Word: shock
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...life--they only last until new material arrives. And, of course, the "spy" genre isn't very trendy anymore. If the makers decide to spawn more sequels, I have no doubt that Austin Powers will stray further and further from the original concept and more towards the sight and shock gags inundating movie theaters (introducing Fat Bastard as exhibit A). Unless they can reinvent Austin or give him a sidekick with the same satiric verve, New Line might just have to launch a Dr. Evil franchise. After all, he's not only getting all the good lines...
...fleetingness of reality. The film is supposed to come together when they say, "The reality of one night is not the whole truth. And no dream is entirely a dream." Instead, the movie ends with a thud--a curse word, no less--that proves how desperate Kubrick was to shock. But even a shock would have been welcome. Instead, we got a tame lesson in perversion from supposedly the most astute director of our time...
What makes American Beauty both so fascinating and troubling is its refusal to play its characters' idiosyncrasies for shock value, and especially its amoral complicity in Lester's lesser actions. The film's tone is strangely gleeful, for instance, when Lester viciously berates his chilly wife.Winning an argument easily with a self-satisfied put-down that sadistically needles her insecurities, Spacey lets a devilish grin sneak across his face as if to say: ooh! that was fun. Trouble is, Lester's target (adeptly played by Bening) is so easy and his blow so gratuitous that one can't help feeling...
...baby boomers aren't the only ones who may start to feel that shock. Some members of Harvard's Class of 2003 were born as late as 1982, a full half-decade after the oldest seniors--who were born...
Kandlikar says the shock was even greater because of the attention surrounding McAuliffe's flight...