This post is actually a year late as I had intended to discuss it in 2024 for what would've been its 25th Anniversary...but for whatever reason, the idea of doing this one felt like a mammoth prospect to tackle.
The legend surrounding 1999 is real. It is easily one of the finest years for cinema in the history of that artform. It very well may be the greatest year for cinema during my lifetime as very few would even come close.
While certain years might have more of my passionate favorites, the overwhelming number of homeruns that occurred in 1999 is nothing short of astounding.
In the meantime, I will have a whopping 15 Honorable Mentions followed by my usual top 10. As always, some spoilers will likely be sprinkled throughout so you have been warned.
Although, before I get into the official list, I am going to do something a little different. If you were to simply base it off of the Oscars, you would think that 1999 was not exactly stellar.
Only ONE of the nominees is going to make the official list as an Honorable Mention but I want to quickly discuss the four films that aren't and why they didn't make the list.
AMERICAN BEAUTY - That year's winner and a film that was treated as if it were The Second Coming of our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ. I have never been as deeply affected by this film, and when I did see it as a young teenager, I was left feeling "...that's it?". I can't even say that Kevin Spacey is a factor because I acknowledge the man (despite his questionable character) is a fantastic actor...but I didn't see him as that remarkable here. If anything, Annette Bening was the one who stole the film. Don't even get me started on the plastic bag moment and how there is "so much beauty in the world", because that made me roll my eyes even as a 14 year old.
THE CIDER HOUSE RULES - When Michael Caine's character of Dr. Larch dies of an accidental ether overdose; I couldn't help but think "How nice, take me with you". What an absolutely syrupy piece of fluff this is, so banal and trite and the fact that Miramax (Harvey Weinstein) fought so hard for its awards success after they aggressively got Shakespeare in Love the win a year prior, it is a shame that this was the film that was considered to be American Beauty's biggest competitor.
THE GREEN MILE - Much like I revealed when I talked about The Shawshank Redemption in my 1994 post, I am also not the biggest fan of this prison film that also happened to be based on a Stephen King novella. A lot of people do love this one, but I have always found it to be highly overpraised...not to mention the whole "magical negro" trope. Despite that, the late Michael Clarke Duncan did such a lovely job in this.
THE SIXTH SENSE - I have to admit if you had approached me 20 years ago and asked me what my favorite of these nominees was, I easily would've said The Sixth Sense. Truth be told, I do love that this kind of film was able to slip into the race because it certainly wasn't super expected on Oscar morning. It even netted a surprising though very well-deserved nomination for Toni Collette (and I actually would've loved to see her and Haley Joel Osment win). I still admit to liking the film, even if I am not sure it holds up as well these days. I think there is also the unfortunate negative stigma that M. Night Shyamalan failed to live up to his early promise rather quickly.
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MY LENGTHY LIST OF VERY HONORABLE MENTIONS:
#25 - POSTMEN IN THE MOUNTAINS
Directed by Huo Jianqi
Written by Si Wu
A young man is set to become the new postman for a mountainous rural Hunan province. His father, due to retire from the position thanks to a knee injury, wants to accompany him on the journey along with their dog Buddy.
The son realizes his father shares a deep friendship with so many of the people on his route, and he comes to understand his father a lot better with every passing stop.
A quiet little gem of a film.
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#24 - THE COLOUR OF PARADISE
Written & Directed by Majid Majidi
While maybe not as rapturous as his previous film Children of Heaven, I think he had a very solid follow up with The Colour of Paradise.
A young blind boy named Mohammad is released from his special summer school in Tehran and he is excited to return home to his widowed father. However, his father hold shame for him being blind and wants to try to keep him in hiding as he is trying to woo a local woman as a mean to get her dowry. Mohammad being blind could be seen as a bad omen to the lady's family.
Worst father of the year? Possibly. Although another far more despicable father character will be coming up soon.
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#23 - PEPPERMINT CANDY
Written & Directed by Lee Chang-dong
Non-linear storytelling, or in this case, reverse chronology, can either be a gimmick or it can be totally effective. In the case of Peppermint Candy, it might be one of the best examples of such a trope.
The film begins with the suicide of our protagonist, Kim Young-ho (Sul Kyung-gu) and then we proceed to go back through the past 20 years of his life to see what led to that point.
Lee Chang-dong is a wonderful filmmaker. In 2018, he became the first filmmaker from Korea to get a film shortlisted for the Best International Feature Oscar for Burning...which then got snubbed. It is kind of crazy to think he quietly had that moment only for Bong Joon-ho to come along one year later and put Korean cinema on an even bigger world stage with Parasite.
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#22 - ROSETTA
Written & Directed by Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne
When teenager Rosetta (Emile Dequenne) is chosen to not proceed with the temp position she was hoping would become permanent, she turns to violence, and the police show up on the premises.
Rosetta is a story of desperation and longing. All that she wants is to find a way to obtain a better, stable life as she is currently feeling trapped living in a caravan park with her alcoholic mother.
Winning that year's Palme d'Or and Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival, I am not sure if it would've gotten my vote (another film competed that will place very high on my list), but I can't deny that it is still a very good film in its own right.
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#21 - BRINGING OUT THE DEAD
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Written by Paul Schrader
Scorsese has had such an eclectic career in that he will have these very interesting diversions that don't seem as associated with him as the more mobster leaning films he is known for.
He ended the 90s with Bringing out the Dead, with Nicolas Cage playing a paramedic suffering from depression and insomnia and a burnout after he seemingly cannot save any of the patients he comes across.
It was one of Scorsese's least discussed and underrated films, and I would like to see more people give it credit. In a lot of ways, the passion within it is very evident and further proven by how Scorsese has stated in interviews that he really wanted to make a film that focused on these heroes and how they have to persevere despite how much tragedy and horror they often face.
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#20 - THE VIRGIN SUICIDES
Written & Directed by Sofia Coppola
Sofia Coppola began the 90s under intense scrutiny when her father, legendary Francis, decided to cast her as Mary Corelone in The Godfather Part III once Winona Ryder had to drop out due to extreme fatigue.
Her performance was simply not good. However, time has helped heal the discourse around that as it was clear that she was mostly forced into that role...and it also doesn't hurt that she has a clear eye for filmmaking that feels wholly unique in comparison to that of her father.
The Virgin Suicides, based on a novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, tells the story of a group of male friends who become obsessed with the lives of five Lisbon sisters who are kept sheltered by their strict parents.
Not only was this a film that shows the true horrors of strict, conservative parenting and how it can backfire, but it was also Sofia Coppola proving to the world that her talent was behind the camera. She'd further kick the door down further with the release of Lost in Translation in 2003.
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#19 - TOPSY-TURVY
Written & Directed by Mike Leigh
Easily the most lavish film to date that Mike Leigh ever made, Topsy Turvy goes into the writing partnership of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, played by Jim Broadbent and Allan Corduner. Not a true traditional sweeping biopic, the film focuses on the period of 1884-1885 leading to the premiere of their legendary operetta The Mikado.
I can't say that I am necessarily a fan of the Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, but the film proves to be very entertaining and such a warm-hearted embrace of the artistic process.
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#18 - THE INSIDER
Written & Directed by Michael Mann
Co-written by Eric Roth
As the lone 1999 Best Picture nominee on this list, I find it interesting that this film mostly seems lost to time compared to the other nominees...but then again, so many other films on this list get talked about more than a lot of the nominees.
I have never been the biggest fan of Michael Mann's work. I can't even say I was that big on Heat which a lot of film bros love to worship...but this is likely his best work.
I also think it may be Russell Crowe's best performance. Based on a true story but still pretty fictionalized, Crowe plays Dr. Jeffrey Wigand, a tobacco industry whistleblower who causes a lot of tension following a 60 Minutes interview segment.
It is one of the closer examples we've had in the last 30 years of a film to come close to an almost All the President's Men type of strength.
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#17 - DROP DEAD GORGEOUS
Directed by Michael Patrick Jann
Written by Lona Williams
Back at a time when the mockumentary format was primarily linked to Christopher Guest, Drop Dead Gorgeous crept in quietly and confidentially as one of the darkly funniest films of the 90s as it delves into a small-town beauty pageant in which the contestants could qualify for the national Sarah Rose Cosmetics American Teen Princess Pageant.
This ensemble is absolute gold.
You have Kirsten Dunst, the late Kirstie Alley, Ellen Barkin, Denise Richards, the late Brittany Murphy, Allison Janney just before she achieved icon status as C.J. Cregg on The West Wing, and Amy Adams in her feature film debut.
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#16 - THE WAR ZONE
Directed by Tim Roth
Written by Alexander Stuart
Quite possibly one of the most unnerving and darkest films I can remember seeing at perhaps too young an age, The War Zone is a film about a power struggle within a family.
You have a 15-year-old son named Tom (Freddie Cunliffe) who finds out his father (Ray Winstone) is sexually abusing his own daughter Jessie (Lara Belmont). It is one of those films that made me feel so much sorrow after that I couldn't help but admire how boldly it took on this material.
Quick sidenote: the film's producers literally wanted Ray Winstone's actual daughter Jaime to play Jessie to which he absolutely refused. The fact they even suggested that as an idea still baffles me to this day.
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#15 - THE STRAIGHT STORY
Directed by David Lynch
Written by Mary Sweeney & John Roach
What if I told you that in between Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive, David Lynch made a G-Rated film about an elderly farmer who rides his tractor from Iowa to Wisconsin to make amends with his estranged brother who just had a stroke?
The Straight Story is a beautiful little film and one that I feel is often left off of Lynch discussions because it just doesn't feel like it is made by the same man.
Written by his longtime editing collaborator Mary Sweeney, whom he also briefly married, Lynch did direct the film as a favor to her...and it is also the only film from his career in which his name wasn't attached as a writer as well.
Richard Farnsworth does truly lovely work here as Alvin Straight, and I actually would've loved to see him win the Oscar that year.
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#14 - SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER, AND UNCUT
Written & Directed by Trey Parker
Co-written by Matt Stone & Pam Brady
Objectively speaking, this film is the prototype of what makes a good, structured musical. A lot of it does borrow from motifs and may parody other famous musicals (Les Miserables in particular), but what I take away from it is the following: it is absolutely funny, a great meta-commentary on the controversy the show itself was facing from more conservative audiences at that time, and a true critique on censorship.
It also doesn't hurt that the songs, with music by Marc Shaiman assisting Parker, who primarily wrote the lyrics, are first rate to the point that Stephen Sondheim himself would express love for this film and the duo's future Team America.
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#12 - THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY
Written & Directed by Anthony Minghella
Based on a Patricia Highsmith novel which had already received a French adaptation in 1960 with Purple Noon, I do recall having a fascination with The Talented Mr. Ripley upon its release as I did love its sleek thriller approach. It also helped that I found it far more palatable to watch compared to Minghella's previous effort, the laborious Oscar sweeper The English Patient.
Matt Damon is Tom Ripley, a con artist who makes the long trek from NY to Italy to get a pampered spoiled playboy named Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law) to return back to the states...only to get swept up in his lifestyle to the point of obsession.
You also have the likes of Cate Blanchett and Phillip Seymour Hoffman in supporting roles, so you can't go wrong there!
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#11 - AUDITION
Directed by Takashi Miike
Written by Daisuke Tengan
A controversial and rather grotesque and complicated film to be sure, Audition is about a widower named Shigeharu (Ryo Ishibashi) who enlists the help of his film producer friend to stage a fake audition as a means to find a new girlfriend to cope with his grief.
Some have deemed Audition to be a feminist anthem; others have deemed it misogynistic. It sort of feels like a darker and far more interesting concept in the vein of Fatal Attraction, which mostly got buoyed up by the layered work Glenn Close lent to her character.
Audition has also been linked as a forerunner to the dreaded "torture porn" subgenre of horror of the 2000s that I absolutely abhor. I do think, much like Halloween did for the slashers, Audition is more than just that.
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#11 - THE MATRIX
Written & Directed by The Wachowskis
I wouldn't be lying if I said putting The Matrix on a list of "best films of the year" feels a little disingenuous. I revisited the film a couple of years ago after only having seen it once way back when it first got released on DVD in 2000.
I think my "lesser than" response to it was the rarity for me to respond to anything that could be considered "sci-fi" or "fantasy". There were rare exceptions like Blade Runner, the first two Terminators, Alien and Aliens...but I do feel The Matrix deserves a lot more credit from me.
A true colossal achievement in how it advanced technology for cinema. It still holds up a lot in that regard.
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THE TOP 10:
#10 - BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER
Directed by Jamie Babbit
Story by Babbit/Written by Brian Wayne Peterson
I would've already had seen her in a small role in 1993's Dennis the Menace at that point, but this film was where I fell in love with the dynamo that is Natasha Lyonne.
But I'm a Cheerleader is perhaps the one film on this list that has had the biggest reappraisal from critics in the years since its release. Could some of the characters be seen as stereotypical? Yes, I can't deny that. Is it a bit campy and over-the-top in its presentation? Definitely.
In fact, a lot of critics at the time dismissed it as a bad John Waters knock-off, but I have always found it to be a delightful and important film...and unfortunately, it feels very prescient in today's political climate.
Lyonne plays Megan, a 17-year-old high school cheerleader who doesn't seem to be that into her boyfriend. She is more inclined to ogle her fellow cheerleaders. Her parents, played by Bud Cort and Mink Stole (her casting only helps the John Waters comparisons), intervene as they feel her behavior, along with her love of vegetarianism and Melissa Etheridge, is prime for a trip to gay conversion therapy.
While there, she meets a college student named Graham (Clea DuVall, whom I also adore from her work as Marjorie on Veep) and the two form a connection. Perhaps a very interesting stroke of casting is RuPaul as Mike, an ex-gay who was seen as a success story from conversion therapy.
The crazy thing about But I'm a Cheerleader might be that the MPAA had been adamant that the film would need further edits to avoid an NC-17 rating. What were these edits?
Babitt and her editor Cecily Rhett removed a two-second shot DuVall rubbing her hand over Lyonne's fully clothed body; a panning shot of Lyonne while she masturbates, and the suggestion that Megan "ate Graham out".
It was clear discrimination of LGBTQ+ representation, not to mention the usual nonsense that the MPAA would sooner push forth gratuitous violence with seeming ease but views sexual activity as Public Enemy #1.
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#9 - BEAU TRAVAIL
Written & Directed by Claire Denis
Co-written by Jean-Pol Fargeau
Beau Travail is a film I came to appreciate more over time as I didn't really give it much thought when I first saw it as a teenager. As of late, it seems like more film historians, critics, fans have responded in a similar manner as
Beau Travail was selected as the 12th best film of the 90s by Rolling Stone in 2017 and perhaps even more lofty, it was voted as the 7th best film OF ALL TIME by the prestigious Sight & Sound Poll back in 2022. I am not sure the film would rank that high in my book, but this is clearly strong film nevertheless.
An adaptation of Herman Meville's novella Billy Budd, the film is set around the French Foreign Legion as various soldiers train in the Djibouti desert. We follow Adjudant-Chef Galoup (Denis Levant), who takes an instant dislike towards a new recruit named Gilles Sentain (Gregoire Colin) to the point where he nearly causes his own death.
There has been some criticism towards the film, or at least towards Claire Denis, for appropriating a story that she would know nothing about the story of repressed feelings and emotions in the military for what could be seen as a closeted gay man acting out against someone who is more traditionally attractive and charismatic than him
I call BS on that if only for the fact that I don't know if some of those people would say that if a cis man made the film, but I don't suspect that is as widespread an opinion.
I do think for what it is, it tells the story swiftly, efficiently, and unapologetically.
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#8 - RATCATCHER
Written & Directed by Lynne Ramsey
I always love when a filmmaker hits it out of the park on their first go-round, and that is definitely what Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsey did with Ratcatcher.
This is a film that is not easy to stomach, as one might casually expect from the title, but it is rather beautiful in its bleak presentation.
We are in 1973 Glasgow...and trust me, you might need to use subtitles because the Scottish accents are PROM-I-NENT. We follow James (William Eadie), a 12-year-old who lives in a rather decrepit housing scheme (our equivalent of "the projects") that is getting worse and worse due to a binmen strike that has increased the infestation of rats around the area. Glasgow might be a beautiful city, but some of these schemes were among the poorest in Western Europe. A lot of them didn't even have hot water or proper bathing or toilet facilities.
This is a film that is unapologetic. It isn't looking to make you feel great about life...unless you want to feel grateful for what you do have...but this isn't the kind of film you want to put on if you are looking for something light.
Ramsey is a very interesting filmmaker who tends to come out with something new every few years, including (as of this writing) Die, My Love which will be coming out pretty soon.
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#7 - TOY STORY 2
Directed by John Lasseter
Story/Written by Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Rita Hsiao, Doug Chamberlain, Chris Webb, Pete Docter, & Ash Brannen
The success of Toy Story 2 becomes all the more impressive when you realize what was stacked against it. When the film was first being conceived, Disney had envisioned it as a direct-to-video sequel a la The Return of Jafar or Simba's Pride. The production was smaller as all of the Pixar team was busy working on their next big outing following the first Toy Story: 1998's A Bug's Life.
However, as the story of the sequel began to develop more, Disney decided it was worth pursuing as a theatrical release, but it meant condensing the whole process into 9 months rather than the years it typically takes. Lasseter had even said that they all had to sit down over one weekend to completely revamp the storylines.
The fast-paced production led to workers developing conditions such as Carpal Tunnel or RSI and then to further cause chaos, one of the animators accidentally deleted all of the work done on the film. They also discovered that the system was faulty, and they lost a lot of work they had been doing in general beyond Toy Story 2.
A miracle occurred when technical director Galyn Susman, who was working from home on maternity leave, had all of the work saved on her home computer. The moral of the story? LESS IN-PERSON WORKING AND MORE REMOTE WORKING! Down with the 5-day work week! Vive le Revolution!!
Where was I? Oh yeah! Toy Story 2 was seen as a major success in every respect. Not only was it one of the highest grossing films of 1999 but it was seen as creatively better than its predecessor which is typically a rare feat for a sequel to achieve.
That trend somehow gets surpassed again with the 3rd installment, but we will get to that later.
I haven't even said anything about the plot of this film yet, but honestly, I just want to call out one moment: the "When She Loved Me" montage.
The addition of Jessie to the plot, along with the history of Woody as a character, was a major reason why this sequel worked so well. However, this sequence where we learn Jessie desperately longed for her owner to play with her for years before donating her to a toy drive has pretty much left all millennials scarred for life.
I think the Toy Story series makes us all want to hoard our toys.
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#6 - FIGHT CLUB
Directed by David Fincher
Written by Jim Uhls
I will admit that putting Fight Club at #6 feels a tad disingenuous for me as well. When I first saw the film years ago, I just remember thinking "That was good" and sort of leaving it at that. I think part of me just didn't respond to the machismo energy of it at a younger age.
However, it is clear looking back on this film that David Fincher had come into his own as a filmmaker. Sure, he had Se7en prior to this which I am a big fan of, but this film shows such a distinct and chaotic voice that felt very new at that time. I would even argue the energy he achieved was more kinetic than that of Tarantino's works of the era.
I think the sad truth is that Fight Club has become rather prophetic in today's world in which we have incels and men's rights groups where they claim they are not receiving what they deserve from the world...and it leads to violence and misogyny.
The thing about Fincher is that as a filmmaker, he can be rather cold or calculating in his approach. I think it is a reason why I don't always respond to most of his films with the same kind of passion that a lot of other film people do, but you can feel a certain pulse bursting with Fight Club that is a little unique for him.
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#5 - MAGNOLIA
Written & Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
The fact that I am ranking Magnolia at #5 feels kind of ridiculous. It just goes to show what an embarrassment of riches that 1999 actually was.
If you may be reading this beyond the year of 2025, I am writing this just upon the release of PTA's 10th film One Battle After Another, which I think is one of his absolute best works. A film like Magnolia would likely stand out as being the best film for a majority of filmmakers, but that also goes to show...much like 1999...what a treasure trove his filmography actually is.
How does one talk about Magnolia?
I did recently talk about it in a post in which I ranked PTA's 10 films from "worst to best"...which was essentially "rank his one very weak film and then primarily struggle to rank the rest".
This is what I wrote there about Magnolia:
"As his third film following Boogie Nights, PTA has tapped into that ensemble vibe yet again which gave him an extra dose of Robert Altman comparisons to go along with the Scorsese ones.
Magnolia is sprawling and chaotic and messy, but usually in the best possible ways. I don't even know where to begin to even explain exactly what Magnolia is.
One phrase I often see offered up to describe the film is "an epic mosaic". We have several people whose lives are intercepting and connected in various ways as they try to cope with life's struggles in the San Fernando Valley.
We get strong work from the likes of Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Phillip Baker Hall, William H. Macy, and Julianne Moore but the big story at that time was how this felt like the career best work of Tom Cruise who had a big year in 1999 having also starred in Stanley Kubrick's swan song Eyes Wide Shut.
Many expected Cruise to win the Oscar but the Academy ended up embracing Michael Caine's work in The Cider House Rules...don't get me wrong, I adore Michael Caine but that film getting nominations let alone winning anything was a joke.
Magnolia was one of the many classic films from 1999 that got mostly shafted at the Oscars in favor of lesser films...something that will be discussed further when my 1999 post comes out sometime this week.
PTA did get a Screenplay nom, but the film was not in sight for Best Picture or Best Director. The messy chaotic nature of this film makes it feel like a feverish modern-day opera with Aimee Mann interjecting with the vibe. Even though PTA felt that he would never make a better film than Magnolia, I do feel like he clearly excelled in the years after."
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#4 - EYES WIDE SHUT
Written & Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Co-written by Frederic Raphael
Time has been a bit kinder to Eyes Wide Shut. At the time, most people thought of the film as a laborious effort from Stanley Kubrick who obsessed over the film in only such a way that he could. To this day, it remains in the Guinness Book of World Records as the film with the longest continuous film shoot: 400 days.
To add to that, the legendary Kubrick died six days after he showed the final cut to the executives at Warner Brothers. The film was released to mostly positive reviews but polarized a lot of critics and audiences alike.
Eyes Wide Shut is also unique in that it is the one film by Kubrick that feels pretty modern. Considering he would often go for gaps of time without making a film, this was the only film he made during my lifetime...and there is something about having Cruise and Kidman in this that adds to that effect.
Most people know this as being "the orgy film", and truthfully, that is barely even a factor in the long run...but it does take a fascinating look at sexual relations within a marriage as Kidman's character Alice reveals to Bill (Cruise, both of them still married in real life at that point) that she considered cheating on him the summer prior which leads him to go on a bit of an odyssey that takes him out to an orgy in the Hamptons.
It is also crazy to think that all of the scenes on the streets of Greenwich Village were recreations done at Pinewood Studios in England as Kubrick was still terrified to commute via plane to the US, after having lived in England since the 60s.
While Kubrick had apparently said that this was his greatest film, I am not sure I agree with that. I do think it holds up to repeated viewings, but it also just has the misfortune of being a mild masterpiece in a field of about a half dozen more that reach above it.
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#3 - ELECTION
Written & Directed by Alexander Payne
Co-written by Jim Taylor
She may have had Man in the Moon and Cruel Intentions, and she would eventually become an icon two years later for her work as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde.
For me though, the legend of Reese Witherspoon as a force to be reckoned with was her performance as Tracey Flick in Election, the quirky dramedy about how a High School Student Body President election is sent into turmoil when a teacher (Matthew Broderick) feels compelled to push for someone to challenge the snooty, know-it-all Tracey.
We live in a world where Reese Witherspoon can win an Oscar for a relatively okay performance in a biopic but can't get nominated for a performance like this one where we have to be invested in such a rather unlikable though complex character and have us flip between hating her and empathizing with her and rooting for her.
Broderick's McAllister is also someone we both root for but also question their tactics. Like sure - Tracey is a know-it-all and she is very annoying, and it may be true that his personal life/marriage/affair is eating away at him...but does he really need to actively sabotage a teenaged girl's campaign for a high school elected position?
It is such an entertaining but darkly off-beat film that I have revisited many times.
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#2 - ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER
Written & Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
If you may recall way back near the beginning of the post, I made a comment that I wished another film had won the Palme d'Or over Rosetta.
All About My Mother was that film.
Almodóvar is one of those filmmakers who has had such a strong catalog of work, and therefore, he is one of those where you might be inclined to have a few films of his lined up for a "Best of" list or have a ranking of what you consider to be his best work.
If you were to ask me what his best film in his illustrious career would be, I would cast my vote for All About My Mother, which focuses on an Argentine nurse named Manuela (Cecelia Roth) who supervises organ transplants at a Madrid hospital. She is a single mom to a son named Esteban, who is hit by a car and killed on his 17th birthday as he chases after his favorite actress, Huma Rojo (Marisa Paredes).
Manuela grants permission for Esteban's heart to be given to a patient and promptly resigns from her job in order to fly to Barcelona to search for Esteban's other mother Lola, who is a trans woman. Manuela also reunites with an old friend named Agrado (Antonia San Juan), a transgender sex worker; she even meets Huma and her lover Nina (Candela Pena) who is a heroin addict; and lastly Rosa (Penelope Cruz) a young HIV-positive nun who runs a home for battered women and just so happens to be pregnant with Lola's child.
The remarkable thing about the work of Almodovar is that a lot of his films take on storylines that are clearly flirting with melodrama, or even something in line with being a telenovela. I don't know how he does it, but there is always a layer of humanity and reality within his colorful worlds.
He recently had his first English-language film entitled The Room Next Door which I frankly didn't care for at all, but for whatever reason, I really didn't care for his style done in an American setting. It felt very forced, and I frequently felt pulled out of the story.
Something like All About My Mother feels like Almodovar's answer to pulpy Douglas Sirk films from the 50s but with his usual bravado that could almost be seen as a more modern-day Federico Fellini. There are also heavy influences of Tennessee Williams, even down to Huma having played Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire.
There is an element of the style that could be "likened" to camp, but this is far from camp. All About My Mother is emotionally potent, but it is presented in such a glorious and glossy manner that it keeps you from getting TOO down despite the heightened dramatic weight.
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#1 - BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
Directed by Spike Jonze
Written by Charlie Kaufman
Every now and then, a film comes along that grabs your attention and makes you passionate about cinema when you truly need it most.
However, it is interesting to think back on the films that made us want to take on filmgoing as a hobby and if those films stand the test of time.
When I wrote about The Truman Show for 1998, I stated that it was the first film to truly make me go "I want to see even more films like this! What else is out there?!". If that was what The Truman Show did, then Being John Malkovich was the glorious mindfuck to follow.
I don't think I can properly express what an absolutely bizarre and original and creative and diabolical piece of work that Being John Malkovich is. This was the first film to be written by the mad genius that is Charlie Kaufman. I will openly admit that I started to write a synopsis, and I fell down such a rabbit hole trying to go into all the details that I am not sure this post needs THAT much more length added to it!
Let me put it this way simply focusing on the main plot itself.
Imagine watching a film where your protagonist finds a small door that leads to a portal where you can live inside the head of esteemed character actor John Malkovich...but only for 15 minutes, and when you are done, you are ejected out into a ditch on the side of the New Jersey Turnpike.
I had only seen this film twice but revisited it a third time this past summer and was still in awe with everything about it. The script, the direction, the performances (while Cusack does well in his role, it is really Cameron Diaz, Cahterine Keener, and John Malkovich himself who shine the brightest), it's simply a work of creative genius.
Not surprisingly, the film was not nominated for Best Picture even though it managed to get Director and Screenplay nominations (which both were won by American Beauty), plus a nomination for Catherine Keener. It is a shame that Diaz and Malkovich also weren't recognized.
People may talk about the spectacle of a film, especially something that has an epic size with scenery and cast and story that drives them to say, "THIS is cinema".
I am not going to begrudge that thought process because there is a clear truth that film (and even TV these days) can provide a level of technical spectacle that you can't help but be astounded by.
However, I am one of those people who will sit here and say that Being John Malkovich IS cinema. I want creative and subversive ideas; I want to be challenged with what is in front of me. Sure, maybe sometimes it is nice to have a nice, breezy film to watch...but the thrill that I got watching Being John Malkovich for a 3rd time is why I became a film buff in the first place. It is a gift that can keep on giving, and while I may often get frustrated with the kinds of films that get more widespread attention these days, I am always on a quest to find gems like Being John Malkovich.
Not everything could flirt with that level, but I definitely value all the ones that can at least come close.
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FINAL THOUGHTS:
I wonder if you feel as exhausted reading all of this as I did preparing and rethinking and analyzing all of my choices and their placements. It was a PROCESS to be sure!
With that, the 1990s come to a close. What a truly dynamic and vibrant decade and it is a shame that we have really hit a consistent peak in the decades since.
I do love doing these lists and I am still going to continue going through all of the decades! I am not going to be going in any chronological order; it's more what will strike my fancy as I go along. I decided I am going to tackle the 2010s next primarily because I do think the recency of it might help grab a bit more views, but that is only a minor reason.
If anything, the 2010s are the decade of film I have discussed the least on this blog. I didn't start writing my blog until 2018 and I haven't really talked about many films made between 2010-2017 on here. Although the real truth is that due to a combo of life status changes mixed with seeing a dip in quality with films coming out in the first half of the 2010s, I became very disenchanted with following film for a few years. It wasn't until the latter half of that decade that I began to follow it all again.
So be on the lookout for those posts soon!
We are also approaching the 2025-26 Award Season so there will be first-time reviews coming up very soon as well!
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