Nominated for 8 Oscars and already the proud winner of the Best Dramatic Picture at the Golden Globes, American Beauty is what someone would label "The LA Confidential of 2000, without a Titanic". The film is about a dysfunctional American family: a career-driven wife who has an affair (Annette Benning), a husband who is on the verge of being out of a job, has fantasies about his daughter's friend and smokes pot, a daughter who has an airhead bestfriend and has a crush on her stalker.

The performances are undoubtedly 1st class thanks to an excellent casting job. Annette shines most as the pretentious, discontented and almost work-obsessive wife juggling all and nothing at the same time. The plot is thin but masked with a thick theme and provocative twists... a little Ang Lee's The Ice Storm if you may but in the 90s. The picture starts off bitingly with wicked humour and a parodic introduction to the American family and the idiosyncracies. Half way through, a morbid and disturbing mood drapes the plot and crawls all over your skin. The finale is expectedly dark and almost emotionally revolting.

The film is all American in everyway: plot, cast, style, theme, package. Understandably one of a kind and considerably exceptional in today's cluttered movie market but I am still wondering what the hype is all about. Perhap's I'm missing something. Someone fill me in?


THE BEACH

Amazing... this mystical picture combines fantasy and reality the way films are meant to. The movie experience is one of a kind: the type that makes you anticipate the following scene almost throughout the entire 2 hours. With a paradise as a setting, a cool young cast and a queer but engaging storyline based on a novel, The Beach is all about mind games and is definitely larger than life.

From Brokedown Palace to Anna And The King, this film follows the trend in exploring the exotic locations of Thailand. Leonardo Dicaprio is a chap looking for excitment in Thailand. A fellow with an open mind, and a desire for excitment and something out of the ordinaries of life. He meets a young French couple and chances upon a map pointing to the urban myth of a paradise in a deserted Thai island. They embark on the journey and reaps more than they are afford to imagine afterwards.

Traces of Lord Of The Flies makes this truly exotic movie a fantastic ride. Perhaps the controversy surrounding the filming of the movie may well be worthwhile afterall. For those banging on the hottest Hollywood star at the moment to go downhill after Titanic, they would be so disapponted. Come see this for yourself... you would be so enchanted with Thailand that you would want to see it for yourself.


THE WHOLE NINE YARDS

Yes, Bruce Willis can be funny too after proving that he can be intensed in The Sixth Sense. Matthew Perry can be funny; as funny as he is in Friends and Three To Tango. The method is the same but since the characters he plays are almost identical, that shouldn't be a problem. And yes, Natasha Henstridge can be beautiful as an alien species or a blonde human. This quirky comedy about hitmen and hit jobs is not too bad, a sleeper hit in the States. Some corny but crackling jokes and very situational comedy, Nine Yards is a fun and light movie meant just for a laugh on a boring night at the cinema. Nothing much more or less.


THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY

This chilling thriller is every bit as exciting as the hype portrays it to be. The perfect casting of 4 critically acclaimed and visually pleasing actors brings this Anthony Minghella picture into a league of its own. Almost everything else about the film is excellent and flawless. Fantastic plot that although long is never disengaging. The sets in Italy are complimentary to the soundtrack by Gabriel Yared and the intensity of the story development. Gwyneth and Jude are simply impressive and chemical as the tragic love-birds while Matt is, as usual, exceptional. The 4 leads, including Cate Blanchett, are either Oscar winners or nominees in recent years but the stealer of the show this time round is undoubtedly Jude Law (Gattacca & eXistenz). As the suave charismatic prodigal son, the British plays an American brat as convincingly as Gwyneth playing English (Emma & Shakespeare In Love). This tight and gripping drama is meant for everyone, even the homophobics. You must watch this Golden Globe Best Dramatic Picture Nominee.


BOYS DON'T CRY

This real-life adaptation about a lesbian coping with the brutal reality of the social stigma is definitely a masterpiece. It may not go down well with some audiences, especially the ladies as the film contains many explicit scenes of sexual activity. Hilary Swank (former cast member of Beverly Hills 90210) has been earning rave reviews as the confused boy who wants and almost believes that he is a girl. This highly dramatic picture speaks about the protagonist's involvement with a girl which eventually leads to a tragic ending. Give this movie a shot if you think you are or wants to be more open-minded.


BEING JOHN MALKOVICH

Whoa... this is deep stuff. It is easily to brush Being John Malkovich off as another pretentious 'artsy fartsy' film about lame and incoherent concepts disguised as deep and philosophical mambo jumbo. It is even easier to pretend that it is a brilliant art-house film which you truly enjoyed and was epiphanised by. Personally, I didn't quite get the 'whole big picture' even now, a day after watching the Oscar nominated movie. It is, however, hard to ignore the fact that the film makes sense in all its places but somehow getting the links between them will be a challenge. For the lack of a better analogy at this present moment, it is not too dissimilar to forming a jigsaw puzzle: you trust somehow that there is a bigger complete picture.