In early 2000, actor Craig Bierko made an appearance on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, in which the host its to forgetting what Bierko was promoting the last time he was there. “I’m trying so hard to forget it, too,” the actor replies. “It was called The Thirteenth Floor.” He explains that his film had the misfortune of opening two months after the similarly themed The Matrix. Bierko’s assessment holds true: while The Matrix has been marked watched by nearly three million on Letterboxd, The Thirteenth Floor has notched less than 35,000.

1999 is often referred to as the single greatest movie year of all time. It’s such a common refrain, in fact, that author Brian Raftery wrote a whole book about it. Along with The Matrix, you’ve got The Sixth Sense, Being John Malkovich, Magnolia, Eyes Wide Shut, Fight Club and so many more. But what about the films that slipped through the cracks? For all of the much-lauded innovation of 1999, there were still high-concept programmers and traditional weepies at your local multiplex—and even those had far more ambition than you .

We’ve chosen ten titles from ’99 that merit (re)consideration. Some are big, some are small. Some have gained something of a cult following in the 25 years since their release, others are Random Hearts, to which Raftery himself reflects: “I nothing of it, save for the hilariously ill-advised title, and the even more awkward Entertainment Weekly cover.” Enjoy.

The Thirteenth Floor

Directed by Josef Rusnak
Written by Josef Rusnak and Ravel Centeno-Rodriguez, based on a book by Daniel F. Galouye

Released just after The Matrix and sporting a similar premise, The Thirteenth Floor is a decidedly more understated affair. At least as far as techno thrillers go. Matt succinctly writes, “A perfectly adequate re-hashing of stuff from more interesting movies. Destined to have been forgotten.” An adaptation of Daniel F. Galouye’s seminal science-fiction novel Simulacron-3 (fun fact: Rainer Werner Fassbinder adapted the same work into the masterpiece World on a Wire for television in 1973), The Thirteenth Floor stars Craig Bierko as Douglas Hall, an employee at a corporation getting ready to unveil a new virtual-reality program. When the program’s inventor and Hall’s mentor Hannon Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl) is murdered, a retro-futuristic noir mystery ensues.

Bierko has a good, conflicted chemistry with Gretchen Mol, who plays Fuller’s estranged daughter Jane. Jason agrees, pondering, “Craig Bierko’s performance makes you wonder what his career might’ve looked like if Liev Schreiber never existed. Ditto for Gretchen Mol whose destiny seems to have been prematurely derailed by the emergence of Reese Witherspoon.” Here are two actors in 1999, right at the brink of stardom, saddled with some bad luck.

There’s frankly a lot to like about The Thirteenth Floor. A brisk, provocative plot with more twists than you can keep up with is propelled by impressive production design and lukewarm pot-boiler dialogue that feels nostalgic more than anything else. ing turns from Vincent D’Onofrio and Dennis Haysbert are an added delight. Perhaps in some other reality, The Thirteenth Floor came out in another year and garnered the attention it deserved.

Unfortunately, Mansfield Park got stuck between more culturally significant Austen adaptations (1995’s Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Clueless; 1996’s Emma; and 2005’s Pride & Prejudice). It’s a shame, given the commentary and creativity on display. Jaime nails it: “Rozema adapts Austen’s wit to a contemporary audience with ease, giving us a sense of how Austen’s prose has always been very socially conscious—and even aged beautifully all these years later. I think this might be one of the best Jane Austen adaptations that the screen has seen thus far…”

Summer of Sam

Director Spike Lee
Written by Spike Lee, Victor Colicchio and Michael Imperioli

“Spike Lee at the height of his powers and with full studio resources doing a pressure cooker ensemble piece fronted by a young Pacino caliber John Leguizamo? Crane shots galore, Steadicam, strong Scorsese and Godard influences, montages you can bounce quarters off, a talking dog and a fly screaming ‘help me’ a la David Hedison? Everyone doesn’t love this??” Say it ain’t so, Joe.

Sadly, it is so. Another edgy summer release from Disney (note: this was something big studios used to do quite regularly!) that fizzled for both critics and audiences. Set during serial killer David Berkowitz’s reign of terror in ’70s New York City, Summer of Sam is one of Spike Lee’s most audacious films. A group of young friends in the Bronx navigate relationships, the punk and club scenes, and the 1977 blackout while the killings infect every corner of their life.

Like most of Lee’s canon, Summer of Sam is deeply specific. Each character’s inner life is full and complicated, profoundly affected by the exact place and time. “There are eight million stories in the naked city and it’s a shame that Spike Lee can’t tell us every single one of them,” Sailor writes. It truly feels like nobody else could have made this movie.

A slew of celebrity cameos (Martin Scorsese! James Cameron! Rob Reiner!) and an incredibly charming and extremely funny ing turn from Andie MacDowell as Brooks’s wife who also finds a need for the muse elevates this industry comedy. While Brooks never became as successful or prolific as the likes of Woody Allen or Billy Crystal, one could argue his social commentary has aged much better than most all of his contemporaries. The Muse is a shining example of that.

Stir of Echoes

Written and directed by David Koepp, based on a novel by Richard Matheson

“When it comes to the topic of underrated, this is way up there,” Kyle declares in tribute to Stir of Echoes. David Koepp’s film might be the primary example of the recurring ‘that other movie that came out that was a lot like [that hit movie].’ Other examples include Wyatt Earp and Tombstone, Deep Impact and Armageddon, or Volcano and Dante’s Peak. Stir of Echoes was doomed to come out mere weeks after The Sixth Sense. M. Night Shyamalan’s blockbuster thriller made more money in its opening weekend than David Koepp’s more grounded picture made in its entire run.

“I didn’t expect to be so ordinary,” Kevin Bacon’s Tom opines at the start. He’s a telephone lineman who lives in Chicago with his pregnant wife (Kathryn Erbe) and son (Zachary David Cope). Though they’re barely making ends meet, they’re getting by and happy enough. This changes once Tom’s sister-in-law (Illeana Douglas) hypnotizes him at a party and things begin to get strange. The effectiveness of this film comes from its stark reality. The hopes and crushing disappointments that mold us.

Justin observes that “the horror is framed as being supernatural but is ultimately and utterly human, showcasing that we are far worse than any entity capable of haunting us.” For whatever horrors may reveal themselves, they were already there to begin with. Life is a horror movie we’re all doing our best to ignore.

Random Hearts

Directed by Sydney Pollack
Written by Darryl Ponicsan and Kurt Luedtke, based on a novel by Warren Adler

Here we come to the lowest-rated of our selections, as Random Hearts currently sits with a 2.6 on Letterboxd. A late-period Sydney Pollack picture starring Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas as two people whose late spouses were having an affair with each other, revealed to all only after the adulterers are killed tragically in a plane crash. It’s a relaxed, sometimes belabored, piece of work.

Lizz describes how the languidness works in its favor, explaining, “I like to rewatch Random Hearts when I’m in a sentimental mood. I understand why some people might hate this movie. The pacing is slow, but it is exactly what makes this movie work for me. I like how the feelings develop here and how emotions are shown.” Sentimental is the perfect word to describe it. Released in early October 1999, this is an autumnal film. It’s melancholy, deliberate and deeply beautiful.

These adjectives could describe Harrison Ford himself. Even Dave Grusin’s syrupy, yawny trumpet score feels like a swan song symphony for Ford as a bankable leading man. What follows (save a What Lies Beneath here and a Kingdom of the Crystal Skull there) is a string of flops followed by some strong ing work. And still, Ford’s understated strength and undeniably compelling screen presence remains. Vivian declares, “Harrison Ford is such a mystery to me…” in her four-star review of the film. There’s no movie star who has better exemplified the phrase “less is more.”

Titus

Written and directed by Julie Taymor, based on a play by William Shakespeare

Last but not least is Julie Taymor’s bold, gonzo adaptation of Shakespeare’s most violent play, Titus. As with all of Taymor’s work, the aesthetic is the thing. You will see sights you will never forget. But in Titus, there is also Jessica Lange as Tamora, Queen of the Goths. Millie speaks for everyone when she writes, “If Jessica Lange wants to be Queen of the Goths then I will gladly be her humble servant.” By 1999, Lange’s career had languished to a certain degree, despite a semi-recent Oscar win for Blue Sky. In between was stuff like Hush, a movie she herself called “a piece of shit.” The star is transplendent in Titus, chewing scenery playing a conquered Queen hellbent on revenge.

Meanwhile, all that surrounds Lange and the ensemble cast is deeply unsettled. “A jarring use of anachronism and peak discomfort pull this Shakespeare tale into modern sensibility,” writes Diana. “Yet though in Ancient Rome, Taymor still manages to deftly weave the primal energies of Titus Andronicus throughout, a frenzied, raw tale of primitive energy. Disturbing and clever.”

This was, somewhat astonishingly, Taymor’s feature directorial debut. It is so garish and so violent as to be undeniable. Though the film was swallowed up by a packed Christmas slate in 1999—never released into more than 35 theaters during its entire run—there is no better example of what that year represents to those who look back in iration. Here a real artist (not unlike Spike Lee or Antonia Bird or Albert Brooks) was provided with healthy resources to realize a wholly unique vision. Titus and these other selections may have been disappointments upon release, but they play like triumphs a quarter-century later.