American Beauty (Blu-ray)

Hey all! Felt like taking a couple of days off of posting, but no worries, I’ve been lurking and watching all kinds of fun stuff in the background that I’ll be sharing with you all in the next few days. One recent watch was my 667153rd viewing of one of the great dark comedy/dramas of our times, American Beauty. I caught this one in theaters on first release way back in the distant year of 1999, and it was easily one of the best of the year filled with absolute classics. Bleak, hilarious, unnerving, and at times extremely uncomfortable, there really is no way I could possibly praise this film enough. Powerhouse performances abound, with particular praise aimed at everyone’s favorite disgraced Hollywood Titan, Kevin Spacey. He fully embodies the abject failure of the promise of the American Dream like no other actor or performer since. Add to the equation not just one, but several jaw dropping moments at multiple points throughout the narrative, and you have a master class in top tier filmmaking. The fact that this was the directorial debut of Sam Mendes, who has become one of the industries leading voices, is simply incomprehensible. It’s actually damned near unbelievable. One of my all time favorite films, hands down. Anyone else a fan?