American Beauty
Directed by Sam Mendes. Starring Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari
All that Oscar hype, and the inevitable backlash that followed, served to obscure the remarkable achievement of British wunderkind Mendes in his directorial debut, which well repays a second viewing on video. Accusations of misogyny against the characterisation of Bening's self-serving wife ignore the fact that this is one of the great satirical performances of recent years, while - with a few exceptions (the rose petals) - Mendes shows a sophisticated and deceptively simple grasp of cinema style and technique.
Music Of The Heart
Directed by Wes Craven. Starring Meryl Streep, Aidan Quinn, Gloria Estefan, Angela Bassett
The commercial success of Scream allowed Craven to make a belated move into "proper" movie-making with this lengthy biopic based on the true story of inner-city music teacher Roberta Guaspari. The slushy, mushy melodrama that results suggests he would be better off returning to what he knows and does best. We've seen Streep tackle this sort of part before, but what's surprising is that Craven seems to have left all his wicked humour and technical virtuosity at the door.
Clash Of The Ash
Directed by Fergus Tighe. Starring William Heffernan, Vincent Murphy, Gina Moxley, Alan Devlin
One of the key Irish films of the 1980s, this 50-minute drama offers a portrait of a still largely uncharted part of contemporary Irish society - small town life and the struggle of the young to resist its stifling conformity. Heffernan is the talented young hurler who feels hemmed in by the demands of family, school and team, and dreams of escape. Excellent supporting performances, an assured script and an impressive balancing of the various story elements show Tighe as one of the most promising film-makers of his generation, and make it all the more regrettable that he hasn't made any drama in the 13 years since this was first released.