The Top 10 of 1999

Or... Post-Star Wars Depression Sets In

Those of you who know me well, or who have been reading my reviews for any length of time, will probably expect me to have Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace as my top pick of the year. That would be a fair guess, seeing how much I loved the movie and how much science fiction in general appeals to me. But in this case you'd be wrong. True, my top ten list will contain some science fiction movies, but as a reviewer I'm forced to set my personal preferences aside and try to be objective.

Objectively speaking, I didn't see many outstanding movies this year. I can't say for certain why. Perhaps one reason, I didn't see as many "art" flicks this year and many that I did catch were leftovers from 1998. You must understand that I review movies part-time, and I don't get paid. As a result, time and money restrain me from driving to Kansas City every weekend to catch smaller, independent movies that don't normally make it to my neck of the woods.

But my inability to see more independent movies isn't only to blame. I saw many of the "buzz" movies, smaller avant garde movies like Go, 200 Cigarettes, and Dogma. The fact is, they failed to intrigue me. This isn't to say that the big-budget pictures did any better.

True, I loved Episode I, and it was certainly a big-budget picture. But of the large number of summer movies released, the ones that really caught my attention were smaller pics like The Sixth Sense and The Blair Witch Project, which relied on story, not special effects.

Out of the 59 movies I saw this year, I'd say that only a small few were truly memorable. Going through my list, I noticed how many failed to even get a 5 out of 10 rating. How sad. My New Year's Resolution is to see a greater variety of movies in 2000, even if that means hauling my butt to the "big city" where one movie chain doesn't have a monopoly on the entire city. (For those of you who don't know, Topeka has a total of 14 screens in the entire city devoted to first-run movies.)

So, without any further ado (and there's been quite enough ado, if you ask me), here is my list of the Top 10 films of 1999. Now pass the popcorn!

FilmGuru's Top 10

  1. American Beauty
  2. Toy Story 2
  3. The Green Mile
  4. The Matrix
  5. The Blair Witch Project
  6. Ride With the Devil
  7. For Love of the Game
  8. The Sixth Sense
  9. Iron Giant
  10. Three Kings

Honorable Mention: