A lot of folks have been kvetching about how bad this year has been for cinema. Actually not too uncommon, as there's always a requisite chorus of "Worst. Year. Ever.", especially from an internet that likes to use the always-disappointing summer season as a barometer.However, what's looking like the lineup for Best Picture at this year's Academy Awards is looking...not too shabby. Most are predicting it will definitely include The Social Network, The Fighter, The King's Speech, Inception and The Black Swan. Rounding out the rest of the top ten are probably Toy Story 3, Winter's Bone, True Grit, 127 Hours and The Kids are Alright. The second wave is a little more vulnerable--sequels, remakes, cartoons, too small. But most prognosticators have this as the lineup. What's amazing is, this is overall a very excellent collection of films, regardless of which five would have made it in previous years. Probably one of the best slates in the last decade, and to be honest, the 2008 season was pretty much just propelled by two masterpieces.
Some of the box-office is pretty impressive all due considering. True Grit will be the Coen Brothers' biggest hit by far, and the most successful Western in twenty whole years. The Social Network was about internet drama, and was primarily unknowns. The King's Speech is one of those movies that always has a place in the Oscars, but audiences are biting more than they usually do. Then there is Black Swan. Female-driven drama. About ballet. But also rather horrific, if not trippy. Directed by a man not known for his commercial sensibilities. And 100 million is not out of the question. It's really a phenomenon that defies a lot of conventional wisdom. Even The Fighter, while not exactly unconventional, was probably looking like an also-ran months ago. (I'm sure there are those who will go on about Inception's miracle performance and...no. Christopher Nolan's career is not a miraculous shattering of conventional wisdom, but savvy combination of skill and timing.)What's even more amazing is how...hip the slate of films is. The water cooler talk, the SNL parodies, whatever you want to call it. It seems the average person on the street cares about this slate of movies more than they usually do. Avatar may currently be the highest-grossing movie of all time, but even when it came out there was a sense it was more of a fad than anything really resonant. The backlash was also part and parcel of the phenomenon from the beginning. Inglourious Basterds and District 9 were surprise hits, but strangely under the radar. The Blind Side was huge but kind of had that "CBS" feeling. Up was there, but at this point, Pixar really feels more like a tradition than any of their movies are cultural phenomena, individually. But there is this overall sense that "adult" movies, even if different from the "adult" movies that defined yesteryear, are coming into their own.
I'm not one of those people who bemoans endlessly that studios are doing nothing but remakes and films based on comic books. It's not like a lot of film classics give us particularly probable protagonists and situations. The worlds presented in Gone With the Wind or Braveheart are no less fairy tales than what we see in Middle Earth or Hogwarts. But I have been concerned with a certain myopia from audiences. In past decades, familiarity worked via reliable stars or stories. This decade there has been something of a galvanization, where talents would rotate between very blatantly commercial material (well-done or otherwise) and personal, almost abrasive smaller projects. (which, once again, could be well done or otherwise) The quality per se has not been as bad as some make it out to be, but there was a palpable feel of running out of track. But does this season present a bit of a turning point?
Maybe it's from being burnt out on the steady diet of franchise films that has dominated the last decade. Maybe it's the indie generation starting to coalesce into an actual moviegoing public. Maybe the economy is just giving people too much free time. It could also just be a fluke, and next year we'll see audiences flock to The Hangover 2 and Breaking Dawn, while Tree of Life is left in the dust. In any case, it will be interesting to see what the ratings will end up like this year. The nominees are much stronger in popular consciousness, although there isn't a Lord of the Rings or Titanic level front runner either. Or maybe audiences are, in general, tired of the awards shows.
Well, I'll tell you what, my Top Ten list for 2009 was a bit of a joke. I included Avatar in the tenth position just to get to ten - I only sort of liked it. I like the rest of the movies on the list a lot, but it wasn't a great year for cinema.
ReplyDeleteFor 2010, however, I had a list of 17 films that I had to sort through to make a final choice. And of those any of my top four would have been a #1 choice if they had come out in 2009.
Black Swan and The Social Network alone are going to be contenders for my Top 10 of the decade. 2010 was a great year for cinema. It was just mostly packed into the last 5 months.
I think unfortunately, people this decade have decided a year is good and bad by its more fanboy-friendly offerings. At least on the net.
ReplyDeleteAlso, years really should be ranked when they're over.