Was 1999 the year that changed movies? Looking back a decade later (part two)

July 16, 6:04 AMAtlanta Movies ExaminerRyan McNally

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This is part two of an article about how 1999 broke the rules of filmmaking and shaped the decade that followed. In case you missed it, check out “Was 1999 the year that changed movies (part one)”

Did 1999 launch a new age in cinema, or was it just a blip on the radar? Read on and see how these 15 films (listed alphabetically) shook things up, what their legacies are and how the artists behind them have fared in the last decade.

1) American Beauty
Then: The 34-year-old Sam Mendes made a startling film debut with this twisted tale of suburbia, which used evocative imagery, satiric insights and crackling dark humor to create a film unlike any in recent memory—one that actually encouraged audiences to “look closer.” Oh yeah, it also won five Oscars, including Best Picture.

Now: The pic has a blistering 8.6 IMDB rating, placing it in the Top 40 all-time. A small contingency ranks it one of the worst Best Picture winners, but it still feels fresh a decade later. Director Mendes has delivered four mostly quality films since then, most notably the instant classic Road to Perdition, and writer Alan Ball has delivered cult TV hits “Six Feet Under” and “True Blood.”

Surprisingly, the cast hasn’t fared as well. Spacey seemed like a star on the rise, but most of his ‘00s output has been mediocre. And the film's triumvirate of young stars (Mena Suvari, Wes Bentley, Thora Birch) has failed to deliver, though Birch did star in one great movie (2001’s Ghost World).

2) Being John Malkovich
Then: Sliding through the cerebral cortex of John Malkovich and navigating around a “half floor,” the film messed with your mind. Thirty-year-old Spike Jonze, working from a twisty script by Charlie Kaufman and making his feature film debut after directing a handful of acclaimed music videos, was a new surrealist magician and scored a Best Director nomination in a crowded field.

Now: The film has maintained a strong cult following. Jonze followed up Malkovich with the equally bizarre, well-received Adaptation. Since then, there’s been a long lull, which will be broken with this year’s eagerly anticipated Where the Wild Things Are. Stars John Cusack and Cameron Diaz have had a solid if unspectacular decade since.

3) The Blair Witch Project
Then: Shot on a budget well under $100K by 30-something directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, the horror pic grossed more than $200 million worldwide, an unbelievable achievement. After scaring the hell out of people at Sundance, and building a huge buzz on a fledgling entity called the Internet, it divided audiences, some of who considered it a first-rate frightfest, and others who hated it. But most important, it threatened to build on the promise of Kevin Smith’s Clerks to give anyone with a video camera the power to make a movie that reached the masses and reinvented the medium.

Now: Its reputation has sank along with its IMDB score (now 6.2), and most disappointingly, The Blair Witch Project spawned limp horror retreads (including a weak sequel) rather than a new generation of bold filmmakers busting budgetary boundaries. Few, if any, movies made for less than $100K have struck commercial or critical chords in the last decade. And directors Myrick and Sanchez have produced but a few direct-to-video pics. Still, for those who fall under its spell, Blair Witch remains a creepy, intense viewing experience.

4) Boys Don’t Cry
Then: Working with a budget of only $2 million, 32-year-old first-time director Kimberly Peirce delivered the year’s most emotionally shattering film. Tackling difficult subject matter—a woman who yearns to be a man and passes herself off as such in the rural Midwest—Peirce transcended budgetary limitations to craft a harrowing work of art that shakes you to the core. The pic grossed more than $11 million and scored Oscar nominations for stars Hilary Swank and Chloe Sevigny.

Now: Boys Don’t Cry still feels like the most unflinching look at intolerance to grace the silver screen in the past decade. But director Peirce disappeared from the film scene for nearly 10 years, finally emerging with 2008’s Iraq war drama Stop-Loss, which was met with mixed reviews.

Five years after Boys Don’t Cry, Swank won her second Oscar for another superlative turn in Million Dollar Baby, though she cruised through the bulk of the decade in mostly forgettable roles. Sevigny, while never breaking through to the A-list, has proven one of the most fearless actresses around, with roles in divisive films such as Dogville, American Psycho and The Brown Bunny, as well as HBO’s “Big Love.”

5) Dogma
Then: Still not yet 30, writer/director Kevin Smith followed up Chasing Amy—arguably his best film—with Dogma, a movie that turned his gift for hilarious, envelope-pushing riffing on sex in an even more controversial direction: religion. Shot for a modest $10 million, it grossed more than three times that amount.

Now: Dogma feels like a final creative burst for Smith, who retreated to familiar territory in the ‘00s with Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, then stumbled with Jersey Girl. Though he rebounded a bit with Clerks II and Zack and Miri Strike a Porno, Smith seems to be better known these days for his stellar Web site and hilarious audience Q&As rather than his provocative filmmaking, which is too bad.

See how David Fincher, Paul Thomas Anderson and others broke new ground in ’99 in “Was 1999 the year that changed movies? (part three)”