Sex sells and in 1999 it sold big time, both at the box-office and at awards time.  From sex in the suburbs in American Beauty to sex in Italy in The Talented Mr. Ripley to sex with misery in Magnolia to sex leads to death in Boys Don’t Cry, sex was everywhere.

The National Board of Review got things started by bestowing Best Picture honors on American Beauty and Best Director honors on The Talented Mr. Ripley’s Anthony Minghella.

The Los Angeles Film Critics decided to go in a different direction when they gave Best Picture honors to the 60 Minutes-tobacco industry debacle, The Insider, but gave Best Director honors to American Beauty’s Sam Mendes.

Back in New York, the East Coasters decided to keep things light in giving their top award to Mike Leigh’s Topsy-Turvy about the difficulties of showmen Gilbert & Sullivan in mounting their masterpiece, The Mikado.   Leigh was named Best Director.  The National Society of Film Critics went them one better by declaring a tie between Topsy-Turvey and the even lighter Being John Malkovich.  They, too, gave their Best Director award to Leigh.

The Broadcast Film Critics came down firmly on the side of American Beauty and its director Sam Mendes.

The Golden Globes gave their Best Picture – Drama award to American Beauty over The End of the Affair; The Hurricane; The Insider and The Talented Mr. Ripley and their Best Picture – Musical or Comedy to Toy Story 2 over Analyze This, Being John Malkovich; Man on the Moon and Notting Hill.

Best Director lined up with their Drama choices – Norman Jewison for The Hurricane; Neil Jordan for The End of the Affair; Michael Mann for The Insider; Anthony Minghella for The Talented Mr. Ripley and Sam Mendes, who won, for American Beauty.

The Directors Guild went with Mendes and Mann but added Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich); M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) and Frank Darabont (The Green Mile) to the mix.  Mendes won.

Oscar agreed with Mendes, Mann, Jones and Shyamalan but picked Lasse Hallstrom for The Cider House Rules over Darabont.

Darabont’s film, The Green Mile was among the Best Picture nominees along with The Cider House Rules; The Insider; The Sixth Sense and by now strong favorite, American Beauty, which eventually won as did its director, Sam Mendes.

With so many strong candidates left off of Oscar’s list of five nominees, it’s an easier task than usual to come up with five more to make a ten picture list for 1999.  Being John Malkovich; The Talented Mr. Ripley; The End of the Affair; Magnolia and The Hurricane all received nominations in other top categories so it isn’t difficult imagining they would make the cut with Boys Don’t Cry and Topsy-Turvy yapping at their heels.