1999 Academy Award Winners

1999 Academy Award Nominees and Winners

And the winners are...

Just to prove that every Oscar show is a combination of pain and pleasure, the 1999 Awards afforded me my lowest number of current predictions since I started paying attention to all this a decade ago . . . but it was also, in my opinion, the warmest, most compelling broadcast of the decade. Also, though many of my favorite films and filmmakers failed to get nominated in their respective categories, and I was atypically ambivalent as to several of the outcomes, I was happy to see that my favorite nominees in several categories did prevail, and my one shining star candidate, whom I wanted to win more than I did anyone else, managed to pull in a well-earned trophy—so, three cheers, Hilary Swank!

Besides Swank's Best Actress victory, highlights of the telecast for me included Warren Beatty's eloquent and succinct acceptance of his Irving Thalberg Award; the charming explosions of joy by Foreign Film winner Pedro Almodóvar and the longtime friends and cast members, Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas, who handed him his statue; Kevin Spacey's sincere shout-out to his mom (which came across as equally sincere but less florid than Tom Hanks' tributes to his teachers in 1993 and his wife in 1994); and the fact that everyone on stage looked glamorous, professional, appreciative, and all-around happy to be there. Roberto Benigni even kept a lid on it for the most part; what more is a TV-watcher to ask for?

On the left, my predictions, on the right the winners. The prognostications I goofed on are in red, which is sort of a self-flagellating gesture, given how poorly I fared. Then again, there's always next year...

Who I Predicted

BEST PICTURE
American Beauty
The Cider House Rules
The Green Mile
The Insider
The Sixth Sense

BEST DIRECTOR
Lasse Hallström, The Cider House Rules
Spike Jonze, Being John Malkovich
Michael Mann, The Insider
Sam Mendes, American Beauty
M. Night Shyamalan, The Sixth Sense

BEST ACTRESS
Annette Bening, American Beauty
Janet McTeer, Tumbleweeds
Julianne Moore, The End of the Affair
Meryl Streep, Music of the Heart
Hilary Swank, Boys Don't Cry

BEST ACTOR
Russell Crowe, The Insider
Richard Farnsworth, The Straight Story
Sean Penn, Sweet and Lowdown
Kevin Spacey, American Beauty
Denzel Washington, The Hurricane

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Toni Collette, The Sixth Sense
Angelina Jolie, Girl, Interrupted
Catherine Keener, Being John Malkovich
Samantha Morton, Sweet and Lowdown
Chloë Sevigny, Boys Don't Cry

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Michael Caine, The Cider House Rules
Tom Cruise, Magnolia
Michael Clarke Duncan, The Green Mile
Jude Law, The Talented Mr. Ripley
Haley Joel Osment, The Sixth Sense

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
American Beauty, Alan Ball
Being John Malkovich, Charlie Kaufman
Magnolia, Paul Thomas Anderson
The Sixth Sense, M. Night Shyamalan
Topsy-Turvy, Mike Leigh

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Cider House Rules, John Irving
Election, A.Payne & J.Taylor
The Green Mile, Frank Darabont
The Insider, E.Roth & M.Mann
The Talented Mr. Ripley, Anthony Minghella

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
American Beauty, Conrad L. Hall
The End of the Affair, Roger Pratt
The Insider, Dante Spinotti
Sleepy Hollow, Emmanuel Lubezki
Snow Falling on Cedars, Robert Richardson

ART DIRECTION
Anna and the King, Luciana Arrighi
The Cider House Rules, David Gropman
Sleepy Hollow, Rick Heinrichs
The Talented Mr. Ripley, Roy Walker
Topsy-Turvy, Eve Stewart

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Anna and the King, Jenny Beaven
Sleepy Hollow, Colleen Atwood
The Talented Mr. Ripley, A.Roth & G.Jones
Titus, Milena Canonero
Topsy-Turvy, Lindy Hemming

BEST EDITING
American Beauty, T.Anwar & C.Greenbury
The Cider House Rules, Lisa Zeno Churgin
The Insider, W.Goldenberg & P.Rubell
The Matrix, Zach Staenberg
The Sixth Sense, Andrew Monshein

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
American Beauty, Thomas Newman
Angela's Ashes, John Williams
The Cider House Rules, Rachel Portman
The Red Violin, John Corigliano
The Talented Mr. Ripley, Gabriel Yared

BEST FOREIGN FILM
All About My Mother
Caravan
East-West
Solomon and Gaenor
Under the Sun

BEST DOC. FEATURE
Buena Vista Social Club
Genghis Blues
On the Ropes
One Day in September
Speaking in Strings

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Blame Canada," South Park: Bigger...
"Music of My Heart," Music of the Heart
"Save Me," Magnolia
"When She Loved Me," Toy Story 2
"You'll Be in My Heart," Tarzan

BEST SOUND
The Green Mile
The Insider
The Matrix
The Mummy
Star Wars, Ep I: The Phantom Menace

BEST SOUND EFFECTS
Fight Club
The Matrix
Star Wars, Ep I: The Phantom Menace

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Matrix
Star Wars, Ep I: The Phantom Menace
Stuart Little

BEST MAKEUP
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Bicentennial Man
Life
Topsy-Turvy

Who Copped the Trophy