posted
Jan 12, 2010 by News Gatherer
As absurd as it is to read acceptation and bill into a slate of films put into assembly years ago, 2009 was a transitional year at the multiplex and in the greater culture alike. Last year’s dark night at the movies lifted and a affectionate of pop dialectic seemed underway: Should movies be good, or acceptable for you? The Coen brothers finally got personal (maybe); the family-film genre acquired an artistic soul; after years of unconvincing dramas rooted in America’s across entanglements, at least two fictional films suggested the scope of the damage by telling soldiers’ belief in artful close-up.
The doom and gloom of last year’s Oscar slate will not be repeated, even as a host of new cinematic apocalypses, from “Knowing’’ to “2012’’ to “The Road,’’ accept crowded in. Last year, their end-of-days anguish would accept seemed timely. Stars were born in “An Education’’ (Carey Mulligan) and “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire’’ (Gabourey Sidibe), while others stars were laid to rest in “The Imaginarium of Dr. In 2009, we were more worried about paying the rent. Parnassus’’ (Heath Ledger) and “This Is It’’ (Michael Jackson).
As in other belt-tightening times, though, movies benefited: annual North American ticket sales crossed $10 billion for the first time this year. Yet stories, not technology, remain the carrot that lures audiences into the dark. A $300 million science fiction epic called “Avatar’’ may accept changed the face of boilerplate filmmaking (although acceptable luck getting a woman to go see it), but it was “Paranormal Activity’’, a $15,000 ghost story, that afraid the pants off millions. In part this was because 3-D finally – after a bisected century of attempts – arrived as a viable bartering force, bringing with it premium ticket prices.
Between the two, there was room for idiot awareness (“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,’’ with $400 million the top-grossing movie of the year), aged empowerment fantasy (the felicities of “Up’’), a absonant Vegas who-did-what (the summer surprise “The Hangover’’), and a grand reintroduction to a beloved pop culture crew (“Star Trek’’).
Running between the feet of the dinosaurs were heartbreaking and inspiring dramatic visions of immigrants in America (“Amreeka’’ “Goodbye Solo’’), testaments to the enduring power of pop music and the siren call of fame (“Anvil! The Story of Anvil,’’ “It Might Get Loud,’’ “Afghan Star’’), clear-eyed inquisitions into the economics of both hooking (“The Girlfriend Experience’’) and firing people (“Up in the Air’’). And that was just among the year’s big moneymakers.
The future of those smaller films remains unsettled, though. Given the collapse of the mini-major studios that served as a necessary pipeline, it may be that challenging cinema will be advancing to a YouTube video near you, and boilerplate else. Some of the finest movies of 2009 – “Sugar,’’ about a Dominican baseball player in America; “Treeless Mountain,’’ about two alone Korean sisters – squeaked out a week at the Kendall Square if they were lucky.
Related Stories
