Monday, November 23rd, 2009
When was your year of film?
Mine’s 1999. That’s right. The year of Wild Wild West and The Phantom Menace is my year of film. Perhaps I should explain.
I consider the ‘modern age of film’ everything that came after 1975 - specifically the release of Jaws. But since then, certain other key films have shaped a lot of what has come after. Did The Sixth Sense and Fight Club re-invigorate the twist ending as a movie staple? Did Blair Witch bring viral marketing to the mainstream? Did The Matrix change fight scenes forever?
I’m not saying that 1999 was the year of best films (although a lot of those pictured above are some of my favourites) but 1999 was a year that changed my perspective on exactly what you could do with the movies and what audiences could be persuaded to watch.
I think The Matrix allowed philosophical science fiction to be cool and even kick-ass. Being John Malkovich took mind-boggling intellectualism but wrapped it in a clear, concise (and funny) accessible high-concept. David Fincher adapting Chuck Palahniuk allowed a curious blend of anarchy but funded by a giant corporation. American Beauty earned its Oscars AND its huge audience (not easy).
Plus it’s the year this guy appeared.
’nuff said, right? Well, obviously this is just my year of film. From my point of view the movies of 1999 provided an overall influence on cinema that hasn’t yet been replaced in many respects. It’s also the year that I started trying to write professionally, so this is all personal.
But have the breakout films of 1999 had an effect that even the makers of the above movies have struggled to re-capture in balancing both critical and commercial success? We’re just waiting for the next mega-year to move us on to the next phase.
But as I said, this is all personal. Did a year in your childhood change everything for you? Did a particular year draw you to a genre you’d never really liked? When was your year of film?
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Jack Burton said:
Interesting blog post because you’ve nailed my sentiments about 1999 completely. There seemed to be a new sense of experiementation in Hollywood movies between about 1998 and 2000 with smaller, obscure films becoming hits (eg. Malkovich, Memento) and even the blockbusters pushing boundaries effects and plot wise (The Matrix).
As you say, this may not have produced films with the longetivity of some of the 1970s classic (1975 and ‘76 would have to be contenders: Cuckoo’s Nest, Jaws, Dog Day Afternoon, Taxi Driver- the list goes on) but I wasn;t even born then so they will never grab me quite as much.
2000 was the year I left school and the great, interesting films that had come out during my last two years were the reason I went to university to do Film Studies. I wonder if I would have made the same choice had I left school at a different time.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:52 pm
john said:
Thanks, Jack. Absolutely. I wish I had been around when things started changing in the seventies. But if we’re playing that game, then I’d be picking a year from the 40s too
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Chuck Spear said:
Hey, John,
This is a great idea for a topic of discussion. A lot of your 1999 entries really rung true, with The Iron Giant in particular. I love that movie more than is legally conscionable, to be honest. The Matrix–for better or worse–definitely changed the way movies (and TV shows, and commercials and even video games) were made for the following few years. It was also the debut of the Charlie Kaufman film and what is more or less the debut of David Fincher. Sure, he had Seven under his belt at that point, but Fight Club is what he’ll likely be remembered for.
I don’t disagree with your list, although I personally didn’t see what the hubbub was about for American Beauty, I can’t deny its influence is *still* being felt today. Without it, we wouldn’t have had Six Feet Under, Desperate Housewives, Weeds or a host of other shows that brought the focus back to the suburbs.
As a counterpoint I’d like to submit 1994 and 2002.
1994 had Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption, the former changed they style of filmmaking (due in no small part to some upstart named Tarantino) and the latter is considered by many to be one of the greatest films ever made. Speaking of upstart directors, 1994 also gave us Kevin Smith, who debuted with Clerks and, like Tarantino, went from fan to filmmaker almost overnight.
And you had Forrest Gump, the *other* movie that said, “Hey, Tom Hanks can be a serious actor.” (He’d already shown some chops in Philadelphia.)
Also released was what is considered Disney’s greatest animated triumph: The Lion King, which reached heights never again attained by the company. And, no, Pixar doesn’t count as Disney.
The Coens struck again with The Hudsucker Proxy (the other Tim Robbins film from the same year with a goofy name), which showed them trying their hand, successfully, at a screwball comedy. It’s a lighter film compared to some of the rest of their ouevre, and one of the only ones that doesn’t display some sort of dislike for its protagonist.
Aaand… Hoop Dreams and Heavenly Creatures, two of my favorite films of all time. Hoop Dreams is an intense and heartbreaking documentary that follows two basketball-playing kids from Chicago. And Heavenly Creatures is a haunting tale about two girls in love in 1950s New Zealand, and is notable not only as Kate Winslet’s film debut but also as arguably Peter Jackson’s best film.
Interview with the Vampire was responsible for the goth-ifcation of the vampire mythos, something it’s taken years to undo, and that hasn’t been entirely successful.
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Chuck Spear said:
I’d also like to include, for your consideration, 2002.
The best entry for my money would have to be City of God, which dominated my best-movie-I’ve-seen-in-years category until I saw No Country for Old Men in 2007. It managed to be a thrilling crime film, a look into the slums of Brazil (beyond the “picture postcard of Rio de Janeiro”) AND a push for social change.
In addition to this, 2002 also saw Spider-Man the first truly financially viable superhero/comic book film, which paved the way for, well, everything else. Yes, including The Dark Knight.
I’d also like to include The 25th Hour, one of Spike Lee’s best films, and, I believe, the first post-9/11 American film to confront the post-9/11 New York (and America).
28 Days Later singlehandedly responsible for the resurgence of the zombie genre (yeah, I said it). And The Bourne Identity reinvented the action movie. Without it, there’d have been no Casino Royale.
Catch Me If You Can was the last universally great Stephen Spielberg film. As much as I love the complexities of Munich, universally beloved is not one of the claims commonly made about it.
Now, there were plenty of stinkers (I’m looking at you Attack of the Clones and Men In Black II), as there will be in any year, and I admit that 2002 wasn’t as strong as 1994 or 1999, but it wasn’t too shabby either.
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:03 pm
john said:
Good years, Chuck! I think 1994, with Tarantino and Smith, really heralded in a new generation of film-makers. The fan boys of the last lot. I think the fact that both their debut films, developed outside the studio system for v low budgets, found general release as well as an audience definitely showed a shift in Hollywood.
I think you also make a very good case for it being the year when vampires became ever so dreeeeeeamy
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Tom Urro said:
Think 1999 is mine too. But ‘93 to ‘95 is when I first thought films where the best things ever!!!!