American Beauty is a 1999 drama film directed by Sam Mendes and written
by Alan Ball. Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, a middle-aged
office worker who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with
his daughter's best friend; Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Mena Suvari,
Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper and Allison Janney also feature. Described as
a satire of American notions of beauty and personal satisfaction, the
film explores themes of romantic and paternal love, sexuality, beauty,
materialism, self-liberation and redemption. American Beauty was
Mendes' film directorial debut and Ball's first film screenplay.
DreamWorks bought his spec script for $250,000 and financed the
$15 million production. Courted by the studio after a run of successful
theater productions, Mendes was nevertheless only given the job after
several "A-list" directors turned it down. Released in late 1999,
American Beauty was the best-reviewed American film of the year and
grossed over $350 million worldwide. At the 2000 Academy Awards, the
film won five of its eight nominations, including Best Picture, Best
Director and Best Actor (for Spacey). The film was nominated for and
won many other awards and honors, mainly for the direction, writing and
acting.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Beauty_%28film%29>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1027:
Pope John XIX crowned Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor>
1484:
William Caxton, the first printer of books in English, printed his
translation of Aesop's Fables.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesop%27s_Fables>
1636:
Utrecht University, one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands
and one of the largest in Europe, was established.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utrecht_University>
1971:
After the Pakistan Army attempted to curb the Bengali nationalist
movement in Operation Searchlight, East Pakistan declared its
independence from Pakistan to form Bangladesh , starting the Bangladesh
Liberation War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Searchlight>
1975:
The Biological Weapons Convention, the first multilateral disarmament
treaty banning the production of an entire category of weapons, entered
into force.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_Weapons_Convention>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
seam allowance (n):
(sewing) That part of the material or fabric added to the dimensions of
a sewing pattern outside the seam
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/seam_allowance>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the
difference.
--Robert Frost
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Frost>