eXistenZ (David Cronenberg, 1999)

5/10
eXistenZ has a mildly interesting concept, moreso if you set your mind back to those times in the late 90's when the movie came out when virtual reality and computers as reality and The Matrix and Y2K were the pressing concerns of the times. Viewed in 2015, eXistenZ is kind of hokey, and its "Cronenberg prosthetics" (is there a name yet for those unconvincing plasticky looking body part facsimiles he insists on using in just about all his movies?) don't help make it look any more authentic. For most of the movie I didn't care about its protagonists and the story itself is kind of muddy. As the audience, we're never really given any reason why we should care about Allegra or her game or why it needs to be preserved, especially once we go "into it" with the protagonists.
There's a pretty cool double-twist ending that I'm kind of amazed/annoyed I didn't see coming, although maybe if I had been trying to unravel the movie a little more instead of mostly just waiting for it to end, I might have (then again maybe not).

The Sixties Quartet (Jonas Mekas, 1990-1999)

7/10
More from the Mekas retrospective, this was a compilation of 4 half-hour-ish short films from Mekas shot in the 1960's and released in the 90's. The first was "Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships and Intersections". The first half or so was dubbed over with live audio of a static-filled, droning VU performance of "I'll Be Your Mirror" that I enjoyed quite a bit. Much of the footage was Warhol at home, on vacation, and occasionally at work.
The second film was "Zefiro Torna or Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas" and was probably the one I was least interested in, not knowing much of George Maciunas. There was some cool footage from early Fluxus happenings though and seeing the likes of George Brecht, Nam June Paik, Yoshi Wada and even John and Yoko was fun.
The latter were the stars of the next one, "Happy Birthday to John, with John Lennon and Yoko Ono" and the title is very self-descriptive, featuring footage shot of a birthday party thrown for Lennon. It was cool to see some rare, casual footage of monstrously famous people, and wondering at the discourse taking place between John and Miles Davis in the garden at John's birthday party was a treat.
"This Side of Paradise with Jackie, Caroline and John Kennedy Jr." (aka "Scenes from an Unfinished Biography") was the last film, featuring footage shot from a vacation Jackie Onassis took shortly after John Kennedy's death as something of memoriam for Jackie and John's children. The idyllic vacation footage from a beautiful place featuring more hugely famous people being themselves was exhilarating, even if much of the footage here was repeated from the Warhol film. Glad I got to see these, they were a treat.

10 Things I Hate About You (Gil Junger, 1999)

5/10
Even for fluff fare, I was still let-down. Expected more from JGL and Heath Ledger, but Julia Stiles (who I'm no fan of) was good. The pace was kind of choppy and I didn't think it juggled humor and "drama" very well. Pretty meh.

Toy Story 2 (John Lasseter, Ash Brannon & Lee Unkrich, 1999)

8/10
Just a notch below the original on first blush but also quite good, especially for a sequel that, on the surface, seems to be recycling the plot of the first one. But there were a lot of nice touches (the "other" Buzz and Zerg, the other toys getting more face time, etc) that made it rise above typical sequel fodder. I could see myself eventually liking this one more than the original actually.

The Green Mile (Frank Darabont, 1999)

8/10
A good movie, very well acted by a great cast, but I wasn't too sucked up in the story and thought it was a bit hokey at times. Also wasn't as sad as I was expecting it to me and I can cry pretty easily at a movie.

Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999)

7/10
Interesting movie with a neat concept and lots of enjoyable black humour, especially in the first half. But I have to admit I started to lose interest after John Cusack "takes over" Malkovitch and starts to live his life...I thought the buildup to it was far better.