In 1999, I was a sophomore in high school, I got my drivers’ license, and I gave my life over to Christ and decided to go into full-time ministry. Clearly, it was a big year for me, but what about in Hollywood?

On a recent episode of the Filmspotting podcast, longtime hosts Josh Larsen and Adam Kempenaar listed their top 5 years of film. This is one that was on both of their lists. So it shouldn’t surprise you that in this highly favored year that I am going to have more than 1 number 1. Unlike 2007, this one isn’t so much a tie as it is the consideration of this exercise as a death match. If only the winners from each year are left for eternity to represent that year, then I need both of these films because they speak to the larger shift in cinema.

In my mind, the films of a year speak to the cultural landscape of the time, and prior to 9/11 in 2001, one of the biggest cultural shifts (at least in my life) was the school shooting at Columbine school in Littleton, Colorado on April 20, 1999. Today, it seems like school shootings happen everyday and they don’t have time to linger on our consciousness the way they did because of the constant barrage of the news cycle. At the time, I don’t think that Columbine played a role in that decision, but it definitely shaped my life from that point forward.

The films of 1999, whether I saw them at that time or years later, have solidified my love and passion for cinema. I was a film lover years before I became a Christian, but my entire worldview shifted in a moment and these films form a cultural microcosm for me and speak deeply. Continue reading 1999 Best Movie Bracket →