American Beauty - I'm a fucking dumbass

-- Arthur

Alan Ball = Golden Girls writer (really, he was)

"The image of the floating plastic bag was taken from the avant-garde filmmaker Nathaniel Dorsky's silent work Variations. Dorsky has been remarkably gracious about this, but the fact remains that American Beauty's most original moment was stolen, which goes some way towards explaining why this lyrical paean to the world's beauty seems so strangely disconnected from the conventional satire of middle-class life which comprises the majority of the film."

http://www.nd.edu/~pwicks/journalism/americanbeauty.html

will anyone still rep for this movie?

me.

NO NO NO!!!!!!!!!!!

I hated this movie when it came out, hate it now. Rent Happiness instead.

Happiness is good too. i have have movies on VHS.

have have = have both

good for you.

i don't have currently have a VCR, tho, so it's not all that good for me.

bad for you.

i like this thread title, a lot

I liked American Beauty when it came out. Don't know if I'd like it so much now, but my initial opinion was positive.

this movie is a crime against humanity

American Beauty taught me that the suburbs are like, so phony.

I booed and threw popcorn at the screen when I saw this in the theater.

actors love this movie for some reason

actors are, for the most part, stupid and vain.

Rent Happiness instead.

or Storytelling for Solondz' American Beauty zing

http://filmfreakcentral.net/dvdreviews/americangump.htm

plastic bag in the wind = box of chocolates

i loathe the tone of that article but it's weird to remember that in the same year we had american beauty, office space, and fight club -- each of them a "male-re-empowerment fantasy revolving around an ordinary guy telling his boss to fuck off"

of the three, american beauty was the worst -- narratively it rigged the deck by inserting the blackmail plot point, meaning spacey's middle aged revolt has no consequences for him or his family

Election and eXistenz better than all three

election's male lead also had a mid-life crisis which, although manifested differently, still results in facial injury.. though really it's broderick's teacher colleague who represents the reality of what happens to guys like kevin spacey's lester: they don't get shot by their gay right-wing neighbor, they play in a rock band in their garages and get sent to jail for banging underage nookie

gah kenan's article has now infected my writing

Rock Hardy OTM

Liking that movie got me into one of the biggest arguments I've ever had with my wife.

this is still a three star movie - does that count as repping?

i thought it was amazing when it came out

saw it a few years later and...no

i don't think it's badly made though--it's got some funny and well-acted moments. it's just really vapid and smug.

"How ya like gettin' it from tha king...?"

or Storytelling for Solondz' American Beauty zing

-- Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, February 7, 2008 12:51 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

american beauty is one of the worst movies ive ever seen but id still rather watch it again than fucking storytelling

^^otm

Not the worst thing around. Not the best. Probably about average as far as Best Picuture Oscar winners (since 1976) goes.

"your story was a piece of shit"

^^ only worthwhile thing in storytelling.

not to be cap'n save-a-mo but the american beauty trashing in storytelling was pretty funny

has calling out the vapidity & hypocrisy of upper-middle class american life ever been original?

i mean like henry james was doing the shit 150 years ago

no titty there BIG HOOS

fwiw I agree that Storytelling is not that good but it has a couple of really funny moments (the "censored" sex scene, the American Beauty parody)

i don't remember the american beauty parody at all.