at the end of the movie the entire audience had the same though on their minds "Where the **** did THAT come from?!" I saw it 4 times in the cinema on its intial release.

Fight Club made Brad Pitt cool, and defined how a lost generation were feeling about commericalism and not having a sense of purpose.

The Blair Witch Project was unique way of making a movie, take 3 people and dont tell them entirely what they're letting themselves into, scare the bejesus out of them in the forest and create a modern mythology to hype the movie up, so much to the point where audiences at first thought they were watching a genuine documentary before word of mouth spread, and use the internet to create a marketing campaign like no other movie before it.

The teen movie genre was reborn with American Pie, She's All That, 10 things.. Varsity Blues, Cruel Intentions, a genre long since dead since the days of Porkys, teen sex was back in a big way

The Sixth Sense shocked audiences and relaunched mainstream horror movies, and got everyone talking about the twist at the end.

Toy Story 2 did the impossible and made a sequel to an instant classic and not only matched but surpassed the original, its the Godfather 2 of animated movies

The Green Mile backed up Frank Darabont as being one of the few directors that trusted an audience enough to invest 3+ hours in a story and characters,something studios have long balked at as they dont think audiences will sit still for more than 90 minutes, not a dry eye in the house at the end either

Anyone got any more thoughts on this superb year for movies?

[candy-gal1]

i think that was one of the best years for modern classics!
like horrors such as sleepy hollow and blair witch, and the 3rd Scream movie!
and for chick flick fans there were lots including shes all that!

love stuff like that!! they were some of the best movies!

[basquille]

Let's not forget 'Magnolia' and 'Office Space' in 1999 also.

Agreed... a really great year for movies.

[krudler]

Office Space is amazing, being that I work in an office I try to get as many of my coworkers as possible to watch it, everything is so accurate, the multiple bosses telling you the same thing, the politics, the wierdos who work there, what I wouldnt give to treat the way I work like Peter does in this

[basquille]

Indeed, it is the most realistic representation of an office environment committed to film.

Although Fran's experience working in an office in one episode of 'Black Books' was excellent also!

[nedtheshed]

Theres alot of wank in the list in fairness.


Star Wars Episode 1
American Pie
10 Things I hate About You
Cruel Intentions
Election
Lake Placid
Mystery Men


Hardly genre defining movies.

You could take any year and list 20 or more outstanding movies.1999 is no different from 2009/8/7/6 etc.

[Nolanger]

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce - one of the best
Another Thin Man, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy - great sequel
At the Circus, Starring Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx - funnier than anything out this year
Babes in Arms - great Mickey Rooney movie
Dark Victory, starring Bette Davis (favourite role)
Destry Rides Again, starring James Stewart - watched it on DVD last week
Dodge City, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland - great Western
Drums Along the Mohawk, directed by John Ford, starring Henry Fonda - brilliant movie
The Four Feathers starring John Clements and Ralph Richardson - great adventure yarn
Five Came Back starring Lucille Ball - war movie classic
Gone with the Wind, starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh - need I say more?
Goodbye, Mr. Chips, starring Robert Donat and Greer Garson - best movie about school ever!
Gulliver's Travels - best of all versions
Gunga Din - great adventure fun
The Hound of the Baskervilles, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce - best of the SH movies
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring Charles Laughton - another classic
Intermezzo, starring Ingrid Bergman and Leslie Howard - movie that launched Bergman in Hollywood
Jamaica Inn, by Alfred Hitchcock - terror on the coast
Jesse James, starring Tyrone Power - best version
Le Jour se lève (Daybreak) - masterpiece
The Little Princess - best of the Shirley Temple's
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, starring James Stewart - another famous classic
The Oklahoma Kid, starring James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Donald Crisp - great western
Of Mice and Men, starring Burgess Meredith, Betty Field, Lon Chaney Jr. - best version
Only Angels Have Wings, with Cary Grant and Jean Arthur - airplane classic romance
Ninotchka, starring Greta Garbo - Russian romantic comedy
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, starring Bette Davis and Errol Flynn - anther classic
The Roaring Twenties - one of the best gangsters
The Rules of the Game (La règle du jeu), by Jean Renoir - masterpiece
Son of Frankenstein, starring Boris Karloff - great horor sequel
Stagecoach, directed by John Ford - Orson Welles' film school!
The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland and Ray Bolger - need I say more?
The Women, with Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell - better than the recent remake
Wuthering Heights, starring Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, David Niven - best version
Young Mr. Lincoln, directed by John Ford, starring Henry Fonda - great bio

[basquille]

Originally Posted by nedtheshed

American Pie

..

Hardly genre defining movies.

To be fair, "American Pie" re-invented the teen sex comedy. You may not have enjoyed it but it was definitely more worthwhile than you may think IMO.

Originally Posted by nedtheshed

You could take any year and list 20 or more outstanding movies.1999 is no different from 2009/8/7/6 etc.

Can't agree... 1999 was a very memorable year for movies. Especially when looking at the listing above.

In my opinion, the same can't be said for 1998.

[nyarlothothep]

existenz kinda sucked imo, the matrix handled the is this reality idea much better. Also Lake Placid is a bit flaccid. Fight Club, The Matrix, Being John Malkovich, American Pie and South Park are classics, the 90s went out with a real bang, best decade ever.

[TheManWho]

Lake Placid is a great film in my opinion. Perhaps because it was one of the first modern comedy horror films it confused it's audience, but that genre has grown with films like Severance, Black Sheep and to a lesser extent Shaun of the Dead. I'm sure that if Lake Placid was released today it would receive much better reviews as people now know what to expect from the genre.

[krudler]

Originally Posted by nedtheshed

Theres alot of wank in the list in fairness.


Star Wars Episode 1
American Pie
10 Things I hate About You
Cruel Intentions
Election
Lake Placid
Mystery Men


Hardly genre defining movies.

Not one of those movies is wank, Episode 1 aside, Lake Placid is hugely underrated, is a load of fun and the script is brilliant, Mystery Men is great and American Pie, 10 things, Cruel Intentions and Election rebooted the teen comedy movie genre

[tarbuck]

Yep a great year for movies and also my fav year for movies. The opening night of The Matrix is still my fav single movie-going experience ever.

(you forgot Three Kings btw).

[nedtheshed]

Originally Posted by krudler

Not one of those movies is wank, Episode 1 aside, Lake Placid is hugely underrated, is a load of fun and the script is brilliant, Mystery Men is great and American Pie, 10 things, Cruel Intentions and Election rebooted the teen comedy movie genre

None of the above did anything new though.

Lake Placid is on homage to the 50s and 60s creature features.Nostalgic,yes,groundbreaking,not a hope in hell.
Mystery Men (I thought) was a load of codswallop that didnt know what it wanted to be.
American Pie was a very,very obvious "comedy"
10 things is Shakespere with an attractive cast.
Cruel Intentions is a remake of a remake.

Election wasnt bad in retrospect.

As Ive said,pick any year and you can come up with a list of decent movies.It doesnt make that year any more special than any other.

[S.M.B.]

I'm not sure if 99 was any better for movies than other years or whether it just happened to be they year I fell in love with movies.

[nedtheshed]

In my humble,there are only a couple of benchmark movies on that list.

The Matrix was truly spectacular and mind bending.

Blair Witch proved genuine tension and fear can be created with a few grand and a video camera.

The 6th Sense was a breath of fresh air and a very unique movie viewing experience.The only movie I can think of that comes close is the Usual Suspects.


Others like Fight Club,Being John Malkovic,Office Space,Green Mile or Boys Dont Cry,while great movies didnt set a standard or create a new genre for movies to come.They are excellent stand alone movies,but not benchmarks.

I would consider Goodfellas,Halloween or Scream for example to be benchmark movies.They set a standard for the genre.

With the exception of the first 3 above,the movies on the list really couldnt be lay claim to be genre defining or bench marks,IMO.