I never know quite what this means... the best movies made in 1999 or the best talkies that one has seen in 1999. In any event, I don't know about best, but I'll settle for interesting - and I almost never venture to the theatre - filtering everything through a VCR (I guess this makes me 1997-98):
Breaking the Waves - about Bess and Jan, Bess and Jan get married and suffer from marital bliss... Jan leaves to work on an oil rig and Bess is traumatized by his absence - so she prays to God... and God, interpreted through Bess, comes back from the rig after a terrible accident. Jan then asks Bess to have sex with other men, which she absolutely hates doing - but believes that it is good for Jan. The worse his condition gets, the more dangerous her "tricks" become... The film, by von Triers illustrates the p________ nature of masculine desire and the silence of feminine jouissance, not to mention the violent demands of pure goodness.
Celebration - a DOGME 95 film (no music, no post-production, hand held camera, 8mm film, or is it 16, I can't remember). A guy returns to a family reunion and, during the toast to the patriarch... speaks the truth.
eXistenZ and the Matrix - almost for obvious reasons. The Matrix illustrates the p________ of perversion and Cronenberg's eXistenZ radical postmodern paranoia. I liked eXistenZ much more than the Matrix... actually, I was kind of bored by the Matrix the first time - but absolutely loved it the second (societal peer pressue I think).
Preaching to the Perverted - a romantic s/m caper that illustrates the consensual side of sex and the coercive side of the law. A bit too overthetop in some places, but amusing if you watch it in cuffs.
The Island of Dr. Moreau - only if you like Freud... best viewed with Totem and Taboo in mind. Otherwise, it's terrible.
Blade - Yeah, I totally got sucked into this one. The idea that vampires would try to take over the world... is hysterical. Why would they bother? - it would be too much like work. The first scene, "blood bath" - was probably one of the most disgusting actions scenes I've ever had the privilege of watching.
What Dreams May Come - it isn't that it's a good movie, but the ideas are important, or at least the the lack of certain ideas. You see, Hollywood has *absolutely* no idea how to paint pleasure. They best they could come up with, heaven, is a field of dreams. But it's sterile (and, in the end, the people return to earth - TO HAVE SEX!!!). What is interesting is how creepy hell is, and how dramatic and suffering appears. It says more about our inability to think coherently about what we truly enjoy, and how easy it is to depict suffering.
Hmmm... I'm two short of ten. I didn't much like Rushmore... I thought that Henry (?) and Maude (I think that's wrong, I haven't had enough coffee yet) was much better - even through I was predisposed to liking the movie because it was written by a philosophy student. Go was ok. I liked South Park, despite hating the TV show... Haven't seen Fight Club, American Beauty, Three Kings or Being John M - which I've hear nothing but rave reviews about. Didn't like Mystery Men (although I usually change my mind after someone explains why I should like it).
Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels - absolutely hilarious. The coolest thing about this movie is the way in which it vividly illustrated that understanding is failed communication - a comedy of errors.
Hurly Burly - Hegel on acid.
If I stop writing... will I cease to exist? ken