by Allan Fish
the end is in sight…
Best Picture The Thin Red Line, US (11 votes)
Best Director Terrence Malick, The Thin Red Line (11 votes)
Best Actor Jeff Bridges, The Big Lebowski (11 votes)
Best Actress Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth (8 votes)
Best Supp Actor John Goodman, The Big Lebowski (14 votes)
Best Supp Actress Joan Allen, Pleasantville & Judi Dench, Shakespeare in Love (4 votes each, TIE!)
Best Cinematography John Toll, The Thin Red Line (9 votes)
Best Score John Corigliano, The Red Violin (8 votes)
Best Short Billy’s Balloon, US, Don Herzfeldt; More, US, Mark Osbourne; Alone. Life Wastes Andy Hardy, Austria, Martin Arnold (2 votes each, TIE!)
1999
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Best Picture/Director
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All About My Mother (Spain…Pedro Almodóvar)
American Beauty (US…Sam Mendes)
American Movie (US…Chris Smith)
American Pie (US…Paul Weitz)
Aristocrats (UK…David Caffrey)
Audition (Japan…Takashi Miike)
Beau Travail (France…Claire Denis)
Being John Malkovich (US…Spike Jonze)
The Blair Witch Project (US…Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez)
Boys Don’t Cry (US…Kimberley Peirce)
Buena Vista Social Club (Germany/US/UK/France/Cuba…Wim Wenders)
The Cider House Rules (US…Lasse Hallström)
The Color of Paradise (Iran…Majid Majidi)
Cradle Will Rock (US…Tim Robbins)
Cremaster 2 (US…Matthew Barney)
Despite All That (Japan…Shinji Imaoka)
Dick (US…Andrew Fleming)
Dogma (US…Kevin Smith)
East is East (UK…Damien O’Donnell)
Election (US…Alexander Payne)
The End of the Affair (UK/US…Neil Jordan)
eXistenZ (Canada…David Cronenberg)
Eyes Wide Shut (US…Stanley Kubrick)
Fantasia 2000 (US…James Algar, Gaetan Brizzi, Paul Brizzi)
Fight Club (US…David Fincher)
Galaxy Quest (US…Dean Parisot)
The Girl on the Bridge (France…Patrice Leconte)
Go (US…Doug Liman)
Gohatto (Japan…Nagisa Oshima)
Himalaya (France/Nepal…Eric Valli)
Holy Smoke (Australia…Jane Campion)
L’Humanité (France…Bruno Dumont)
The Insider (US…Michael Mann)
It All Starts Today (France…Bertrand Tavernier)
The Iron Giant (US…Brad Bird)
Kikujiro (Japan…Takeshi Kitano)
The Last Days (US…James Moll)
Lies (South Korea…Jang Sun-woo)
Limbo (US…John Sayles)
The Limey (US…Steven Soderbergh)
Lord’s Lantern in Budapest (Hungary…Miklós Jancsó)
The Matrix (US…Larry Wachowski, Andy Wachowski)
Magnolia (US…Paul Thomas Anderson)
Mifune (Denmark…Soren Kragh-Jacobsen)
The Mission (Hong Kong…Johnnie To)
My Best Fiend (Germany…Werner Herzog)
My Neighbours the Yamadas (Japan…Isao Takahata)
My Voyage to Italy (US/Italy…Martin Scorsese)
Office Space (US…Mike Judge)
Oliver Twist (UK…Renny Rye)
Outer Space (Austria…Peter Tscherkasky)
Peppermint Candy (South Korea…Lee Chang-dong)
Public Housing (US…Frederick Wiseman)
Ratcatcher (UK…Lynne Ramsay)
Ride With the Devil (US…Ang Lee)
Romance (France…Catherine Breillat)
A Room for Romeo Brass (UK…Shane Meadows)
Rosetta (Belgium/France…Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne)
Shooting the Past (UK…Stephen Poliakoff)
Shower (China…Zhang Yang)
Sicilia! (France…Jean-Marie Straub, Danièle Huillet)
The Sixth Sense (US…M. Night Shyamalan)
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (US…Trey Parker)
The Straight Story (US…David Lynch)
Sweet and Lowdown (US…Woody Allen)
The Talented Mr Ripley (US…Anthony Minghella)
10 Things I Hate About You (US…Gil Junger)
Three Kings (US…David O’Russell)
Time Regained (France…Raoul Ruiz)
Titus (US…Julie Taymor)
Topsy-Turvy (UK…Mike Leigh)
Toy Story 2 (US…Ash Brannon, John Lasseter)
The Virgin Suicides (US…Sofia Coppola)
The War Zone (UK…Tim Roth)
Water Drops on Burning Rocks (France…François Ozon)
The Wind Will Carry Us (Iran…Abbas Kiarostami)
Wisconsin Death Trip (UK/US…James Marsh)
With Fire and Sword (Poland…Jerzy Hoffman)
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Best Actor
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Daniel Auteuil The Girl on the Bridge
Kevin Bacon Stir of Echoes
Jim Broadbent Topsy-Turvy
Matthew Broderick Election
Jim Carrey Man on the Moon
Russell Crowe The Insider
Billy Crudup Jesus’ Son
Tom Cruise Eyes Wide Shut
Matt Damon The Talented Mr Ripley
Rupert Everett An Ideal Husband
Richard Farnsworth The Straight Story
Ralph Fiennes Sunshine
Bernard Girardeau Water Drops on Burning Rocks
Bob Hoskins Felicia’s Journey
Kevin Kline William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Sol Kyung-goo Peppermint Candy
Denis Lavant Beau Travail
Robert Lindsay Oliver Twist TV
Ron Livingston Office Space
Tobey Maguire The Cider House Rules
Eddie Murphy Bowfinger
Edward Norton Fight Club
Al Pacino The Insider
Sean Penn Sweet and Lowdown
Brad Pitt Fight Club
Om Puri East is East
Emmanuel Schotté L’Humanité
Kevin Spacey American Beauty
Timothy Spall Shooting the Past TV
Terence Stamp The Limey
Denzel Washington The Hurricane
Treat Williams The Deep End of the Ocean
Ray Winstone The War Zone
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Best Actress
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Emmanuelle Béart Time Regained
Annette Bening American Beauty
Emilie Dequenne Rosetta
Lindsay Duncan Shooting the Past TV
Kirsten Dunst Dick
Edie Falco Judy Berlin
Jodie Foster Anna and the King
Jewel Ride with the Devil
Nicole Kidman Eyes Wide Shut
Diane Lane A Walk on the Moon
Janet McTeer Tumbleweeds
Julianne Moore The End of the Affair
Gwyneth Paltrow The Talented Mr Ripley
Vanessa Paradis The Girl on the Bridge
Michelle Pfeiffer The Deep End of the Ocean
Cecilia Roth All About My Mother
Eihi Shiina Audition
Julia Stiles Ten Things I Hate About You
Meryl Streep Music of the Heart
Hilary Swank Boys Don’t Cry
Karen Viard La Nouvelle Eve
Justine Waddell Wives and Daughters TV
Sigourney Weaver A Map of the World
Michelle Williams Dick
Kate Winslet Holy Smoke
Reese Witherspoon Election
Ziyi Zhang The Road Home
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Best Supp.Actor
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Alan Armstrong Aristocrats TV
Wes Bentley American Beauty
Michael Caine The Cider House Rules
Gary Cole Office Space
Paddy Considine A Room for Romeo Brass
Chris Cooper American Beauty
Tom Cruise Magnolia
Liam Cunningham Shooting the Past TV
Michael Clarke Duncan The Green Mile
Charles S. Dutton Cookie’s Fortune
Michael Gambon Wives and Daughters TV
Ian Hart The End of the Affair
Philip Seymour Hoffman The Talented Mr Ripley
Rhys Ifans Notting Hill
Greg Kinnear Mystery Men
Jude Law The Talented Mr Ripley
Harry Lennix Titus
John Malkovich Being John Malkovich
John Malkovich Time Regained
Larry Miller Ten Things I Hate About You
Bill Murray The Cradle Will Rock
Haley Joel Osment The Sixth Sense
Christopher Plummer The Insider
Stephen Rea The End of the Affair
John C. Reilly Magnolia
Alan Rickman Galaxy Quest
Sam Rockwell Galaxy Quest
Liev Schreiber A Walk on the Moon
Timothy Spall Topsy-Turvy
Harry Dean Stanton The Straight Story
Said Taghmaoui Three Kings
James Woods The Virgin Suicides
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Best Supp.Actress
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Jennifer Aniston Office Space
Lara Belmont The War Zone
Thora Birch American Beauty
Helena Bonham Carter Fight Club
Toni Collette The Sixth Sense
Penelope Cruz All About my Mother
Catherine Deneuve Time Regained
Cameron Diaz Being John Malkovich
Kathryn Erbe Stir of Echoes
Emilia Fox Shooting the Past TV
Janeane Garafalo Mystery Men
Shirley Henderson Topsy Turvy
Angelina Jolie Girl, Interrupted
Madeline Kahn Judy Berlin
Catherine Keener Being John Malkovich
Jodhi May Aristocrats TV
Julianne Moore Magnolia
Julianne Moore A Map of the World
Samantha Morton Sweet and Lowdown
Patricia Neal Cookie’s Fortune
Marisa Paredes All About My Mother
Antonia San Juan All About My Mother
Chloë Sevigny Boys Don’t Cry
Mena Suvari American Beauty
Kathleen Turner The Virgin Suicides
Melora Walters Magnolia
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Best Cinematography
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Ricardo Aronovich Time Regained
Dion Beebe Holy Smoke
Jeff Cronenweth Fight Club
Jean-Marie Droujou The Girl on the Bridge
Frederick Elmes Ride With the Devil
Robert Elswit Magnolia
Zhao Fei Sweet and Lowdown
Freddie Francis The Straight Story
Tak Fujimoto The Sixth Sense
Conrad L. Hall American Beauty
Darius Khondji The Ninth Gate
Alwin Kuchler Ratcatcher
Ed Lachman The Virgin Suicides
Seamus McGarvey The War Zone
Bill Pope The Matrix
Dick Pope Topsy-Turvy
Robert Richardson Snow Falling on Cedars
Lisa Rinzler Three Seasons
John Seale The Talented Mr Ripley
Newton Thomas Sigel Three Kings
Larry Smith Eyes Wide Shut
Dante Spinotti The Insider
Oliver Stapleton The Cider House Rules
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Best Score
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Air The Virgin Suicides
Damon Albarn and Michael Nyman Ravenous
Angelo Badalamenti The Straight Story
Pieter Bourke and Lisa Gerrard The Insider
Jon Brion Magnolia
Carter Burwell Being John Malkovich
The Dust Brothers Fight Club
Joe Hisaishi Kikijiro
Michael Kamen The Iron Giant
Wojciech Kilar The Ninth Gate
Randy Newman Toy Story 2
Thomas Newman American Beauty
Rachel Portman The Cider House Rules
Mark Thomas Aristocrats TV
Gabriel Yared The Talented Mr Ripley
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Best Short
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Afrika Shox (UK…Chris Cunningham)
Alias (France…Marina de Van)
All is Full of Love (UK…Chris Cunningham)
Blackadder Back & Forth (UK…Paul Welland)
Chrono-Perambulator (Ireland…Damien O’Donnell)
The Dark Tower (US…Stan Brakhage)
George Lucas in Love (US…George Nussbaum)
Let Forever Be (France…Michel Gondry)
The Old Man and the Sea (Russia…Aleksandr Petrov)
Persian Series 1-3 (US…Stan Brakhage)
Psy Snow (France…Marina de Van)
When the Day Breaks (Canada…Amanda Forbis, Wendy Tilby)
Windowlicker (UK…Chris Cunningham)
Click on names for archives
Writers/Founders
Best Picture: Rosetta
Best Director: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (Rosetta)
Best Actor: Richard Farnsworth (The Straight Story)
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon (Election)
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer (The Insider)
Best Supporting Actress: Marisa Paredes (All About My Mother)
Best Cinematography: Conrad L. Hall (American Beauty)
Best Score: Bruno Coulais (Himalaya)
The 1999 Hall of Fame: Rosetta; All About My Mother; The Wind Will Carry Us; Himalaya; Time Regained; Election; Magnolia; Toy Story 2; Eyes Wide Shut; Shooting the Past; The Cider House Rules; Mifine; The Girl on the Bridge; The Limey; American Beauty; The Straight Story; Audition; Beau Trvail; The End of the Affair; The Insider; Sweet and Lowdown; The Virgin Suicides; Topsy Turvy
Best Short: The Old Man and the Sea (Petrov)
This is simply one of my favorite shorts.
I am shockingly lukewarm about this year, given how popular it often seems to be. It certainly kicked off the contemporary American cinema we have with us today…which may be one reason I’m so lukewarm.
Feature: The Virgin Suicides
2. Eyes Wide Shut
3. The Blair Witch Project
4. Audition
5. Fight Club
Director: David Fincher, Fight Club
Short: Psy-Snow
Actor: Sean Penn, Sweet and Lowdown
Actress: Hilary Swank, Boys Don’t Cry
Supp. Actor: Haley Joel Osment, The Sixth Sense
Supp. Actress: Samantha Morton, Sweet and Lowdown
Cinematography: Jeff Cronenweth, Fight Club
Score: The Dust Brothers, Fight Club
Screenplay: Being John Malkovich
Editing: Audition
I agree with you MM. I don’t think 1999 is that special. I wouldn’t give any film from this year 5 stars.
Best Picture: Eyes Wide Shut
Runner ups: The Insider, The Wind Will Carry Us, Time Regained.
Yeah, it’s weird – my top pick is actually something I see as a promising warm-up for her masterpiece a few years later. Yet out of the competition it’s the one I most want to watch/lingers strongest in my memory. Though it could easily swap places with the Kubrick on repeat viewings. Fight Club is a film I have to admire for the controlled accomplishment with which it does what it does, but I’m ambivalent about what it does: cultivate a slick but flat aesthetic which would become the dominant visual language of the Anerican mainstream in the coming decade.
The reason why I consider this a strong year has little to do with the American output, but rather a stellar line-up of foreign language gems. It could be argued persuasively that the Dardennes, Ruiz, Kiarostami, Almodovar and Leconte made their greatest films this year and that fact alone would keep this year out of the cinematic doghouse and then some. Are you sure you are not mistaking this for another year? LOL! Are the directors I just named above chopped liver?
HIMALAYA, BEAU TRAVAIL, AUDITION and MIFUNE are also exceptional foreign-language films.
I’ll take Mysteries Of Lisbon, Close-Up, The Son, and Bad Education from those directors in terms of greatest. I have no use for Miike in any year. Mifune/Dogma stuff I’m not crazy about. Himalaya, I have not seen. Denis has better films.
Kubrick, Anderson, Mann, etc have all made greater movies on the American front IMO. In terms of the US angle I never understood the adulation. Mendes and Sham have basically been exposed as hacks with time. Other cornerstone pictures seem slighter also.
Of course this is all highly subjective.
Well I’d take TASTE OF CHERRY and TALK TO HER as Kiarostami’s and Almodovar’s greatest myself, though I still favor ROSETTA and would have TIME REGAINED on par with LISBON. I do not like all of Miike’s films, but at least a few are top rank. Denis made two other films I like more than TRAVAIL. The point I was making in (defending) what I thought was an odd putdown of this year was that it was seemingly made (at least in the way it was worded) for American cinema. I also said “persuasively argued” which means the proposed choices are at least arguable.
The bottom line is that the Dardannes, Almodovar, Ruiz, Dennis and Leconte made GREAT films in this year and that would in my view made it memorable.
“The point I was making in (defending) what I thought was an odd putdown of this year was that it was seemingly made (at least in the way it was worded) for American cinema.”
This would pertain to Joel more.
LOL Maurizio!!! My original response here was indeed made to Joel. Your blanket dismissal did not escape me, and I regarded it as only a difference in taste.
I asked Allan what he thought of 1999 by email, since he only joins these discussions when tallying the votes and this is what he had to say:
Above average certainly. Magnolia, Shooting the Past, Time Regained, The Girl on the Bridge, Rosetta, Peppermint Candy, Eyes Wide Shut, and that’s only the top 7 or so.
There is a very good chance you will like HIMALAYA and THE GIRL ON THE BRIDGE, in which case if true would elevate your position at least a bit.
I do think Sweet And Lowdown is a frivolous fun Woody film. The quantity angle for this year is almost inarguable. Many things worth viewing, few worth loving… IMO of course.
And while I agree with Joel on 99, I’m not sure what hallucinogenic substances he’s ingesting to place Blair Witch in his top five…
Well I do have a passion myself for ROSETTA, ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER, THE WIND WILL CARRY US, TIME REGAINED, ELECTION, HIMALAYA and MAGNOLIA, but I can understand why some others might not.
Yes, Joel stunned me with that BLAIR WITCH choice, and he owes us an explanation! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, my statements are definitely based on American cinema which, your own preferences aside, it seems to me the year is usually praised for. And no doubt Fight Club, The Matrix, Being John Malkovich, and others are hugely influential films, arguably changing the very direction of American cinema. Not for the better, I’m afraid, despite many admirable qualities. It became more about a superficial cleverness than a more humanist spirit IMO. European & Asian cinema I haven’t seen enough of to comment on, unfortunately. My series for this site caught me up with many 00s films but ’99 falls into that no man’s land between the drop-off in my largely chronological exploration of older years and my more self-conscious investigation if more recent ones.
I watched Blair Witch Project again a few years ago after dismissing it during the near-immediate backlash as merely gimmicky and actually found it held up well. It’s effectively creepy and suggestive and creative, which are the most important aspects, and the beyond that it is undoubtedly groundbreaking, the first blow in a low-budget/viral revolution that oddly enough remains mostly postponed 14 years later.
Changing Cinematography vote to Eyes Wide Shut, not Fight Club.
I definitely think 1999 was the best year out of the decade; its riches are numerable, and I do think it was a year that provided a cinematic sea change, for better or worse. In the end, even with so many choices, the end result came down to my top five, and I could not deny that the winner had to be:
PICTURE: MAGNOLIA, Topsy-Turvy, The Insider, Eyes Wide Shut, Election, The Iron Giant, All About My Mother, The Matrix, The Gods of Times Square, Fight Club, Office Space, The Straight Story, The Talented Mr. Ripley, American Movie, Three Kings, Toy Story 2, My Best Fiend, Ratcatcher, Kikujiro, Buena Vista Social Club, My Voyage to Italy, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, Galaxy Quest, eXistenZ, Being John Malkovich, The Wind Will Carry Us, Mystery Men, Titus, The Limey, American Beauty, Limbo, Bringing Out The Dead, The Virgin Suicides, Beau Travail, Humanite, The War Zone, Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr., The Color of Paradise, Sweet and Lowdown, Cremaster 2, Genghis Blues, The End of the Affair, Dick, Girl on the Bridge, Mansfield Park, The Winslow Boy, A Map of the World, An Ideal Husband, One Day in September, Judy Berlin, Boys Don’t Cry, Aimee and Jaguar, Cradle Will Rock, The Cider House Rules, Bowfinger, The Blair Witch Project, Audition, October Sky, Three Seasons, Cookie’s Fortune, A Walk on the Moon, Mifune, Guinevere, Fantasia 2000, Felicia’s Journey, Go, Jesus’ Son
DIRECTOR: Paul Thomas Anderson, MAGNOLIA (2nd: Mike Leigh, Topsy-Turvy, followed by: Stanley Kubrick, Eyes Wide Shut; Michael Mann, The Insider; Richard Sandler, The Gods of Times Square; Pedro Almodovar, All About My Mother; Brad Bird, The Iron Giant; Spike Jonze, Being John Malkovich; David Lynch, The Straight Story; Alexander Payne, Election)
ACTOR: Richard Farnsworth, THE STRAIGHT STORY (2nd—and VERY close: Russell Crowe, The Insider), followed by: Terrence Stamp, The Limey; Matt Damon, The Talented Mr. Ripley; Kevin Spacey, American Beauty; Jim Broadbent, Topsy-Turvy; Al Pacino, The Insider; Matthew Broderick, Election; Ray Winstone, The War Zone; Sean Penn, Sweet and Lowdown)
ACTRESS: Reese Witherspoon, ELECTION (2nd: Annette Bening, American Beauty, followed by: Nicole Kidman, Eyes Wide Shut; Cecelia Roth, All About My Mother; Julianne Moore, The End of the Affair; Hillary Swank, Boys Don’t Cry; Sigourney Weaver, A Map of the World; Diane Lane, A Walk on the Moon)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Tom Cruise, MAGNOLIA (2nd: John C. Reilly, Magnolia, followed by: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Magnolia; Harry Lennix, Titus; Christopher Plummer, The Insider; John Malkovich, Being John Malkovich; Timothy Spall, Topsy-Turvy; Haley Joel Osment, The Sixth Sense; Sam Rockwell, Galaxy Quest; Jude Law, The Talented Mr. Ripley)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melora Walters, MAGNOLIA (2nd: Julianne Moore, Magnolia, followed by: Shirley Henderson, Topsy-Turvy; Catherine Keener, Being John Malkovich; Samantha Morton, Sweet and Lowdown; Chloe Sevigny, Boys Don’t Cry; Janeane Garafalo, Mystery Men; Thora Birch, American Beauty; Helena Bonham Carter, Fight Club; Toni Collette, The Sixth Sense)
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Conrad Hall, AMERICAN BEAUTY (2nd: Larry Smith, Eyes Wide Shut, followed by: Freddie Francis, The Straight Story; Robert Elswit, Magnolia; Newton Thomas Sigel, Three Kings; Richard Sandler, The Gods of Times Square; Dante Spinotti, The Insider; Dick Pope, Topsy-Turvy; Bill Pope, The Matrix)
ORIGINAL SCORE: Thomas Newman, AMERICAN BEAUTY (2nd: Angelo Badalamenti, The Straight Story, followed by: Pieter Bourke and Lisa Gerrard, The Insider; Gabriel Yared, The Talented Mr. Ripley; Jon Brion, Magnolia; Carter Burwell, Being John Malkovich; Michael Kamen, The Iron Giant; Randy Newman; Toy Story 2; Damon Albarn and Michael Nyman, Ravenous; Air, The Virgin Suicides)
SHORT FILM: THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA (Aleksandr Petrov)
FURTHER:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Paul Thomas Anderson, MAGNOLIA (2nd: Mike Leigh, Topsy-Turvy, followed by: Charlie Kaufman, Being John Malkovich; John Ridley and David O. Russell, Three Kings; Pedro Almodovar, All About My Mother; Alan Ball, American Beauty; David Howard and Robert Gordon, Galaxy Quest; John Roach and Mary Sweeney, The Straight Story; John Sayles, Limbo)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, ELECTION (2nd: Mike Judge, Office Space, followed by: Eric Roth and Michael Mann, The Insider; Anthony Minghella, The Talented Mr. Ripley; Stanley Kubrick and Frederic Raphael, Eyes Wide Shut; Matt Stone and Trey Parker, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut; Jim Uhls, Fight Club; Tim McCanlies and Brad Bird, The Iron Giant)
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: THE GODS OF TIMES SQUARE (Richard Sandler) (2nd: American Movie (Chris Smith), followed by: My Best Fiend (Werner Herzog), followed by: Buena Vista Social Club (Wim Wenders); My Voyage to Italy (Martin Scorsese); Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (Errol Morris); Genghis Blues (Roko Belic); One Day in September (Kevin Macdonald))
NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM: ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER (Spain, Pedro Almodovar) (2nd: Kikujiro (Japan, Takeshi Kitano), followed by: The Wind Will Carry Us (Iran, Abbas Kierostami); Beau Travail (France, Claire Denis); Humanite (France, Bruno Dumont); The Color of Paradise (Iran, Majid Majidi); Girl on the Bridge (France, Patrice Leconte); Aimee and Jaguar (Germany, Max Farberbock); Audition (Japan, Takashi Miike))
ART DIRECTION: TOPSY-TURVY, The Matrix, Sleepy Hollow, Titus, Eyes Wide Shut, Mystery Men
COSTUME DESIGN: TOPSY-TURVY, Titus, Mystery Men, Sleepy Hollow, William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sweet and Lowdown
FILM EDITING: THE MATRIX, The Insider, Magnolia, The Gods of Times Square, Fight Club, American Beauty
SOUND: THE MATRIX, The Insider, Magnolia, Toy Story 2, The Iron Giant, Fight Club
ORIGINAL SONG: (TIE) “When She Loved Me” from TOY STORY 2 (music and lyrics by Randy Newman) and “Save Me” from MAGNOLIA (music and lyrics by Aimee Mann) (2nd: “I Can Change” from South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (music and lyrics by Trey Parker) followed by: “Wise Up” from Magnolia (music and lyrics by Aimee Mann); “Beautiful Stranger” from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (music and lyrics by Madonna and William Orbit); “Uncle Fucka” from South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (music and lyrics by Trey Parker))
ADAPTATION SCORE/SCORING OF A MUSICAL: Marc Shaiman and Trey Parker, SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER AND UNCUT (2nd: Gary Yershon, Topsy-Turvy)
SPECIAL EFFECTS: THE MATRIX, Fight Club, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Mystery Men, Stuart Little
MAKEUP: TOPSY-TURVY, Titus, eXistenZ, Sleepy Hollow, Galaxy Quest
ANIMATED FEATURE: THE IRON GIANT, Toy Story 2, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, Fantasia 2000
Best Film: All About My Mother. Best Director: Raul Ruiz. (Time Regained) Best Actor: Denis Lavant. (Beau Travail) Best Actress: Reece Witherspoon. (Election) Best Supporting Actor: Tom Cruise. (Magnolia) Best Supporting Actress: Antonia San Juan. (All About My Mother)
Best Film: Beau Travail
Best Director: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Rosetta
Best Actor: Jim Carrey, Man on the Moon
Best Actress: Julianne Moore, The End of the Affair
Best Cinematography: Jeff Cronenweth, Fight Club
Best Score: The Dust Brothers, Fight Club
Best cutting & chopping: Audition
PICTURE: MAGNOLIA (d. Paul Thomas Anderson)
Top 5: 1. Magnolia (d. Paul Thomas Anderson) 2. Rosetta (Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne) 3. Eyes Wide Shut (d. Stanley Kubrick) 4. American Beauty (Sam Mendes) 5. All About My Mother (Pedro Almodovar)
DIRECTOR: Paul Thomas ANDERSON (Magnolia)
Runner Ups: Stanley Kubrick (Eyes Wide Shut), Sam Mendes (American Beauty), Woody Allen (Sweet and Lowdown), Alexander Payne (Election)
LEAD ACTOR: Kevin SPACEY (American Beauty)
Runner Up’s: Sean Penn (Sweet and Lowdown), Matt Damon (The Talented Mr. Ripley), Richard Farnsworth (The Straight Story), Terrence Stamp (The Limey)
LEAD ACTRESS: Annette BENING (American Beauty)
Runner Ups: Hillary Swank (Boy’s Don’t Cry), Emelie Dequenne (Rosetta), Cecelia Roth (All About My Mother), Reese Witherspoon (Election)
SUPP. ACTOR: Tom CRUISE (Magnolia)
Runner Ups: Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley), Wes Bentley (American Beauty), John C. Reilly (Magnolia), Christopher Plummer (The Insider)
SUPP. ACTRESS: Samantha MORTON (Sweet and Lowdown)
Runner Ups: Nicole Kidman (Eyes Wide Shut), Melora Walters (Magnolia), Antonia San Juan (All About My Mother), Helena Bonham Carter (Fight Club)
PHOTO: Conrad HALL (American Beauty)
Runner Ups: Stanley Kubrick-assisted by Larry Smith (Eyes Wide Shut), Robert Elswit (Magnolia), Dick Pope (Topsy Turvy), John Seale (The Talented Mr. Ripley)
MUSIC: Thomas NEWMAN (American Beauty)
Runner Ups: Randy Newman (Toy Story 2), Gabriel Yared (The Talented Mr. Ripley), Rachel Portman (The Cider House Rules), Don Davis (American Beauty)
I made a blunder in the MUSIC slot… My 4th runner up should read: DON DAVIS (THE MATRIX)
Film: ‘The Wind Will Carry Us’ RU: ‘The Straight Story,’ ‘All About My Mother’ — imagine Bunuel and Fellini and Tennessee Williams and Joseph L. Mankiewicz sitting around a gay bar concocting scenarios about madonnas and whores and manly brutes and their long-suffering girlfriends. “Fasten your seat belts,” this is one of Almodovar’s wildest rides yet, a transsexual screwball comedy, though it does violate one of Sarris’s cardinal rules about screwball not including children or babies.
Director: Kiarostami RU: Lynch, Almodovar, Sofia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides)
Actor: Richard Farnsworth (The Straight Story) RU: Kevin Spacey (American Beauty)
Actress: Annette Bening (American Beauty) RU: Kirsten Dunst (The Virgin Suicides)
S. Actor: Christopher Plummer (The Insider) RU: Tom Cruise (Magnolia)
S. Actress: Chloe Sevigny (Boys Don’t Cry) RU: Kathleen Turner (The Virgin Suicides)
Photography: Ed Lachman (The Virgin Suicides)
Picture: The Talented Mr Ripley
Director: Shyamalan – Sixth Sense
Actor: Matt Damon – Ripley (Runner-Up – Bob Hoskins)
Actress: Reese Witherspoon – Election
Supporting Actor: Haley Joel Osment – Sixth Sense (Runner-Up – Seymour Hoffman – Ripley)
Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett – Ripley
Cinematography: Sixth Sense
1999 is one of those years that are more and more looking like the new 1939, 1968 or something like that.
Best Movie: Magnolia
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson – Magnolia
Best Actor: Richard Farnsworth – The Straight Story
Best Actress: Eihi Shiina – Audition
Best Supporting Actor: Alan Rickman – Galaxy Quest
Best Supporting Actress: Julianne Moore – Magnolia
Best Cinematography: The Straight Story
Best Score: Magnolia
Best Short: Aphex Twin: Windowlicker – Chris Cunningham
Top 5 1999:
1. Magnolia
2. Eyes Wide Shut
3. Fight Club
4. Being John Malkovich
5. The Straight Story
Alternative Awards:
WTF Award: Fatty Drives the Bus
Better every time I watch it: Bowfinger
Best Movie about Movies: Terror Firmer
Best Movie about TV: Galaxy Quest
Best Picture: Magnolia (runners-up: Audition, The Wind Will Carry Us, The Limey, Election, Being John Malkovich)
Best Director: Anderson
Best Actor: Terence Stamp, The Limey
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Election (runner-up: Shiina, Audition)
Supporting Actor: Malkovich (as himself)
Supporting Actress: Keener, Malkovich
Cinematography: Elswit
Score: Yared
Ummm…wow…yeah….this WAS a year…1999…gonna need some time on this one as I constantly flip flip on my fave from this year which presented a swath of quality and style-defining films, but few that still hold up as single stand alone masterpieces (I’m not really sure there were any masterpieces from this year as it’s more defined by a generational movement in film making then it is in one single seminal work). At any rate…it’s the oddball films from this year that I find myself returning to again and again…though I do think this is one the few years where the Academy correctly tapped into the zeitgeist with its pick of American Beauty – a movie of the moment, though it hasn’t stood up all that well, it’s still an important piece and finely acted and crafted.
So here we are at the last year of last millenium!
Best Picture: American Beauty
Best Director: Sam Mendes (American Beauty)
Best Actor: Kevin Spacey (American Beauty) & Brad Pitt (Fight Club)
Best Actress: Debashree Roy (Asukh)
Best Supporting Actor: Chris Cooper (American Beauty)
Best Supporting Actress: Julianne Moore (Magnolia)
Best Cinematography: Alwin H. Küchler (Ratcatcher)
Best Score: Thomas Newman (American Beauty)
Top 10:
1. American Beauty
2. The Matrix
3. Asukh (Rituparno Ghosh)
4. Fight Club
5. Ratcatcher
6. Magnolia
7. Being John Malkovich
8. Audition
9. The Virgin Suicides
10. Beau Travail
Best Picture: All About My Mother
2. Rosetta
3. The Girl on the Bridge
4. Being John Malkovich
5. Eyes Wide Shut
Best Director: Almodovar (All About My Mother)
Best Actor: Kevin Spacey (American Beauty)
Best Actress: Julianne Moore (The End of the Affair)
Best Supporting Actor: John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich)
Best Supporting Actress: Marisa Paredes (All About My Mother)
Best Cinematography: Larry Smith (Eyes Wide Shut)
Best Score: Air (The Virgin Suicides)
Best Film: Rosetta
Best Director: Dardennes
Best Actor: Richard Farnsworth
Best Actress: Julianne Moore
Best Sup. Actor:Chris Plummer
Best Sup. Actress: Catherine Keener
Best Cinematography: The Straight Story
Best Score: American Beauty
Best Short: The Old Man and the Sea
A’ight – I’m going all wonky on 99, y’all. Deal with it.
Best Picture: Ravenous
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson – Magnolia
Best Actor: Kevin Spacey – American Beauty
Best Actress: Hillary Swank – Boys Don’t Cry
Best Supporting Actor: The chimp from Being John Malkovich – JUST KIDDING! – Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich! Naturally!
Best Supporting Actress: Julianne Moore – Magnolia
Best Cinematography: American Beauty
Best Score: Tie – Ravenous & The End of the Affair
Catching up after vacation… not a bad year:
PICTURE: Charisma
DIRECTOR: Dardennes Brothers, Rosetta
LEAD ACTOR: Russell Crowe, The Insider
LEAD ACTRESS: Emilie Dequenne, Rosetta
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Tom Cruise, Magnolia
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Catherine Keener, Being John Malkovich
SCORE: Angelo Badalamenti, The Straight Story
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Freddie Francis, The Straight Story
Plus bonus picks:
Script: Office Space
Music/Sound: Ghost Dog
Documentary: a good year for these – the best is probably American Movie
Action/Martial Arts: Hong Kong is starting to run down, though you still have some decent films, like Bullets Over Summer. In terms of Asian genre pictures, I should start a Best Miike category: that would be Audition, in 1999…
An outstanding year, a remarkable year…
My top ten for 1999:
1. Eyes Wide Shut – Stanley Kubrick
2. Rosetta – Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
3. Fight Club – David Fincher
4. All About My Mother – Pedro Almodovar
5. Being John Malkovich – Spike Jonze
6. Time Regained – Raoul Ruiz
7. The Wind Will Carry Us – Abbas Kiarostami
8. Magnolia – Paul Thomas Anderson
9. Beau Travail – Claire Denis
10. The Virgin Suicides – Sofia Coppola
Best Picture: Eyes Wide Shut
Best Director: Stanley Kubrick
Best Actor: Kevin Spacey (American Beauty)
Best Actress: Emilie Dequenne (Rosetta)
Best supporting actor: John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich)
Best supporting actress: Samantha Morton (Sweet and Lowdown)
Best Cinematography: Larry Smith (Eyes Wide Shut)
Best Score: The Dust Brothers (Fight Club)
Best Picture: The Insider
Best Director: Michael Mann- The Insider
Best Actor: Richard Farnsworth- The Straight Story
Best Actress: Hilary Swank- Boys Don’t Cry
Best Supporting Actor: Tom Cruise- Magnolia
Best Supporting Actress: Julianne Moore- Magnolia
Cinematography: The Straight Story
Best Score: American Beauty
Best Picture: Election
Best Director: Alexander Payne (Election)
Best Actor: Richard Farnsworth (The Straight Story)
Best Actress: Hillary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry)
Best Supporting Actor: Chris Cooper (American Beauty)
Best Supporting Actress: Keener (Being John Malkovich)
Best Cinematography: Conrad Hall (American Beauty)
Best Score: Thomas Newman (American Beauty)
Best Short: The Old Man and the Sea
I love it…more votes for Farnsworth! What an amazing and physically demanding performance that was!
A great year. I can’t believe so many great movies came out in one year so here goes:
BEST PICTURE: ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER
BEST DIRECTOR: Mike Leigh for TOPSY-TURVY
BEST ACTOR: Richard Farnsworth for THE STRAIGHT STORY
BEST ACTRESS: Janet McTeer for TUMBLEWEEDS and Cecilia Roth for ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER (tie)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Tom Cruise for MAGNOLIA
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Julianne Moore for MAGNOLIA
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: John Seale for THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY
BEST SCORE; Angelo Badalamenti for THE STRAIGHT STORY
BEST SHORT none.
Pic- Magnolia
Dir- PT Anderson
Actor- Farnsworth – The Straight Story
Actress- Emilie Dequenne – Rosetta
Supp actor – Tom Cruise – Magnolia
Supp actress – Julianne Moore – Magnolia
Cinematography – Kuchler – Ratcatcher
Score – Badalamenti – The Straight Story