For this episode, we watched American Beauty, written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes, both making their feature film debuts and both winning Academy Awards. Music was by Thomas Newman (nominated) and cinematography was by Conrad Hall (won). The cast includes Kevin Spacey (winning Best Actor), Annette Bening (nominated), Thora Birch, Alison Janney, Peter Gallagher, Mena Suvari, Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper.