Best Movie
Winner!Magnolia – Magnolia is Paul Anderson’s three-hour epic of loss, loneliness, forgiveness and coincidence. Beautifully shot and engagingly acted, Magnolia can alternately humor, sadden, shock and amaze as it weaves together a multitude of story lines about several people in southern California showing the collisions and near misses of human frailty.

also nominated: Afterlife, American Beauty, Being John Malkovich, Boys Don’t Cry, The Iron Giant, Rushmore, The Winslow Boy

Best Director
Winner!Spike Jonze for Being John Malkovich – In his feature film directorial debut, young Spike Jonzes stunned us all with the complicated, bizarrely hilarious Being John Malkovich. Jonze made his name as a video and commercial director, and has appeared in a handful of films as an actor, including this year’s Chlotrudis nominee, Three Kings. While other directors might have squeezed much of the originality out of Kaufman’s screenplay, Jonze imbues it with a combination of uproarious humor, squirm-in-your-seat discomfort, and thought-provoking pondering. Jonze is a true original, and whoever let him direct Being John Malkovich for his first feature film deserves an award as well.

also nominated: Anderson, Paul Thomas for Magnolia, Bertolucci, Bernardo for Besieged, Chen, Joan for Xiu Xiu: the Sent Down Girl, Mamet, David for The Winslow Boy, Mendes, Samfor American Beauty, Peirce, Kimberly for Boys Don’t Cry, Tykwer, Tom for Run, Lola, Run

Best Actress
Winner!Hilary Swank for the role of Brandon Teena in Boys Don’t Cry – Best known for her roles in The Next Karate Kid and Beverly Hills 90210, Swank is not the first person who comes to mind when thinking of who might be able to pull off the very difficult role of Brandon Teena. Surprisingly, she not only pulls it off, she succeeds marvelously, bringing us a portrayal that not only convinces us that she can make her friends believe she is a man, but shows us the vulnerabilities, dreams and problems plaguing this young woman who ignores the horrible limitations society places upon her and strives to live her life the way she needs to.

also nominated: Bening, Annette for the role of Carolyn Burnham in American Beauty, Bouchez, Elodie for the role of Isa in The Dreamlife of Angels, Moore, Julianne for the roles of Sarah Miles in The End of the Affair and Mrs. Laura Cheveley in An Ideal Husband, Oh, Sandra for the role of Sandra in Last Night, Pidgeon, Rebecca for the role of Catherine Winslow in The Winslow Boy, Polley, Sarah for the role of Ronna Martin in Go and Harper Sloane in Guinevere, Potente, Franka for the role of Lola in Run, Lola, Run, Witherspoon, Reese for the role of Tracy Flick in Election

Best Actor
Winner!Kevin Spacey for the role of Lester Burnham in American Beauty – Spacey is a Chlotrudis Awards favorite, having won two Best Supporting Actor awards, one in 1995 for The Usual Suspects, and won in 1997 for L. A. Confidential. This year he moves to the Best Actor category in what may be the strongest role of his career. Lester Burnham is a dissatisfied family man living in the suburbs. He hates his job, he’s lusting after his teenaged daughter’s best friend, and he and his wife seem to have nothing in common. Spacey takes us on a roller-coaster ride as Burnham radically change his life, only to have an epiphany at the film’s conclusion about what is really important in life, and he does it in a way that makes us believe it.

also nominated: Matthew Broderick for the role of Jim McAllister in Election, Rupert Everett for the role of Lord Arthur Goring in An Ideal Husband, Richard Farnsworth for the role of Alvin Straight in The Straight Story, Bob Hoskins for the role of Joseph Ambrose Hilditch in Felicia’s Journey, Don McKellar for the role of Patrick Wheeler in Last Night, Jason Schwartzman for the role of Max Fischer in Rushmore, Ben Silverstone for the role of Steven Carter in Get Real

Best Supporting Actress
Winner!Catherine Keener for the role of Maxine in Being John Malkovich – The highly underrated Keener shines brightly as the sure-of-herself, sharp Maxine in a role that one critic claimed “emits more steam than a New York City subway grate!” Keener first caught Chlotrudis Awards’ attention in her terrific starring performance in 1996’s Walking & Talking, for which she was nominated as Best Actress. Then last year she surprised her fans by playing the icy cool, no-nonsense wife to Ben Stiller’s bumbling professor in Your Friends & Neighbors. Her self-assured Maxine brings the house down in Being John Malkovich, earning her a deserved second Chlotrudis Award nomination. In addition, Keener is this year’s winner of the Gertrudis Award.

also nominated: Blanchett, Cate for the role of Lady Gertrud Chiltern in An Ideal Husbandand Meredith Logue in The Talented Mr. Ripley, Colette, Toni for the role of Lynn Sear in The Sixth Sense, Cusack, Joan for the role of Cheryl Lang in Arlington Road and Peggy Flemming in Runaway Bride, Diaz, Cameron for the role of Lotte Schwartz in Being John Malkovich, Jones, Cherry for the role of Hallie Flanagan in Cradle Will Rock, Sevigny, Chloe for the role of Lana in Boys Don’t Cry, Spacek, Sissy for the role of Rose Straight in The Straight Story

Best Supporting Actor
Winner!Philip Seymour Hoffman for the role of Phil Parma in Magnolia and Freddie Miles in The Talented Mr. Ripley – As expat partier Freddie Miles in The Talented Mr. Ripley, Hoffman’s performance is right on the money. He creates a repellent lout with a drawl who’s unfortunately smart enough to see through Ripley. In Magnolia, Hoffman, a hospice nurse, finds himself in the middle of his dying patient’s family drama, and summons the resources to bring healing of an emotional kind. In both of these roles, Hoffman continues to show his mastery of body and voice in the creation of a character.

also nominated: Wes Bentley for the role of Ricky Fitts in American Beauty, Tom Hollanderfor the role of Darren in Bedrooms & Hallways, John Malkovich for the role of John Malkovich in Being John Malkovich, Jonny Lee Miller for the role of Edmund Bertram in Mansfield Park, Bill Murray for the role of Herman Blume in Rushmore and Tommy Crickshaw in Cradle Will Rock, Haley Joel Osment for the role of Cole Sear in The Sixth Sense, Liev Schreiber for the role of Marty Kantrowitz in A Walk on the Moon

Best Screenplay
Winner!Being John Malkovich, screenplay by Charlie Kaufman – Is it a science fiction tale of bodily possession and immortality? Is it a morality play about life and who controls ones destiny? Or is it a look at celebrity and how we view our stars and try to take control of their lives? Whichever story Charlie Kaufman meant to tell, he clearly has written one of the most original screenplays ever to make it onto the big screen. A young man finds a portal that brings him into the head of actor John Malkovich for fifteen minutes before unceremoniously dumping him in a ditch alongside the New Jersey Turnpike. Strange? You don’t know the half of it.

also nominated: American Beauty, screenplay by Alan Ball, Election, screenplay by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor based on the novel by Tom Perrotta, eXistenZ, screenplay by David Cronenberg, The Iron Giant, screenplay by Brad Bird and Tim McCanlies based on the novel by Ted Hughes, Last Night, screenplay by Don McKellar, Mansfield Park, screenplay by Patricia Rozema based on the novel and life of Jane Austen, Rushmore, screenplay by Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson, The Sixth Sense, screenplay by M. Night Shyamalan

Best Cinematography
Winner!Frank Griebe for the film Run, Lola, Run – The story of Lola can be boiled down to a suspenseful race against the clock. What lifts Run, Lola, Run far above this standard fare, is the vision of its director and the inventiveness of its cinematography. Despite the frenetic pace of this film, the camera work shows a wide range of stillness and dizzying movement. Aerial shots, imaginative use of architecture, animated clips, filtered lighting and splashes of color (including Lola’s fiery, red hair) all add up to dazzle the us while keeping us on the edge of our seats.

also nominated: Gonzalo F. Berridi for the film Lovers of the Arctic Circle, Fabio Cianchettifor the film Besieged, Robert Elswit for the film Magnolia, Freddie Francis for the film The Straight Story, Conrad L. Hall for the film American Beauty, Emmanuel Lubezki for the film Sleepy Hollow, Bill Pope for the film The Matrix, Tom Sigel for the film Three Kings

Special Awards

Chloe Award
The Chloe Award for 1999 is given to Helen Mirren. Helen Mirren“Appearing in over 60 movies on the big and small screens, this London born actress has made her name in America in the British television miniseries’ “Prime Suspect.” Mirren’s acting choices run the gamut of commercial, Hollywood films, to disturbing, art-house sleepers. I first saw her in her 13th film, playing the devilish Morgana in John Boorman’s “Excalibur.” Of course, only one year prior she had starred in the controversial film, “Caligula.” As the years passed, Helen continued to act in challenging films, including Peter Greenaway’s gorgeous yet brutal, “The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover,” the weirdly compelling “The Comfort of Strangers,” E.M. Forster’s dark, period piece, “Where Angels Fear to Tread,” her Academy Award nominated work in “The Madness of King George,” the upper-class wife who finds herself attracted to another woman after an emotional breakdown in “Losing Chase,” and last year’s wicked, harridan school teacher in Kevin Williamson’s failed horror flick, “Teaching Mrs. Tingle.” Even when she appears in bad movies, we love Helen Mirren… and like Kyra Sedwick said when playing opposite in “Losing Chase:” ‘what could be difficult about having to kiss Helen Mirren?” –mrc

Gertrudis Award
The 1999 Gertrudis Award is given to Catherine Keener. Catherine Keener“It was her fourteenth film, but I didn’t notice Catherine Keener until her spectacular lead role opposite Anne Heche in the sublime, “Walking and Talking.” Keener plays Amelia, and we follow this young single woman as her best friend becomes engaged, and she must wrestle with the unpleasant feelings of jealousy and loneliness that suddenly emerge. Keener shows the full range of emotions here, and plays a likable and all-too human character. Someone we’d like to be friends with. She was nominated for a Best Actress Chlotrudis Award for this splendid role.

“Beauty, wit, intelligence, depth… Keener possesses all these qualities, and she shows them off to varying degrees in the roles she’s played. Her hard-edged, discouraged wife to Ben Stiller embarking on a journey as she enters into a relationship with Nastassja Kinski in “Your Friends and Neighbors,” her sympathetic, slightly confused actress trying to work on a low-budget film in the hilarious “Living in Oblivion,” and the ditzy, magician, ex-girlfriend of George Clooney’s thief in the fabulous “Out of Sight,” were all a prelude to the amazing work she displayed last year in “Being John Malkovich.” I read a review of the film that said… ‘Keener gives off more steam than a New York City subway grate…’ and more appropriate words were rarely written. Nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Chlotrudis Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actor’s Guild Award, and Academy Award, Keener keeps pace with the incredibly original and mind-boggling script. Her Maxine is gorgeous, sexy, supremely confident and wields her keen intelligence and razor wit with skilled precision. While all the other characters in the film are desperate to escape their dreary lives by entering the glamorous mind of John Malkovich, Maxine does not yield to the temptation. Why should she? She’s perfectly happy being exactly who she is. And as a friend of mine pointed out, she even manages to look sexy crouched over on the 7-and-a-half floor, while everyone else looks foolish.

“So, it’s not exactly a breakout performance, but Catherine Keener is just about to stop being independent film’s best-kept secret. I’m thrilled we’re able to honor her before that happens.” – mrc

“I think this woman is absolutely phenomenal. She has come a long way since her breakout performance in “Walking and Talking.” She’s sexy, funny, smart, a brilliant bitch and totally steals the screen from whoever she’s sharing it with.” – bd

“In the role of Maxine (“Being John Malkovich“) Catherine Keener is stunning to watch as she transforms from the cold, emotionally uninvolved character to a passionate participant in the bizarre multiple personality relationship. As the grounded person in a world where the laws of physics do not apply, Keener’s depiction of Maxine balances the absurd with the common, and becomes a key which allows the viewer to accept the premise of “Being John Malkovich” from our theatre seats.” — asd

Taskforce Award
Atom Egoyan“The 1999 Taskforce Award is given to Atom Egoyan. “Egoyan is a Canadian filmmaker whose body of work is challenging, complex, and varied. Through his eight, major feature films, Egoyan explores the themes of technology and emotional isolation, and the fragile bonds of the family. Little known in the United States, I first became aware of his work in 1991 with the release of his fourth film, “The Adjuster.” He’d already released “Next of Kin,” “Family Viewing,” and “Speaking Parts,” all of which I have since seen. The tenuous bonds of family are evident throughout all these early films, and the fascinating use of video technology is highly original.

“In 1995, Egoyan’s film, “Exotica” opened in America to strong critical notice. This intriguing tale of a tax auditor strangely fascinated by a young table dancer who dresses as a school girl during her act is part mystery, part story of obsession and part story of revenge. Egoyan weaves these seemingly disparate storylines into an intricate and powerful tale. Don McKellar, who plays a repressed, gay pet shop owner was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Chlotrudis Award for this film.

“1997 saw a change in direction for Atom. His best received film to date, “The Sweet Hereafter” was his first film to be adapted from an existing work, the novel by Russell Banks. This tragic tale takes place in an isolated town in the Canadian Rockies. After a bus accident takes the lives of several of the town’s children, a big-city lawyer arrives to stir the parents into a frenzy of retribution. As in all of Egoyan’s films, other underlying storylines burrow beneath the main story and draw is into an emotional web. Sarah Polley puts in an incredible performance as one of the young survivors and Ian Holm is riveting as the lawyer. Nominated for Best Movie, and Best Director by Chlotrudis Awards, “The Sweet Hereafter” is a powerful film that resonates long after the credits roll.

“In 1999 Egoyan adapted another novel, Felicia’s Journey by William Trevor, for his latest film. “Felicia’s Journey” is the first of his films to take place outside of Canada, and tackles the delicate relationship between England and Ireland through a very personal and chilling story about a poor, teenage Irish girl who discovers she is pregnant after her boyfriend leaves to join the English army. In desperation, she embarks on a journey to find the infant’s father, only to fall in with a seemingly kindly older gentleman who hides a terrifying secret. Bob Hoskins is nominated this year for his amazing work on this film.” — mrc