The (Still Incomplete) Year in Film
Once more, things happened
We tried. I mean, we really tried — to convert indelible images from pop culture blockbusters and Instagram-ready movies into an entire suite of GIFs and react tweets. An unusual fusion of audience creation and engagement, coupled with the calculated algorithms of marketing, to make it all instantly digestible and familiar. If you want to be part of the conversation, you have to consume the content. This year it felt like it had exponentially evolved, threatening to reduce resonant films as simply flavours of the week.
And while someone accidentally leant on the over-hype warp drive for movies that were just innocently sitting there, minding their own business; or the toxic waste that is hating a movie by zeroing in on one tiny aspect of it just to be angry was once more in full, baffling bloom; or the seismic, (fingers crossed) permanent shift away from an antiquated and destructive culture surrounding the industry continued its rocky road toward the rational light, cinema continued to be indescribably magical.
So let’s celebrate the movies. For what they are. What they reflect in us. The way they challenge and thrill us. Where the giddy and violent, sneaky-heartwarming fun of Deadpool 2 can rub against the searing, existential and apocalyptic power of First Reformed. Where you can check out the cheat code that is Lady Gaga in A Star Is Born, and then the next day witness the real birth of a stunning acting talent in Elsie Fisher ( in Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade).
The breathless and insane work commitment of Tom Cruise making Mission Impossible the action series which all others are measured by, with the latest installment (Fallout) going further and higher than any before it. Sorry To Bother You perfectly captured the terrifying, surreal nature of our reality and times, going further and further into abstract planes, constantly reminding us that somehow this all makes sense. Infinity War was BIG, astounding, A LOT, moving and snappy (I couldn’t help it). Black Panther was momentous. Ant-Man and The Wasp was a salve. First Man took us to the highest point of human exploration and showed us the toll it takes. And Roma was the most beautiful, tender and human film of this wondrous year.
Some of this you may agree with. Some of it you may not. There was so much more that was experienced that I simply don’t have the space for, lest this dissolves into incoherent film-love babble. And you know what? That’s okay. It’s fine to enjoy different movies and to disagree with others. And to debate and argue with fervour and respect — not to target people personally, be it the ones in front of you or the ones on screen. It’s petty and redundant.
We are desperate to label what a year in film is, as if it gives it a reason to exist. Is it the maturation of streaming services that are advancing on the traditional studio and theatre format a specific theme, diversity, something digestible that allows people to hone in on what content to talk about? When really, its only context is in relation to what companies, writers, academics and media sites want to use as an agenda. I’m sure there has been copious amounts of words dedicated to the ever-present, never materialising ‘death of cinema’. We’re not exactly the most subtle species.
Ultimately film remains unshackled from such things. You look back on the year, and the elasticity of it is beguiling and fascinating. From Cold War and Shoplifters that abound in bursts of magical realism connected over decades or the granular of day to day life, to the B-movie idiocy and weirdness of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and whatever the hell Let The Corpses Tan is. Joaquin Phoenix had many beards. Mortal Engines was just…there. Miles Morales debuted. Robert Redford rode off into the sunset (still with a glint in his eye). Rami Malek’s performance in Bohemian Rhapsody was like putting Freddie Mercury into Simple Plan. The Other Side of the Wind proved that Orson Welles was and is the most modern, ahead-of-his-time filmmaker in all of cinema history.
It proves that film can be many things. We cannot forget that. Film shouldn’t be one thing or another thing, dealing in absolutes or confined to narrow expectations. It morphs and alters on a dime, ready to confound and challenge what we expect. It can be breathless, tedious, powerful, heartwarming, confusing, boring, a distraction, transformative. I’ve long since stopped attempting to rank movies: it has become fruitless and lessens the value of a film. Who am I to throw numbers around?
Of course I have my favourites, the ones that stick with me the most, and offer up a rich experience that no other film quite reaches (Roma comes to mind instantly). And maybe there are ones that rise above the rest (like First Reformed, Cold War, You Were Never Really Here, Beast, Mission: Impossible — Fallout, First Man, Sorry To Bother You, and so many so forths…). That more than anything tends to happen for me. But after that it becomes nebulous and moot. It’s more of an exercise for debate with others instead of anything definitive. Besides, it’s become more and more apparent that time illuminates a film’s legacy more than anything. What dominates the landscape now can be held up differently when seen through the prism of distance.
So let’s not jump to conclusions in a rush to label the year in film. For it has been so varied and dynamic that it once more defies categorisation. One narrow take is immediately swallowed up by the generous whole. The tapestry of film is ever-changing and unpredictable. That’s what makes it so exciting, and resistant to simple definitions. The year of blank becomes quickly dated. Watch and experience the films, let them grow into whatever they might be. Ready for us to uncover more secrets and insight from them.
