American Beauty (1999)

This week, we invite you to look closer at the 1999 Best Picture winner, American Beauty. This was director Sam Mendes' debut film and it made quite a stir back in the late 90s, but how does it hold up some 18 years later? Steve and Matt debate the test of time and how something that appears great when you're 16 can change a lot as time moves forward. Can you see this film without thinking of the endless parodies of that bag scene? And Kevin Spacey. He's American's dad, for better or worse and a perfect encapsulation of post-Reagan, pre-9/11 masculinity in crisis, back when things seemed so much simpler. Finally, it's really easy to make a Best Picture winner when you have the great Conrad Hall working the camera. All this and more, so take a listen. It's beautiful, right? Thanks for listening. Drop us a line at [email protected] and follow us on social media @oscarwatchpod and rate and review on iTunes! Until next time, we'll see you on the red carpet (of roses).