MovieChat Forums > American Beauty (1999) Discussion > Even Mendes is distancing himself from t...

Even Mendes is distancing himself from this movie.

posted 2 years ago by SOteric (159)
17 replies | jump to latest

In the trailer for Empire of Light, a caption reads:

"From Academy Award winner Sam Mendes, director of Skyfall and 1917."

Skyfall won 2 Academy Awards, 1917 won 3. Not mentioned at all is American Beauty, which won 5. I know it's been 23 years, but you'd think there would be some mention of American Beauty's success. Unless of course, popular opinion for this movie (as well as a lot of things from the 1990s) has substantially changed.

[–] 123Guy (7380) 2 years ago

i think it is a fantastic movie.

people today are too afraid of their own shadows to even think about liking something that COULD BE offensive to someone somewhere. (except when it comes to pop music where everything is allowed and supported)

it's just sad. luckily, their children will rebel against the stupidity and snap back to reality.

[–] Kowalski (76239) 2 years ago

I LOVE THIS FILM...IT IS ON MY TOP 100 ALL TIME LIST...WHILE MY CHILD HAS NOT SEEN IT AND CAN'T SPEAK TO HER THOUGHTS ON THE FILM ITSELF...I WILL POINT OUT ONE FATAL FLAW IN YOUR POST...

their children will rebel against the stupidity and snap back to reality.

YOU OBVIOUSLY DO NOT HAVE ANY CHILDREN...THEY REPLACE US...THEY ALREADY ARE...AND THEY ARE THE ONES WHO ARE DECIDING WHAT IS OFFENSIVE AND WHAT ISN'T AT THIS VERY MOMENT.

WE ARE ON THE BENCH,KIDDO...TALK ALL YOU LIKE ...FROM HERE ON OUT...WE GET IN THE GAME LESS AND LESS.

[–] stickman38 (3358) 2 years ago

A single movie trailer proves Mendes is distancing himself from AB?

How so?

In most situations, directors/writers don't make trailers. It's usually an outside company that creates them.

[–] stevewyzard (1612) 2 years ago

Why wouldn't whoever made the trailer include American Beauty among Mendes's list of "directed by" after it won five Academy Awards?

[–] acidraindrop (3055) 2 years ago

Maybe cause the company was probably told by the producers to distance the trailer from American Beauty.

So yeah, doesn't exactly prove that Mendes is distancing himself.

[–] stickman38 (3358) 2 years ago

It could be a number of reasons why they didn't include AB in the trailer.

Spielberg movie trailers don't include every movie he's made that won awards. Same with other directors.

[–] blue1981 (7825) 2 years ago

The people who made that trailer are putting emphasis on his more recent movies. American Beauty came out 23 years ago.

[–] Ace_Spade (9573) 2 years ago

Yep. This. I don't think it's so much about "We don't need to talk about Kevin," and more about, "Moviegoing audiences have an attention span of 6 minutes." A lot of people won't really remember American Beauty. How many Best Picture winners can an average person name? It's not a lot, and most of them aren't just because of their Best Picture status. I think people would remember Annie Hall as a cultural touchstone whether they know it took home Best Picture or not. Same with Return of the King.

[–] Callahan7 (1166) 2 years ago

Finally someone mentions the elephant in the room. Kevin Spacey.

Perhaps it is simply an omission. More frequent movies were mentioned and they just didn't include American Beauty.

Or it is because it is now known that Kevin Spacey is a creep. So "Even Mendes is distancing himself from this movie" because of Spacey.

That seems more likely imo. Even Mendes is distancing himself from Kevin Spacey.

[–] mechajutaro (2788) 2 years ago

The explanation could really be as simple as Skyfall and 1917 are comparatively recent films, with Skyfall having been hailed by many as the best Bond movie ever. American Beauty, by contrast, was released over 20 years ago and while it was the object of much critical fawning at the time, today it's rarely discussed by anyone aside from dyed in the wool film aficionados. And even among them/us, the consensus seems to be "AB was a solid enough movie, but it was highly overrated at the time". It's not surprising then that the marketing is trying to drum up interest by mentioning films that are both more recent and(in the case of Skyfall)more venerated by general audiences

[–] Ace_Spade (9573) 2 years ago

Yeah, Kevin's undoubtedly a creep, but I think it's a shame that that means people just want to erase great art. Sure, don't work with Spacey any more if you don't want to, but don't pretend they guy isn't a brilliant actor with wonderfully impressive work.

Now, that said, while Mendes might not be bringing up American Beauty for that reason, I think it's just as likely that it's just not a recent success. More people remember Skyfall. So if he's trying to promote himself, he's not going to bother with his film that frequently makes, "Least deserving Best Picture" lists and stick with his recent successes, both fiscal (Skyfall), and artistic (1917).

But, yes, getting away from Kevin is definitely part of it.

[–] BillHicksFan (10611) 2 years ago

99% of movies from the last 40 years have sucked. This was actually a very good one. 8/10

[–] tph890 (489) 2 years ago

There might be a bit of validity to this theory.
People on this thread have been writing that the age of “American Beauty” has to do with the non-mention in this recent trailer.
But I just watched a trailer for an upcoming Zach Braff movie, and it prominently states that it is from the writer-director of “Garden State”, which is also decades old now.
So maybe there was some political decision behind the scenes that compelled Mendes to refrain from mentioning “American Beauty” on his list of accolades.
Or maybe Zach Braff is so damn irrelevant that mentioning “Garden State” is the only thing that will get his fans up and moving.

[–] acidraindrop (3055) 2 years ago

Or maybe Zach Braff is so damn irrelevant that mentioning “Garden State” is the only thing that will get his fans up and moving.

That's exactly it. I'm not too familiar with anything he's done since.

[–] xergan (1067) 2 years ago

Tell me anything he did beside Scrubs, which wasnt mentioned there too, because he was mostly just an actor in it.

[–] Otter (24464) 2 years ago

There's a reason this film has been forgotten even though it's well-made and has some terrific performances, it's because suburbia-bashing is the easiest, laziest, least profound story their is.

And this from someone who despises suburbia! Sure, it sucks, but criticizing it is boring.

[–] bond998 (1213) 2 years ago

They guy got a pedophile to play a pedophile. If i made that mistake. I would distanced myself from it too. Not to mention the movie was crap.