Submitted by John Sack, Sep 11, 2008 22:17

I'll admit I am no great fan of "American Beauty" or "Six Feet Under," but your argument, and the above is Not a review but an argument, is all over the place. You first beat the culturally safe drum taking the stance that filmmakers who send up suburbia are mean spirited morally corrupt morons and then go on to fancifully invoke the smart sounding reference to a film like "Shadow of a Doubt." What that film has to do with suburbia, other than you trying to appear somewhat acquainted with popular American film history, is beyond me. "Shadow of a Doubt" takes place in quintessential small town America, and couldn't be further from any possible definition of suburbia, much like "In the Bedroom" a film you seem to have some issues with. What "In the Bedroom" has to do with "American Beauty," "Towel Head," or for that matter "House of Sand and Fog" isn't clear in your clumsily worded rant. You describe the film as "self-congratulatory and ineptly crafted twaddle." Twaddle, there's a quirky word. I've seen that one before… yep right under the letter "T" in my Pauline Kael dictionary of clever put downs for phonies desk reference. A real winner of a write-off, like the catch-all "frippery." Go ahead you can use it in your next shot gun review. You state that your preference of film is something "honest, independent, and empowering." I know just how you feel. I like my film reviews to possess the same virtues.

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