American Beauty (look closer)

I've always told people that I have 4 favorite movies: Good Will Hunting, The Shawshank Redemption, The Departed and The Town. I have different reasons for each one, and every time I watch them my choices are confirmed even more. But there is one movie that I usually forget to mention, but is honestly one of the best movies I've ever seen for so many reasons. It contains my favorite movie line of all time and some of my favorite cinematic scenes. So, let's talk about 1999's best picture winner.... American Beauty.

1999: American Beauty

Beat Out: The Cider House Rules, The Green Mile, The Insider and The Sixth Sense

Well-known quotes: "This will be the high point of my day; it's all down hill from here" "I don't think there's anything worse than being ordinary" "Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can't take it, and my heart is just gonna cave in"

When trying to describe this movie and what it's about I usually use the word "profound." That's the only word I can think of that encompasses the movie's strangeness as well as its powerful message. The movie's tagline: "look closer" really explains what the movie is trying to get out. Look closer at your life and the world around you, that's what its basically asking of its audience.

It tells the story of Lester Burnhman (played by Kevin Spacey) and his strange and unique "mid life crisis." He leads a seemingly normal life with his wife, Carolyn (played by Annette Bening) who cares way too much about appearances and his frustrated angry daughter, Jane (played by Thora Birch).

But eventually he gets sick of it all, and starts reevaluating the important things in his life. He quites his job, realizing it never really made him happy, and starts working at the fast food joint he worked at as a teenager. Kevin Spacey is perfect as the sarcastic beaten down husband, who gets a burst of new energy. He deservedly won the Oscar for best lead actor for his performance.

 

His family is less than thrilled with his "transformation" especially Carolyn, whose own inner struggles lead her into an affair. She is unable to detatch herself from the materialistic things in her life, that add onto a picture perfect image she is so desperate to have. 

"This isn't life, it's just stuff. And it's become more important to you than living. Well honey, that's just nuts," Lester says to her. 

Meanwhile Jane and the boy next door, Ricky (played by Wes Bentley who recently starred in the Hunger Games) start a relationship. Ricky is strange, as he always is video tapping Jane and her family through his window. Ricky's introverted nature and strange philosophies may seem extreme to the viewers, but his character plays an important role in the movie's message. He serves as a sort of salvation for Jane, teaching her to see things in a different way. The thing I love about Ricky is that he does this in a non cliche and corny way. He makes you want to listen. He contributes to the film's most well-known scene...the plastic bag scene. 

 

I know that many people who see this movie might not get the message it's trying to convey...and I mean that's understandable. It presents it in a strange way, making the viewer work hard to understand. But I like that. I think if the message was really straight forward or overt, it would just be corny and feel forced. 

I love this movie a lot because of the way it's written. The screenplay is absolutely fabulous here, written by Alan Ball (the creator of True Blood!) He won the Oscar for best original screenplay.The words are so profound, yet relatable, I envy the fact that he was able to come up with such strong messages. That's another thing I love. There are so many strong important messages you could get out of this movie. You don't have to find the whole movie profound, but I guarantee something said will impact your life in some way. 

For me, the message came with my favorite movie quote ever. When Lester is narrating he says, "It's a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself. Makes you wonder what else you can do that you've forgotten about."

And with that, I'll let you all get your own message from this awesome movie. If nothing else, I'm sure the ending scene will make you reflect on the important things in your life.

Shakespeare in Love

So this week things are going to be a little bit different than they have been for these past 2 weeks. First let’s start it off by talking about a movie that I DIDN’T think deserve to win. 1998’s best picture winner Shakespeare in Love.

1998: Shakespeare in Love

Beat Out: Elizabeth, Life is Beautiful, Saving Private Ryan, and The Thin Red Line

Well-known quotes: "I would stay asleep my whole life, if I could dream myself into a company of players." "I know something of a woman in a man's profession. Yes, by God, I do know about that"

I mean, I bet you can see my reasonings for not agreeing with this victor just from the movies it beat out…(Saving Private Ryan???? Life is Beautiful?????)

But no, I don’t judge whether a movie should win based on the other nominees. I like to look at the movie on it’s own and see if it had elements that made it desrve to win…not if it was better than all the other nominees. I mean some years there are just a bunch of awesome movies that get nominated. Only one can win, but that doesn’t mean that they all didn’t deserve it.

In my opinion, Shakespeare in Love didn’t deserve to win, and there were other movies nominated that I think did, which makes it that much more annoying.

This was the first movie I watched as a part of my quest that I 100% thought didn’t deserve to win. For a while, I just figured I was a dumb teenager whose opinions didn’t really mean anything and who knew nothing. I mean if it won it must be good right? But then as I got older I saw articles around Oscar time giving lists of movies that didn’t deserve to win, and this one is always on there. So I felt validated in my opinion.

The movie is a comedy about William Shakespeare's (played by Joseph Fiennes yes Ralph Fiennes younger brother) struggles to find inspiration for his next play. He eventually falls in love with Viola (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) a woman who pretends to be a boy in order to be an actor. He is eventually inspired to write Romeo and Juliet. Ugh it’s just boring. There was no actor that stood out to me, no scene or message. Just blah.

Lets talk about the two actors from this movie that won oscars for their roles....there are some interesting things to say about each

First, Gwyneth Paltrow won best lead actress for her role as Viola. But what I think most people remember about this win isn't her role or her acting....it's her acceptance speech. Very emotional. I've heard different things about this speech, but I'll just let you guys watch and form opinions. Be ready for some crying.  

Then of course there is of course the great Dame Judi Dench, who won the oscar for best supporting actress for her role as Queen Elizabeth. Now, I'm not knocking her work at all, she's an amazing actress. But what makes this win so interesting is that she was only in the movie for 8 minutes...

It’s not even that the story was “simple,” I love simple movies. Those action packed mob movies that I’ve been talking about are definitely not my favorite kind of movie. If you’ve noticed, the reasons I think they deserved to win is because of the underlying simple story within them, like struggles within a family. 

Shakespeare in Love was definitely not the worst movie I've ever seen, and at times I did find it endearing. But, at the end of the movie I didn't really feel anything. It didn't have that WOW factor that I think every best picture should have. I guess the message they were trying to send out was something about love? But I didn't get it. 

So yeah, I’m happy for Shakespeare and that he was in love or whatever, but not a best picture, in my opinion. 

The Departed

So keeping up with these awesome mob movies, lets talk about 2006's best picture winner...

The Departed

2006: The Departed

Beat Out: Babel, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine and The Queen

Well-Known Quotes: "I don't want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me." "I'm the guy who does his job. You must be the other guy."

To me The Departed is like the epitome of what a "best picture" should be. It gets really confusing to think about what makes a movie a best picture winner, what makes it a best screenplay winner, or a best direction winner. Like what's the difference? Movies are all different so how can you pick a winner? I never really knew the answer to this, I mean there is no answer. But after watching The Departed I just couldn't help but being absolutley sure that this movie deserved to win. I couldn't really figure it out. I mean I didn't think there was this great message or a break out star....it was the story. For me thats what makes a best picture, the story that it tells and the way that the different characters and elements of the movie contribute and interact to tell it. I think the story in The Departed was told exceptionally well. I mean, that's what movies are right? They're stories.

The Departed tells the story of two "rats" Billy Costigan (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and Colin Sullivan (played by Matt Damon). Billy is an undercover cop working as a worker for mob boss Frank Costello (played by Jack Nicholson), while Colin is a loyal follower of Costello working as a cop.

This film is unique because all the characters are extremely important. To me there is no "star." Sure you might think DiCaprio or Damon act as the movie's main characters...but the way I see it the story being told is way bigger than any one character.

In fact, if I HAD to pick the characters/actors that stood out to me, it'd probably be Mark Wahlberg (yeah yeah, Marky Mark from the 90's) and Martin Sheen. Both play police officers working with Billy, and both contribute greatly to the story. Walhberg earned himself a best supporting actor nod for his role. Damn he's come a long way...

I just love how basically for the whole movie you're watching the stories of two seperate people, who are really complete opposites in their characteristics and goals...yet they share so much. They share the same woman, interact with the same people, and are both desperate to find the other one. All this built up tension and anticipation is let out perfectly in the scene where Billy and Colin talk on the phone. Actually, they barely talk, they just breathe and acknowledge that they are both talking to rats. So little actually happens in this scene, yet I found my heart racing and my eyes closing in fear. Both actors do an amazing job here portraying to us how pivitol this moment is expressing all the trouble they have gone through in being a rat, and finding one. 

One of the main reasons I loved this movie is because it had the ability to surprise me. I mean (SPOILER ALERT) basically everyone dies...and I don't know about you guys but I did NOT expect this to happen at all....

my jaw literally dropped, and I started freaking out. Just when you finally think Colin has been caught, this happens. Not only does he get away, the only person who knows he's the rat is now dead. UGH!

But of course, in the end this movie kicks butt. I love love love Matt Damon (this love will be explained in later posts), but in the end he got his and I was so happy. As the credits started rolling, there was a huge smile on my face. I just love how basically every scene was instrumental in finally catching him, every scene mattered...in the end it all mattered. OH! and notice the rat on the ledge at the end...SO GOOD!

You go Mark Wahlberg! 

So in case you guys couldn't tell...I definitely think that The Departed deserved its Oscar. 

Fun Fact: Director Martin Scorsese won his first oscar for achievement in directing for this movie (crazy I know). Previously he had been nominated 7 times, 5 of which were for directing. Since then he has been nominated another time for achievement in directing. 

So, Lets Talk Movies

Let's start with the basics. My name's Laura, I'm a freshman at Lehigh University (yeah, we beat Duke) and whenever people ask me to tell them about myself I always say that I love movies...that I know movies.


Basically the only thing I'm confident that I know anything about are movies.
I get this feeling when I see a good movie, and I've trusted this feeling to guide me in my thoughts and opinions on movies. I trust it more than a critic's 5 star rating or write up in the New York Times.


For my 16th birthday my aunt got me an Academy Awards book that went through each year providing pictures, random/fun facts and of course, the winners and nominees. I read that book cover to cover and began subconsciously memorizing every movie that won best picture. (As of now I can name every movie that won from 1970 till now...yeah really)

Ever since that birthday I've been on a quest to see every movie that has won best picture. Over the years I've made somewhat of a dent in this goal and formed opinions on most of the ones I've seen. Opinions about the story, the acting, the writing and whether I thought they deserved to win or not.


So, here it goes: a blog about all the movies that have won best picture, as well as other random movies, as told by Laura.


If you agree, disagree, hate a movie, love a movie...let me know! I love different thoughts and opinions on movies. Basically, I just love movies.


So, lets talk movies.


Best Picture Winners List