On this day in movie history - Buena Vista Social Club (1999):

Buena Vista Social Club

documentary directed and written by Wim Wenders,

based on a concept by Nick Gold,

was released at the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany on February 17, 1999.

Cast:

Octavio Calderon, Joachim Cooder, Ry Cooder, Angel Terry Domech, Ibrahim Ferrer, Ibrahim Ferrer Jr., Manuel Galbán, Hugo Garzón, Carlos Gonzalez, Juan de Marcos González, Rubén González, Pío Leyva, Manuel 'Puntillita' Licea, Orlando 'Cachaíto' López, Manuel 'Guajiro' Mirabal, Eliades Ochoa, Gilberto 'Papi' Oviedo, Alejandro Pichardo, Yanko Pichardo, Omara Portuondo, Jesús 'Aguaje' Ramos, Salvador Repilado Labrada, José Antonio Rodriguez, Compay Segundo, Benito Suárez Magana, Barbarito Torres, Amadito Valdés, Alberto 'Virgilio' Valdés, Lázaro Villa, Heitor Goldflus.

On this day in movie history - Payback (1999):

Payback

directed by Brian Helgeland,

written by Brian Helgeland and Terry Hayes,

based on the novel The Hunter by Richard Stark,

was released in the United States on February 5, 1999.
Music by Chris Boardman and Scott Stambler.

Cast:

Mel Gibson, Gregg Henry, Maria Bello, Lucy Alexis Liu, Deborah Kara Unger, David Paymer, Bill Duke, Jack Conley, John Glover, William Devane, James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, Trevor St. John, Freddy Rodriguez, Manu Tupou.

On this day in music history - Star Crossed Lovers, by Plácido Domingo and Renée Fleming (1999):

Star Crossed Lovers

Album by Plácido Domingo and Renée Fleming,
released February 2, 1999.

Track list:

West Side Story: Prologue; West Side Story: Tonight; West Side Story: Rumble; West Side Story: Somewhere; Faust: Il se fait tard...O nuit d'amour; El dia que me quieras; Quisiera verte y no verte; Jota castellana; Otello: Gia nella notte densa; In a Sentimental Mood; Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me; Prelude to a Kiss; Das Land des Lachelns: Dein ist mein ganzes Herz; Die lustige Witwe: Lippen schweigen.

On this day in movie history - A Slipping-Down Life (1999):

A Slipping-Down Life

directed and written by Toni Kalem,

based on the novel by Anne Tyler,

was released at the Sundance Film Festival in the United States on January 22, 1999.
Music by Peter Himmelman.

Cast:

Lili Taylor, Guy Pearce, Irma P. Hall, Tom Bower, Bruno Kirby, Veronica Cartwright, Shawnee Smith, Sara Rue, John Hawkes, Marshall Bell, Jo Ann Farabee, Harv Morgan, Jason Russel Waller, Lew Temple, Jason Kavalewitz, Jeff McMillioan, Brian Stack, Kevin Stack, Billy Harvey, Mike Hynes, Michael Ramos, Eric Tatuaka, Jamie Dickerson, Tony Frank, James N. Harrell, Clea DuVall, Keith McDermott, Topher Glenn, Gary Ragland, Dan Bennett, Kirk Watson, Doris Gramm, Vincent James Prendergast, Brian Prendergast, Mike Keller, Johnny Goudie, Floyd Freeman, Norman Bennett, Margaret Bowman, Stacy Bellew, Greg Corner, Xanna Dont, James Douglas, Dan Eggleston, Johanna Goldsmith, Michael Gottschall, David Houston, Alicia McCutcheon, Daria Prendergast, Brad Schreiber, Jordan Stone, Scott Teeters, Chris Warner.

Recommended reading - Be Cool (1999):

Be Cool

By Elmore Leonard.

Published 1999.

Published by Mariner Books.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0062265997

ISBN-13: 978-0062265999

Description:

“The greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever!” – New York Times Book Review.

“An absolute master.” – Detroit News.

Get Shorty's Chili Palmer is back. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

After a smash hit and a flop, B-movie producer Chili Palmer is looking for another score. Lunching with a record company executive, Chili's exploring a hot new idea – until the exec, a former "associate" from Chili's Brooklyn days, gets whacked.

Segue from real life to reel life. Chili's found his plot. It's a slam-bang opener: the rubout of a record company mogul. Cut to an ambitious wannabe singer named Linda Moon. She has attitude and a band. She's perfect. Zoom into reality. Linda's manager thinks Chili's poaching and he's out to get even, with the help of his switch-hitting Samoan bodyguard. But somebody else beat them to the punch, as Chili discovers when he gets home and finds a corpse at his desk. Somebody made a mistake….

On this day in movie history - The Hurricane (1999):

The Hurricane

directed by Norman Jewison,

written by Armyan Bernstein and Dan Gordon,

was released in the United States on December 14, 1999.
Based on the books:
The Sixteenth Round by Rubin “Hurricane” Carter
and
Lazarus and the Hurricane by Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton.
Music by Jeremy Sweet and Christopher Young.

Cast:

Denzel Washington, Vicellous Shannon, Deborah Kara Unger, Liev Schreiber, John Hannah, Dan Hedaya, Debbi Morgan, Clancy Brown, David Paymer, Harris Yulin, Rod Steiger, Badja Djola, Al Waxman, David Lansbury, Garland Whitt, Chuck Cooper, Brenda Denmark, Marcia Bennett, Beatrice Winde, Mitchell Taylor Jr., Bill Raymond, Merwin Goldsmith, John A. MacKay, Donnique Privott, Moynan King, Gary DeWitt Marshall, John Christopher Jones, Gwendolyn McCann, Richard M. Davidson, George T. Odom, Tonye Patano, Fulvio Cecere, Phillip Jarrett, Rodney ‘Bear’ Jackson, Judi Embden, Terry Claybon, Ben Hernandez Bray, Mike Justus, Kenneth McGregor, Frank Proctor, Peter Wylie, David Wm Gray, Joe Matheson, Bill Lake, Robin Ward, Harry Davis, Pippa Pearthree, Jean Daigle, Rob Evans, Scott Gibson, Ann Holloway, Bruce McFee, Conrad Bergschneider, Satori Shakoor, Zoran Radusinovic, Stephen Lee Wright, Michael Bodnar, Carson Manning, Debrah Ellen Waller, Richard Litt, Adam Large, Peter Graham, George Masswohl, Lawrence Sacco, David Frisch, Ralph Brown, Dyron Holmes, Ryan Williams, Bruce Vavrina, Brenda Braxton, Christopher Riordan, Guy Ale, Muhammad Ali, Ellen Burstyn, Kevin Carrigan, Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter, Bob Dylan, Joe Frazier, Vinson German, Matt Graver, Michael Harkins, David Headon, Robert Mauzell, Alex Oliveira, Craig Snoyer, David Sparrow, Michael Stevens.

Recommended reading - 300:

300

By Frank Miller and Lynn Varley.

Published 1999.

Published by Dark Horse Books.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 1569714029

ISBN-13: 978-1569714027

Description:

The armies of Persia – a vast horde greater than any the world has ever known – are poised to crush Greece, an island of reason and freedom in a sea of madness and tyranny. Standing between Greece and this tidal wave of destruction are a tiny detachment of but three hundred warriors. Frank Miller's epic retelling of history's supreme moment of battlefield valor is finally collected in its intended format – each two-page spread from the original comics is presented as a single undivided page.

On this day in movie history - RKO 281 (1999):

RKO 281

directed by Benjamin Ross,

written by John Logan,

based on the documentary The Battle Over Citizen Kane by Richard Ben Cramer and Thomas Lennon,

was released in the United States on November 20, 1999.
Music by John Altman.

Cast:

Liev Schreiber, James Cromwell, Melanie Griffith, John Malkovich, Brenda Blethyn, Roy Scheider, Liam Cunningham, David Suchet, Fiona Shaw, Anastasia Hille, Roger Allam, Simeon Andrews, William Armstrong, Jay Benedict, Ron Berglas, Paul Birchard, Neil Conrich, Michael Cronin, Sarah Franzl, Briony Glassco, Louis Hammond, Aaron Keeling, Joseph Long, Gareth Marks, Olivier Pierre, Roger Rose, Rolf Saxon, Adrian Schiller, Kerry Shale, Cyril Shaps, Tusse Silberg, Toby Whithouse, Tim Woodward, Angus Wright, Melissa Hartzel, Zak Shukor, Bobby Valentino, Lucy Cohu, Anthony Maddalena, Tim Packham.

On this day in movie history - The Last Movie: Stanley Kubrick and Eyes Wide Shut (1999):

The Last Movie: Stanley Kubrick and Eyes Wide Shut

documentary directed by Paul Joyce,

was released in the United Kingdom on November 19, 1999.

Cast:

John Boorman, Tom Cruise, Jan Harlan, Nicole Kidman, Anya Kubrick, Christiane Kubrick, Katharina Kubrick, Sydney Pollack, Steven Spielberg.

On this day in movie history - Sleepy Hollow (1999):

Sleepy Hollow

directed by Tim Burton,

written by Andrew Kevin Walker,

story by Kevin Yagher and Andrew Kevin Walker,

based on the short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving,

was released in the United States on November 17, 1999.
Music by Danny Elfman.

Cast:

Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, Casper Van Dien, Jeffrey Jones, Richard Griffiths, Ian McDiarmid, Michael Gough, Christopher Walken, Marc Pickering, Lisa Marie, Steven Waddington, Claire Skinner, Christopher Lee, Alun Armstrong, Mark Spalding, Jessica Oyelowo, Tony Maudsley, Peter Guinness, Nicholas Hewetson, Orlando Seale, Sean Stephens, Gabrielle Lloyd, Robert Sella, Michael Feast, Jamie Foreman, Philip Martin Brown, Sam Fior, Tessa Allen-Ridge, Cassandra Farndale, Lily Phillips, Bianca Nicholas, Paul Brightwell, Layla Alexander, Henry Allan, Kelley Costigan, Sean Cronin, Tracy Gardener, Nathanael Hopkins-Smith, Kevin Hudson, Martin Landau, Nic Main, João Costa Menezes, Stuart Walker, Allen Woodman.