In under three months the first decade of the new millennia will come to a close. Has cinema left a lasting impression in the last ten years? While memories of both tragedy and sucess still linger in our minds over films like The Dark Knight if you take into account that that film is little over a year old, can you think out further than that and think what has grabbed your attention in the last ten years?
What truly sticks out when looking at what previous decades have given us?
Bourne made Bond look like an outdated concept. Bond rebuked that by transforming into a human being for the first time since...well in cinematic terms, ever. Tarantino started the millennium with Kill Bill, and has arguably fallen from his pedestal as the greatest talent cinema has to offer to a 'has-been'. Scorsese finally scored Oscar success but was it for one of his masterpieces or second-tier work? A little-known New Zealand filmmaker created the most successful trilogy since Star Wars, and became the most successful filmmaker in history overnight. Spielberg continued to do basically what he has always done. Sell popcorn. Lucas returned with a new trilogy that lost more old fans than it gained new ones. Kevin Smith returned to his roots and essentially repeated a successful formula. Coppola remained dormant throughout most of the period, as did Brian De Palma, Sidney Lumet, Peter Bogdanovich, James Cameron, Frank Darabont.
The supposed great directors of yesteryear have died out essentially to be replaced by a new wave of movie-brat directors. Will they be remembered in thirty years? My gut says the likes of Wes Anderson probably will do. However this decade has also seen the rise of some true geniuses of the silver screen.
Guillermo Del Toro has arguably gone from strength to strength transforming any genre he chooses to inhabit and also creating a foreign language film that grabbed the attention of the xenophobic western audience with Pan's Labyrinth. P.T. Anderson created a new form of filmmaking in There Will Be Blood. Edgar Wright made British comedy cinema cool again with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Paul Greengrass made the Bourne films a heady, sensual adventure. Brett Ratner became a millionaire making very bad films. Matthew Vaughn stepped away from the producer's office to direct the first respectable British gangster film for decades with Layer Cake. And then there's Christopher Nolan transforming the way genre cinema can tell stories.
Will these directors be remembered in years to come? Some I hope will. Others will only disappoint again and again until their once promising careers are completely forgotten.
Think of the stars! Has the last decade produced a new crop of talent that will one day be uttered in the same breath as Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Gene Hackman, Clint Eastwood or Jack Nicholson? I somehow cannot begin to imagine one day reading a critic's review of the latest Robert Pattinson film declaring it "his Raging Bull" nor do I think this decade has been good to actresses. How many films over the last ten years recall a fantastic female presence on the screen, especially one from a newcomer? Meryl Streep will not live forever. Am I supposed to believe that Megan Fox or Miley Cyrus can take her place?
Does my generation have a Brando? Mortensen maybe although he might be too old for that category to be appropriate.
This post is not to state favourites or attack others. Those posts will follow. For now I am content to just lay down the ground works and ask you...has the decade yielded anything other than an advertisement for gloss? Have the blockbusters transformed our movie experience? Have stars literally become picturesque beauty to be ogled rather than talent to admire?
Ciao for now!
What truly sticks out when looking at what previous decades have given us?
Bourne made Bond look like an outdated concept. Bond rebuked that by transforming into a human being for the first time since...well in cinematic terms, ever. Tarantino started the millennium with Kill Bill, and has arguably fallen from his pedestal as the greatest talent cinema has to offer to a 'has-been'. Scorsese finally scored Oscar success but was it for one of his masterpieces or second-tier work? A little-known New Zealand filmmaker created the most successful trilogy since Star Wars, and became the most successful filmmaker in history overnight. Spielberg continued to do basically what he has always done. Sell popcorn. Lucas returned with a new trilogy that lost more old fans than it gained new ones. Kevin Smith returned to his roots and essentially repeated a successful formula. Coppola remained dormant throughout most of the period, as did Brian De Palma, Sidney Lumet, Peter Bogdanovich, James Cameron, Frank Darabont.
The supposed great directors of yesteryear have died out essentially to be replaced by a new wave of movie-brat directors. Will they be remembered in thirty years? My gut says the likes of Wes Anderson probably will do. However this decade has also seen the rise of some true geniuses of the silver screen.
Guillermo Del Toro has arguably gone from strength to strength transforming any genre he chooses to inhabit and also creating a foreign language film that grabbed the attention of the xenophobic western audience with Pan's Labyrinth. P.T. Anderson created a new form of filmmaking in There Will Be Blood. Edgar Wright made British comedy cinema cool again with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Paul Greengrass made the Bourne films a heady, sensual adventure. Brett Ratner became a millionaire making very bad films. Matthew Vaughn stepped away from the producer's office to direct the first respectable British gangster film for decades with Layer Cake. And then there's Christopher Nolan transforming the way genre cinema can tell stories.
Will these directors be remembered in years to come? Some I hope will. Others will only disappoint again and again until their once promising careers are completely forgotten.
Think of the stars! Has the last decade produced a new crop of talent that will one day be uttered in the same breath as Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Gene Hackman, Clint Eastwood or Jack Nicholson? I somehow cannot begin to imagine one day reading a critic's review of the latest Robert Pattinson film declaring it "his Raging Bull" nor do I think this decade has been good to actresses. How many films over the last ten years recall a fantastic female presence on the screen, especially one from a newcomer? Meryl Streep will not live forever. Am I supposed to believe that Megan Fox or Miley Cyrus can take her place?
Does my generation have a Brando? Mortensen maybe although he might be too old for that category to be appropriate.
This post is not to state favourites or attack others. Those posts will follow. For now I am content to just lay down the ground works and ask you...has the decade yielded anything other than an advertisement for gloss? Have the blockbusters transformed our movie experience? Have stars literally become picturesque beauty to be ogled rather than talent to admire?
Ciao for now!
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