The 1999 Critics Consensus Award Winners

Catherine Keener in Being John Malkovich

You didn't see that coming, did you? One weird quirk of the Critics Consensus Awards is how they have evolved over time, particularly over the past two decades (and with these, the 1999 awards, we enter our fourth of five decades), regarding polls. Awards have dominated throughout, supplying the majority of points up for grabs contributing to the results every year. But, into the 21st Century, polls have featured ever more, and they operate somewhat differently - mostly Best Picture-centric, and normally less concerned with toeing the Oscar line. Thus, a movie like Being John Malkovich - whose nominations in Original Screenplay and Supporting Actress and Actor might not have suggested an ensuing Best Picture nod to boot - can beat the competition without a Best Director nod, and without any other wins to its name (that, to be fair, is less likely today, even with a proliferation of polls). It's not the first to do so, with that honour going to The Unbearable Lightness of Being eleven years prior, but it's the first in the nominations era of the CCAs, and the first to beat a truly formidable contender in American Beauty. But if you think it's the oddest BP winner in all 50 years of these awards to date, you're in for a surprise a few more frames down the line. There are some other shockers in this bunch too, with unexpected winners in Best Actor, Supporting Actor and Music. Check out the nominations here, and all the award winners below.

Best Picture

Being John Malkovich (Steve Golin, Spike Jonze, Vincent Landay, Sandy Stern and Michael Stipe)

Best Director

Sam Mendes (American Beauty)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Hilary Swank (Boys Don't Cry)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Russell Crowe (The Insider)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Chloe Sevigny (Boys Don't Cry)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Christopher Plummer (The Insider)

Best Original Screenplay

Alan Ball (American Beauty)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor (Election)

Best Cinematography

Conrad L. Hall (American Beauty)

Best Music

Trey Parker and Marc Shaiman (South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut)

Best Documentary

Buena Vista Social Club (Ulrich Felsberg, Deepak Nayar and Wim Wenders)

Best Foreign Language Film

All About My Mother (Pedro Almodovar)

Image Credit: MovieStillsDB