Best Movies of 1999
Ranked by our critic's grades, best first.
The MatrixA philosophy seminar smuggled inside the best action design of its decade, and both halves still work.Read the review
Fight ClubFincher's grimiest, funniest film, a satire so stylish that a generation mistook it for a manifesto.
The Iron GiantBrad Bird's debut asks what happens when a weapon would rather be Superman, and answers with more feeling than almost any American animated film.
Eyes Wide ShutA jealousy nightmare in Christmas lights, and the orgy is more solemn than anything else.
The Green MileDarabont's second Stephen King prison film is handsome, patient and well acted, and it spends three hours asking to be loved.
American BeautyThe suburban satire that swept the Oscars, then spent twenty years being argued back down to size.
October SkyA conventional underdog story rescued by Chris Cooper, who plays the father as a frightened man rather than an obstacle.
The Sixth SenseA patient, cold, seriously acted ghost story that is remembered for its last minute and deserves better than that.
A Midsummer Night's DreamKevin Kline finds real pain in Bottom, but the production is lit too sunnily to let the play bite.
Erskineville KingsA seventy-eight minute argument between two brothers that trusts its actors far more than its budget, and mostly gets away with it.