Your favorite movie of 1999

Pick your favorite movie from 1999

  • The Matrix

  • The Sixth Sense

  • Fight Club

  • American Pie

  • Star Wars: Episode 1

  • Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me

  • The Green Mile

  • The Mummy

  • American Beauty

  • The Blair Witch Project

  • Eyes Wide Shut

  • Sleepy Hollow

  • Any Given Sunday

  • Office Space

  • Cruel Intentions

Results are only viewable after voting.
shadow_priest_x said:
Interesting write-up. I haven't seen the film in almost 20 years now so it's hard to remember specifics, but I can understand your sentiments.

Maybe I'll re-watch it soon to see if my perspective has changed at all. One thing I remember though is that I felt like there were no likable characters--no one to root for--and that was a problem for me.
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I think part of the subtext there, is we live in a society where people aren't encouraged to share their feelings. Any emotions that are inconvenient, you're supposed to just keep to yourself. Every single character in that movie is going through their own existential crisis. If they could open up to each other, they'd probably find they share some of the same problems and could help one another.

But all of their relationships are fundamentally broken, whether family, friendships, or romantic. The only two people that appear to share any sort of intimacy are the daughter and her boyfriend, but they're too emotionally damaged to relate to anyone else but each other. That's why they leave. Lester tries briefly, but he's become too emotionally disconnected from his wife and daughter. Unable to repair his domestic relationships, he concentrates on personal freedom and empowerment.


I think the self centered nature of the characters is on purpose, to illustrate how jaded, narcissistic, and broken people become in a culture that doesn't encourage honesty, self expression, and healthy emotional relationships with people around you. We were in a time of great financial prosperity, yet depression was going up, drug use both legal and illegal was on the rise, all that focus on material wealth was taking our focus away from the things that really matter in life. That's my take away anyway, I think it's a very complex film that has a lot of layers going on.
 
shadow_priest_x said:
We just watched that one in the Movie Club a few months ago. First time I had ever seen it.

It was definitely an interesting film.



LOL

Out of that list I'm going with Saving Private Ryan, but Blade is a close second.
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I'd forgotten what all came out in 1998, but that's a pretty solid list and it isn't even everything. I think Saving Private Ryan is the best film on that list, or maybe American History X, but I enjoyed Blade or Dark City the most. Dark City is so underrated.
 
Mike said:
I think part of the subtext there, is we live in a society where people aren't encouraged to share their feelings. Any emotions that are inconvenient, you're supposed to just keep to yourself. Every single character in that movie is going through their own existential crisis. If they could open up to each other, they'd probably find they share some of the same problems and could help one another.

But all of their relationships are fundamentally broken, whether family, friendships, or romantic. The only two people that appear to share any sort of intimacy are the daughter and her boyfriend, but they're too emotionally damaged to relate to anyone else but each other. That's why they leave. Lester tries briefly, but he's become too emotionally disconnected from his wife and daughter. Unable to repair his domestic relationships, he concentrates on personal freedom and empowerment.


I think the self centered nature of the characters is on purpose, to illustrate how jaded, narcissistic, and broken people become in a culture that doesn't encourage honesty, self expression, and healthy emotional relationships with people around you. We were in a time of great financial prosperity, yet depression was going up, drug use both legal and illegal was on the rise, all that focus on material wealth was taking our focus away from the things that really matter in life. That's my take away anyway, I think it's a very complex film that has a lot of layers going on.
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Do you not feel like the film was unrealistic in the way that EVERY character was so fucked up? I mean, real life is not that way. I grew up in a family that lived in the suburbs--actually two families, since my parents were divorced and both re-married--and some were fucked up while others were doing just fine.

I guess I reject the message that deep down EVERYONE is unhappy and fucked up and struggling inside, when I don't think that's true at all. I think there are plenty of people in the world who are well-balanced and leave satisfying lives. I mean, I'm not one of them, but I know they're out there.
 
shadow_priest_x said:
Do you not feel like the film was unrealistic in the way that EVERY character was so fucked up? I mean, real life is not that way. I grew up in a family that lived in the suburbs--actually two families, since my parents were divorced and both re-married--and some were fucked up while others were doing just fine.

I guess I reject the message that deep down EVERYONE is unhappy and fucked up and struggling inside, when I don't think that's true at all. I think there are plenty of people in the world who are well-balanced and leave satisfying lives. I mean, I'm not one of them, but I know they're out there.
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Growing up how I did, I really don't think so. When I got my first apartment, living with several of my friends, in hindsight everyone was fucked up in some way. All of our friends, our families. This was before the big boom in mental healthcare, when people were actually encouraged to talk about their feelings or go see a therapist to work through issues. After getting to know everyone a lot better, two guys were massive stoners and were using that to avoid their problems. One of them came from a broken home and had issues with authority, and with maintaining healthy relationships. The other one had crippling social anxiety, so he just stayed high 24/7 to deal with it. One girl we knew had lost her father to cancer at a young age, and had never grieved properly to put it behind her.

The rest of us had alcohol problems. That was the one phase of my life I was a legit alcoholic. I had no contact with my family, had severe social problems, and felt completely adrift in life. I had nobody I trusted enough to really tell them how I felt, and I was just slowly going crazy. Another guy was super outgoing, the life of the party very charismatic etc. Well turns out that was a facade to cover a lot of self doubt he had. He put all his self worth into relationships, and every time he broke up with a girl he was just wrecked. My best friend at the time was dating a girl, but he was secretly in the closet and was constantly depressed because he felt like he had to lie to fit in.

We had a lot of good times too, but everyone was wrestling with something. To this day most people I've gotten to know well enough, to the point they actually trusted me, had some underlying issue going on that they were covering up. I can't say if everyone's lives are like that, or just the majority of people I've known. I'd say it was unrealistic if the movie claimed everyone in the world had issues like that, but everyone within a tiny interconnected community? I know that's possible because I've lived it.
 
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All Claire's Close-ups, her eyes.. Splendid Old Movie type stuff...



Great Orchestral Score


It was the undoing of Martin Brest, after he spent so much loot on it.

Thanks Martin, for this and Midnight Run
 
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shadow_priest_x said:
LOL how did they inspire assholes? Especially The Matrix. . .
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Do you not remember people dressing like the characters in the movie like it was a second incarnation of the Blade movies? And there's the whole Red Pill movement that's a direct reference to that film.

As for Fight Club, there's a dude from the same Red Pill movement that still calls himself Tyler Durden.

There were groups of people who are not insignificant in numbers that basically viewed these movies as self-help manuals. Weird fucking dudes, but oh well. That isn't the movies' fault, but people are still shitty.
 
Mike said:
Was going to say the matrix easily, but American Beauty is one of my favorite movies ever. Tough one. We need an I love the 90's thread! I was thinking last night how awesome 1998 and 1999 were. For music and games too.
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No year will EVER top 98 for games.
 
I liked the Matrix, really liked fight club, and loved office space.
 
shadow_priest_x said:
Did the Columbine shooters actually say that they were inspired by the movie? Just because they wore trenchcoats doesn't mean they saw The Matrix and said, "Let's shoot up a school."
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Yes, they said the lobby shootout did inspire them to a certain extent.
 
Damn, this has more or less turned into a two-way race between The Matrix and Fight Club.
 
Blair Witch Project deserves some love. That was another game changer. I still remember the buzz around that when it first came out. Legit creepy movie with a brilliant concept.
 
Agent Mulder's Hair said:
Blair Witch Project deserves some love. That was another game changer. I still remember the buzz around that when it first came out. Legit creepy movie with a brilliant concept.
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Yeah, not a movie that I care to watch again, but it's incredibly creative and a textbook example of how to make an innovative film on a tiny budget.
 
Brilliant performances all around. Even the supporting roles.

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