Best Film of the Year

Rating: 10/10 (18 March 2000)

An amazingly hilarious and undeniably strange film, BJM was perhaps a little too "out there" for Academy members, but it was without a doubt the best film of '99 in my book. I cannot recall ever laughing harder in a cinema than I did in the scene in which Malkovich enters his own portal. The film's ideas, scenery, and cast all make for an undeniably fresh look at cinema, and the casting of Malkovich was destiny. He's the last person you'd expect to star in the comedy of the year, and perhaps that's why the film works so effectively. I've tried to explain this film to my friends in Germany (I saw the film in California, while visiting in winter, and BJM won't be out here until may (!)) yet I wish I had never tried to explain it. It can't be explained, nor should it be! I have also bought Carter Burwell's score...brilliant! I can't see why that wasn't nominated for best score. It's the richest, darkest, and therefore most original piece of music ever set to a comedy, and it adds a completely new layer to the film. I recommend this film to anyone who thought the Oscar nominations were a bit thin, and to anyone who is tired of "cookie cutter" hollywood productions that are either sequels, remakes, or films that SEEM like sequels and remakes (Double Jeprody? Green Mile? You've got mail? Runaway Bride? Boiler Room? Why don't we just call these movies "The Fugitive in a Dress," "The Shawshank Magic Man," "Meg and Tom III," "Pretty Woman got Married" and "Wall Street Jr."??) Spike Jonze obviously couldn't take anymore monotony, and made BJM. Thank God he did.