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From a veteran culture writer and modern movie expert, a celebration and analysis of the movies of 1999 - arguably the most groundbreaking year in American cinematic history.

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 21st century. It was a watershed moment that also produced The Sopranos; Apple’s Airport; Wi-Fi; and Netflix’s unlimited DVD rentals.

Best. Movie. Year. Ever. is the story of not just how these movies were made, but how they remade our own vision of the world. It features more than 130 new and exclusive interviews with such directors and actors as Reese Witherspoon, 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 definitive account of a culture-conquering movie year none of us saw coming...and that we may never see again.

Reviewer: JohnnyThunder
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Heavily researched Nostalgia, a great read for those who were theater-bound in 1999.
Review: I was gifted this book and have since the gifted this book. If you were at the movies in 1999 this book is an excellent examination of the astonishing number of great movies in 1999 from the smallest independent hits all the way to the revelation of what The Matrix truly is. The Author maintains focus on the films of that year with just the right amount of comparison to the decades before and the decades since. I'm not one for lots of nostalgia, but this book was a wonderful reminder to me of why I love movies, and how many influential ones appeared in 1999.

Reviewer: GuessHoo57
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Best Book of the Year, Ever...
Review: An exhaustive, sometimes exhausting but always entertaining look at the game-changing films of 1999, a stellar year in film. The book includes lots of facts and anecdotes about the era that you don't even remember you forgot. The only crit I can offer is that if you 1) don't remember the era or 2) don't know most of the films profiled I'm not sure you'd enjoy this, as the chapters on films I haven't seen (only a couple) didn't engage me. The set up was a little dry and profiles of some of the films were uneven--again, probably depends on which films you are most interested in--peruse the movie titles that are covered if you're curious. Regardless, this is a great, well-written and fun book, something I bought new, I was so excited to get my hands on it, and I was really happy with it, it was a great read.

Reviewer: Barbie
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Thank you History of the 90s podcast
Review: Bought this book after hearing about it on the History of the 90s podcasts. So many great movies to come out in 1999, I didn't realize. Need to rewatch a few

Reviewer: Jeff Ferguson
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Take this red pill.
Review: This book was a treat. It was incredibly readable, and it kept me turning pages for hours at a time as I sped through it over the course of a few days. The author's passion for the subject was readily apparent, and it felt like a true labour of love.I've felt for a long time that there was something very special about 1999 in film, and I was thrilled to see the reasons why elucidated so clearly. I was just thirteen during that magical year, and c. 2000 - 2001 was the height of a recent-movie-obsession for me as I spent a LOT of time watching movies on TMN (the Canadian version of HBO) --- I've seen all but maybe three of the films profiled in this book, and most of the ones I've seen are also ones I've loved.The depth of Raftery's research is stunning, and every chapter sees the reader surprised at some of the big names who spoke to him to provide quotes and insight. The way he utilizes their words turns the book into a sort of oral history, a method that was also used to great effect in the recent Kids in the Hall book by Paul Myers and which is infinitely more interesting than a straight biographical approach. I was initially worried that reading about the production of every movie would be a bit of a repetitive slog, but I was happy to be proven wrong, as Raftery places those production stories in the wider context of film history and discusses the impacts that they had on the industry. Not a single story feels out of place.The epilogue was a nice touch, too, reflecting on how filmmaking has changed over the past twenty years, analyzing the long-form storytelling explosion on television (that also began in 1999), and looking to streaming services as the current and future home of the kinds of daring, experimental and radical movies that theaters in 1999 were showing in spades. This book isn't mere nostalgia porn for Gen-Xers and Gen-Yers by any means, but is instead a detailed look at an important chapter of cinematic history, and possibly even a blueprint for how something like it can happen again. Cinephiles, fans of film history, and anyone like me who spent much of their teenage years parked in front of a screen, should absolutely buy this book. It's a red pill worth taking.

Reviewer: Phineas McGovern
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Interesting behind the scenes read
Review: Brian Raftery does a great job exploring the behind the scenes stories of the movies touched on throughout the book, each with a slightly different take. The overall premise seems to be that filmmakers were doing something different in 1999 that they hadn't done prior, however the focus seems to be more so on the independent films as being the ones that changed it (with the exception of The Matrix). Overall, very interesting, however not quite convinced 1999 was the best movie year ever.

Reviewer: chief11
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: For Pop Culture Enthusiasts
Review: I'm a self-professed pop culture nerd... one that "came of age" in 1999/2000. This book was really thorough and interesting, going beyond the typical surface-level Wiki details. I had watched most of these films already but the book made me want to return to them.A great addition to your library if you, too, consider yourself a pop culture enthusiast.

Reviewer: Mark
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Interesting
Review: It's interesting, but merely scratches the surface

Reviewer: MTL
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Incredibly Entertaining!
Review: I became completely absorbed in this book the second I started it. I never really thought about how exceptional certain years were for film, and I now find myself revisiting a bunch of films from 1999! If you are a film fan or want to gift this to someone who loves movies, it will not disappoint.

Reviewer: Rei
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: 1999 was such a formative year for me regarding movies, and this was a delightful read. I enjoyed the behind the scenes info on movies I loved from that year, and the chance to catch up on movies I missed. Highly recommend.

Reviewer: Sebastian Zavala
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Before reading this book, I had never considered 1999 as a particularly awesome year for movies. And this come from a 90s kid, who feels a great deal of nostalgia for said decade and its pop culture influences! But now that I've read it... yeah, I get where the author is coming from. This is a very informative, entertaining and well-researched book, which makes a very good case for 1999 being an amazing year for American movies. After all, it dedicates most of its chapters to such classics as The Matrix, Election, The Best Man, The Mummy (oh, how I love that movie...), Run Lola Run, Magnolia, and many more.And it even considers more controversial choices, such as The Phantom Menace, Fight Club, American Beauty or The Blair Witch Project. After all, it does deal with the importance of these pictures on every level: artistically, commercially, and even they way the influence the industry as a whole, and the way movies are made. The book even acknowledges the fact that some fans (like me), have been re-evaluating Star Wars Episode I, and includes a couple of quotes from Ahmed Best! All in all, this was a fantastic read; again, incredibly well-researched and well written, and even a little nostalgic. Yes, 1999 was a fantastic year for films: a year that gave us a new generation of filmmakers, who managed to deal with a great range of topics through their art, many of which are still working today. If this book doesn't make you want to seek out any of the 1999 films you haven't seen yet... then nothing will!

Reviewer: Kimonline
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This is well written and engaging book but its doesn't make a compelling case for 1999 being the best movie year ever.A couple of the films highlighted I didn't know or remember. While there were indeed some outstanding films that year, such as the brilliant Fight Club, I suspect a similar case could be made for a great many other calendar years, not least those during the 1970s.As another reviewer said, what it sadly does highlight is the tragic decline of the industry in the 21st century, with pre-covid cinemas almost entirely occupied by endless super heroes tales and other franchises. such a shame.

Reviewer: Alex Meeres
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Fascinating interviews and details about an unforgettable year for moviegoers and filmmakers alike. There are some strange connections I would have thought a editor would clean up, like how "Run, Lola Run" is thought to be a product of "sprawling, role-playing epics like Myst." It's an ill-fitting description of that game and its puzzle-clicking ilk, and a weak link to the hyperkinetic feel of the movie in question. Stranger still is that a video-game junkie culture is not discussed at all in the chapter about The Matrix and its contemporary virtual reality films like ExistenZ.Still, this is a fun read and hard to put down. I'm inspired to do a movie marathon of 1999 films, and take in a whole lot more originality and daring than I'd get watching any of the major super-franchises these days.

Reviewer: David Litchfield
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: A really enjoyable and interesting look at this great year in recent movie history.