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2001 Sucked for Movies
Here we go again, another year has ended. It’s time for a new one, and with it all sorts of top ten lists have popped up. The best movie of the year is this, the best performance is that, yada yada yada. I don’t want to do it, and if you’re sane you won’t really want to read it. It’s not just that the year in general, excepting the final two months, have been a complete and total disappointment for film. It’s more a growing disgust with the constant desire for everyone to list everything in a nice neat little order. Whenever someone finds out I love film, I’m asked “what’s the best movie”, or “what’s your favorite?” The problem is I really can’t pick a best, and picking a favorite isn’t much easier. To pick a “best” means there is some sort of standardized way of looking at everything in print, and this just isn’t so. To pick a favorite…that just takes too long. Right now, it’s The Big Lebowski because of one moment. John Goodman jumps out of the car with an uzi, mucks up the ransom pay-off, and says, “Fuck it dude. Let’s go bowling.” Is this the best movie? No. I say it’s my favorite for one moment, and this could change as my sense of humor inevitably alters over time.
I went on record last year as saying that 2000 wasn’t really a dull year. That its great films were not as successful or as widely known as in the past doesn’t mean there weren’t many good ones. I stand by this, but now make the claim that 2001 has royally sucked. It did, in fact, “powerful suck.” Nothing truly challenged the viewer. Nothing made you wonder. Nothing made you imagine. Everything was laid on a nice silver platter for consumption, and when it’s all done you get indigestion.
I’m sick of the silver fucking platter. I want to be motivated. However, 2001 will be known as the year of the popcorn film. Some really bad movies, some OK movies, and very little in the way of brilliance.
This isn’t to say that nothing was any good this year. Far from it. Like I expected, I enjoyed Jurassic Park 3 for what it was. But JP3 was also typical of 2001’s movies. There was nothing but distractions all around. Nothing but more reasons to sit in a dark room and munch candy. When it’s over, it’s forgotten. Nothing has stayed with us for any length of time. Even Hannibal, which had its moments, turned out in the end to be nothing more than an endorsement for mass murder and a fairly well-written comedy. I mean really, if I hadn’t just mentioned it, would you have remembered Hannibal?
The last two years have been like this, in many respects. Don’t you remember all the hype that would surround a movie? Don’t you remember drooling in anticipation while you scratched off the days on the calendar until the big day for the movie showed up? It’s not happening any more. Even the movies that look to be enjoyable aren’t much more than eye candy. Truly, there are some excellent pieces of entertainment to have hit theatres this year, but they’re nothing more than that. Monsters Inc., From Hell, etc.
I will admit though, that even in this period of pessimism there were a few to cause me to raise eyebrows. First of all, the Mother of all Popcorn Films is out. Fellowship of the Ring is everything you could want from a movie without having to think about it…and I mean that in the nicest possible way. Peter Jackson did what I’d come to assume was impossible in the current Hollywood system. He created a big-budget, heavy fx film that didn’t sacrifice character or story. He created one of the best films of the year, and he did it within the system. Also, Amelie and Gosford Park are certainly tied for among the most interesting experiences I’ve had in a long while. But in general, it has been mostly those popcorn films. Those movies you see once or twice, and then never think about again. You never bring it up in a conversation with your friends six months later, you never lay in bed and just remember a scene that struck you a certain way.
Truly, there was Memento. There was Shrek. There was From Hell…a group of imperfect films (and I never make the claim that any film is perfect, so please don’t interpret that phrase as a criticism) with some excellent shots or lines that in the end you don’t really think about too much later on.
I remember as recently as a few years ago. I remember hearing about a movie and waiting for what seemed to be an eternity to see the movie. I remember hearing Star Wars was going to be re-released, and so I conned my brother into letting me mow the neighbor’s lawn every time so I’d have money to see each movie more than once. I remember being excited about new movies coming to the theatre not just to have the experience in the theatre, but because of the movie itself. It’s certainly possible that this excitement ended because of a move away from my concern with Hollywood movements, criticisms…it’s possible that going away to school has isolated me from the things that once made me excited. But there is that nagging thought that pervades…the knowledge that I’m still excited about old films. I’m still excited to see a movie for the first time, no matter when it was made. It just doesn’t happen very much for movies made recently. The best I can do is muster up half-hearted criticism for the glossy sugar-coating done in Ali.
So. What does this mean? Am I destined to go off, ignore the things I love for the rest of my life?
Doubtful.
While I said before that 2001 did in fact suck, I say it with some real hesitance. It never sucks when you really love film. It never is painful when the very experience of seeing it printed and shown on the screen sends shivers down your back. For that reason…well, it sucked but it didn’t. To be more accurate, I suppose I’d have to say that the year was the norm. We became so glossed at extraordinary years that we’ve forgotten what it’s like to see a normal year.
So more questions come up…am I saying this to try and make some kind of peace within myself? Am I trying to pretend the year wasn’t so bad so I won’t feel terrible? I guess I’ll just keep asking myself those questions. I like to think that the more likely answer is that my past excitement is gone because I’m different. That kid who mowed all those lawns to see Star Wars, that kid whose mind was blown by Fight Club…that kid is dead. He’s become me, the person who knows how long a week is, and can deal with it knowing that the time will come. Time marches on, and soon I’ll see the day when a good movie hits the screen. Staying up all night on Christmas Eve doesn’t make Christmas morning come any quicker, I suppose.
But that doesn’t make the year any better. There were some bad ones…drop-off’s from the 90’s that hit just a little too late to do any good. Tom Green was past his prime, and he did little good because he gauged poorly.
I guess this is my own lament, my own requiem. I remember all those times of being really happy with film, and now I’m just comfortable in it. I look forward to Spider-man, I looked forward to Fellowship of the Ring, but none of it was as purely joyful as it is now. There were no spurts of adrenaline to jolt me along in my waiting. I just hope I don’t become bitter in the future.