The Year in Film: 1999

Best Picture

#1: The Insider (Michael Mann)
#2: The Talented Mr. Ripley (Anthony Minghella)
#3: Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick)
#4: American Beauty (Sam Mendes)
#5: Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson)
#6: Toy Story 2 (John Lasseter)
#7: Limbo (John Sayles)
#8: Beau Travail (Claire Denis)
#9: Election (Alexander Payne)
#10: Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze)

Honorable mentions: All About My Mother (Pedro Almodóvar), South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Trey Parker), After Life (Hirokazu Kore-eda), Fight Club (David Fincher), The Straight Story (David Lynch), Topsy-Turvy (Mike Leigh), 42 Up (Michael Apted), The Girl on the Bridge (Patrice Leconte), The Limey (Steven Soderbergh), The Matrix (Larry and Andy Wachowski), Boys Don’t Cry (Kimberly Peirce), The War Zone (Tim Roth), The Iron Giant (Brad Bird), American Movie (Chris Smith), Ratcatcher (Lynne Ramsay), L’Humanité (Bruno Dumont), My Best Fiend (Werner Herzog), One Day in September (Kevin Macdonald), Three Kings (David O. Russell), eXistenZ (David Cronenberg), Inherit the Wind (Daniel Petrie), Bringing Out The Dead (Martin Scorsese), Titus (Julie Taymor), Jesus’ Son (Alison Maclean), The Mayfair Set (Adam Curtis), Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (Errol Morris), Romance (Catherine Breillat), Sweet and Lowdown (Woody Allen), Erin Brockovich (Steven Soderbergh), Autumn Tale (Eric Rohmer), The Cider House Rules (Lasse Hallström).

[Updates to other categories forthcoming.]
Best Director
#1: Anthony Minghella (The Talented Mr. Ripley)
#2: Michael Mann (The Insider)
#3: Sam Mendes (American Beauty)
#4: David Fincher (Fight Club)
#5: Stanley Kubrick (Eyes Wide Shut)
Best Actor
#1: Kevin Spacey (American Beauty)
#2: Al Pacino (The Insider)
#3: Matt Damon (The Talented Mr. Ripley)
#4: Terence Stamp (The Limey)
#5: Jim Broadbent (Topsy-Turvy)
Best Actress
#1: Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry)
#2: Annette Bening (American Beauty)
#3: Cecilia Roth (All About My Mother)
#4: Reese Witherspoon (Election)
#5: Élodie Bouchez (The Dreamlife of Angels)
Best Supporting Actor
#1: Christopher Plummer (The Insider)
#2: Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley)
#3: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Magnolia)
#4: Wes Bentley (American Beauty)
#5: John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich)
Best Supporting Actress
#1: Cate Blanchett (The Talented Mr. Ripley)
#2: Julianne Moore (Magnolia)
#3: Chloë Sevigny (Boys Don’t Cry)
#4: Cameron Diaz (Being John Malkovich)
#5: Nicole Kidman (Eyes Wide Shut)
Best Original Screenplay
#1: Being John Malkovich (Charlie Kaufman)
#2: American Beauty (Alan Ball)
#3: Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson)
#4: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Trey Parker & Matt Stone)
#5: Topsy-Turvy (Mike Leigh)
Best Adapted Screenplay
#1: The Talented Mr. Ripley (Anthony Minghella)
#2: Election (Jim Taylor & Alexander Payne)
#3: The Insider (Michael Mann & Eric Roth)
#4: Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick & Frederic Rafael)
#5: Fight Club (John Uhls)
Best Cinematography
#1: John Seale (The Talented Mr. Ripley)
#2: Dante Spinotti (The Insider)
#3: Conrad L. Hall (American Beauty)
#4: Edward Lachman (The Limey)
#5: Freddie Francis (The Straight Story)
Best Film Editing
#1: Run Lola Run

#2: The Matrix
#3: The Insider
#4: Fight Club
#5: The Talented Mr. Ripley
Best Original Score
#1: The Talented Mr. Ripley (Gabriel Yared)
#2: Being John Malkovich (Carter Burwell)
#3: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Marc Shaiman & Trey Parker)
#4: Toy Story 2 (Randy Newman)
#5: All About My Mother (Alberto Iglesias)
Best Original Song
#1: “Save Me” (Magnolia)
#2: “La Resistance Medley” (South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut)
#3: “Lullaby for Cain” (The Talented Mr. Ripley)
#4: “When Somebody Loved Me” (Toy Story 2)
#5: “The Great Beyond” (Man on the Moon)
Best Production Design
#1: The Talented Mr Ripley
#2: Sleepy Hollow
#3: Eyes Wide Shut
#4: The Red Violin
#5: Being John Malkovich
Best Costume Design
#1: The Talented Mr. Ripley
#2: The Red Violin
#3: Topsy-Turvy
#4: The Insider
#5: Sleepy Hollow
Best Makeup
#1: Sleepy Hollow
#2: The Matrix
#3: Topsy-Turvy
#4: Bringing Out the Dead
#5: The Talented Mr. Ripley
Best Sound
#1: The Matrix
#2: Fight Club
#3: Sleepy Hollow
#4: The Insider
#5: American Beauty
Best Visual Effects
#1: The Matrix
#2: Fight Club
#3: Sleepy Hollow
#4: Being John Malkovich
#5: Magnolia

 

–The Honorary Awards–

Best Breakthrough Performance – Male
Wes Bentley (American Beauty)
Best Breakthrough Performance – Female
Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry)
Best First Feature
Sam Mendes (American Beauty)
Worst Film of the Year
Detroit Rock City (dir: Adam Rifkin)