Maybe the thought first occurred to you during the end of March, when a graceful, modern update of a Shakespearean comedy and a groundbreaking science-fiction movie opened on the same weekend.
It was turning into a genuinely great year at the movies.
Not to mention that the lineups at both Cannes and Venice would earmark this as a standout year for the festival circuit as well.
Thanks to a perfect storm of talent, timing, and taste, 1999 would quickly be viewed as a major milestone for the medium.
So, in honor of the 25th anniversary, we’ve ranked the top 99 movies of 1999 — the best of the best, the box-office stand-outs, the big-name blockbusters, the brilliant indies and foreign-language landmarks, the bold documentaries, and a few of the batshit cult-movie outliers that helped define a truly outstanding year to be a movie lover.
Perhaps you had the idea for the first time at the end of March, when a groundbreaking science-fiction film and a sophisticated, contemporary adaptation of a Shakespearean comedy debuted on the same weekend. Or maybe you thought that something extraordinary was beginning to happen because of the slew of summer releases that hit theaters, from Stanley Kubrick’s swan song to the most anticipated blockbuster ever. Alternatively, you might have been persuaded that 1999 wasn’t just turning out to be a good year at the movies by the deluge of zeitgeist-surfing films from a generation of filmmakers who had previously worked on music videos and/or in the Sundance labs. The year at the movies was becoming truly fantastic.
The final years of the 1990s are now regarded as one of the greatest 12-month periods of American filmmaking ever, second only to the Golden Age peak of 1939 and the New Hollywood high point of 1974. The number of foreign films that were eventually released on American screens during that time would also make it a record-breaking year for moviegoing in the United States. Furthermore, the lineups at Venice and Cannes would make this a particularly noteworthy year for the festival circuit. 1999 would soon be remembered as a significant turning point for the medium because of a confluence of skill, timing, and taste. And it still appears to be at its peak a quarter of a century later.
The best of the best, box office standouts, big-name blockbusters, brilliant indies and foreign-language landmarks, daring documentaries, and a few of the cult-movie outliers that helped define a truly exceptional year to be a moviegoer are all included in our ranking of the top 99 films of 1999 in honor of the 25th anniversary.
