Weinsteins step down as Miramax CEOs

Might as well link xp:

The Christina Ricci appreciation thread

yeah, wasn't going to link that because the tone in the thread and the other anecdotes are really out of place in a sexual violence context

Does an Anne Perry reader condone murder?

IF the film itself doesn't espouse horrible views, it will still be watched. *The Pianist* will still be watched for decades, despite Polanski's acts in his personal life.

*American Beauty* is a flawed film, but in its era, it remains a standout for the mainstream. I haven't seen the nature of Spacey's transgressions. If it turns out he was a rapist, then *American Beauty* will be presented as a decent film that depicted the confusing and purposeless lives in its time, in which one of the ensemble cast was a violent sex addict. If he just patted asses and said sexist things, even that caveat won't be mentioned. He'll be a typical "entitled male" of his (and probably, that future) time.

it's a shitty film

Compared to?

Its an Oscar-bait talky film, with no likeable, but the direction is superb. Compared to the 500 or so theatrical releases that year, it would have merited placing in the top 20 or so.

We live in an era of Transformers IV, in which most mainstream films are made for pre-teens and the Chinese market. I'll take Oscar-bait any day.

^no likeable characters

bleeccch american beauty is so bad

most films are so bad

most Oscar-bait films are not well-remembered, in terms of cinema history (see the many Annual Oscar polls for reference/evidence)

it's poorly written, poorly acted, poorly directed, poorly conceived, everything about it is bad. I think on the original "American Beauty" thread I called it a "crime against humanity". The smug self-satisfaction of the actors, writer, director and art director(s) oozes off the screen with every cliched image, thin caricature, and telegraphed plot twist.

Better films released in 1999:

Election (by far the closest analogue to American Beauty, and superior in every way)
Office Space
Ghost Dog
The Straight Story
Dick
Three Kings
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Galaxy Quest

(American films, I guess I should specify)

xxp otm, even when i was susceptible to the most shamelessly schmaltzy Oscar bait (Crash) I hated American Beauty. specifically the ridiculous soaring score. but the whole conceit of the thing is so pretentious and silly, although i love that the movie was inspired by a PLASTIC BAG floating in the wind. I do like one line a lot, though: Spacey's boss comes over, asks if he has a minute. "For you? I have five."

Also "American _____" is the most overused and annoying title template.

Not too hard to come up with 20 better films from 1999. It was a pretty good year.

It's the third best movie from 1999 that starts with "American" ("Movie," "Pie")

Election (by far the closest analogue to American Beauty, and superior in every way)

Oh hell yeah, this is a great comparison, and yeah Election is one of my favorite movies, can't wait for the Criterion reissue next month.

I haven't revisited Magnolia in a while, have a feeling it could go either way now for me- although most people hate it for the frog scene and the spontaneous singing, which i love love love...

it's poorly written, poorly acted, poorly directed, poorly conceived, everything about it is bad. I think on the original "American Beauty" thread I called it a "crime against humanity". The smug self-satisfaction of the actors, writer, director and art director(s) oozes off the screen with every cliched image, thin caricature, and telegraphed plot twist.

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 5:16 PM (nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yes. I only saw it once but loathed pretty much every minute of it.

I left off some respectable/well-liked things I don't particularly dig (like Magnolia, the South Park movie, American Pie, All About My Mother, Fight Club) but I wouldn't begrudge anyone liking those, they are not as objectively terrible as American Beauty.

I'd agree to Election and The Straight Story from your list. Personally, my canon would include Being John Malkovich, Herod's Law, All About My Mother, Kikujiro, Gloomy Sunday, The Hurricane, and yes, Fight Club.

The Iron Giant obviously the best film released in 1999

and I almost forgot - AB has the classic gay-panic-murderer plot device! one of the most loathsome tropes in American cinema.

oh shit dunno how I missed BJM, that movie is great would absolutely include it in a year's best of (decade's best of too, probably)

A hell in which I'm condemned to watch Oscar bait like The Danish Girl instead of Transformers would be beyond the scope of human language to describe.

guys, surely there is another thread better served for this kind of discussion

Honestly, how common is the gay panic murder device? I don't get out to see many films, but I do watch politics, and discomfit with homosexual longing oozes from their pores.

oh god alfred that scene when Redmayne's characters turns into a scarf at the end, blowing in the wind

guys, surely there is another thread better served for this kind of discussion

Rather.

yep, apologies

Honestly, how common is the gay panic murder device? I don't get out to see many films, but I do watch politics, and discomfit with homosexual longing oozes from their pores.

are you serious

Cruising, Hard, Silent Partner, (plus cross-dresser/gender confusion sub-group: Silence of the Lambs, Sleepaway Camp, Dressed to Kill)

this is off the top of my head, there are so many of these

but yes let's take this to another thread

surely there is another thread

This thread went off those rails long before the discussion of Oscar-bait films of 1999, which is at least tangentally related to Miramax.

If we can have a shooting spree rolling thread, surely we can have a thread on public figures who have been disclosed as sexual predators.

i wonder if the likes of American Beauty, LA Confidential etc will become like Birth Of A Nation, never broadcast, nor issued on any upcoming formats, never shown at fests or anniversary screenings, ultimately spoken of in hushed tones and rotting away unloved on a studio shelf.

Well, tying in some other relevant names, James Toback's most well-known film (I'd guess, looking at his director credits) is his documentary on Mike Tyson - a convicted rapist who's been completely rehabilitated by the entertainment/sports world.

Unless this stuff is signaling a sea change in public attitudes that stick around (doubtful), sexual assault is the most forgivable crime.

'99 is probably my favorite movie year from my own lifetime. I liked American Beauty the first time I saw it and then wondered upon seeing it a second time if I'd suffered some kind of two-hour episode the first time I saw it. Still shocked that Alan Ball was subsequently responsible for something as good as Six Feet Under.

We have this thread: 1999 in film

i wd assume that spacey's career is basically over now, right? regardless of the status of his past films, it's hard to imagine him getting cast in anything any time soon

Mike Tyson - a convicted rapist

At least he did time unlike the rest of these guys

this thread can be about predators absolutely but right now it’s devolved into overlooked movies from the 90’s and I want it to stop

BREAKING: Six women, including @oliviamunn & @nathenstridge, have accused Brett Ratner of sexual harassment or misconduct. Our story: https://t.co/qwjjQAIuFk

— Amy Kaufman (@AmyKinLA) November 1, 2017

Christ not the little big man as well..

can revelations about mcg and/or zack snyder be far behind

wd assume that spacey's career is basically over now, right? regardless of the status of his past films, it's hard to imagine him getting cast in anything any time soon

The hastiness of House Of Cards' cancellation suggests coworkers know there's more to come out. At the moment there's one story about him, as a youngish closeted former teen theatre kid, making a move on a teen theatre kid that he'd picked as being gay, and stopping when consent wasn't given. There have been loads of past murmurs about modern Spacey being a creep in London theatre, but a less horrendous "apology" to Rapp could have resolved this situation career-wise, if it's all there is.

there's this now, though:

https://www.avclub.com/two-more-actors-accuse-kevin-spacey-of-sexual-assault-a-1820037557

Spacey obliterated any chance at career rehabilitation with his statement throwing the LGBT community under the bus. There will be no Mel Gibson-esque reconsideration in 10 years.

Spacey has three major films in the can right now: he's starring in two of them, and the other one is a pretty big deal, Billionaire Boys Club. I wonder what's going to happen there, they can't exactly CGI him out.

yeah i just saw the trailer for the J Paul Getty one

might go straight to video/stream

the Brett Ratner thing is the least surprising thing on the planet. him going on a radio show and bragging about a sexual relationship with someone, a relationship that never happened, is probably a good indicator of a terrible human being and a red flag of someone capable of exactly what the stories tell.

yeah Ratner is not surprising and iirc there were stories before. I remember Howard Stern going over a clip of Ratner being interviewed by Jimmy Kimmel and him telling a story about hanging with Michael Jackson and throwing water balloons at homeless people from a limo at five in the morning. Howard was horrified- glad the clip is still up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufp006AHlgs

trying to think which hollywood man I'd be surprised to learn such things about. Clooney has a pretty squeaky image I guess. Spielberg. That's probably it.

i'd probably be surprised by Scorsese if only because for all his various wives over the years and earlier drug problems, he just seems like someone whose life is devoted to film. and everything i hear about him suggests he's an extremely decent guy. but you never know what happened in the '70s, and i remember a story or two from that Biskind book that weren't exactly in line w/what i just noted about him.

Always interesting the hear where Stern draws the line.

I wouldn't be shocked it Clooney were a shithead. Spielberg, yeah. Tom Hanks, yeah.

No one would surprise me, really. When you start thinking people are too innocent-seeming or above behavior, you start drawing lines.