Best. Movie. Year. Ever.

How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen

By: Brian Raftery

Narrated by: George Newbern

From a veteran culture writer and modern movie expert, a celebration and analysis of the movies of 1999—“a terrifically fun snapshot of American film culture on the brink of the Millennium….An absolute must for any movie-lover or pop-culture nut” (Gillian Flynn).

In 1999, Hollywood as we know it exploded: Fight Club. The Matrix. Office Space. Election. The Blair Witch Project. The Sixth Sense. Being John Malkovich. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. American Beauty. The Virgin Suicides. Boys Don’t Cry. The Best Man. Three Kings. Magnolia. Those are just some of the landmark titles released in a dizzying movie year, one in which a group of daring filmmakers and performers pushed cinema to new limits—and took audiences along for the ride. Freed from the restraints of budget, technology, or even taste, they produced a slew of classics that took on every topic imaginable, from sex to violence to the end of the world. The result was a highly unruly, deeply influential set of films that would not only change filmmaking, but also give us our first glimpse of the coming twenty-first century. It was a watershed moment that also produced The Sopranos; Apple’s Airport; Wi-Fi; and Netflix’s unlimited DVD rentals.

“A spirited celebration of the year’s movies” (Kirkus Reviews), Best. Movie. Year. Ever. is the story of not just how these movies were made, but how they re-made our own vision of the world. It features more than 130 new and exclusive interviews with such directors and actors as Reese Witherspoon, Edward Norton, Steven Soderbergh, Sofia Coppola, David Fincher, Nia Long, Matthew Broderick, Taye Diggs, M. Night Shyamalan, David O. Russell, James Van Der Beek, Kirsten Dunst, the Blair Witch kids, the Office Space dudes, the guy who played Jar-Jar Binks, and dozens more. It’s “the complete portrait of what it was like to spend a year inside a movie theater at the best possible moment in time” (Chuck Klosterman).

Great book

I’m a huge fan of 1990s film and worked in a theater for about six years in my late teens and early twenties. This audiobook captures that era of my life perfectly and gives a lot of insight into my favorite films of 1999.

Well worth the time and Audible credit and the narrator is perfect😎

What WAS I doing in 1999?

Please invent that time machine RIGHT NOW!! or I will just go on admonishing myself for not seeing a lot of these movies in the theaters LIKE Fight Club or Election...If I was in any way religious, I would be beating my own back right now SIGH. Sorry Paul Bettany Yes I went there.
Anyways, I loved everything about this book from start to finish and am getting it in hardback for Xmas. Thank you Jonathan. I remembered to thank him even though I will never win an Oscar😁

Like talking about movies with a friend

Was 1999 the best movie year ever? Who cares! The title is just a springboard to talk in-depth about a great year in American cinema.

I went through a divorce in 1999, and consoled myself by going to whatever the new movie was each Friday. Maybe that's why this story resonated for me so much.

But, if you're just a movie fan, this book will still be a great listen.

George Newbern is one of my favorite narrators, and he does a great job in bringing the listener into the book.

Wish I could find more books like this to read.

Great for movie lovers

Whether or not you’ve seen every movie discussed, the depth in which Raftery explores the winding paths and many obstacles that each film had to travel and overcome just to make it to the big screen is wholly satisfying, and enriches the film on a macro level in a way that movie lovers will love and appreciate. Learning about films within the broader cultural and political moments of the time is unendingly interesting and engaging. I wish this book existed for every movie year.

A Great Summation of my favorite movie year

Narration was a bit dry but I appreciated. It was, just as the title says, the Best Movie Year Ever