All but five of 1999’s 42 favorite films are dramas. Two are comedies. There ais one action, Run Lola Run, one science fiction, Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and possibly one horror film, Felicia’s Journey.

1999’s favorites included six foreign language films compared to seven and three foreign language films the previous two years.

Again, though no documentaries made the favorite films List, Return With Honor, in spite of a not too subtle message with which I disagreed somewhat is, nonetheless, a powerful and touching movie. So is The Last Days.  Mr. Death is intriguing. I have not yet seen American Movie, 42 Up or The Buena Vista Social Club.

The more obscure 1999 favorite films include Metroland, The Dreamliife Of Angels,  Xiu Xiu The Sent Down Girl, The War Zone and Felicia’s Journey.  All five of these, for whatever reason or just coincidence perhaps, featured women in leading roles usually as victims, sometimes as heroines, sometimes both.

Near misses, that is, the best 5.5’s are Tea With Mussolini,  Besieged,  The Limey, The Bone Collector and Ride With The Devil. Another 5.5, The Blair Witch Project, cannot be characterized as a near miss.

Being John Malkovich (4.0) received many very good reviews. I think that it had one very witty sight gag (which it overdid terribly) and a couple of fairly interesting and eccentric characters. If you liked it, please write and tell me what I missed. John Sayles' Limbo (4.5) which also received some plaudits, started off quite promisingly then failed to  resolve any of its many plots but rather simply ended in the middle of nowhere, in “Limbo” so to speak, thereby reducing my rating by as much a point and a half. If you felt differently about this film I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

Best actresses are Emily Watson for Metroland, Cradle will Rock and Angela’s Ashes, Hilary Swank for Boys Don’t Cry and Julianne Moore for The End Of The Affair. Best actors are Kevin Spacey for American Beauty, Ed Norton for Fight Club, Sean Penn for Sweet And Lowdown, Al  Pacino for The Insider, both Stephen Rhea and Ralph Fiennes for The End Of The Affair and Denzel Washington for The Hurricane.

I have not yet seen The Emperor or The Assassin.