Let's start this one off by clarifying that in terms of 2008 film, I am ashamed to say I have not seen Synecdoche, New York, Happy-Go-Lucky, or Let The Right One In. Also, The Wrestler, and Waltz with Bashir have yet to open in my area, and hopefully one or both will end up on some kind of best-of list I'll make soon.
Having said that, I still feel I've got at least one leg to stand on by saying 2008, while not a bad year for film, isn't nearly as landmark as 2007 was. For the most part, whatever treasures were found in 2007's movies can't be found here, to the point where a 2007 release has made its way onto many a best-of-2008 list: 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (a film I have seen and would consider had it not been worthy of an Oscar nod last year; that it was snubbed is disturbing). Also, thanks to the release date of some 2007 films, some people may consider them as 2008 movies; I'm specifically thinking here of There Will Be Blood, a fantastic movie that some people (myself included) didn't see until February.
So, what does it say that this is the year of the good movie? It means that there was nothing so revelatory as Daniel Plainview, Anton Chigurh, the duo from Once, the daring of Cate Blanchett to be Bob Dylan, and so forth. 2008 gave us the Joker incarnated, Robert Downey, Jr.'s comeback, Jason Segel in the nude, a robot named WALL-E, and Colin Farrell being good in a film. It's hard to compare "I drink your milkshake" with "I am Iron Man."
I suppose the writers' strike didn't help movies that came out this year, nor did the amount of talent used up in 2007. If anything, I'm envious of those who were touched by The Curious Case of Benjamin Button or Slumdog Millionaire, but I am not on those trains. The former film is strangely cold (not because David Fincher directed, but because even the script doesn't feature strong emotional grounding) and the latter film is too contrived to stand on its feet. These are the two films that have struck a chord with some movie folk, such as Rex Reed, who called Button one of the best films ever made. Will people say that 20 years from now? Perhaps. I doubt it.
2009, I hope, will be better. Because of the economic downturn, there's been speculation that the lack of money will up creativity among filmmakers. Call me a cynic, but I see the opposite happening. If Charlie Kaufman comes to you with a relatively cheap but...Kaufmanesque idea, and the guys who "made" Disaster Movie come up with a new style of movie to lampoon, which will be chosen? I get the feeling that creativity will not win out. Hollywood's executives can be a bit obtuse when gauging what people want, and people can do a very poor job of indicating exactly what that is. If Disaster Movie makes money and Synecdoche, New York does not, we all know what will occur next.
It's nice to be hopeful, and some part of me does share that hope, but 2009 may be as barren a wasteland for film until the fall as this past year was. I would, however, love to be proven wrong. Part of me will still hope.
No comments:
Post a Comment