1. "American Beauty" (1999)
I'm well aware of the kind of person Kevin Spacey has been revealed to be. As horrible as his actions and behavior were, that doesn't take away from the masterpiece that is "American Beauty." "American Beauty" follows protagonist Lester Burnham as he encounters what many would refer to as a "mid-life crisis." He essentially grows bored with his trivial life as an advertising executive and embarks on a journey to find new purpose and meaning for himself. The "beauty" of the film is how well it incorporates elements of realism in its characters. Every character is extremely realistic as are their relationship dynamics. The viewer is given the opportunity to dive below the surface of the characters to truly understand their internal dilemmas.
In other words, no character is one dimensional. While we, as the viewer, may not agree with their actions, we begin to see how they are justified in the mind of the character. Many movies aren't able to achieve this. Aside from its characters, "American Beauty" is extremely well shot and incorporates experimental cinematography in many scenes. The rose pedal scene is a particularly good example of how unique the cinematography is. It's a fundamentally sad movie and has very dark moments, but I think there is a certain beauty captured in sad movies that is harder to reach in happy movies. As a winner for best picture in the year 2000, I think that speaks to the magnitude of this masterpiece. It's currently available on Amazon Prime Video, so Friday night I strongly urge you to crack open a cold one and check it out.
2. "Donnie Darko" (2001)
"Donnie Darko" is one of those movies you may have to watch a second time to fully understand but when the plot finally starts to make sense it's extremely rewarding. Set in the 1988 Donnie Darko, played by a young Jake Gyllenhaal, is an extremely mysterious and complex character. No one quite seems to understand him, including his parents. Everyone subconsciously assumes that he has some sort of psychological disorder, but in fact, Donnie has a higher sense of clarity than everyone in the movie with the exception of a couple of characters. Donnie experiences an acute sense of loneliness and social isolation that I think most people have or will experience to some degree in their lives. I think what makes this movie so great is its versatile plot as well as characterization.
Its plot, while complex and multidimensional, is in the end truly rewarding and thought-provoking. I've spent countless hours on Reddit forums discussing different aspects of the plot. I won't get into too much detail because I don't want to give anything away. The film is essentially a cynical observation of the high school experience with a much darker and complex story. "Donnie Darko" is kind of a jack of all trades in terms of emotion. It'll make you angry, sad, happy, and laugh at different parts of the experience. I think a film's ability to do this is an absolute achievement. "Donnie Darko" is currently on a streaming service called "Tubi." Give it a watch!
3. "Requiem for a Dream" (2000)
You're probably starting to notice a trend. These are very sad movies. But they certainly are great and are cinematic achievements in many respects. Even if you haven't seen "Requiem for a Dream" you have surely heard its gripping musical theme "Lux Aeterna" composed by Clint Mansell and Kronos Quartet. This score was quite honestly a masterpiece of its own. The thing that really sets "Requiem for a Dream" apart is how unique its cinematography is as well as its depiction of addiction. The story follows three different characters on their downward spiral of drug addiction. While not particularly glamorous, the film explores the disturbing horrors of addiction in such an interesting way.
There are many sequences in which one character experiences acute hallucinations from extremely high amphetamine doses. In these scenes, the viewer is thrown into her first-person perspective of these haunting delusions. They almost feel like a feverish dream. Darren Aronofsky, the creative genius and director behind this film, incorporates montage scenes depicting drug use and addiction throughout the movie. These scenes incorporate unique editing styles, music choices, and visuals. This movie, while it is rated one of the saddest movies of all time, is a work of art. If young Jard Leto isn't enough to convince you to watch this, then the rest of its cinematic genius should. "Requiem for a Dream" is also currently available for free on Tubi, so hey, maybe it's time to go ahead and download Tubi.
Although these movies won't suit everyone. I think that there are elements in these films that most mainstream audiences will enjoy or at least find interesting. The three movies listed also happen to secure spots on IMDB's "Top 250 Movies" list so I'm fairly confident that I'm not leading you astray. With that, I hope you find these movies interesting and if not, I'm glad I could at the very minimum expand your cinematic horizon.
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