1999 started with grand expectations. With sequels and prequels such as The Phantom Menace, Austin Powers, Toy Story 2, The World is Not Enough, and the return of Adam Sandler in Big Daddy, Will Smith in Wild Wild West, Tom Hanks in The Green Mile, and Julia Roberts and Richard Gere in Runaway Bride, the industry was looking at one of the brightest box-office cash-cow possibilities in history. Little did anyone know that the industry would meet that expectation before the Thanksgiving/Christmas season.
However, 1999 will go down in history as one of the most unique in memory for a few reasons, 1) those unexpected films that became blockbusters, namely The Matrix ($171 million), The Mummy ($155 million), The Blair Witch Project ($140.5 million), The Sixth Sense ($282 million), and Stuart Little ($134 million).
2) It was the year that animation was king, in which The Iron Giant ($23 million), Princess Mononoke, Tarzan ($171 million), South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut ($52 million), and Toy Story 2 ($240 million) were as good, clever, well-written, and/or beautiful as their un-animated foes. In fact, Toy Story 2 won the Golden Globe for Best Picture, Comedy or Musical by beating the very noteworthy films Being John Malcovich, Analyze This, Man on the Moon, and Notting Hill.
3) It was also the year of the psychological horror flick, in which the films The Blair Witch Project and The Sixth Sense were among the biggest box-office accumulators and that sank deep into the psyche of American society. Blair Witch became the top-grossing independent film of all time at $140.5 million; and Sixth Sense dominated the box-office at $282 million behind mega-monster Star Wars: The Phantom Menace ($431 million).
4) It was the year that the most memorable and celebrated films were not the blockbusters (e.g., The Phantom Menace) or those we expected to be blockbusters (e.g., Anna and the King, Snow Falling on Cedars).
The following is a list of the films I most cherished during the final year of the millennium. Check out my review of a few of these films in the navigation panel of my film page. One day soon I'll have a review for all of them.
10 Things I Hate About You
All About My Mother
American Beauty
Being John Malcovich
Boys Don't Cry
Bowfinger
Bringing Out the Dead
Cookies Fortune
Dogma
Dreamlife of Fishes
Election
Eyes Wide Shut
Galaxy Quest
Magnolia
October Sky
Princess Mononoke
Run Lola Run
Sleepy Hollow--Artistic and Set Direction
South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
The Blair Witch Project
The End of the Affair
The Iron Giant
The Matrix
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Three Kings
Three Seasons
The Green Mile
Toy Story 2
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