Poll: 1999: An Existential Journey

Results of 1,639 votes:

1. 1.
   

   Fight Club (1999)

    

   Alienation I: "It is about freeing yourself from the shackles of modern life, which imprisons and emasculates men. By being willing to give and receive pain and risk death, Fight Club members fin…
2. 2.
   

   The Matrix (1999)

    

   Virtuality I: "They've made a fundamental discovery about the world: It doesn't exist. It's actually a form of Virtual Reality, designed to lull us into lives of blind obedience to the "syst…
3. 3.
   

   American Beauty (1999)

    

   Alienation II: "A man who fears growing older, losing the hope of true love and not being respected by those who know him best [...] chooses to, burning up the future years of an empty lifetime f…
4. 4.
   

   Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

    

   Retrospection III: "Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut'' is like an erotic daydream about chances missed and opportunities avoided [...] The film has two running jokes, both quiet ones: Almos…
5. 5.
   

   The Green Mile (1999)

    

   Life & Death I:"I can explain in Coffey's own words what he does with the suffering he encounters: "I just took it back, is all." How he does that and what the results are, all set …
6. 6.
   

   The Sixth Sense (1999)

    

   Life & Death III: "It is Crowe's task to reach this boy and heal him [...] but Crowe himself is suffering, in part because his wife, once so close, now seems to be drifting into an affair and…
7. 7.
   

   Magnolia (1999)

    

   Retrospection I: "People earnestly and single-mindedly immersed in their lives, hopes and values, as if their best-laid plans were not vulnerable to the chaotic interruptions of the universe. It'…
8. 8.
   

   Office Space (1999)

    

   Alienation III: "Office Space" suggests that regular employment is even worse, because it's a life sentence. Asked to describe his state of mind to the therapist, Peter says, "Since I s…
9. 9.
   

   Being John Malkovich (1999)

    

   Identity I: "Spend a lifetime being yourself and it would be worth money to spend 15 minutes being almost anybody else. [...] Lotte finds herself inside his mind while Maxine is seducing him. Lot…
10. 10.
    

    Toy Story 2 (1999)

     

    Retrospection II: "You never forget kids, but they forget you,'' Buzz sighs, but he argues for the position that it is better to be loved for the length of a childhood than admired forever behind…
11. 11.
    

    All About My Mother (1999)

     

    Life & Death IV: "Manuela journeys to Barcelona to inform Esteban's father of the son's death. [...] In the film, grieving relatives are asked to allow the organs of their loved ones to be us…
12. 12.
    

    Boys Don't Cry (1999)

     

    Identity II: "She is not a transsexual, a lesbian, a cross-dresser, or a member of any other category on the laundry list of sexual identities; she is a girl who thinks of herself as a boy. The w…
13. 13.
    

    The Straight Story (1999)

     

    Retrospection IV: "Alvin's journey to his brother is a journey into his past. He remembers when they were young and filled with wonder. [...] And about years lost to drinking and nastiness. He h…
14. 14.
    

    Bringing Out the Dead (1999)

     

    Life & Death II:"The Cage character ventures out every night into a sea of suffering, with little hope he can really make much of a difference: "I came to realize that my work was less a…
15. 15.
    

    eXistenZ (1999)

     

    Virtuality II: "When you're hooked up, you can't tell the game from reality [...] "eXistenZ'' arrives a few weeks after "The Matrix,'' another science-fiction movie about characters who…