Match 246 – #28 – The Usual Suspects (1995) V #12 – One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Top 256 – Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind 6-0
Top 128 – The Grapes Of Wrath 6-1
Top 64 – Terminator 2: Judgement Day 3-3
Top 32 – The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly 4-2

The Usual Suspects is a 1995 American neo-noir film written by Christopher McQuarrie and directed by Bryan Singer. It stars Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Pollak, Pete Postlethwaite, and Kevin Spacey.

The film follows the interrogation of Roger “Verbal” Kint, a small-time con man who is one of only two survivors of a massacre and fire on a ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles. He tells an interrogator a convoluted story about events that led him and four other criminals to the boat, and of a mysterious mob boss known as Keyser Söze who commissioned their work. Using flashback and narration, Kint’s story becomes increasingly complex.

The film, shot on a $6 million budget, began as a title taken from a column in Spy magazine called “The Usual Suspects,” after one of Claude Rains’ most memorable lines in the classic film Casablanca. Singer thought it would make a good title for a film, the poster for which he and McQuarrie had developed as the first visual idea.

The Usual Suspects was shown out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival, and then initially released in a few theaters. It received favorable reviews, and was eventually given a wider release. McQuarrie won an Academy Award for the screenplay and Spacey won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance.
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TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Top 256 – Castle In The Sky 7-0
Top 128 – Hotel Rwanda 6-0
Top 64 – Chinatown 6-0
Top 32 – The Dark Knight Rises 4-2
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a 1975 drama film directed by Miloš Forman and based on the 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey.

The film was the second to win all five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Actor in Lead Role, Actress in Lead Role, Director, and Screenplay) following It Happened One Night in 1934, an accomplishment not repeated until 1991 by The Silence of the Lambs.

The film is #20 on the American Film Institute’s 100 Years… 100 Movies list. It was shot at Oregon State Hospital in Salem, Oregon, which was also the setting of the novel.
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Match 248 – #35 – American History X (1998) V #46 – American Beauty (1999)

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Top 256 – Monsters, Inc. 7-0
Top 128 – Raging Bull 3-1
Top 64 – Gone With The Wind 5-0
Top 32 – Reservior Dogs 4-3

American History X is a 1998 American drama film directed by Tony Kaye and starring Edward Norton and Edward Furlong. It was distributed by New Line Cinema.

The film tells the story of two brothers, Derek Vinyard (Norton) and Daniel “Danny” Vinyard (Furlong) of Venice Beach in Los Angeles, California. Both are intelligent and charismatic students. Their father, a firefighter, is murdered by a black drug dealer while trying to extinguish a fire in a South Central neighborhood of Los Angeles, and Derek is drawn into the neo-Nazi movement. Derek brutally kills two black gang members whom he catches in the act of breaking into the truck left to him by his father, and is sentenced to three years in prison for voluntary manslaughter. The story shows how Danny is influenced by his older brother's actions and ideology and how Derek, now radically changed by his experience in incarceration, which includes violent rape by white neo-Nazi inmates (because of a friendly relationship with a black inmate, brought on in part by the neo-Nazis' hypocrisy in Derek's eyes), tries to prevent his brother from going down the same path as he did. The film is told in the style of nonlinear narrative.

David McKenna scripted the film and shooting took place in Los Angeles, California. The film was released in the United States on October 30, 1998 and went on to gross over $23 million at the international box office. It was given an “R” rating by the MPAA for “graphic brutal violence including rape, pervasive language, strong sexuality and nudity.”

Critics mostly praised the film and Edward Norton was given an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. It was also named by Empire magazine in September 2008 as the 311th Greatest Movie of All Time.
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TOURNAMENT HISTORY

Top 256 – The Truman Show 6-1
Top 128 – Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi 3-1
Top 64 – City Of God 3-2
Top 32 – Inception 4-3

American Beauty is a 1999 American drama film written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes. Kevin Spacey stars as office worker Lester Burnham, who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with his insecure teenage daughter Jane's best friend, Angela (Mena Suvari). Jane is played by Thora Birch and Annette Bening co-stars as Lester's materialistic wife, Carolyn. Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper and Allison Janney also feature. The film has been described by academics as a satire of American middle class notions of beauty and personal satisfaction, while analysis has focused on the film's explorations of romantic and paternal love, sexuality, beauty, materialism, self-liberation and redemption.

Ball began writing American Beauty as a play in the early 1990s, partly inspired by the media circus around the Amy Fisher trial in 1992. He shelved the play after realizing the story would not work on stage. After several years as a television screenwriter, Ball revived the idea in 1997 when attempting to break into the film industry. The modified script had a cynical outlook that was influenced by Ball's frustrating tenures writing for several sitcoms. Producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen took American Beauty to DreamWorks; the fledgling film studio bought Ball's script for $250,000, outbidding several other production bodies. DreamWorks financed the $15 million production and served as the North American distributor. American Beauty marked acclaimed theater director Mendes' film debut; courted after his successful productions of the musicals Oliver! and Cabaret, Mendes was nevertheless only given the job after twenty others were considered and several “A-list” directors turned down the opportunity.

Spacey was Mendes' first choice for the role of Lester, even though DreamWorks had urged the director to consider better-known actors; similarly, the studio suggested several actors for the role of Carolyn until Mendes offered the part to Bening without DreamWorks' knowledge. Principal photography took place between December 1998 and February 1999 on soundstages at the Warner Bros. backlot in Burbank, California and on location in Los Angeles. Mendes' dominant style was deliberate and composed; he made extensive use of static shots and slow pans and zooms to generate tension. Cinematographer Conrad Hall complemented Mendes' style with peaceful shot compositions to contrast with the turbulent on-screen events. During editing, Mendes made several changes that gave the film a less cynical tone.

Released in North America on September 15, 1999, American Beauty was positively received by critics and audiences alike; it was the best-reviewed American film of the year and grossed over $350 million worldwide. Reviewers praised most aspects of the production, with particular emphasis on Mendes, Spacey and Ball; criticism tended to focus on the familiarity of the characters and setting. DreamWorks launched a major campaign to increase American Beauty's chances of Academy Award success; at the 72nd Academy Awards the following year, the film won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (for Spacey), Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography.
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Ok guys thats a wrap! Let's see which 4 movies will complete the Elite 8:

The Shawshank Redemption – 8

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope – 1

The Usual Suspects – 6

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest – 3

Se7en – 6

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back – 3

American History X – 7

American Beauty – 2

I will be back soon with the Elite 8.

Here is the updated bracket:

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