I think American Beauty is one of the best movies. I love it.
@stevenhanson6057
7 ай бұрын
There you go.
@blue-aardvark6119
2 ай бұрын
I dont know, it looks like they critizize the typical middle class society, to turn it around in the end and say "its all perfection". Never knew what to do with the movie.
@jamessanders7286
2 ай бұрын
@@blue-aardvark6119 I think the criticism is that we are all chasing this perfection in are own eyes but the beauty in life is the simple things like a plastic bag dancing in the wind.
@DukeJon1969
2 жыл бұрын
Reviewer not an adult during the time period that the movie was about, therefore opinions are second hand and undermined. I appreciate a movie about the mid life crisis of a middle aged white man. A movie like this simply wouldn't be made in our current woke age; we now live in more narrow time.
@michaelrem3539
Жыл бұрын
American Beauty is the most ' honest' movie I ve ever seen. You talk about that he should develop his character through self sacrifice and work etc. That's what he's done his whole life. He's decided to live life as he wants, not what society wants.
@AstroBuoyant
10 ай бұрын
Was a great movie. Another indictment of the American Dream, & hidden darkness of suburbia. One shouldn’t let popularity or acclaim taint a movie’s value.
@thebossman80s
5 жыл бұрын
I rule ✊
@jjdvideo
5 жыл бұрын
The music score was quite strong for American Beauty. One of Thomas Newman's best. Hard to believe it's a 20 year old movie now.
@snomad2248
5 жыл бұрын
jjdvideo ...look closer
@jjdvideo
5 жыл бұрын
Indeed.
@magarciascomics
Жыл бұрын
I've rewatched the movie recently as it's commonly mentioned in Screenwriting books. It still feels to me as relevant and authentic as I found it in 1999. I have the same impression about many 90s movies that I see trashed now in retrospective that I personally loved them and love now. Maybe it's because that's the decade where I grew up as a cinema lover, but I honestly can't find any major issue with it. I respect your reviews as you always argue them so beautifully, and I admire your insight for that (and I second your opinions on what you like, like 90% of the times). I just think we're vibrating at different wavelengths on this one. Just my thoughts.
@arizonaFIREent
5 жыл бұрын
I actually watched it last month and it definitely holds up in my opinion. I've watched "Lolita" (both versions) several times and it's nothing like AB. Either way love your reviews
@MrGrim15
2 жыл бұрын
Couldn't agree less and I can't believe you don't like American Beauty . . . .
@TheCme0808
Жыл бұрын
My favorite movie
@redriderbbgun8018
2 жыл бұрын
She just completely trashed one of my favorite movies ever 😂 Maybe it will grow on her in 10 or 20 years 🤷♂️
@ChadSabourin
5 жыл бұрын
I absolutely love American Beauty. However, I can understand why it has its detractors & why you didn't like it. Art is after all subjective & sometimes, you just have to Look Closer...😂*
@jachrishalt
5 жыл бұрын
Spoken like a true Chad.
@rileytheimpaler9641
5 жыл бұрын
Oof Thanks for mansplaining
@rileytheimpaler9641
5 жыл бұрын
Its still a lolita you weirdo and you kinda seem basic if this movie is rlly that deep to you? Lol
@ChadSabourin
5 жыл бұрын
@@rileytheimpaler9641 I was simply saying how I liked it & how I can respect & understand where Maggie is coming from. What did I say that indicates Mansplaining? My joke at the end about Look Closer? I'll add an emoji at the end next time. I can see some people out there judge others for what they like & can't accept others view point...It's a shame, really.
@ChadSabourin
4 жыл бұрын
Jesus Christ Denton thanks, man! I appreciate it. It’s the internet, so I guess it’s expected to get misinterpretation. Glad that you understood what I was saying.
@Myhighconstitution
5 жыл бұрын
Have you seen Little Children? It tells a similar story to American Beauty, but it's far darker and more visceral. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it. It stars Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley and Jennifer Connelly.
@MrAitraining
4 жыл бұрын
The acting was very good but I didn't like it because I didn't like or sympathize with any of the characters. I stopped caring about the story. So, one and done for me with this film.
@bettyriley7295
Жыл бұрын
Everything about this movie is SPEC-TAC-U-LAR The way it was put together...each and every scene is a piece of ART. And it was funny as well. If you haven't seen it ... what are you waiting for?
@tjebbedonckers
5 жыл бұрын
Still eagerly waiting for that Tarkovsky review, DFL. Solaris, Mirror, Stalker... I don't care which one.
@dong.corleone
4 ай бұрын
I honestly have never liked this film to begin with, and you are right, it’s not even an original movie. Literally the plot: Guy goes through midlife crisis and what’s his solution to fix it: “I wanna fall in love with a 16 year old friend of my daughter” Then proceeds to throw all of his life and career away to be able to do so and live as a teenager again and makes life more of a living hell for his family. Yeah we all wanna go back to the younger days but we simply can’t. There were many better Best Picture worthy films of 1999 that deserved the award more, and they predictably gave it to a dud
@Happyday-ps7wy
6 ай бұрын
Just watched it for the first time in decade I think. Loved it to death, it’s really a guys movie but lot stuff for women to. Is it for everyone no not at all. Dose feel like movie a teenager wrote and got to make as an adult yes but that’s part of its charm. If you want to be modern forget it this film was made in 90s set i feel decade or so earlier I love the review keep making them young lady I quite enjoyed them. Very good analysis, we all have different opinions and should respectively share them
@jayy.5663
5 жыл бұрын
Would you ever consider doing a Blade Runner or Alien (1979) review?
@soyboy3833
5 жыл бұрын
Alien is in my top five movies of all time.
@zszs7466
7 ай бұрын
I'm afraid Alien is not a movie this overintellectual snobbish lady would look at.
@christucker7655
16 күн бұрын
@@zszs7466pretty sure she rated alien highly
@inlumina_punctro
3 жыл бұрын
When i saw the film, i ve noticed that something is different than the movies before him. For the first time was not about only one person, his drama, his evolution, or about a story, my story, his story, their story, NO. For the first time that was canceled and instead of this came MULTIPLE lifes, multiple stories, which transform the movie into a kind of cinematic (spiritual) ”documentary”. It helps you see the world not only through ONE S eyes, which is becomes my eyes, after i identified myself with it/him.... but from multiple perspective. And that is brilliant because watching life through multiple instances at the same time, does something to the ego, it numbs, ”kills” it. It makes you say something like ”oh, he is right, but he is right too” . It prevents you from taking anyone side and understand them all in the same time. Otherwise, if you miss this multiple perspective, you only can judge the movie like all the others and miss the point. ( i wish my english was better, but i think i made myself clear enough). :)
@ChaosReigns45
5 жыл бұрын
The movie is not about damn suburban lives in America, it’s about self and the true nature of it. How can you call it shallow, all characters in it have depth, even Mina Suvari’s character is not the classic spoiled high school girl she wants to look like. True self, finding it, losing it, trying to find it, and deny it. The colonel character living in oppression afraid of his true nature, is that shallow to you? Dialogue is totally realistic especially the conversations between the two girls. I just can’t understand how you find it shallow. Anyone can relate to it from any age, it’s not only about mid life crisis it’s also about existential crisis, and lost time.
@rookking153
2 жыл бұрын
I think the ending is brilliant.... all those interesting questions you brought up is the point. I think the movie leads us to the conclusion that life is about unfilled questions. I like that I don't know what happened next
@Giantshredder
5 жыл бұрын
Mena Suvari was so attractive in this film.
@leonardthesnifferwallace5073
4 жыл бұрын
@Creed Bratton Especially since she was 20 years old and an adult. OP is wrong btw. Mena Sevari is dull and her character is shallow and annoying.
@paulmcgettigan9068
4 жыл бұрын
U haven't a clue what you are talking about tbh
@barirwin8559
4 жыл бұрын
She talks so much and says so little.
@starg47
Жыл бұрын
I surprised you thought the film was empty, after recently watching it I interpreted the movie very differently, in terms of your analysis of the theme and what the film is trying to say is completely different than my interpretation of it, that's why I like films like this, it causes debate.
@seminole17910
4 жыл бұрын
This movie used to be in my top 10 favorite movies of all-time when it came out. If you watch it now it is dated but I still think it's a very good film. You must keep in mind that this movie came out 20 years ago. A lot has changed socially making a lot of it seem not as provocative and thought provoking. You can say it's social commentary is pretentious but I really think this movie has a kind of Zen way about it. The scene with the plastic bag and Kevin Spacey's monologue at the end of the movie encapsulate the philosophy of this movie for me. If you don't enjoy those two scenes you will just never truly get this movie. You can say it's a juvenile indictment of American life, but I happen to think there is more to it than that. LOOK CLOSER.
@MrParkerman6
3 жыл бұрын
It isn't dated at all, and shit hasn't changed at all socially.
@wall-e7179
2 жыл бұрын
Ironically, this comment is as empty as the film.
@michaelmorena2553
9 ай бұрын
You absolutely nailed it. This movie is much deeper than people realize. There is a kind of beauty in everything. The question is are you seeing it or not?
@nightsky199
6 күн бұрын
“Lester has no actual deep realization or achievement to be smiling at the end after he’s shot dead” False! Lester is indeed content happy at the end because he retained/achieved what he was striving for since he “woke up” at the beginning of the film. TO RECLAIM HIS MASCULINITY. He wanted back his freedom, power and masculinity that life, his job and his unfulfilled suburban dad/husband duties had taken from him. By end of the movie, he’s happy cuz he retained his manhood and his will to be alive back, which makes the irony of being shot at the moment very impactful. He took the higher road with Angela by not going through with his lustful fantasy with her. Moments after Angela had told him Jane was happy when Lester asked. He had already accepted him and his wife were over and he just wanted her to be happy. Lester died a happy man cuz he reclaimed his power as a man back and he made peace that his family would be happy without him as he was reflecting back on old memories with them as a way of saying goodbye Ending is beautiful, poetic, tragic and ironic. Reviewer totally missed the boat on this one
@nightsky199
6 күн бұрын
I would have to disagree with the review. I understand movies/art is different for everyone but I think American Beauty is saying a lot about life, philosophy, people, existentialism etc in a very unique way. It’s a movie about a man “waking up” in life and taking back control his masculinity/purpose after he gave it away to his job, wife, daughter etc. essentially, this man is getting his “balls” back, and after being a pushover and passive father/husband/employee for many years…he gets pushback and hostility from those said people. It’s quite liberating of a film and inspiring. I can see feminists or females opposing men taking back or having control or a set of balls not liking this movie. Not to mention, Lester’s infatuation with his daughters younger best friend as the catalyst or motivation to wake up and get his masculinity back. Yeah I understand the ick factor here but I believe Angela is possibility 18 so it is legal. Of course, an older man lusting after an attractive younger girl is gonna rub feminists and most women away from liking this film. And the fact that a man is standing up to his overbearing wife and reclaiming his masculinity back. Yeah, I couldn’t see many modern women liking this film for those 2 reasons alone 🙄 It’s not a perfect movie but it’s a great film with a great cast and message
@Asian_Movie_Enthusiast
5 жыл бұрын
Approximately 1 out of every 3 Best Picture winners leave me with the same reaction. :)
@isabeamon1190
2 жыл бұрын
American Beauty is a masterpiece. 1999 was a great year for films. Magnolia, Eyes Wide Shut, Being John Malkovich, American Beauty among many others. Personally, I feel that American Beauty was the best of all that year.
@AnimationNation2004
Жыл бұрын
The Green Mile and The Straight Story slightly edge out American Beauty for me
@zvyn
4 жыл бұрын
I’m sorry to say this, but I strongly disagree with your review. I think it’s an excellent movie.
@ainslie187
5 жыл бұрын
If the characters and plot in this film seem like a template maybe it's because they are more true to life than usual? Mundane suburbia is a much more common reality for everyday people than _The Matrix_ or _Fight Club_ . The opening scene is terrible and misleading though, the plastic bag scene was silly, and the end was heavy handed too. That said, the film as a whole is pretty good I think.
@saltech3444
2 жыл бұрын
My best friend loved this movie back in the day. I taped it off the TV. I cannot really make a definitive judgment on it, because I never got halfway through. The parts that didn't bore me made me laugh at it, not with it.
@chrisgiaccone7999
4 жыл бұрын
I feel that many of the people who consider this movie to be shallow have no capacity to empathize with the male experience and that's why it seems to be shallow to them. To people who can empathize with the male experience, this is a very deep movie. It was offensive to hear this woman femsplain to me why this movie was bad when the reality is that she just doesn't get it because she is not capable of getting it. She doesn't value the male experience so much that she actively rejects it. I don't follow this person so I don't know anything about her. I would assume that she is a feminist. Am I right?
@marcogianesello6083
3 жыл бұрын
Moron
@mrliteral9347
2 жыл бұрын
Alan Ball originally started the script as a fictional version of the Joey Buttafuoco / Amy Fisher fiasco; she was nicknamed The Long Island Lolita so any "Lolita" similarities are indeed part of the story.
@NEELSAN76
5 жыл бұрын
You don't seem like someone who takes the time to shift some books around to make it seem like they're being read.
@deepfocuslens
5 жыл бұрын
XD believe it or not, I have read a lot of those books on my shelf. Probably about 70-80%.
@lennarthagen3638
4 жыл бұрын
Great perfomance by Spacey
@IRex-wm9pd
5 жыл бұрын
Wow this movie is nothing like Lolita. And Im curious what are all these other movies you insist that have done this very same thing "so many times before" this one exactly? I understand why some see it as pretentious but I think thats just a kind of surface coating treatment not an integral aspect of the film itself. And I agree the ending was problematic and a bit of a cop out but I still find the film powerful over all. I think there is a trend now to bash this film because theres a generation now who see all these themes as played out and unoriginal and potentially problematic. But as a suburban child of the 80's who was awakening to the vapid emptiness of the culture I was growing up in and the underwhelming truth about adulthood, I found this movie revelatory and powerful. But perhaps I was not as enlightened as a generation that would come after me who can look back at this work and declare it unoriginal and uncontemporary because theres been so much progress since.
@christopherpaul7588
4 жыл бұрын
I think the script is amazing. Kevin Spacey's acting was great! It's funny, and it is a good example of those films that were starting to come out around that time seeing through the facade of the middle class.
@DuchDoby
Жыл бұрын
When I was 16-20 it was my all time favourite movie. I loved character of Ricky Fitz (I had nick on ICQ Ricky Fitz). He get stoned and see beauty of the world just like me...Movie looks beautiful, music is beautiful. Kevin Spacey was my all time favourite actor.
@PubHubLATAM
3 ай бұрын
I don't agree with your view of American Beauty -you are an outlier. I see more of you than the movie in your arguments -I think... that is the point of it all?... Nevertheless, I appreciate it. I am looking forward on watching more of your POV on other of my favourites. Thanks.
@nolongerthere
4 ай бұрын
I think there is a true tragedy at the heart of this film, wrapped in a satire about our youth-obsessed culture and the infantilization of the American male. It may seem like fun and games but there are dire consequences for neglecting the hard-won wisdom that only comes of age and experience. At some point after the 1970's or so, it seems to me, men and boys began converging into becoming generic "guys," even dressing the same in branded T-shirts and backward ball caps, "meating" at the gym, and aiming to be cool. Embodying this generic guy, as Lester loses his grip on adulthood, he loses basic survival skills. I don't think it's just laziness; he has become incapable. With his (our culture's) adoration of tight bodies and wrinkle-free skin comes also the attendant immaturity of youth and the inability to negotiate the complexity of modern life. There is a cautionary tale here to be found between the proverbial lines about what our culture might look like 25 years later.
@dwaynesullivan4560
2 жыл бұрын
hits to close to home to you?
@jamespader
5 жыл бұрын
Would love if you reviewed The Night of the Hunter.
@ainslie187
5 жыл бұрын
That is a great one.
@deepfocuslens
5 жыл бұрын
One of my favs. On my list to get to. Rather intimidating tho.
@dwaynesullivan4560
2 жыл бұрын
lighten tf up
@patrick4384
3 ай бұрын
Calling American Beauty a "retelling of Lolita" when the parallels between the two films are so surface level is just bewildering to me.
@TheAnadromist
5 жыл бұрын
Thanks for your thoughts. I find it fascinating how times change. And what seemed so important in one moment then comes to seem hollow in the next. I suspect that the things made to communicate to a specific time age worse than those that don't care about being contemporary. Susan Sontag says that the first thing to disappear from an era is the taste of the times. I appreciated your take on the ed of the 90s. It would be good to hear more of your thoughts on the times, then and now.
@zszs7466
7 ай бұрын
so what do you think? the snobbish bullshit this lady says is not necessarily right, you know that? oh, where is the taste of times, Ms Sontag?
@colecolettecole
5 ай бұрын
i love this movie so much i watch it every 7-19 years or so ~ love the script super dry humour ~ eg the 2 neighbours ~ one is tax man & other is an anesthesiologist for after the taxes ~ love the beautiful video work the young man does & his way of looking ~ i will never forget that beauty of a plastic bag blowing around ~ beauty in everything even trash & litter ~ also could relate to the dinner scenes ~ once when my mom was on a screaming rant at the table ~ my father just put some butter on his knife & gently swiped it onto her nose to create dead silence ~
@DeanH92
4 жыл бұрын
Your most bizarre review to date.
@alexspurr124
3 жыл бұрын
The movie isn't that smart. It's kinda stupid
@joshuayork8362
4 ай бұрын
There is a Japanese guy in his 50s who has a KZitem channel who had me thinking of this movie which brought me to your channel 😂
@justagame101
6 ай бұрын
It's funny, I've hated this movie since I first watched it in the early 00s and for over a decade, everyone I talked to waxed lyrically about it. but the last few years a trickle of friends began to say it was flawed, but still great, and now, most people I sepak to only pick certain scenes they like, if any. To me, it always felt superficial; as though the screenplay was written by someone who read a bit pop philosophy and shat out a pretentious male fantasy that really didn't have anything of merit to say.
@adamskorupskas2184
5 жыл бұрын
This is the best movie review show since Siskel Ebert. You should change the starting to you flolicking through the city.
@deepfocuslens
5 жыл бұрын
That intro was the GOAT. XD
@burgermind802
3 ай бұрын
I really liked movie when it came out. However this movie does not grow with you, like some films might.
@stevenhanson6057
7 ай бұрын
The crisis of buy a sports car or have an affair. Or fantasize over your daughter’s friend. If each character was a stereotype they nailed it.
@blake_ridarion
5 жыл бұрын
"We have seen it done some many times, so much better", recommend examples :) (Ones not mentioned in the video)
@codybolo7803
4 жыл бұрын
Yup, she said the same thing about requiem of a dream and i was like GIMMIE ONE FUCKING EXAMPLE
@BluesHawk4b
3 жыл бұрын
There's never an example.
@BatmanVsTwilight
3 жыл бұрын
American Beauty, in my opinion, is a perfect movie, and one of the very few films I would give a 10/10 rating to 🤷♂️
@steverok67
4 жыл бұрын
I've never much subscribed to the "movies fall out of favor over time" mentality that critical people sometimes express. I still love "The Graduate", even though people call it dated now. If I like something, I usually continue to like it, or even like it more with time. Can't really get on board with your assessment of "American Beauty". For me, if anything, it's more of a forgotten classic.
@mikeletaurus4728
5 ай бұрын
11:28: "This is a portrait of shallow living." Yes, which is why the themes, script and characters are so surface and predictable. I don't think that makes it a "bad" film, just as I think it is permissible for a film to hit a thematic nail squarely upon the head, at times.
@johnbigelson7471
2 жыл бұрын
This review follows what I've found on feelings towards this film: there's a sharp split by gender- most guys sympathize with Lester and most women don't like it for a variety of reasons. It stuck out at me when you said he hated his wife, that wasn't true, his wife hated him, he was just ashamed- wasnt the first line like "both my wife and daughter think i'm this giagantic loser..." To be fair, I can't really blame them - both Jane and his wife are underdeveloped characters, and if anyone fits a 'template', it's the neurotic wife. His development journey is to what makes him happy. It may not be what makes others happy or find commendable, but it is for him. (and many men). Ask yourself in the context of this film: Are you evaluating it based on what you would imagine your own happiness to look like, or what the character wants for himself?
@jbliv831
5 жыл бұрын
Only reveiw of yours that I've differed the most with. Still love you, but fuuuccckk.
@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017
5 жыл бұрын
Justin Bliven You are wrong and Maggie is right on this one
@bbeaup
11 ай бұрын
This movie is just awful. I’m always so baffled by it’s praise.
@fahKINGwithYOURbrain
5 жыл бұрын
I’m interested in finding out your critique on Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom film.
@gzfelix
2 жыл бұрын
I think the movie makes a point to use the mundane, emptiness and shallowness to reflect and criticize the American society.
@kristhoreson5909
4 жыл бұрын
Wow...you're brave, I'll give you that, trashing this film. I considered trying to match your level of condescension but thankfully it is beyond me. One of the great films of all time and, having viewed a number of your reviews I'm able to say, with confidence, that you're just too young to get it. (And a number of others) It contains experiences and betrayals and compromises and loss and pain - and beauty! - that you've only just begun to grasp. I do understand the pitfalls of your current age group, having lived through them and, not to worry, you will reach a point where you no longer feel the need to analyze things to death. Also, I should point out, if a film is widely regarded as exceptional and you can't see it then...maybe. it's. you. Well, what do you know - I was able to be quite condescending after all. It's a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself.
@1165mac
3 жыл бұрын
You're right. American Beauty was never as thought-provoking as The Academy and the film itself happened to believe. I contend that its allusions to "Lolita", unexpected nudity, and "shocking" homosexual revelation are what spurred interest. Otherwise, it rarely reached higher than soap opera fare. Cinematography and music were excellent, though.
@francescaraballo2248
5 жыл бұрын
It's also the 20th anniversary of American Beauty 🌹
@flashjonas757
5 жыл бұрын
American Beauty 🌹
@blake_ridarion
5 жыл бұрын
I completely agree with every point, and I felt them when I first saw the movie. But despite that, I still really loved it. It was one of the first good movies I saw. I did not particularly enjoy Fight Club or Office Space.
@soyboy3833
5 жыл бұрын
Hard disagree.
@my88110
5 жыл бұрын
what do plastic bags mean...
@thebossman80s
5 жыл бұрын
Empty souls drifting in the wind or something pretentious like that
@supreme1572
4 жыл бұрын
It means freedom. Ricky was sent to military school by his dad for smoking weed and he was later kicked out for fighting someone who made fun of his haircut and being different.
@mylesmarkson1686
3 жыл бұрын
It means someone littered, and then the wind got a hold of it... Beautiful--Isn't it? {Starts littering all over the place to increase the beauty in the world}
@Subtle-System
8 ай бұрын
Definitely did not age well... but still ok
@plateoshrimp9685
5 жыл бұрын
I like that his midlife crisis takes the form of an attempt to literally return to his teenage years, but rather than a criticism of society, this film seems to place the blame on adulthood itself. The main character is basically portrayed as being wise for rejecting adulthood and regressing to a time when he had no responsibility. Adulthood does suck, and there are things you could say about this, but this film doesn't say them.
@seanriggen
4 жыл бұрын
Wow, what a trip, the parallels, you feel the same about that movie as I feel about your video, You just started popping up in my recommendations, I’ll check it out, but it’s a bit deep or pretentious, but I like your top.
@CineRam
5 жыл бұрын
I think Office Space might fit into that 1999 cinema trend you spoke of, yes? I love how you wanted the characters' stories to continue beyond the ending that we got. Perhaps you were not aware that there were many scenes shot to come after Lester's death, such as Ricky and Jane being put on trial for murder. It was all cut, of course...they just decided to end the film earlier.
@coconamia
Ай бұрын
HOW DARE YOU MA’AM
@henrye6245
3 жыл бұрын
The ending was changed it was meant to end with the daughter and her boyfriend getting in deep shit with the feds and the mother gets them off. I'm glad they changed it, it's not pretentious, it's actually very good. Except the scene where lester is looking at the computer and you see jail bars (that's cliché) The movie handles Lester's mid life crisis very well, you almost yearn for the same simple life Lester chases. Its poignant.
@NothingHumanisAlientoMe
3 жыл бұрын
Is it not an adequate portrayal of the mediocrity of "the domesticated man" dealing with the destruction of the traditional world and in an attempt to "find himself" he regressed to a the worst aspects of adolescence and lost everything. It is a film that reflects the emotional maturity of our time.
@foaley77
Жыл бұрын
I saw this Movie in 1999 watched it Last year, liked it about the same still holds up for me.
@richardheinz
Жыл бұрын
You could say every character in movie history is cookie cutter.
@grembatz000
4 жыл бұрын
This is how I feel about ‘requiem for a dream’, a total hack job that everyone around me thinks is the shite. It just kills me!
@davidellis5141
4 жыл бұрын
The best scene was the plastic bag blowing in the wind with the 🎶 & narration.
@dylancooper3690
Жыл бұрын
What is your take on Welcome to the Dollhouse?
@clemstattoos4870
5 жыл бұрын
Review the movie Zoot Suit .please I really want to know how you feel about it and the movie director
@ThoughtsOnFilm101
5 жыл бұрын
Do you find it strange watching Kevin Spacey knowing what we known now? I saw Seven and Glengarry Glen Ross recently and it was really off putting. Just seeing him made me think of what he'd done and make it really hard to be immersed in the films.
@kush6846
5 жыл бұрын
ThoughtsOnFilm101 - I feel that way too sometimes, but I try my best to separate the art from the artist. Regardless of his personal life, Spacey was a master of his craft, and it’s hard for me not to admire that.
@ktrak222
5 жыл бұрын
Wonderful insight and agreed. Please do music reviews!
@stephansantalucia6988
5 жыл бұрын
i disagree
@udopadrik9971
6 ай бұрын
Made me want to watch it again to re-evaluate. I remember having liked it, but it was so long ago, and your arguments make sense to me. If I were still to find it an important movie after a re-watch, you definitely at least gave me a nudge to try to understand it better and what that reason for different opinion could be. 1999 is a very intriguing year in film for me and it wouldn't be difficult for me to find the motivation to watch something from that year again. Just off the top of my head I could imagine the relevance for me of what the movie was and seemed to do is in the cultural context of that time. The characters could be seen as somewhat like tropes in the movies and tv shows then, but to me it seemed to take those known tropes and did show some possible emptiness underneath that, sort of similar to what Twin Peaks did do with some soap opera type characters, introducing something beneath that. In 1999 that definitely didn't seem like mainstream, just something that many of the movies at that time started to tackle: The emptiness and superficiality of a lifestyle. Again, I saw it a long time ago, but to me it seems that "learning some kind of a message" arc would've been bad for the main character and the movie on the whole, that this somehow seemed like a plus to me, highlighting something empty and not giving an answer. You seem to find it as a negative that many questions were raised that weren't given an answer. Perhaps the reason I remember liking it is because I tend to prefer movies that raise questions instead of giving answers and that was part of the strength of this movie as well, a glimpse into the emptiness of the American Dream, as presented to "a generation" perhaps, without an answer to how to escape it or conquer it.
@ayybeealternative1999
Жыл бұрын
Peter Griffin [while videotaping a bag blowing in the wind]: Look! It's dancing with me! It's like there's this incredibly benevolent force that wants me to know there's no reason to be afraid! Sometimes, there's so much beauty in the world, it makes my heart burst! God: It's just some trash blowing in the wind! Do you have any idea how complicated your circulatory system is?!
@GregMuniz7
4 жыл бұрын
Everything you just hated about the movie is the whole point of the movie. You’re just hating because it’s a loved movie and you wanna be unique. It’s a great movie.
@flashjonas757
5 жыл бұрын
I'm still in love with Jane 🌹
@sakibulislam5060
5 жыл бұрын
from a teenager to a woman..
@tbakesify
Жыл бұрын
Fantastic review! I despised this movie from the opening scene to the credits for all the reasons you listed. It's like you read my mind but articulated those thoughts much better than I could. I've rewatched it but not as a parody of the suburban middle class but of the boujee American urbane who actually think this film is a thoughtful critique of middle America. Wearing these goggles, it's actually a much more entertaining and laugh out loud movie.
@jacob_ian_decoursey_the_author
5 жыл бұрын
It always felt outta left field that the militant homophobe father suddenly comes out as gay. Not that it couldn't happen in real life. But in the film, it felt slapped on and unearned. Maybe I missed the clues, but I don't think there were any.
@classicvideogoodies
4 жыл бұрын
Jacob DeCoursey Early in the film, his son says to him, "Gay people make me spill my effing guts out." Then he stares at his dad in a confrontational way, and his dad is taken aback a little. At this point, we are hinted that the dad is probably a closeted gay, and that his son knows it too.
@mylesmarkson1686
3 жыл бұрын
I'm with you Jake. That kiss came completely out of nowhere at the most inappropriate time in the movie. Nobody would ever do that. And it looked like Lester enjoyed it way more than Fitts did. I remember watching it and thinking "So is he just testing Lester to see what he would do?" I honestly had no idea that it meant that he was gay. Nothing else throughout the movie even hinted at that, and the part that ClassicVideoGoodies brings up doesn't hint at it very well either (if that was really the intention). I sure didn't pick up on it. People generally get taken aback by confrontational comebacks, so if we were supposed to notice something significant there, they should've done a better job of showing it.
@rae_vandaloo
Жыл бұрын
Think about the plate
@hughtube5154
Жыл бұрын
You didn't think the Colonel's mania around, "Structure and discipline. Ya can't go around doin' whatever you feel like; ya can't!" was telling and was aimed not really at Ricky but himself? You never wondered what exactly happened to the wife to make her so dead? You never correlated both Caroline's and the Colonel's wife's obsession with keeping the surface clean and presentable, and then had Angela's assessment of Lester tie the two together? (i.e Angela saying she thought it had been a really , really long time since Lester and Caroline had had sex.) You didn't find it odd that, on the guise of looking through Ricky's video footage for evidence of drug deals, the Colonel spent an inordinately long time watching footage of a topless Lester lifting weights, and almost none of it looking at Ricky or his wife? You didn't hear Ricky, talking about how his father doesn't suspect him of drug dealing, say, "Never underestimate the power of denial"? (Though suppression and repression are good too.) Did you not notice how, when he thought he was watching Ricky going down on Lester, he didn't recoil, he actually leaned in, with his mouth open? Also, pay attention to the Colonel's objection to his gay neighbours - it wasn't, "I can't stand them, or their way of life," it was, "Why do they always have to rub it in your face?" Aside from how graphic and considered a sexual image that is, its proximity to the idiom "rub your face in it" maybe suggests a form of boasting or gloating that one person has something the other doesn't but wants to have.
@MirrorDomains
5 жыл бұрын
I understood that Carolyn was never going to kill after we see her reaction to it. She panics then she sees his clothes hanging in the closet and that gave me enough to feel like she still loved him. I really liked this movie when it came out and I think I owned it on VHS at one point, this one of course deals with Spaceyism, before his controversy. I know some people can watch his work before like this, Usual Suspect and Seven. I think I don't find myself racing to rewatching it but can see value in the statement it made at the time.
@georgerussell9525
3 жыл бұрын
I mostly agree with your analysis, though I think a little more of Ricky and less of his dad. I posted something on your "Movies You Hate but Everyone Else Loves" video.
@richardsantanna5398
5 жыл бұрын
That diss at your dad tho 😂
@zacharysiple783
4 жыл бұрын
14:57-16:07 You have some great points, but remember-this is selfish Lester's story. We are supposed to care about Lester's tragedies, and not any one else's.
@zacharysiple783
4 жыл бұрын
@Wytchfinde I see what she means, they seem to be obnoxious, but that's how Lester views the world while he is in his mid life crisis. He's miserable and that viewpoint makes him look down on others. It is HIS voice we hear in the narration, it's the story of HIS problems, and HIS unhealthy ways of fixing it. It's a story of me, me, me and how that leads to his downfall. With that in mind, I wonder if anyone would remake the movie with Caroline's perspective? That would be an interesting approach, and a bit more honest, really. Lies would still pertain, but it would be more truthful.
@zacharysiple783
4 жыл бұрын
@Wytchfinde I understand that this is Lester's story, and that's perfectly fine. I'm just saying the story in Caroline's eyes would be a cool approach. By his selfishness, I mean he cares about his happiness, sexual satisfaction, etc. He hurts his wife in the process and he doesn't care. He even states this to Chris Cooper's character("Our marriage is just for show.") But this is certainly Lester's story. That is literally what I said in the original comment!
@zacharysiple783
4 жыл бұрын
@Wytchfinde Yes, Carolyn was satisfied. Lester did the right thing and did not give in to that temptation. I suppose you are right that he didn't fulfill that. But he realized he didn't need it when Angela confessed to virginity. And I'm sorry I didn't know movies have taken that other approach, I have never seen Eat, Pray, and Love.
@zacharysiple783
4 жыл бұрын
@Wytchfinde I see what you mean, and no problem. :) Thanks back!
@zacharysiple783
4 жыл бұрын
@Wytchfinde True! :)
@MrBreezeLI516
5 жыл бұрын
Good to see up and active posting! Love your voice, very soothing, of course very in depth analysis! Bless you ! ❤️🤘😎
@theolamp5312
5 жыл бұрын
I also hate the Oscars. But the exception to that is when a great and inventive film or performance is up for an award, because I feel it will bring more attention to it. The ones that first come to mind are Once (2007), Ex Machina (2014) ,Room (2015), and Arrival (2016).
@hamzarouri8454
4 жыл бұрын
Defintely on the same page here, as well. This is another one I revisited during the quarantine, hoping my opinion would change. It didn't.... I thought American Beauty was extraordinarily glib and pointless then, I still feel that way now. Personally, I feel films like The Swimmer and The Ice Storm do a much better exploring the malaise in surburban life. As they actually explore more than just surface level sterotypes.
@classicvideogoodies
5 жыл бұрын
There is also that stupid sight gag of the two guys appearing to be having oral sex. The first time I saw the film (back in 1999), I thought, what is a cheap gag doing here? I did not like the film at all the first time, but have liked it a little more over the years. The film's best moment, for me, is when Lester says to Frank, "Our marriage is just a commercial for showing how normal we are." This clever double entendre not only makes him sound like a closeted gay (which is a plot requirement at that point), but it also reveals the main theme of the film: the valueless and phony modern life as seen and experienced by a middle-age man in crisis.
@gigabix
Жыл бұрын
I almost walked out a coupla times, in fact, and I've almost never done that.
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