Title:
Best Movie Year Ever: How 1999 Blew Up
the Big Screen
Author:
Brian Raftery
Read
by: George Newbern
Publisher:
Simon & Shuster Audio
Length:
Approximately 10 hours and 55 minutes
Source:
Review Copy from Simon & Shuster Audio.
Thank-you!
Words
cannot express how much I enjoyed this audiobook. I love movies and books . . . and listening
to an audiobook about movies is right up my ally. Even better is that I was 21 years old in
1999 so I will go along with the thesis that 1999 was a premiere year for
movies. I always have read and heard how
1939 was the premiere movie year so it was interesting to listen to a new
perspective, and one that is more current.
I
was surprised listening to this audiobook just how many excellent movies came
out in 1999: Fight Club, Office Space,
The Matrix, The Sixth Sense, 10 Things I Hate About You are just a few examples
and all movies I love. As a young woman,
I was in college, and watching these movies either at the theatre or on
videotape. I remember watching The Blair
Witch project on campus with the cheap movies that would play weekly through
the year.
This
audiobook had a great narrator who made it interesting to listen to – I love
his conversational, enthused tone. He made
the audiobook like a conversation I would have with a friend about movies. It was very entertaining.
I
had not watched all of the movies that were mentioned, but I found it all
interesting. Author Brian Raftery
masterfully gives not only a summary of what the movie is about, but what made
it special and capture the imagination of people in 1999. There were insights into how the movie was
made, marketed, and released. It also
had interviews from those involved in the making of the movie from the actors,
actresses, directors, etc. It discussed
why the movie fit into what people were feeling at the time. It was fascinating, even learning about movies
that I have not seen.
I’ll
admit I loved when favorite movie critics from the 90’s (example Owen
Gleiberman from Entertainment Weekly) and Premiere magazine were mentioned. I was a subscriber to both Entertainment
Weekly and Premiere at the time and it was a great blast from the past.
I
really liked the discussion about how the proliferation of indie movies at the
time allowed freedom, experimentation, and unique movies. It made me sad that we don’t see that now,
but author Brian Raftery made a case for TV having taken over the mantel
shortly afterwards with the Sopranos and how now many of the new daring movies
are shown on streaming services. It was
a very interesting discussion point.
Overall,
Best Movie Year Ever: How 1999 Blew Up
the Big Screen is a fascinating audiobook for those that love movies and late
90’s culture or who would like to learn about it. I
would love to listen to more audiobooks like this. Does anyone else know of other good books
about movies? I hope Brian Raftery
writes more books!
I learned a few facts from your post, Laura. This audiobook sounds very interesting. Terrific review!
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