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There's no doubt the year 1999 marked a high point for American movies, each month brought out one challenging film after another. Brian Raftery's book revisits these movies and the people who made them.
Raftery takes the reader through a year marked by erratic mood shifts. The economy was booming and the international situation appeared stable. At the same time fears of Y2K and global terrorism had folks on edge. As the year unfolded the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal would end with an anti-climatic impeachment trial, while the Columbine Massacre would be a dark harbinger of the future (gun violence would play a big role in many films of the year). Meanwhile the omnipresence of technology and the internet would a foment a more existential sense of unease, an unease the movies would channel.
Mega-blockbusters of costumed heroes had yet to conquer the big screen. Adult themed dramas still had a place at the multi-plex. Robert Downey Jr. was still known as an eccentric character actor; Netflix was a start up company that offered DVD rentals through the mail.
Unbeknownst to many, television was about to give movies a serious run for their money. The Sopranos debuted in 1999, heralding the birth of long form story telling in the TV form. Prestige TV from Breaking Bad to Game of Thrones would hold a privileged place in the culture, a place movies held for decades.
What makes 1999 memorable were the sheer variety of movies that transfixed audiences. The Blair Witch Project, an ultra low budget horror movie, would terrify movie goers more than any other film. The "found footage" approach presaged reality TV, but also resorted to old school gimmicks in the tradition of William Caste. Alternately, The Sixth Sense from newcomer M. Night Shyamalan perfected the Hitchcock approach, proving a PG-13 movie could terrify.
The teen movie underwent a brief renaissance from post John Hughes movies like 10 Things I Hate About You to the raunchy humor of American Pie to the dead on satire of Election.
Meanwhile adults took in American Beauty (the Oscar Winner for Best Picture), The Limey, and The Insider. Paul Thomas Anderson's epic drama Magnolia proved the appropriate last major American film of the 20th century - a soul bearing examination of mortality and broken lives in modern L.A.
Older directors also returned to the screen. George Lucas's Star Wars: The Phantom Menace divided fans. The posthumous Stanley Kubrick film Eyes Wide Shut perplexed many, leaving more questions than answers from the mysterious director. Terrence Malick, at one time known as the J.D. Salinger of American cinema, returned with the subdued and philosophical WWII film The Thin Red Line.
New voices also produced some gems. The Matrix from the Wachowski siblings blew everyone out of the water, stealing some of the thunder from The Phantom Menace. Fight Club from David Fincher perhaps best captured the mood of the year with its satire of repressed masculinity. Office Space from Mike Judge sent up workplace malaise and Being John Malkovich by Spike Jonze wreaked havoc with definitions of identity.
Best Movie Year Ever proves through nostalgia and incisive analysis of why 1999 was a landmark year for movies. As Raftery point out, many of these films under performed at the Box Office and it was only as years went by when they were recognized, a sign many were ahead of their time.
I was in attendance for Jeff Tweedy's penultimate show of his solo spring tour at Cincinnati Music Hall last night. The evening featured Tweedy playing a selection of old and new songs, some well known and others on the obscure side. Tweedy kept the tone of the show light and comical, playfully bantering with the audience throughout the evening.
Before performing his set Tweedy made light of the fact he felt like a wedding singer, due to the wedding reception type layout of the venue, "these will all be songs about the fragile nature of humanity - perfect songs for a first dance." And while many of his songs are about mortality and sadness, they can also be like a friend telling you things will be all right.
Tweedy's solo work is more stripped down than the Wilco records, lyrically direct and introspective. Early songs on the set included "Bombs Above", "Some Birds", and "I Know What It's Like" - all from his 2018 album Warm. These songs are deeply tied to his recent bestselling memoir Let's Go (So We Can Get Back). Three tracks were also performed from his 2019 Record Store Day release Warmer: "Evergreen," "Family Ghost," and "Guaranteed."
Songs from the Wilco catalog allowed Tweedy to showcase his guitar skills. "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" gets whittled down into a folky demo. "You and I" ,the song he performed with Feist on Wilco: The Album from 2009, got the McCartney treatment. Crowd favorites from the 2001 album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot "Jesus Ect"; "I'm the Man Who Loves You"; and "Heavy Metal Drummer" allowed the audience to sing along.
My personal favorites were some of the deep cuts. "Radio King" from the Golden Smog album Down by the Mainstream and "The Ruling Class from the Loose Fur album Born Again in the USA (both side projects from past decades). The big surprise of the night was "Plateau," a Meat Puppets cover made famous by Nirvana. He closed out the show with the surreal "A Shot in the Arm" from the 1999 Wilco album Summerteeth.
Tweedy appeared to enjoy the back and forth with the audience, and I suspect enjoyed even more the chance to remix his familiar tunes outside of the Wilco context. By going outside the Wilco box, Tweedy has continued to evolve as songwriter and author, while maintaining the Wilco machine, conscience of the Midwest since 1994.
In "Replay" Sanaa Lathan (Nina) and Damson Idris (Dorian) are a mother and son who are repeatedly harassed by a racist cop (Glenn Fleshler). Nina is driving Damson to college for freshman orientation and discovers her old camcorder can turn back time. "Replay" is in the tradition of Rod Serling who never shied away from controversial topics, in this case racial profiling and the abuse of power from law enforcement.
The episode begins in a typical American diner on a lonely highway. Nina feels apprehension about Dorian starting college so she's documenting every part of the trip. Alienated from her family for unspecified reasons, she passes up on an opportunity visit her estranged brother Neil (Steve Harris). In the diner an ominous cop appears to be eyeing them, reminiscent of the policeman tracking Janet Leigh in Psycho.
On their first encounter the officer pulls them over and immediately gets belligerent and things don't end well. Nina accidentally hits the rewind button on the camcorder and she's back at the diner. What follows is a variation on the Groundhog Day situation of knowing what's coming and changing your actions to avoid negative outcomes.
Fleshler plays the stock villain of trump era to a tee: the aggrieved middle aged white man who feels emboldened to harass and even hurt groups he resents. You imagine him stocking on ammo and consuming a steady diet of Fox News and trump tweets. In one of the scenarios Nina attempts to make a human connection with him to absolutely no avail. As Nina tries to decipher way out of her deadly time loop, she must confront her own past.
An understated episode with some quiet and powerful moments, "Replay" taps into the more hopeful side of The Twilight Zone.
Parkland by Dave Cullen tells the story of the group of students who galvanized the world by calling out their elders for years of inaction about mass shootings. On February 14, 2018 a shooter armed with automatic weapons walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and killed 17 individuals. Occurring a few months after the the Las Vegas mass shooting that took 59 lives and the Sutherland Springs church shooting in Texas where 27 were killed - mass shootings were the new normal. The ritualistic aftermath of wall to wall media coverage, perfunctory wishes of thoughts and prayers, and then just waiting for the next one. Gun control was a non-starter in the GOP controlled congress.
The narrative changed when a band of High School students, none of them old enough to vote, declared ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH. Survivors of the Parkland shooting decided to revolt: Senior Emma Gonzalez called BS on the NRA and their puppet politicians. It was the start of a new movement. Cullen provides a fly on the wall account of how these kids took on the status quo.
Cullen paints a vibrant portrait of these kids as he walks us along on their journey. The book describes the culture of the High School, with over 3000 students and countless cliques. On the day of the shooting most of them spent hours in lockdown wondering if they would live. From day one they proved adept at handling all media, wielding social media like a samurai knife.
Media sensations less than 12 hours after the shooting, a flurry of criticism also came their way. Conspiracy theorists claimed one of the leaders Davd Hogg was a "crisis actor" for the deep state, followed by more far out nonsense from the fringe right. Harassment by online trolls were an everyday occurrence for them, with encouragement from Fox News and the NRA.
The kids decided to not align themselves with any political party, nor endorse any candidates. Being mostly privileged white kids, it was not lost on them that fact alone accounted for the media attention. Youth movements by African-American kids in Chicago were mostly ignored. So they outreached to Chicago and other cities plagued by gun violence, places not on white America's radar. The March For Our Lives on March 24, 2018 brought students and adults from all walks of life together.
Cullen also writes about the PTSD survivors were going through and social pressures they faced. There was jealousy and hard feelings as they took on responsibilities most adults shy away from. Over the summer of 2018 the kids embarked on a bus tour of the country, intentionally driving through Red States to engage with those who disagreed with their message for more gun control (not a repeal of the 2nd Amendment). The goal is for smart gun control. They understood their mastery of social media could only go so far, there was no substitute for face to face contact.
Cullen also wrote the definitive book on the Columbine shooting and confessed his growing apathy on gun violence in America as no hope appeared on the horizon. He ends the book citing Bruce Springsteen reflecting on how the March For Our Lives renewed his faith in America in the grim trump era, it was "a necessary day . . . to remind Americans what they stood for." Parkland tells of a generation's awakening - highly recommended.
In the third adaptation of the 1961 Richard Matheson short story "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," Adam Scott takes on the role of the terrified airline passenger. William Shatner starred in the 1963 TV version and John Lithgow in the 1983 segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie. Written by Marco Ramirez with story credit to Jordan Peele, this 2019 version takes a different approach with mixed results.
Scott plays investigative journalist Justin Sanderson who is renown for his war reporting. He's about to board an international flight. On the plane are a group of diverse passengers that adds a layer of cultural tension that never quite pays off. Post 9/11 movies set on passenger jets have played on those anxieties ranging from the 2005 Jody Foster vehicle Flightplan to the 2014 Liam Neeson thriller Non-Stop. Remember Snakes on a Plane! Once Justin is seated he starts listening to a podcast about famous plane crashes - maybe not the best idea.
The strength of the episode is the almost Sci-Fi setting of the airplane, creating a contrast with the claustrophobic feel of previous versions of the story. Despite the differences, this story moves in a predictable pattern, Scott's performance lacks the sense of urgency that's Shatner and Lithgow brought to the piece. On a brighter note the episode pays a nice tribute to the 1963 teleplay. The previous episode "The Comedian" is also referenced, suggesting these new stories exist in the same universe.
The Twilight Zone has returned again with Jordan Peele as Executive Producer and narrator. With some intriguing trailers and star power behind the reboot, The Twilight Zone premiered today on CBS All Access.
"The Comedian" stars Kumail Nanjiani in the title role, and also features strong supporting performances from Tracy Morgan and Jessica Williams as a rival comic. Coincidentally, one of Serling's most celebrated teleplays was also titled "The Comedian" and starred Mickey Rooney. In the 2019 version Kumail is a struggling comic. The episode begins with him doing a failed routine on gun control. The audience is more interested in their phones. Later that night Kumail meets a legendary comedian played by Morgan who encourages him to put himself out there more. Morgan takes a surprising turn as a sinister and enigmatic presence.
So Kumail begins to use people in his personal life for material. He performs routines about his dog going to the bathroom, his nephew's facility with social media, and past arguments with his girlfriend. Things get darker when he turns to social media for more material. These routines kill and suddenly his career takes off.
Of course this is The Twilight Zone and Kumail's new found fame comes at a high price. Much is written today of the state of comedy in the current political environment. Mainstream comedies tend to avoid politics in favor of bathroom humor and insult comedy. Even attempts at satire from stalwarts like Saturday Night Live and late night TV often come off as obsolete. "The Comedian" implicates zoned out audiences and on a superficial level comics that go for the lowest common denominator. Perhaps the script by Alex Rubens could've taken these themes a bit further. Still, the episode is well acted and moves along at a quick pace.
Jordan Peele's Twilight Zone will inevitably be compared to Black Mirror. I don't think his Twilight Zone will go as nihilistic as Black Mirror. After all, Serling's series had just as many optimistic endings as bleak ones, yet it's those shocking twists everyone remembers. Serling was always more cerebral, and I think Peele will take the series in that direction.
