Eric Heideman's Best Movies of 1999
First, having been born in mid-1953, I'd like to say how cool it is to be
alive
and well in 2000, living in a city with a film revival house (the Oak Street
Cinema) with nicely eclectic taste, many first-run movie theaters, and
stores
and internet sites from which one can purchase a substantial percentage of
the
films ever made, most of them for less than the cost of a hardback, to show,
through easy-to-operate technology, in one's home, and this neat internet
discussion list, through which one can discuss movies with other film lovers
through the touch of a button. I haven't gotten over the thrill; I hope I
never
do.
Over the past 12 months I've seen dozens of older films (including 15
Hitchcocks, six James Whales, & six pre-1999 Kubricks in preparation for
convention panels). And, so far, I've seen 29 films that were originally
released in 1999. I regret that I haven't yet gotten to see RUN, LOLA, RUN;
MAN
ON THE MOON; PRINCESS MONONOKE; THE GREEN MILE; and
THE HURRICANE. But of the
29
seen I liked 16 enough to consider them for a top ten list. The runners-up,
in
ascending order, are:
| #16 | THE IRON GIANT.
Both an enjoyable cartoon and a thoughtful fable.
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| #15 | AMERICAN BEAUTY.
An odd, ultimately generous look at people's
yearnings
and their limitations.
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| #14 | GALAXY QUEST.
Tim Allen does a great Shatner. It's swell seeing
Sigourney
Weaver doing comedy again. Great fun.
|
| #13 | THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY.
Based on a series of novels by Patricia
Highsmith
(also author of the novel STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, basis for the Hitchcock
film).
Matt Damon portrays a well-intentioned young guy who, through a series of
small
steps, turns to evil.
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| #12 | THE MATRIX.
Innovative action film with great moves, strong
performances
by Laurence Fishburne & Carrie Ann Moss (as you know).
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| #11 | BOYS DON'T CRY.
Powerful, gut-wrenchingly disturbing film about sexual
identity. A true story.
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And my Top Ten:
|
| #10 | AMERICAN MOVIE.
Documentary about 30-year-old Wisconsinite Mark
Borchardt, who makes a super-cheap 35-minute horror film, "Coven," in hopes
of
raising the money to make a feature film. If you liked ED WOOD you'll like
AMERICAN MOVIE, a sweet, laugh-out-loud funny film about being true to one's
dreams.
|
| #9 | MYSTERY MEN.
Based on a comic book, this chronicles the forming
of a team of lovable underachiever wanna-be super heroes, such as The
Shoveler
(William H. Macy, the bad husband from FARGO), The Bowler (Janeane
Garofoalo),
Mr. Furious (Ben Stiller), and The Spleen (Paul Reubens). Worth seeing if
you
liked GALAXY QUEST.
|
| #8 | TOPSY TURVY.
Film about Gilbert & Sullivan and their creation of
"The Mikado." The music is gorgeous; the cast, especially Jim Broadbent as
W.S.
Gilbert, are uniformly good; the
acting, sets, and atmosphere are so real that Newsweek called it "a period
film
so lived-in it makes most historical movies look like costume parties." The
pace is leisurely, and the first third of the film, in particular, would
have
benefited from a good edit. But if you enjoy Gilbert & Sullivan light
operettas, & wouldn't mind a "good film to live in," chances are you'll be
enchanted.
|
| #7 | EYES WIDE SHUT.
Stanley Kubrick's (1928-1999) last film isn't
everyone's cup of tea, and it suffers in comparison with his best films,
PATHS
OF GLORY, DR. STRANGELOVE, 2001, & A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. But second-rank
Kubrick
is still Kubrick. I found EYES WIDE SHUT an engrossing story about identity
and
questioning what is real, lensed through the eyes of one of cinema's truly
great
visual innovators.
|
| #6 | OCTOBER SKY.
Based on a nonfiction book originally titled
"Rocket Boys," it's the tale of four nerds in a small West Virginia town
inspired to want to become rocket scientists, in spite of the fact that most
of
the town initially don't know what to make of them. Touching and
inspirational,
and real.
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| #5 | THE STRAIGHT STORY.
Surely David Lynch (ERASERHEAD, TWIN PEAKS)
directing for Disney must be one of the signs of the End Times. Another
true
story, about an elderly, partially disabled man who decides to ride his
lawnmower from Missouri to Wisconsin to reconcile with his estranged, ailing
brother. Our intrepid lawnmower-adventurer meets and talks with various
people
on his weeks-long trip. Beautifully photographed, with unforced humor,
sweet
but not sentimental, this film never strikes a false note.
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| #4 | BEING JOHN MALKOVICH.
This truly original film starts out
offbeat, then takes a left turn, and another, and another. Wonderfully,
hilariously paranoid. There's no other film quite like it, but if you liked
REPO MAN (1984), you'll like this.
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| #3 | DOGMA.
This comedy-drama horror-fantasy about angels, demons,
and the possible unmaking of Creation has the feel of the metaphysical
graphic
novels of Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman, but I can't think of a film that has
tried
anything quite like this. (END OF DAYS & STIGMATA, two other theological
adventures of 1999, don't hold a candle to DOGMA.) Consistently fun, while
also
offering intelligent, provocative ideas. It's the work of writer-director
Kevin
"Silent Bob" Smith (CHASING AMY, MALLRATS, CLERKS), and as in his other
films
features the appearance of two holy fools, Silent Bob & Jay (they play a
bigger
role than in CHASING AMY, the other Smith film I've seen). A great cast
includes Ben Affleck, Chris Rock (as the 13th, black, Disciple), Matt Damon,
Linda Fiorentino, George Carlin, Alan Rickman, Salma Hayek, Alanis
Morissette, &
Bud Cort (HAROLD AND MAUDE).
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| #2 | THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT.
How appropriate that this film and
AMERICAN MOVIE were both released in the same year! Because of BLAIR
WITCH's
spectacularly successful p.r. campaign (if you compare the $500,000
ultimately
spent to make the film to the mega-millions it's brought in, it's the most
commercially successful film ever made), some backlash has set in. If the
hype
has made it hard for you to appreciate the film on its own merits, wait a
year
or two, then rent it. I agree with every positive statement I've read about
it. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, and its response from movie-goers, are a
triumphant reassertion of the story-telling values of the classic horror
film.
It's been compared to that ever-so-influential indie film of 1968, George
Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and the comparisons are valid, but moreso
directors Eduardo Sanchez & Daniel Myrick deserve comparison to the
master-producer of '40s subtle pschological horror films, Val Lewton (CAT
PEOPLE, I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, THE BODY SNATCHER). People who prefer their
horror films in your face and FX-heavy are, of course, entitled to their
taste.
Sanchez & Myrick in their brilliant first film, along with actor Heather
Donohue
and her lost-in-the-woods partners Michael and Josh, with their
so-natural-as-to-be-invisible performances, bring back what is, to my taste,
the
basics of the classic horror film, exploring mystery and unease. A big
budget
can be (though it rarely has been) an asset in making a fine horror film;
but a
big budget isn't necessary. Give me shadows.
I've fretted over which films of '99 belonged on a Top Ten list, and how to
rank
those ten. But since seeing it in August I've never doubted which film
deserves
to be
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| #1 | THE SIXTH SENSE.
If BLAIR WITCH is reminiscent of Val Lewton's
darker films, such as THE LEOPARD MAN, THE SIXTH SENSE reminds me of
Lewton's
gentlest film, CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE (a sensitive study in child
psychology,
the title not withstanding). A friend saw THE SIXTH SENSE cold, then
brought me
to it both to see how it would strike him when he knew how it turned out and
to
see how someone else reacted to it cold. Then I brought a friend to it
cold,
for the same two reasons. Then she did the same with another of her
friends. I
suspect that lots of other people could tell a similar story. Bruce Willis
is
fine (I've known since "Moonlighting" that he can act, given the
opportunity)
but the show is stolen by the stunning performance of Haley Joel "I see dead
people" Osmont, who can be warm, frightened, and frightening all in the same
scene. (Imagine the film THE PHANTOM MENACE would have been if he'd been
cast
as Anakin!) THE SIXTH SENSE deserves the Academy Award for Best Film, Best
Director, Best Original Screenplay--and Haley Joel Osmont deserves to be
chosen
not as Best Supporting Actor but as, simply, Best Actor. Wow. |
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