1999 was a truly spectacular year for movies, and no one can convince me otherwise. In the past weeks I've rewatched a few of my favorites on video, and once again I'm reminded of how great it was to be a movie junkie this time last year. So here are my (somewhat belated) thoughts on last summer's big movies, all of which are now available on video.

Summer 1999 came roaring out of the gate with a trifecta of mega-hits, the first of which was "The Matrix." It's a big, bad blockbuster tailor-made to the interests and tastes of hackers, geeks, gamers, and goths everywhere. All my friends loved it. I rocked the boat.

The first two-thirds of "The Matrix" are fantastic. It had a fascinating premise, plenty of action, likable characters (and in Trinity it had the butt-kickingest female lead since Ellen Ripley), and some truly thought-provoking discourse about the nature of reality. That's rare for this kind of movie. Sadly, the directors couldn't pull off an equally thoughtful ending, and "The Matrix" ends in a blood-soaked orgy of gunfire and explosions that is utterly at odds with the rest of the story and serves to negate any bit of enlightenment "The Matrix" may have provided for me. An intelligent beginning deserves an equally intelligent ending. I'm sorry, but handing an Uzi to a movie with the soul of an art film and telling it to go crazy just doesn't cut it. The Verdict: Smart Mind-Blowing Film or Dumb Action Movie? Make up your mind, please. 2 out of 5.

"The Mummy," on the other hand, starts out as a good old-fashioned rousing adventure story and doesn't pretend to be anything else. I've always been a sucker for movies like "Romancing The Stone" and "The African Queen," and "The Mummy" is very much in that tradition. It's got all the classic characters: the cute, courageous adventurer (I adore Brendan Fraser!), the meek librarian and her geeky brother, the other men looking for the same thing and getting in tons of trouble, the cowardly guide, and the supremely evil force roaming the Egyptian dunes in search of revenge until our heroes save the day. Let's hope it resurrects not only the big, bad mummy, but the Indiana Jones genre along with it. The Verdict: It's brisk summer fun, so shut off your brain and enjoy it. 4 out of 5.

And who could forget the biggest of all big May movies, "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace." I had been waiting for it ever since I was six and saw "Star Wars" for the first time, so I had some pretty high expectations. Like millions of other moviegoers, I was disappointed. "Ep I" feels not so much like a movie as a video game, with plenty of gorgeous special effects and thrilling battles tied together by a cartoon story line that never approaches the sweeping, lush drama of the original trilogy. And don't even get me started on the slow, excruciating death I have planned for Jar Jar Binks if he ever comes within 100 miles of me. I saw this one 4 times and had fun at every single on, but when you realize that George Lucas was also responsible for the riveting "Luke, I am your father!" scene from "Empire," you feel annoyed and the slightest bit sick to your stomach. The Verdict: 15 years and this is the best George Lucas can do? 2.5 out of 5.

Another long-awaited sequel was a little film by the name of "Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me." Mike Myers continues to rib the James Bond franchise while also taking on (just to name a few) the "Star Wars" saga, "The Exorcist," Will Smith, and overly confusing time travel movies, with hilarious results. My favorite part: the ongoing joke about what Dr. Evil's ship resembles. The Verdict: Finally, a sequel as good as the original. 3.5 out of 5.

Even funnier (IMHO) was "Mystery Men," about a group of reject superheroes with names like The Shoveler ("God has given me a gift. I shovel well."), Mr. Furious (whose superpower is getting really, really mad), the Invisible Boy (he can turn invisible, but only when no one's watching), and the Spleen (the former Pee-Wee Herman, proving that fart jokes can still be funny). The scene where they trash scenery-chewing supervillain Casanova Frankenstein's limo alone is worth the price of admission. It's a clever, uproarious satire of comic-book clichés with a moral that won't make you gag. The Verdict: "We have struck down evil with the sword of cooperation and the hammer of not bickering." 4 out of 5.

Then there's the not-quite-blockbuster everyone wants to forget, "Wild Wild West." I'm still trying to figure out how a big-budget, mega-hyped Fourth of July Will Smith movie could do so poorly at the box office. The only reason I can come up with is that it really, really, really sucks. Sure, there are a few cool action sequences and a few jokes I laughed at, but they're all but buried under a smothering avalanche of dreadful writing, horrendous acting, and plot devices that stretch credibility even by summer movie standards. It's so bad I wouldn't even dignify it with the "MST3K" shtick. It would be a waste of money if my ticket was free. The Verdict: Ouch. See "Men In Black" for a fun Will Smith movie. 0.5 out of 5.

The summer came to a halt with another trio of movies, this time horror movies, with "The Haunting" being the first out of the gate. I saw this standard ghost story (people in a big scary house deal with strange happenings) twice, and the first time I thought it wasn't great but at least watchable. The second time I saw it I realized it wasn't great or watchable. Then I picked up a copy of Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting Of Hill House," the book on which this movie was based, and realized that it was actually a horrible, inexcusable butchering of a wonderful novel. The Verdict: Only two good things came out of this movie--Lili Taylor's performance as Eleanor, and my introduction to Shirley Jackson's writing. 1 out of 5.

Then there was "The Sixth Sense." Did anyone hate this movie? I don't think so, and with good reason. It's a quiet, thoughtful, subtly creepy film that is certainly not the "Poltergeist" ripoff that the previews made it out to be. In fact, I wish the previews hadn't told us that Cole's secret was "I see dead people" (although it was a darn cool tag line); it would have been another great surprise to go along with the well-crafted, much-talked-about twist ending. Still, this is a wonderful movie that in any other year would have cleaned up at the Oscars. Unfortunately there was a little thing called "American Beauty..." The Verdict: This ending makes me furious with myself; it's such a horror cliché, yet it got past me! One of the signs of a good movie. 4.5 out of 5.

The only thing I don't like about horror movies is that after the first viewing they tend to lose their shock value and don't frighten me anymore. Only one horror movie has maintained its fright factor over the 7 or 8 times I've seen it, and that movie is "The Blair Witch Project."

Like all truly great movies, people either loved it or hated it. My friends have accused it of being boring, badly written, motion-sickness-inducing, and a million other negative things. And it is--if you don't pay attention! It has to be watched in a bubble; get up to go to the bathroom or buy popcorn, and the spell will be broken and you will not enjoy this movie. But keep your eyes on the screen and your hands inside the car at all times and I can almost guarantee you that this movie will scare you beyond belief. And to those who complained about the language: I know that if I was lost in the woods hearing weird noises and finding my friend's teeth in a bundle outside my tent, I would be inventing new conjugations of the f-word. Wouldn't you? Picture yourself in the situation, because that's what makes it utterly terrifying. The Verdict: It's scary. It's funny, sort of. It was the best movie of summer '99. See it and freak. 4.5 out of 5.

My Top 5 Movies Of Summer 1999: 1--The Blair Witch Project. 2--The Sixth Sense. 3--The Mummy. 4--Mystery Men. 5--Austin Powers 2.

Copyright (c) 2000 by Beth Kinderman. This is my original work, so please respect it.