With the first decade of the 21st century coming to a close, I couldn't help but think about what we'll consider great filmmaking in that pivotal period. My dad told me that at the time of "A Clockwork Orange"'s release, people hated it and thought it was offensive trash. Thirty some odd years later, it's lauded as an iconic film about the frisson between the monsters we are deep inside and the monsters society can construct us to be. I believe in new film and I think over the past ten years there have been some striking, affecting work that will hopefully resonate not only in their current beloved state, but will be considered a part of that iconic pantheon of artistic verisimilitude.
I've made a top ten every year since 1999. Over the next couple of weeks leading up to the new year, I'll reveal my lists for each year, ending in my list of the ten best films of the past decade. I know that 1999 was technically the end of the 1990's, but it's a good place to start to see what preceded the new millennium. Please note that when I was sixteen my palette was a little different than what it is now and the lists represent the films that I saw that year. I still feel that some of these films are important works that perhaps didn't win a plethora of awards, but say something about the late 90's/early 2000's of economic boom and downfall, the exploration of the self in the new frontier, and the changing face of heroism, themes that are topical for the moment, but resonate for an eternity.
These were my ten favorite films of 1999:
1. Magnolia, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
2. Fight Club, directed by David Fincher
3. The Talented Mr. Ripley, directed by Anthony Minghella
4. Notting Hill, directed by Roger Michell
5. The Insider, directed by Michael Mann
6. Run Lola Run, directed by Tom Tykwer
7. Three Kings, directed by David O. Russell
8. All About My Mother, directed by Pedro Almodovar
9. Dogma, directed by Kevin Smith
10. The Matrix, directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski
