American Beauty
— Watching one of 1999's best movies, it's easy to forget the seriousness of the issues being discussed here.”
- Director: Sam Mendes
- United States, 1999
In a year of superb films, American Beauty was one of the very best of 1999: the auspicious film début of Donmar Warehouse director Sam Mendes, the consolidation of Kevin Spacey’s position as a distinguished lead actor and a reminder that Hollywood could still turn out very great movies.
Still surprising today are the potentially massive difficulties of representing the material and how screenwriter Alan Ball and subsequently the company of filmmakers and actors overcame it. After all, it’s got paedophilia, voyeurism, out-in-the-open homosexuality and drug use.
Somehow they’ve managed to take all of these elements, place them carefully in front of a backdrop describing the bitter loneliness of a suburban existence and create a sad, funny and emotionally involving picture.
See also:
Walk the Line
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Double Indemnity
A crackling script but surprisingly short on dramatic tension.
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Buena Vista Social Club
All rockumentaries should be like this: memorable film on the great cultural discovery of the late 90s.
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Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown
A smash-and-grab of awards for a film that feels rather rushed.
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Ennio Morricone in London
A unique musical experience worth going down to London for.
- Originally published: 3 Dec 2006 in Concerts
Who you gonna call?
Hello you, I'm Mike Padgett. I'm not a Princeton curator, Knoxville mayoral candidate, Kentuckian pastor or Arizona journalist, I just share the same name. In fact, I am a consultant working in user experience and information design.
I also enjoy travel, concerts, films and walking.
I'm originally from Yorkshire, England but nowadays I live in Belgium. My current favourite Belgian beer is Black Albert.
Shameless self-promotion
Over a year in the making, Dopeology.org is my latest personal project: a topology of doping in thirty years of European pro road cycling.
I collected information from thousands of sources, then I modelled and published it via a lightweight user interface.
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