IMDb's Class of '99

I am in agreement of the claim that 1999 was a pretty damn good one for film. A fair few of my big favourites were released that year, and continue to sit atop of my highlights list. 25 years on, IMDb put out an article about movies from 1999, and I'm going to comment on each one. The full article can be read here. For added interest, Rolling Stone Magazine released The 99 Best Movies of 1999 as well. Find that one here.

Read on!

FIGHT CLUB
Yes, absolutely. Mind you, it's been a while since I've done a rewatch, but this has resided in my Top 10 Films for quite some time. I would be very interested to see what 48-year-old me would think of this one. This resonated with me so much as a twentysomething, and knowing the twist ending doesn't take away from the experience at all. The performances of both Pitt and Norton are wonderful. 

THE MATRIX
This movie was so fresh and invigorating when it came out. It might seem a little tired now, as it has spawned thousands of imitations. Again, it's been a while since I've watched it, and only ever managed to catch the sequel The Matrix Reloaded, which was only okay. But, it put me off watching any future sequels. The concept of 'Bullet Time' as been utilised by so many action movies since, and the fight scenes at the time were next level. Yuen Woo-ping can be thanked for that, a martial arts choreographer and director from Hong Kong. This film's influence cannot be overstated, but the shadow of works like Akira, Blade Runner and even Star Wars are unable to be ignored either.

THE GREEN MILE
Yes, another favourite film of mine. I have fond memories of reading this book at the time it came out, as each chapter was released on a monthly basis. I was living in Albany still, and while I took my time with the first couple of installments. By the last three chapter books, I was devouring them almost overnight. My younger brother Chris, himself an avid Stephen King fan, would eagerly wait for me to finish in anticipation so he could continue the story. I was very keen to see the movie adaptation when I learned of its production. I thought Tom Hanks was a great choice for Paul Edgecomb, and after his work on The Shawshank Redemption, Frank Darabont was an ideal pick for the director. That's a great film, if somewhat overrated nowadays, and a wonderful adaptation. This one is way better as a movie, and as an adaptation. Michael Clarke Duncan's Oscar-nominated performance of John Coffey is arguably the most wonderful thing he left us.

AMERICAN BEAUTY
Now marred by the performance of an alleged rapist, this was an amazing movie experience at the time of release. I think most people struggled to describe the plot, as it is quite simple, but the cast, screenplay and direction all deliver. I'm hesitant to rewatch this one, but I will one day.

THE SIXTH SENSE
Another movie that's the start of a thousand clichés. Shyamalan's debut movie is one of his best, and knowing the twist ending makes you pay more attention to each of the scenes where Bruce Willis' character appear. This one needs a re-watch too! 

THE IRON GIANT
The first animated movie to make this list, adapted from a book I loved as a kid, The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. I guess the name was changed for the film due to the Marvel hero of the same name (although that movie was still nearly a decade away). Despite some small changes to the plot, eg: the book was set in rural England and the movie is in the US during the cold war, it is very enjoyable. I think the movie dilutes some of the fantastical elements of the story (where is the Space-Bat-Angel-Dragon?), but it's still a good watch. I didn't get around to this one until I hit my forties, I think.

MAGNOLIA
Now, this is an interesting one for me, because I liked a lot of this movie. The opening sequence was fantastic, and some of the performances are incredible. But, by the end of it, I was like, 'okay, what was the point?'. The characters are mostly unlikable and the big deus ex machina was someting of a cop out for me. Maybe I need to rewatch it, but I'm not that keen to revisit this one.

TOY STORY 2
Deadset classic, and possibly one of the few sequels to eclipse its predecessor in terms of sheer entertainment value. The introduction of the new characters enhance the ensemble, and forcing the toys out of Andy's bedroom is a masterstroke. Endlessly quotable and rewatchable.

BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
I really enjoyed the concept of this movie, and found some scenes to be a riot, but the characters were really hard to like. That was a tough stumbling block to get over, and as such, I've not watched it since the first time. Very out-there for the time it was released. It possibly paved the way for more ludicrous and far-out concept movies. 

SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT
Yeah, far out, I think I fell off the couch watching this with Rhones back in our first rental in the Beckenham area. The touches of music in this one are outstanding as well, balancing catchy hooks with hilarity. The genius medley of songs, a la West Side Story or Les Misérables, manages to out do both of those musicals. Arguably the pinnacle of the South Park franchise.

OFFICE SPACE
This was a movie that had been parodied and referenced so many times that I lost count of all the 'that's where that's from' moments I had when I finally watched it. Stephen Root's character didn't land for me, and I usually love his work, and I found Ron Livingston's Peter hard to empathise with as well. Certainly worth watching for Gary Cole's micromanaging Bill Lumbergh though.

EYES WIDE SHUT
Yes, this one left a mark. Touted as being a landmark collaboration between the late Stanley Kubrick and one of Hollywood's biggest power couples at the time, it delighted and repulsed audiences on equal levels. Long and slow, as per the usual Kubrick movie, it explored the effects of sexual fantasies on a marriage and offered up a Lynch-like long dark night of the soul for Cruise's Bill Hartford. One of my favourite moments of this film was the underused Sydney Pollack lambasting Hartford for his actions on that night. Just enough ambiguity to leave you guessing, and some iconic scenes to excite and unravel.

BOYS DON'T CRY
A tough watch, this one. I haven't revisited this movie since my maiden viewing. The film announced the arrival of an amazing talent in Hilary Swank, who would go on to dazzle again in Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby. The story of Brandon Teena is hard to get through, but an important story to be told, and told to the world.

THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY
Another film that just didn't excite me as much as it did others at the time. I've been meaning to rewatch this one too, especially because the Ripley series with Andrew Scott recently dropped on Netflix. Maybe as I've also watched Ripley's Game since seeing this (not great, imho) I'll have a better grip on his character. Damon and Law do a fine job, but I couldn't buy that Ripley was impersonating Dickie getting away with it. Maybe another watch in the future.

GALAXY QUEST
Another riff on the Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven/Three Amigos trope, but an effective one. I don't hold this in the high esteem that some do, but it's entertaining, for sure. Hardly groundbreaking though.

10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU
Again, not really my kind of film, but Heath Ledger is always watchable and Julia Stiles does well in this reworking of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. 

TARZAN
The first movie in this list that I haven't seen. I've been meaning to fill the gaps in my Disney viewing and I will, I promise. Props to Phil on his fab score, but You'll Be In My Heart over Blame Canada, Academy? Really?

THE VIRGIN SUICIDES
Lauded as an amazing debut from Sofia Coppola, I was a little underwhelmed by this. Granted I haven't watched it since its original release, and I remember it was nicely unsettling in theme, but again, at the end of it I was struggling to grasp the point.

GO
Pulp Fiction for the teenagers and twentysomethings. Nice to see Timothy Olyphant ham it up as a villanous drug dealer, but I wouldn't call this a great film. Doug Liman is hot and cold for me. The Bourne Identity was great, but I couldn't even get through Swingers. 

THE MUMMY
This was a nice bit of fun, reminiscent of eighties adventure movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Romancing the Stone. Fraser was a great leading man, and who doesn't love Rachel Weisz? John Hannah does well as the comic relief as well.

AMERICAN PIE
It's hard to imagine a world where this film doesn't exist now. Despite the numerous sequels and loose concept spin-offs, the original is the best for that mix of comedy and shock. Owing a debt to Animal House and Porky's, this one picked up the torch and ran with it, giving us many quotable quotes along the way.

BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER
Natasha Lyonne managed to be in this movie and American Pie in the same year. Not seen this movie either, but apparently both flicks pushed Lyonne into the zeitgeist of the era.

STAR WARS: EPISODE 1 - THE PHANTOM MENACE
I can remember attending a midnight screening of this movie on its initial release. Though it was a little overblown, CGI-dependent and Senate-heavy, there were thrilling cinematic moments. The pod race and the duel with the underused Darth Maul are big highlights of the franchise. Nice to see Ewan McGregor's first turn as Kenobi the young padawan and Neeson's commanding presence as Qui-Gon Jinn. The hate for Jar Jar Binks was cumulative, and boy, did it land hard over the following months.

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
This movie affected people differently, but it freaked the hell out of me! Rhones and I caught it at a movie marathon in Innaloo, I think. It started around midnight and was followed by Arlington Road and Two Hands. The hype surrounding the movie was amazing at the time. People were unsure if it was real or not. One of the first 'found footage' movies made on a budget of about $60,000 from memory. Never has the sight of someone standing in a corner been so terrifying to me. Don't think I've watched it all the through since that first viewing. No, we have the DVD...I must have...

CRUEL INTENTIONS
Another film on the list I've not seen. I know that it was a remake/reworking of Dangerous Liaisons, but that's about it. The music from it certainly had an impact from memory. Even songs that featured in promos/trailers got some attention! Yes, I should just watch it. And then...I'll have watched it.

*    *    *    *    *

Not a bad list, that. The only serious emissions, for my money, were:

- Election
- The Insider
- Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
- The Straight Story
- Bringing Out the Dead
- The Cider House Rules
- Man On the Moon

But, that's the beauty of these lists, huh? Now, to get down to some rewatching!

'hours...'

Coming after the industrial rock of 1997's Earthling, 'hours...' is Bowie's last studio album of the 20th century. Indeed the cover depicts Bowie's persona from the earlier record being held by the then-contemporary Bowie, possibly comforting himself as he dies(?!). A way of acknowledging the end of one musical style, and the start of another, I guess. Yesterday it turned 22, so it's a good time to have a revisory listen. It was Bowie's 21st studio album, so it's just outgrown itself...kinda...he he he.... 

So, yes, gone are the samples and industrial beats, mostly. It's a fairly mellow affair, which is a bit bizarre considering the album was co-written by Bowie and longtime collaborator Reeves Gabrels. Maybe mellow isn't the right word...maybe sombre is closer? There are still some dirty, squealing guitars though; and some uplifting tunes. The pair also produced the record, with musicians including Sterling Campbell on drums, and Mark Plati on bass, guitars, keyboards and programming.

This album is notable for being the last time Gabrels worked with Bowie, and is also his final release on the Virgin EMI label, before moving to Columbia (Sony) for 2002's Heathen. Bowie and Gabrels had also been writing songs for a video game called Omikron: The Nomad Soul, with some of those sessions being responsible for where most of these tracks came from. 

The opening track, Thursday's Child, is arguably the album's best moment. Featuring vocals from LA singer/songwriter Holly Palmer, the song was also the first single, coming out a month or so before the album. Almost a ballad, the track has a lot of hooks and countermelodies, and its production is similar to the treatment that much of Heathen would benefit from. There's a line that resonates with the album's cover as well: "Throw me tomorrow/Seeing my past and letting go...".

Another highlight for me is the track Seven, which again feels like a pop ballad. The fourth single from the album, it has a slow steady pace, with some unusually melodic lines from Gabrels. The main refrain is "Seven ways to live my life/Or seven ways to die," which could be taken as self-motivation. Like Brooks said, get busy living or get busy dying. Or something like that. The Marius De Vries mix turned up on Bowie compilation Nothing Has Changed in 2014, and was available on some CD single releases on the song (remember them?), but I think the album version is better.

Coming in between Earthling and Heathen, this album really feels transitional. The record's raunchiest rocker (and second single), The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell, could have fit quite easily on Earthling, and the plodding Something In The Air is reminiscent of that album's Seven Years In Tibet. Continuing a common trend in late 90s/early 00s cinema, SITA plays during the end credits of Christopher Nolan's 2000 film Memento. There are some nice effects on Bowie's vocals throughout the track to add to the eerie atmosphere. 

Ultimately, as it is a stepping stone between albums, and created while working on a video game soundtrack, it feels unfocussed. Some songs are a little meandering, particularly the overlong, repetitive If I'm Dreaming My Life, which hits the seven minute mark! Survive is another song that doesn't quite land for me, and Gabrels' guitar feels more intrusive than enhancing. 

There are some nice surprises though, one being the instrumental Brilliant Adventures, which wouldn't be out of place on "Heroes" or even Low. Rather than a narrative piece, it feels like a mood made musical. The track would lend its name to a series of live albums released through DavidBowie.com and the new box set due out later this year, covering 1992-2001. What's Really Happening? has some classic Bowie moments too, especially the vocal delivery, although the track as a whole is nothing special. The opening of New Angels of Promise sounds quite, um, promising as it starts, but again doesn't seem to deliver on what the intro teases. I quite like the album's closing song too, The Dreamers, which apparently is the name given to Bowie, Gabrels & Gail Ann Dorsey as the band in the previously mentioned video game. 

While this is an easier listen than 1. Outside, it's probably on the same level of enjoyment for me. It's shorter, which is nice, but the highpoints aren't as high. So, I'd give this 2.5/5 as well. Today I listened to the album three times, and it was cool to take it in over a coupla 'hours...'

NEXT UP: "Heroes" - Oct 14th

Album of the Week - Vol. 18

Stop Making Sense: Special New Edition TALKING HEADS (1999)
Week: Tuesday 2nd to Monday 8th March
Format: CD
Producer(s): Talking Heads and Gary Goetzman
Track listing:
1. Psycho Killer *
2. Heaven
3. Thank You For Sending Me an Angel
4. Found a Job
5. Slippery People *
6. Burning Down the House
7. Life During Wartime
8. Making Flippy Floppy *
9. Swamp
10. What A Day That Was
11. This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) *
12. Once In a Lifetime *
13. Genius of Love - The Tom Tom Club
14. Girlfriend is Better *
15. Take Me to the River
16. Crosseyed and Painless
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 74:16

Well, this album has a lot of sentimental value for me. I'm 90% sure it was the first CD I ever bought. Well, it was either this or Billy Joel's Storm Front. It was a heady time. I was 13 going on 14, and living in Albany. My dad had taken the plunge to follow the CD revolution in mid-1989 I think. The first CD the household ever had was Jenny Morris' Shiver. I have a feeling that the next three were Cher's Heart of Stone, The Rolling Stones' Steel Wheels and possibly Mystery Girl by Roy Orbison. 

Anyway, getting back to this Talking Heads album. I had been aware of Talking Heads in the eighties. I remember Once In a Lifetime playing over the opening credits of Down and Out In Beverly Hills, and I had thought enough of their 1985 single And She Was to buy the Little Creatures album on cassette. I have vague recollections of the movie Stop Making Sense being released, and I think I remember seeing posters, but I never saw it.

In the summer of 1989/90, I was involved in a local production of an original play called Hansel & Gretel. Very loosely based on the famous Grimm tale, my character Humperdinck had four arms, while my two sisters had none. I forget their names now...but I digress! During some rehearsal breaks, and definitely while setting up for a brief run in Mt Barker, a copy of Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense album played over a boombox. This was the way I heard the songs Psycho Killer and Burning Down the House for the first time. I'd always known the former to be a solo acoustic number. When I finally heard the original 1977 single some years later, I didn't recognise it until it reached the chorus. 

Throughout the run of the play I grew quite fond of the album, so I decided to get my hands on it to remind me of that time. My dad was a member of the Australian Record Club, and I gave him some of my pocket money and asked if he could order me a copy of Stop Making Sense. The first CD I ever bought! I'm pretty sure...'bout 82% sure, I think...

Fast forward to the fairly recent-ish present, and I'm revisiting the album for a reason other than sentimentality. As I'd previously mentioned, I never saw the film, but a happy coincidence led me to the video on YouTube! I had hunted for the DVD or Blu-ray for a few years, but never found one. So, it was a mini-revelation to actually watch the movie this album had come from. I was surprised by some slight differences in the versions on the album to the film, but they were only minor. I also learnt that the 1984 record track listing wasn't in the same order as they appeared in the movie. I knew that there were more songs in the movie though, and after watching (and really enjoying) Stop Making Sense, I decided to find a copy of the 1999 Special New Edition, which included all of them!

The original release only featured nine songs, so the extra tracks add nearly 30min to the running time. The album artwork contained several (semi-rhetorical?) questions:

Why "Stop Making Sense"?

Why a movie? Why tour?

Why do the musicians come out gradually?

What will the band do next?

Where do the odd movements come from?

...and so on. It was the third question there that really puzzled me. The musicians come out gradually? The album kicked off with David Byrne playing Psycho Killer on his own, yeah, so far, that seems right. But the second track was Swamp, which sounded like a full band to me. By the third song, Slippery People, I was calling bullshit to that claim. He he he, yeah, didn't realise the album wasn't in order of appearance in the film! That's a big pet peeve of mine. I hate it when soundtracks don't have the songs in the order they appear. Or fail to have all or most of the tracks featured in the movies. Comprehensive soundtrack albums like Marie Antoinette and Baby Driver get a big thumbs up from me! 

Anyway, back to Stop Making Sense. I think this album (and film) is a wonderful document of Talking Heads at their creative and influential peak. To have seen it now, and know that after David finished Psycho Killer, he is joined by Tina Weymouth on bass to perform Heaven is fantastic. The female vocals are sung offstage by backing singer Lynn Mabry, but yes, its just the two of them. Bizarrely, I'd heard this song before, and I was unaware that it was a Talking Heads song! Simply Red cover it on their Picture Book album, which I own. Their version is quite different, and it was only the lyrics that I recognised really. 

Drummer Chris Frantz is then wheeled out to join the pair for an excellent rendition of Thank You For Finding Me An Angel, the opening track of their second album More Songs About Buildings and Food. Completing the core quartet is guitarist/keyboardist Jerry Harrison who comes out to play on Found a Job, also from their second record. Not heard these versions before seeing the film, and I think they're very good. I wonder why the whole setlist wasn't released on the album the first time around? In addition to the Talking Heads band members, there are performances from Bernie Worrell on keyboards, guitarist Alex Weir, percussionist Steve Scales, and the wonderful Ednah Holt and Lynn Mabry on backing vocals. 

It's worth noting as well for those who haven't seen the film, that the first few numbers are performed while the stage is still being set up. It almost feels like the show has started before the venue is ready. As the musicians come out, more touches are added, until it looks like a rock concert, complete with a black curtain backdrop. 

Most of my favourite tracks are from the original nine song album release, particularly Once in a Lifetime, Slippery People and Girlfriend Is Better, the latter containing the lyric "stop making sense". I really like their live version of This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) and I'd not heard Making Flippy Floppy before, but I dig it! Interestingly, David Byrne leaves the stage to allow Chris & Tina to perform Genius of Love, a minor hit for their side-project band The Tom Tom Club. A nice addition, but an unusual choice, I would have thought. The bulk of the set is from their current release at the time, 1983's Speaking in Tongues. 

But yes, this is a great album made better by its re-release. An album full of old and new memories for me, and will I always think of it with a special fondness.

Still from Stop Making Sense