Taking stock of the noughties
The year is not even finished yet and already the film lists charting the defining moments of the first ten years of 21st century cinema are hitting the streets.
What is interesting is how mainstream the lists have become. You have to look hard for those European art-house movies that used to fill the all-time great lists of yesteryear. The European movies that are present tend to be the high profile cross over films, movies like Volver and Amelie rather than little gems like Cockles and Muscles or Pot Luck.
Although Michael Haneke’s Hidden starring Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche deservedly tops one list, most of the decade guides opt for the high profile Oscar winners and box office champions.
If you are looking at the films that defined the decade then you really can’t ignore the remarkable success of the Pixar animators and they are present with multiple titles including The Incredibles, Finding Nemo and their current release Up. We also get the original Pirates of the Caribbean movie and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
They were certainly films which hugely influenced our cinema-going during the last ten years. However, it’s good to see that movies like Waltz With Bashir and Persepolis which have reclaimed animation for adults and infused it with a middle eastern sensibility are represented as is the explosion in Asian cinema with a diverse array of titles including Oldboy, House of the Flying Daggers, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Battle Royale.
The rise of quality British cinema is thankfully not overlooked with good showings for Harry Potter, Atonement, Billy Elliott, In The Loop, Children of Men and The Constant Gardener. Happily domestic crowd-pleasers like Bend It Like Beckham and Shaun of the Dead also get a shout.
One of the most significant developments of the past decade has been the rise and mainstream acceptance of the independent movie. Films like Sideways, The Wrestler, Donnie Darko, Memento, Before Sunset and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind have had a huge effect on the quality of movies on offer at the local multiplex. They make a huge change to the usual teenage fare being offered up.
Interestingly the rise of the formula teen-centric horror film is the one trend which is almost entirely absent. Saw is the lone spokesman for this unregarded, but hugely profitable, strand of modern filmgoing.
Having said that many of the most popular trends of the past 10 years have been fuelled by critically mauled films. Among the critical disasters which have made the Top 100 films of the noughties lists are Borat, Bad Santa, Knocked Up, School of Rock and the lamentable Mamma Mia!
Balance that with some marvellously intelligent blockbusters like The Bourne triology, Slumdog Millionaire, No Country For Old Men, Minority Report and The Dark Knight then we come out just about even.
Looking at those lists maybe the state of cinema isn’t as bad as I thought.