1999 was a VERY good year at the movies!

Get the Point!

The Ancient Romans often used the phrase "Tempus Fugit," translated from Latin to English as "Time Flies,” and I was reminded of this phrase earlier this morning while reading an article in the NY Times that takes a look back on what was hot at movie theaters in 1999—a stellar year that provided still enduring hits across multiple genres. 

Like most members of Generation X, 1999 was one of the most heavily anticipated years in my younger life if for no other reason than Prince's 1981 hit single of the same name,"1999," one that lyrically suggested a coming apocalypse over an infectious synthesizer beat!

1999 was my 27th year on Earth, and all of the popular media buzz that year was about the so-called"Y2K Bug” and how life could drastically change (if not end) depending upon whether computer systems around the world went haywire—even to the point of inadvertent launches of nuclear missiles!

Fortunately, NOTHING of the doomsday sort ever occurred, and New Year's Day 2000 quietly came with the same Dick Clark/Times Square celebrations as it had in years’ past. 

While time did not end in 1999, it surely stood still for me on a personal level that year, so much so that the Tallahassee AMC 20 Theater served as an escape route from realities that vexed my very soul—and was a bridge from some of the last vestiges of my childhood that were fused into the young adult that I was—and in some ways, the middle aged adult that I am today. 

To make it plain, I met with what I deemed to be tragedy twice in '99, with the first being that moment when I realized that I was nowhere near adequately prepared to take the Florida Bar Examination that summer. Thinking back, it was sheer arrogance that led me to believe that I didn't need to study all that hard to pass the test, a cockiness derived from a life of prior academic successes. Yes, I took the BARBRI Prep Course that June and early July but most afternoons, instead of heading home and studying hard to reinforce the morning’s lectures, I played John Madden football or NBA Live on my PlayStation, sat reading books and magazines at Border’s Bookstore, or took a trip to the movies to see one of the films listed below including one, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, that I watched no fewer than 20 times that June and July. 

But as I settled into my testing seat on day one (of two) down in Tampa, Florida, I immediately realized that I had grossly underestimated the rigors of the Bar Exam and when the results came back that September, I was humbled by my poor performance. 

And yet, by the time I learned of my failure in September, I was living back at home for the first time since I left for Morehouse in 1990 while helping to care for my father, Charles, who had been told that he only had a few months left to live due to metastatic prostate cancer 😢. When I shared my exam scores, somehow expecting to get lectured or fussed at in the very house that I was chastised by Dad while growing up, to my mild surprise, he was mellow and actually quite comforting. Echoing my favorite sport from youth, Dad said, "you will get right back into that batter's box and hit a home run the next time, Junior."

Dad and me in front of our house in November of ‘99, three months before I passed the Florida Bar Exam—and six months before he passed away from cancer…

And while I did hit a home run when I took the exam in February of 2000, as '99 drew to a close, I spent countless hours studying and caring for Dad, while still finding time to catch a movie every other week or so (instead of almost every day like I hadn't a care in the world when the year began). Which is why when I look at the top 10 box office earners that year, I can attest that I saw nine of the same with the lone miss being Runaway Bride, the ninth highest grossing film that year. 

Now, "highest grossing" has never meant "personal favorite," and with art meaning different things to different people, I have chosen to list my three favorite movies (and their box office gross rankings) from 1999:

1. You've Got Mail (#45)

If you know me well, then you know that the same dude who counts Casablanca and Somewhere in Time among my top three movies of all time, surely enjoyed this romantic-comedy starring Tom Hanks (as Joe Fox) and Meg Ryan (as Kathleen Kelly)—one that was released in late '98, but was first seen by me during the Spring of '99. 

The plot centers around the pair, bookstore owners in direct competition, who do not realize that each is the other as they exchange messages via American Online, the old school internet portal that announced "You've Got Mail" for all of us old heads when we dialed up to log on back in the day. The two gradually fall in love while exchanging such heartfelt felicitations:

Kathleen: "What will NY152 (Joe Fox) say today?' I wonder. I turn on my computer. I wait impatiently as it connects. I go online, and my breath catches in my chest until I hear three little words: 'You've got mail'. I hear nothing. Not even a sound on the streets of New York, just the beat of my own heart. I have mail. From you."

Joe (to his friend Kevin played by Dave Chappelle): "Kevin, this woman is the most adorable creature I've ever been in contact with, and if she turns out even to be as good-looking as a mailbox, I'd be crazy not to turn my life upside down and marry her."

Indeed, if you've never seen You've Got Mail and could use a pick me up, do yourself a favor and check it out!

2. The Best Man (#63)

So, like just about every Black man in my age range, Nia Long was the "it" movie star of our era from the first time we saw her play "Brandi" in John Singleton's classic Boyz 'N The Hood in 1991. While Long and Taye Diggs were billed as the headline stars in The Best Man, they were joined by a sublimely talented cast of them young Black actors, including Sanaa Lathan, Terence Howard, and Morris Chestnut.

This film hit home because I was only a few years removed from my undergraduate and graduate school days at Morehouse and FAMU, respectively, and had just graduated from the University of Florida's College of Law—thus, the nostalgia trip. The plot focused on a group of college friends who reunited for the wedding of their NFL star classmate Lance (Morris Chestnut) and Mia (Monica Calhoun), not long after their friend Harper (Taye Diggs) had penned a best selling novel that revealed a secret that threatened to turn their clique's weekend—if not their very lives—upside down. 

For those who haven't seen it, I highly recommend this film and its sequel, The Best Man Holiday, as well as last year's limited Peacock series, The Best Man: The Final Chapters, that gives fans a glimpse of what happened to the remaining characters in the decade or so after the sequel!

3. American Beauty (#27)

While You've Got Mail touched my romantic side in '99, American Beauty triggered my morose side due to the brilliantly acted, but utterly sad story of the Burnhams, a middle aged couple played by Kevin Spacey (Lester Burnham) and Annette Bening (Carolyn Burnham) who are navigating the vicissitudes of a marriage that's unraveling to a brutally horrific ending. 

Spacey and Bening in American Beauty

While the movie as a whole is considered "dark" and depressing, both Spacey and Benning display a comedic side while raising Hell with each other that makes some viewers (like me) laugh even when the subject matter is discomfiting. One family dinner table scene in particular, after Lester quits his six figure advertising job without consulting his wife Carolyn, still blows me away me each time that I see it:

Carolyn Burnham : "Your father and I were just discussing his day at work. Why don't you tell our daughter about it, honey?"

Lester Burnham: "Janie (daughter), today I quit my job. And then I told my boss to go fu*k himself, and then I blackmailed him for almost sixty thousand dollars. Pass the asparagus."

Carolyn Burnham: "Your father seems to think this kind of behavior is something to be proud of."

Lester Burnham: "And your mother seems to prefer that I go through life like a fu*king prisoner..."

Carolyn Burnham: "How dare you speak to me that way in front of her. And I marvel that you can be so contemptuous of me, on the same day that you LOSE your job."

Lester Burnham: "Lose it? I didn't lose it. It's not like, "Whoops! Where'd my job go?" I QUIT. Someone pass the asparagus, please."

Yikes! And trust when I tell you that matters only get worse when Lester Burnham decides to spend his days smoking marijuana, working part time at a local burger joint, and engaging in pedophilic fantasies about his daughter Janie’s best friend 🤬.

Yeah, American Beauty is a downer, but it's two hours of masterful story telling with some seriously sobering messages about love(s) won, love(s) lost, and facing the consequences of bad decisions!

Now, if you're surprised that Star Wars: The Phantom Menace didn't make my top three from '99, don't be—it checks in at #5, right behind my fourth favorite movie that year, Any Given Sunday, which starred Jamie Foxx as a new age professional quarterback struggling to adapt to the personality and system of his old-school coach, Al Pacino. 

Academy Award winners Foxx and Pacino light up the scoreboards and silver screen in Any Given Sunday

While Star Wars is my all time favorite movie franchise and yes, I stood in line for eight hours in May of '99 waiting to purchase tickets for opening night, I admit that I enjoyed the film but in retrospect, I also realize that it is my least favorite of the three prequel films that include Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (2002) and my favorite prequel, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005).

Alas, if you're looking for a '99 movie binge, I also highly recommend watching Anna and The King, In Too Deep, The Matrix, The Wood, Austin Power: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Election, Varsity Blues, American Pie, Cruel Intentions, and The Talented Mister Ripley.

Drop me a line and let me know your thoughts!