In 1999, “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” finally hit theaters. George Lucas had left fans hanging for over 20 years and the big payoff was ready to hit. However disappointing, and believe me it was terrible, it was a pivotal moment of one of the greatest years in the history of cinema. It’s no wonder I fell in love with my wife this year as well, after dating on and off the year before, it was 1999 when Andrea started working at the movie theater. I skipped more school and watched more movies than any other year in my life. I love the “event” of a big film, I bought my tickets early for “Phantom Menace”, I wanted to be at the first showing of the first day and there was no midnight release in Portales. Star Wars was not the only franchise that got re-tooled, or completely tooled, however you want to say it. “Carrie 2″ came out, “Deuce Bigalow” was born, “An American Tale: The Mystery of the Night Monster”, “Elmo in Grouch Land”, Muppets in Space”, “Godzilla 2000″, and “Pokemon: The First Movie” aptly titled, all hit theaters.
Some of the films in 1999 were no good, “The Phantom Menace” was great for me at the time, Darth Maul still is, as are all the Jedi who were cast, unfortunately the little boy who played Anakin as well as a hodge-podge story that tries to explain the mythology of the Star Wars world lacks a lot to be desired. I won’t even mention Jar-Jar Binks. In fact, all of the prequels very much remind me of “LOST”, we as an audience demand answers and then hate the ones we get. I watched “Bicentennial Man” starring Robin Williams at the Y2K party in Clovis where I was really hoping to win a mustang, that movie sucked. Andrea, Jared Sisneros, and myself skipped school and drove all the way to Lubbock to watch “The Blair Witch Project” only to be told we were to young to get in. We bought tickets to “The Iron Giant” and snuck in anyways, only to leave shaking our heads wondering what we had just witnessed, garbage. Turns out “The Iron Giant” was a much better film and was the start of Brad Bird’s career in feature length animated direction.
Many other directors made a huge splash in 1999, and ushered in a new group of auteurs. Spike Jonze directed “Being John Malkovich”, Sam Mendes directed Oscar winner “American Beauty”, Alexander Payne directed “Election”, David Fincher directed “Fight Club”, Paul Thomas Anderson directed “Magnolia”, and while it wasn’t his breakout hit, it established him as the auteur who would have Daniel Day-Lewis screaming “I’ll drink your milkshake” ten years later. The brothers Wachowski directed “The Matrix”, Mike Judge mostly known for “Beavis and Butthead” directed his classic “Office Space”, M. Night Shamalamadingdong directed “The Sixth Sense”, David O. Russell directed “Three Kings”, Sofia Coppola directed “The Virgin Suicides”, and Julie Taymore directed “Titus”. That list is absolutely staggering, the quality of work of that “freshman” class is one for the ages. Other more established directors had something to say in 1999 as well.
Martin Scorsese directed “Bringing out the Dead”, Stanley Kubrick, the master of all masters, would debut his final film posthumously, 
“Eyes Wide Shut”, Anthony Minghella directed “The Talented Mr. Ripley”, a film I still love and think is very underrated. Tim Burton directed “Sleepy Hollow”, Spike Lee directed “Summer of Sam”, Roman Polanski directed “The 9th Gate”, Jay Roach directed both “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” as well as “Mystery Alaska”, Milos Forman directed “Man on the Moon”, Steven Soderberg directed “The Limey”, Luc Besson directed “The Messenger”, Michael Mann directed “The Insider”, Jim Jarmusch directed “Ghost Dog”, Kevin Smith directed “Dogma”, Oliver Stone directed “Any Given Sunday”, Norman Jewison directed “The Hurricane”, Trey Parker and Matt Stone directed “South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut”,Frank Darabont directed “The Green Mile”, Clint Eastwood directed “True Crime” and Harold Ramis directed “Analyze This”. Again, staggering.
There were also great popcorn flicks, chick flicks, and comedies in 1999. Not your run-of-the-mill either, some of these most definitely have stood the test of time. “American Pie”, “10 Things I hate About You, “The 13th Warrior”, “Big Daddy”, “Blast From the Past”, “Bowfinger”, “The Bone Collector”, “The Cider House Rules”, “Cruel Intentions”, “Detroit Rock City”, “For Love of the Game”, “Galaxy Quest”, “Fantasia 2000″, “Girl, Interrupted”, “The General’s Daughter”, “The Green Mile”, “Go”, “Idle Hands”, “Jawbreaker”, “The King and I”, “Life”, “Never Been Kissed”, “Payback”, “Runaway Bride”, “She’s All That”, “Stuart Little”,”Notting Hill”,”A Midsummer Nights Dream”,”Varsity Blues”, “Toy Story 2″, “The Mummy”, “8mm”, and “The World is Not Enough”.
You would be hard pressed to find a better single year in film. I must have almost bankrupted my parents because I saw a lot of these in theaters, and I see a lot of these over and over every year. I don’t know what happened in 1997, when most of these films were being written and 1998 when most of these films were being filmed, but it must have been something spectacular, or not. Maybe it was the luck of the draw, a mix of the right situations at the right time. We could remember it as the year of Jar-Jar Binks, when millions of “Star Wars” fans marked their line in the sand with the series, but then we would be missing 1999′s glory. We could call it the year of “The Matrix”, a time when all things were possible, when the world of cinema and storytelling were flipped on their heads, CGI, special effects, as well as superb craftsmanship of story all coming together in a perfect storm. Whatever it was, it has never been repeated, 1999 remains a “golden” year in the annals of cinema history. I hope this leads you to seeking out movies you’ve never seen, or revisiting some classics you love.
Wow that is quite a list. I was going to suggest 1984, but I think 99 wins. 84 had a lot of classics though: Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom, Gremlins, Beverly Hills Cop, Police Academy, Karate Kid, Footloose, Romancing the Stone, Splash, Amadeus, Blood Simple, The Natural, Neverending Story, Muppets Take Manhattan, Nightmare on Elm Street, Repo Man, Sixteen Candles, Terminator, This is Spinal Tap.
It’s hard to believe all those came out in 99! Those defined my highschool experience through my freshman year of college because I didn’t see some of them till they came out on video. I remember watching Fight Club for the first time with my brother at his apartment and being blown away. I’ve seen most of that list, actually, and it makes me want to watch more movies!
Yes 1984 and even 1982 to a lesser degree were phenomenal years. 1999 however, still is head and shoulders above the rest. Not only is it amazing for just the filmography of that year, but also because you can look at what that freshmen class has done since and trace it all back to 1999. 1994 is another really great year in film.
I don’t think we’re going to see years like that any more, due to the prevalence of sequels and the move to long-form television (“Lost,” “The Wire,” “24″ and others could have never been done theatrically).
I concede the point about CGI. But I think 1994 has nothing to be ashamed of in quantity and quality. Now, 1994 may be remembered as the year where “Forrest Gump” won everything that we’d give “The Shawshank Redemption” in a re-vote. But just like 1999, there was more to be said:
Starts: Kevin Smith maxed out his credit cards for “Clerks.” While not debuts, movies kickstarted careers for Brad Pitt (“Legends of the Fall,” “Interview with the Vampire”), Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves (“Speed”). The Farrelly brothers shot their first movie, called “Dumb and Dumber,” starring a guy named Jim Carrey, a TV actor who took off earlier that year with “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” and held his own in the visually-appealing “The Mask.” Hugh Grant’s biggest early movie, “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” showed us a promising career that an arrest somewhat took away. A girl named Hillary Swank got her break in “The Next Karate Kid,” an otherwise forgettable movie.
Ends: The “Naked Gun” trilogy came to a decent conclusion, and we saw thankful conclusions to the “City Slickers,” “Police Academy” and “Beverly Hills Cop” eras. “Richie Rich,” a decent kids movie, ended Macauley Culkin’s childhood film career; it was nine years before he acted again.
Progressions: Quentin Tarantino followed up “Reservoir Dogs” with “Pulp Fiction” (which restarted John Travolta’s career and helped birth the Samuel L. Jackson caricature). I was introduced to the Coen brothers with Joel’s unappreciated “The Hudsucker Proxy.”
Other notables: “Hoop Dreams” showed us a documentary could do well theatrically. “Little Big League” is my favorite baseball movie, and “The Ref” my favorite Christmas movie (along with “Swimming With Sharks,” a prequel to just how good Kevin Spacey would be the next year with “The Usual Suspects”). I think “The Lion King” was the last truly great pre-Pixar animated movie. Sci-fi geeks got “Stargate” and “Star Trek: Generations,” the first movie to feature TNG cast. “The River Wild” helped make the Kevin Bacon game too easy, and long before “The Dark Knight,” we found out through “The Crow” that nothing could market a movie like the star dying.
As for 1995, it was great for some of the movies I’ve already mentioned. I think 1996 was a terrible year dominated by “Independence Day,” and we saw 1997 and 1998 increase the quantity and quality that helped set the stage for your golden year.
Yep, definitely a great year in film!!!
Kevin, as I said in my reply earlier in this chain, 1994 was another great year in film for all the reasons you mentioned. And even after you explain it all it still pales in comparison to 1999. It’s almost hard to wrap your head around the films of 1999.
I concur 99 was way better, but I think 94 had the same effect on me that 99 did on you. In each case, the year’s greatness can’t be chalked up to romanticism with youth. I was listing 94 to make the point that you indeed inspired me to think about some of my favorite movies.
With every passing year of cinema, I wish more that we could do a “five years later” Oscar-type awards. That way, there’s no campaigning, no momentum; best movie with the greatest impact wins. There’s no way “Forrest Gump,” “Shakespeare in Love” or “The King’s Speech” get best picture. Actually, that would be an awesome post, and I’d be happy to help.
let’s do it.