Strat's honorable mentions of 1999

How can you do this? How can you make a list of movies that weren't good enough to put in your top 20?

1999 was not a great year in cinema for nothing. It's a year full of movies better than most any other years. I feel it's important to understand that beyond a mere 20, there are other movies that in other years would make the 20 and it's not fair to pretend like they never existed.

So here's my attempt to do them some bit of service and explain a bit why they weren't worthy of the 20. Hopefully someone will be intrigued enough to take a look at some of these:

In no particular order:

Three Kings (action)

It's humor and war meets Saving Private Ryan imagery and Matrix bullet-time. Solid acting and who would have thought Marky Mark would keep his acting chops rolling.

American Movie (documentary)

Filmmaking is a serious art. Not to these mid-western guys filming their horror opus in this documentary. Well at least it's funny to us watching them make it. Once you've been in the movie business, you've probably seen this movie happen in real life a hundred times.

Man of the Century (comedy)

This barely seen movie is a sweet comedy blending the modern day world with a man from the 20s. If you can find it, it's worth definitely worth a view. While different, in a year of ground-breaking it was not earth-shattering.

The 6th Sense (suspense/drama)

Solid movie although I can't say I liked it as much as other films considering I figured out the ending 20 minutes into my first time watching it. Good child acting.

Beyond the Mat (documentary)

Every wondered what goes on outside of the wrestling ring? A very interesting look at not just the world of pro wrestling, but the people who chose that as a career. It doesn't make the 20 as it seems actually too brief and your left unfulfilled with some of the characters.

The Straight Story (drama)

In a year of violence and craziness - Lynch breaks out the story of a man and his lawnmower? Well-crafted simple storytelling at its finest. In the end it's a tale that fades into the tapestry.

Any Given Sunday (sports drama)

Oliver Stone, Al Pacino and pro football. Expect craziness. You get it. While the politics is hitting you in the chin, the hyper-real Natural Born Killers feel sometimes acts as a determent to what this movie could have been.

Varsity Blues (sports drama)

It's a bit cheesy. Okay a lot. Though it's surprisingly one of the better 90s teen movies and understands the world it exists in pretty well.

Sleepy Hollow (fantasy/drama)

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. You know it's going to be good. While everything is there in this one, you almost feel like something besides a horsemen's head is missing in this one. A bit too contrived.

The Hurricane (sports drama)

It's the Denzel Oscar push movie. Very clearly. Solid acting, but it's not as compelling a story as one would have hoped. Although seeing Denzel in a solid role is hard not to enjoy.

Election (comedy)

The groundwork for complicated stories in high school politics. And Matthew Broderick (Ferris Bueller's Day Off) is the teacher this time. While it's amusing, it never really scores well on consistent laughs.

10 Things I Hate About You (comedy)

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Julia Stiles and Health Ledget. In a modern update of yet another Shakespeare play, we realize that we've got a solid movie spearheaded by some of the best up-and-coming young talent.

ExistenZ (sci-fi)

In any other year it probably is the best sci-fi movie. In 99, it's a bad copy of the Matrix. Except with a little David Cronenberg classic grotesqueness thrown in for good measure.

Boys Don't Cry (drama)

The raw power of Hillary Swank's performance is hard to ignore. The movie never once goes violent just to be violent, but uses it in such a careful manner that we're never felt that this is an Oscar push movie. That's why it did so well.