Best Picture: 1999

1998 through 2007

Best Picture: 1999

American Beauty
32
48%
The Cider House Rules
2
3%
The Green Mile
4
6%
The Insider
13
19%
The Sixth Sense
16
24%
 
Total votes: 67

Hollywood Z
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Post by Hollywood Z »

I voted for back then and I still vote for American Beauty now. Sure, it may have been imitated in numerous television shows and other lesser films since, but then again, so have many other fantastic films like The French Connection, Rain Man and The Silence of the Lambs. But what a lot of people don't understand is that when this movie came out, it was taboo-breaking in it's portrayal of upper middle class America, a class that has been either viewed as simply snooty or spoiled. American Beauty used it's satire to not only break this mindset, but also while doing so, was able to bring out it's themes of the beauty that exists under facades.

The Sixth Sense is a great and well crafted thriller, but if people want to argue how time has progressed and not helped Beauty, may I remind everyone of The Village, Lady in the Water and The Happening. Sense remains Shyamalan's best work, the performances were fantastic all around and the themes of communication were so skillfully handled. Since then, Shyamalan has spent his entire career copying his own formula ever since, each time with lesser and lesser quality.

The Insider is an intelligent and brilliantly made thriller about standing up for what's right when everyone doesn't want you to. Sure, the story is standard, but the true story and the urgency Mann brings to this film is nothing short of powerful.

The Green Mile is a very good film, albeit a more emotional film than Darabont's previous work in The Shawshank Redemption. The story is well adapted (yes, I actually read the six part book series before I saw the film) and for it's running length, plays well. Best Picture nominee? Maybe not so much with the other films that came out that year.

Now, if you want to talk overly sentimental, I give you The Cider House Rules, which every scene played like a Hallmark movie, even down to the schmaltzy camera work. Mix that with it's heavy handed way of dealing with it's message about abortions and you've got just another overrated film Miramax got behind when they realized that their work on promoting The Talented Mr. Ripley wasn't working as well as they'd hoped.

There were so many films that deserved nominations this year. In fact, if any year begged for a ten nomination list, it was 1999. The movies that were chosen were a mixed bag of deserving (Beauty and Insider) to not so much (Green Mile & Cider House). Movies like Toy Story 2, Being John Malkovich, Three Kings, Magnolia, Eyes Wide Shut or Fight Club definitely have proven more influential and (with ten years behind us to look back on), more deserving of nominations. Did the Academy get it right? No, but when have they ever shown the tendency to award trendsetting films. Case in point: How Green Was My Valley beat Citizen Kane. That's it and it's been like that ever since.
"You are what you love, not what loves you." - Nicholas Cage; Adaptation
rain Bard
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Post by rain Bard »

I disagree with the results of this poll.
Akash
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Post by Akash »

I didn't have to say it. You just did.
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Post by atomicage »

--Akash wrote:
--atomicage wrote:And Green Mile, a film I, believe it or not, actually enjoyed,

Oh, I believe it.

:D Might as well say "I hate your taste in films", Akash. It be better than skipping around the darn thing.

(I'd advise you didn't say it, actually. Makes for a better environment.)




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Post by Bog »

The Green Mile as a best picture nominee might be worse than Seabiscuit and Chocolat and Ray....blech
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Post by Akash »

atomicage wrote:And Green Mile, a film I, believe it or not, actually enjoyed,
Oh, I believe it.
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Post by matthew »

The directorial control of The Insider is enough for me to put it at the top of the list
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Post by atomicage »

American Beauty, simply because I can't see any of the other films taking that honor. Cider House Rules was a fine film; this is, for me, the second place winner. :D
The Insider I have not seen yet, The Sixth Sense was a great thriller with one of the best twist endings I've ever seen, or anyone's ever seen I guess. And Green Mile, a film I, believe it or not, actually enjoyed, is probably my least favorite of this list.

What a sin to omit Being John Malkovich... that film should have certainly been on this list, and this is coming from a guy who doesn't worship the ground Kaufman walks on. And, call me crazy, but Toy Story 2 was friggin' hilarious... it deserved its Best Picture Globe, and maybe even more consideration.
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Post by flipp525 »

Akash wrote:And to be fair, there are still moments on Six Feet Under that are better than anything in American Beauty (the final scene in the series finale has to be the most haunting, humbling moment in television history).

I couldn't agree more, Akash. I felt like every episode of Six Feet Under was an hour of brilliance. I even loved the darker third and fourth seasons, when everyone else complained about them. And there's never been a finale like that one. I get chills just thinking about it.




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Post by Okri »

American Beauty, by default (and in recognition of the impact it had on me as a young cinephile eight years ago).

The ending to Six Feet Under is one of the worst moments in television history. And I say this as a sometime fan of the show.
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Post by Steph2 »

I'd vote for The Insider by default, but I didn't really like any of these films. I'll admit I was young and naive when I first saw America Beauty and I initially fell for its superficiality. It wasn't until I saw it a second and third time that I realized how bad it was, and how poorly it holds up on repeat viewings. Spacey and Bening were fine though, smug over the top yes, but how else were they supposed to play those horribly sketched characters?

Frank Darabont should not be allowed to make another film. Ever. And Stephen King should have to spend a year in prison, and passed around like currency, before he even thinks about writing another sentimentalized version of prison life.
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Post by Damien »

Anyone who was on this board back at the time knows that many of us recognized American Beauty as the facile cliched nonsense that it is, even as the critics were being orgasmic over it.,

Of course, Italiano charged that those of us who saw through the simplistic shallowness of American Beauty couldn't handle the "truths" it told about America. LOL!
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Post by Akash »

The Original BJ wrote:American Beauty.

Though I know the film had its detractors at the time, what's really hurt the film's reputation is the wave of imitators (from Six Feet Under to Desperate Housewives) that have made satires of suburbia so passe.

I thought it was awful before any of those television shows came out. And to be fair, there are still moments on Six Feet Under that are better than anything in American Beauty (the final scene in the series finale has to be the most haunting, humbling moment in television history).

No, American Beauty is just horse shit on its own terms. Thank GOD Hillary Swank beat Annette Bening. This time around anyway -- Bening was better in Being Julia.




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Post by The Original BJ »

American Beauty.

Though I know the film had its detractors at the time, what's really hurt the film's reputation is the wave of imitators (from Six Feet Under to Desperate Housewives) that have made satires of suburbia so passe. At the time, for many (including me) it seemed so fresh. I'd easily vote for it out of this lineup -- it's still a surprisingly witty and oddly affecting picture. While it may not be anywhere near the height of profundity, I still find its thematic contradictions fascinating and its genre mash-up (which others would call tonal inconsistencies) inventive. And as Magilla said, it's beautifully photographed by Conrad Hall and terrifically acted by a cast who all must show an astonishing amount of range.

I admire The Insider and The Sixth Sense: both are finely-crafted and very well acted (Crowe and Osment were the well-rewarded headliners, but Plummer and Collette both do very resourceful work on the sidelines). However, both films feel somewhat grounded to me -- neither takes the formal or ideological risks of the very best films of the year.

What's really a shame about this lineup is that '99 was such an astonishing year full of challenging fare (in addition to ALL the titles Akash listed, I'd cite Election, Topsy-Turvy, Three Kings, Fight Club, The End of the Affair, Bringing Out the Dead, Run Lola Run and plenty of others) and we STILL got stuck with bland studio fare like The Cider House Rules (the textbook example for a movie about IMPORTANT ISSUES that's really about nothing) and The Green Mile (a thoroughly racist, neverending schmaltz-fest).

When there are too many great choices, sometimes the old guard can hold an astonishing about of sway.
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Post by Big Magilla »

American Beauty was a satire. It had no meaning beyond its beautifully photographed surface. Cinematographer Conrad Hall was the true auteur of the film. I thought the performances of Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening and Wes Bentley wer all good, worthy of Oscar nominations though not the actual award. It marginally gets my vote for best picture of the year over The Talented Mr. Ripley which I thought was the year's best directed film and the only Anthony Minghella film that I thoroughly enjoyed, well almost thoroughly except for Cate Blanchett who I found a bit "off" as I find most of her performances.

The real tragedy was Kevin Spacey winning best actor over Richard Farnsworth.

The best thing about The Insider was Christopher Plummer as Mike Wallace. It's not easy playing so familiara character, but Plummer nails it. He should not only have been nominated for supporting actor instead of Michael Ciane, but should have won.
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