Best. Movie. Year. Ever.
How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen
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Narrated by:
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George Newbern
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By:
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Brian Raftery
About this listen
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.
©2019 Brian Raftery (P)2019 Simon & SchusterListeners also enjoyed...
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Here is the epic human drama behind the making of the five movies nominated for Best Picture in 1967 - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, The Graduate, In the Heat of the Night, Doctor Dolittle, and Bonnie and Clyde - and through them, the larger story of the cultural revolution that transformed Hollywood and America forever.
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Would It Be Too Much To Ask?
- By Casey Keller on 12-31-08
By: Mark Harris
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Steve McQueen
- A Biography
- By: Marc Eliot
- Narrated by: Marc Eliot
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and '70s with now-classics such as The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Thomas Crown Affair, and Bullit, Steve McQueen is renowned as one of the most exciting actors ever to come out of Hollywood. Now, in Steve McQueen: A Biography, best-selling author Marc Eliot gives unique insight into McQueen's life, from his films to his three marriages, many affairs, and struggles with addictions.
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Snooze
- By Cill on 10-27-11
By: Marc Eliot
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Homey Don't Play That!
- The Story of In Living Color and the Black Comedy Revolution
- By: David Peisner
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Few television shows revolutionized comedy as profoundly or have had such an enormous and continued impact on our culture as In Living Color. Inspired by Richard Pryor, Carol Burnett, and Eddie Murphy, Keenen Ivory Wayans created a television series unlike any that had come before it. In Living Color shaped American culture in ways both seen and unseen. Now, Homey Don't Play That! reveals the complete, captivating story of how In Living Color overcame enormous odds to become a major, zeitgeist-seizing hit.
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Wow, that sucked......
- By Just W on 10-11-18
By: David Peisner
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The Simpsons
- An Uncensored, Unauthorized History
- By: John Ortved
- Narrated by: John Allen Nelson, Justine Eyre
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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John Ortved's oral history is the first-ever look behind the scenes at the creation and day-to-day running of the television phenomenon known as The Simpsons, as told by many of the people who produce it.
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Great Content, Awful Reading
- By JH Easton on 03-13-11
By: John Ortved
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Age of Cage
- Four Decades of Hollywood Through One Singular Career
- By: Keith Phipps
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Nicolas Cage is many things, but love him, or laugh at him, there's no denying two things: You've seen one of his many films, and you certainly know his name. But who is he, really, and why has his career endured for over 40 years, with more than a hundred films, and birthed a million memes? Age of Cage is a smart, beguiling book about the films of Nicolas Cage and the actor himself, as well as a sharp-eyed examination of the changes that have taken place in Hollywood over the course of his career.
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Excellent filmography of a successful career
- By Pamela Plimpton on 04-04-22
By: Keith Phipps
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You Might Remember Me
- The Life and Times of Phil Hartman
- By: Mike Thomas
- Narrated by: Corey Snow
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Both joyous tribute and serious biography, Mike Thomas' You Might Remember Me is a celebration of Phil Hartman's multi-faceted career and an exhaustively reported, warts-and-all examination of his often intriguing and sometimes complicated life - a powerful, humor-filled and disquieting portrait of a man who was loved by many, admired by millions and taken from them far too early.
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I Will Remember You Phil Hartman
- By Roxanna on 12-19-14
By: Mike Thomas
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Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted
- And All the Brilliant Minds Who Made the Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic
- By: Jennifer Armstrong
- Narrated by: Amy Landon
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Mary Tyler Moore made her name as Dick Van Dyke's wife on the eponymous show; she was a cute, unassuming housewife that audiences loved. But when screenwriters James Brooks and Allan Burnes dreamed up an edgy show about a divorced woman with a career, network executives replied: "Americans won't watch television about New York City, divorcées, men with mustaches, or Jews." But Moore and her team were committed, and when the show finally aired, in spite of tepid reviews, fans loved it.
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An Interesting Story That Never Quite Gets Told
- By S. Blythe on 07-26-13
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Rebel
- My Life Outside the Lines
- By: Nick Nolte
- Narrated by: Nick Nolte, Christian Baskous
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In a career spanning five decades, Nick Nolte has endured the rites of Hollywood celebrity. Rising from obscurity to leading roles and Oscar nominations, he has been both celebrated and vilified in the media; survived marriages, divorces, and a string of romances; was named the "Sexiest Man Alive" by People magazine; and suffered public humiliation over his drug and alcohol issues, including a drug-fueled trip down a "long road of nothingness" that ended in arrest.
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Great read! No fooling.
- By Action Joe on 05-31-18
By: Nick Nolte
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Stories I Only Tell My Friends
- An Autobiography
- By: Rob Lowe
- Narrated by: Rob Lowe
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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A teen idol at 15, an international icon and founder of the Brat Pack at 20, and one of Hollywood's top stars to this day, Rob Lowe chronicles his experiences. Never mean-spirited or salacious, Lowe delivers unexpected glimpses into his successes, disappointments, relationships, and one-of-a-kind encounters with people who shaped our world over the last 25 years. These stories are as entertaining as they are unforgettable.
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Great Book and Great Story
- By Natalie J. Belle MD on 04-30-11
By: Rob Lowe
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Shock Value
- How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror
- By: Jason Zinoman
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Much has been written about the storied New Hollywood of the 1970s, but while Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Francis Ford Coppola were making their first classic movies, a parallel universe of directors gave birth to the modern horror film - aggressive, raw, and utterly original. Based on unprecedented access to the genre's major players, New York Times critic Jason Zinoman's Shock Value delivers the first definitive account of horror's golden age.
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A good listen, but narrow in scope
- By Billy on 01-31-13
By: Jason Zinoman
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Confessions of a Puppetmaster
- A Hollywood Memoir of Ghouls, Guts, and Gonzo Filmmaking
- By: Charles Band, Adam Felber
- Narrated by: Charles Band, Sean Patrick Hopkins
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Zombies, aliens, a little skin, lots of gore - and even more laughs - the cinematic universe of Charles Band is legendary. From the toilet-invading creatures of Ghoulies to the time-travelling bounty hunter in Trancers to the pandemic-crashed Corona Zombies, Band has spent four decades giving B-movie lovers exactly what they love. In Confessions of a Puppetmaster, this congenial master of Grindhouse cinema tells his own story, uncut.
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Great story and narration
- By Jerry on 08-21-23
By: Charles Band, and others
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We Don't Need Roads
- The Making of the Back to the Future Trilogy
- By: Caseen Gaines
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Long before Marty McFly and Doc Brown traveled through time in a flying DeLorean, director Robert Zemeckis and his friend and writing partner Bob Gale worked tirelessly to break into the industry with a hit. For the first time ever, the story of how these two young filmmakers struck lightning is being told by those who witnessed it. We Don't Need Roads includes original interviews with Zemeckis, Gale, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Huey Lewis, and over 50 others who contributed to one of the most popular and profitable film trilogies of all time.
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Great for fans - good for others.
- By Pete Johns on 06-25-15
By: Caseen Gaines
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Top of the Rock
- Inside the Rise and Fall of Must See TV
- By: Warren Littlefield, T. R. Pearson
- Narrated by: Bob Balaban
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Warren Littlefield was the NBC President of Entertainment who oversaw the Peacock Network’s rise from also-ran to a division that generated a billion dollars in profits. In this fast-paced and exceptionally entertaining oral history, Littlefield and NBC luminaries including Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Kelsey Grammer, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, Julianna Marguiles, Anthony Edwards, Noah Wylie, Debra Messing, Jack Welch, Jimmy Burrows, Helen Hunt, and Dick Wolf vividly recapture the incredible era of Must See TV.
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Nostalgic Look at NBC in the 90's
- By Jill on 10-10-12
By: Warren Littlefield, and others
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I Only Know Who I Am When I Am Somebody Else
- My Life on the Street, on the Stage, and in the Movies
- By: Danny Aiello, Gil Reavill
- Narrated by: Danny Aiello
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Beloved stage and screen actor Danny Aiello’s big-hearted memoir reveals a man of passion, integrity, and guts - and lays bare one of the most unlikely success stories ever told. Danny Aiello admits that he backed into his acting career by mistake. That’s easy to see when you begin at the beginning: Raised by his loving and fiercely resilient mother in the tenements of Manhattan and the South Bronx, and forever haunted by the death of his infant brother, Danny struggled early on to define who he was and who he could be.
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I want to give Danny Aiello a big hug.
- By Mari K. on 01-22-15
By: Danny Aiello, and others
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In 2006, an oddball group of bankers, traders and brokers from some of the world's largest financial institutions made a startling realization: Libor - the London interbank offered rate, which determines the interest rates on trillions in loans worldwide - was set daily by a small group of easily manipulated functionaries, and that they could reap huge profits by nudging it to suit their trading portfolios.
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Does anyone "proofread" the audio book?
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In Oscar Wars, Michael Schulman chronicles the remarkable, sprawling history of the Academy Awards and the personal dramas—some iconic, others never-before-revealed—that have played out on the stage and off camera. Unlike other books on the subject, each chapter takes a deep dive into a particular year, conflict, or even category that tells a larger story of cultural change, from Louis B. Mayer to Moonlight. Schulman examines how the red carpet runs through contested turf, and the victors aren't always as clear as the names drawn from envelopes.
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It Came From the Video Aisle!
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For the independent film lover!
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Almost Interesting
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David Spade is best known for his harsh "Hollywood Minute" sketches on SNL, his starring roles in movies like Tommy Boy and Joe Dirt, and his seven-year stint as Dennis Finch on the series Just Shoot Me. Now, with a wit as dry as the weather in his home state of Arizona, the "comic brat extraordinaire" delivers a memoir.
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Everything You Could Want in an Autobiography
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Shock Value
- How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror
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Much has been written about the storied New Hollywood of the 1970s, but while Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Francis Ford Coppola were making their first classic movies, a parallel universe of directors gave birth to the modern horror film - aggressive, raw, and utterly original. Based on unprecedented access to the genre's major players, New York Times critic Jason Zinoman's Shock Value delivers the first definitive account of horror's golden age.
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A good listen, but narrow in scope
- By Billy on 01-31-13
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The Everything Box
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A beautiful, ambitious angel stands on a mountaintop, surveying the world and its little inhabitants below. He smiles because soon, the last of humanity who survived the great flood will meet its end, too. And he should know. He's going to play a big part in it. Our angel usually doesn't get to do fieldwork, and if he does well, he's certain he'll get a big promotion.
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Everything not for Everyone
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A Dirty Job
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People start dropping dead around Charlie, giant ravens perch on his building, and it seems that everywhere he goes, a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Strange names start appearing on his nightstand notepad, and before he knows it, those people end up dead, too. Yup, it seems that Charlie Asher has been recruited for a new job, an unpleasant but utterly necessary one: Death.
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Great Listen!
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- Pen Name
- 10-18-23
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😎
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- Tia M. MacCornack
- 10-01-20
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😁
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- jwj
- 09-15-20
Really quite good
Takes a solid if not exhaustive look at the seminal films of 1999. Makes a strong case for it being the best movie year, though, admittedly, some of the movies discussed are just too far out there (Magnolia, Being John Malkovich, Eyes Wide Shut). Good insights and backbstories throughout.
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- Ryan B.
- 05-24-23
Way better than I expected!
I loved all the side stories mixed in with the movie facts and major events. Very nostalgic and very interesting.
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- ben
- 05-20-20
Terrific!
A grand work that does everything a movie book should. Makes you want to rewatch or watch for the first time, all of the movies. Puts you in the time and place, gives context for everything, tells funny and interesting stories, and is a real page turner. Best book.
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- J.B.
- 09-11-22
Surprisingly enthralling
This book about movies was so engaging, I almost sat down to listen to it with a bucket of popcorn. The level of detail the author goes into about how each film was made is astounding. I thought I already knew the stories of films like "The Blair Witch" and "The Matrix", but I came away with a deeper appreciation for them and their creators. Beyond the individual films, Raftery expertly paints a bigger picture of how these films represented—and further shaped—the era from which they emerged, and how their deep influence on culture overall has left a lasting (perhaps eternal) mark.
The narrator also did an excellent job with the material and was a good fit for the book. A professional reading, uncolored by personal interpretation. There are moments where it would be easy to take creative liberties with the work, especially when reading quotes from films and other pop culture touchpoints. It was jarring the first couple of times to hear such familiar lines delivered straight, but I came to appreciate that presentation. It felt like more of a serious (but enjoyable) retelling of history than a hey-'member-this fest.
If I could take away half a star, though, it would be for two reasons:
First, though I enjoyed Newbern's reading, there were a few pronunciation quirks that make my eye twitch. There's a whole section about "The Mummy", and every time he reads "Fraser" (should be pronounced "fray-sir") as "Frasier", I wanted to throw my phone across the room. There's a particular stretch where the name pops up several times in less than a minute. I was yelling, "Fraser! FRASER!!" by the end of it. That was the most prominent one, but there were a couple of others. However, that was my only gripe about the reading.
The other reason I'd take away the half star is for the epilogue. I get why, compared to a movie year like 1999, it's easy to lament the downfall of cinema and chalk it up to, "People don't like smart stuff anymore, they just want a hundred Avengers movies!" There's a half-hearted nod to current innovators like A24 and Annapurna, and an acknowledgement that doomsayers always wail when the youngins start up with their hippity hops and their color picture shows. But for all the focus this book puts on how the new kids in 1999 turned the entertainment world on its head, the lack of foresight and understanding is frustrating. Someone new always comes along, funneling their childhood influences through the latest technologies and trends, and makes something unexpected that shakes up visual storytelling as we know it. Who cares if we don't have 57 groundbreaking theatrical wide releases every year? There's still plenty of incredible and challenging filmmaking happening, more than most people can find the time for. Raftery does give this idea a mention, but the overall sense is a longing for the good ol' days when films were real films instead of movies and TV. I'd rather have ended on an optimistic note, excited for what a new generation's version of a 1999 will be. However, since this is such a comparatively short blurb at the end, it doesn't take away from the insight and entertainment of the rest of the book. So five stars it is.
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- Andrew
- 07-19-23
Enthralling listen if you’re nostalgic for the era
This is exactly what I was hoping for. A comprehensive, film by film narrative of an excellent movie year
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- Shawn Inmon
- 05-30-19
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.
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- P. H.
- 07-20-20
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.
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-22-23
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
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