Unoriginality.
Nothing is more dispiriting than a major critical consensus, especially when it’s Top Ten of the Year time. Right now, my two favorite films of the year are There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men.
Yeah, like everyone else on the planet.
It reminds me a bit of 2004. My favorite film that year was Sideways.
Again, like everyone else on the planet.
2007 though is different, because it’s not just the top couple of movies that seem to be the same across the critical landscape, it’s large stretches of lists, everyone seems to love I’m Not There. Everyone seems to love Juno. Everyone loves Zodiac. Etc. Etc. The bitch of it is that all of these (excluding Juno which I haven’t seen) are very, very justified. The movies really were THAT damn good.
Some have sensed this and populated their lists with a few less likely titles. But now even these are the same. Black Snake Moan was disregarded in release, but I’m seeing it pop up in more than one End of the Year list. That is, of course, a good thing. Black Snake Moan is a strong movie that turns post modern idolization on its head in a surprising way, and deserves to be seen.
What to do? Grin and bear it. I’d rather have good movies than a good top ten list any day. Even if it slightly tarnishes my sense of individuality.
That said, my Number 3 choice, The Astronaut Farmer, should surprise some people. As should my plea for There Will Be Blood as Paul Thomas Anderson’s ultimate symbolic exploration of the 1950s Soviet/American space race.
January 4th, 2008 at 11:11 am
I can’t wait to hear about that last bit and I’m glad to see you’ve got a curveball up your sleeve in the form of Astronaut Farmer. I let critical ennui convince me to skip that one, but now I’ve got a reason to check it out.
January 4th, 2008 at 11:26 am
I’m afraid to disappoint you Craig, but I was just being snarky with that Astronaut Farmer reference. It is, as I wrote it, admittedly impossible to tell. Also being snarky about the Blood reinterpretation.
January 4th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
(standing there with my pants down, goofy look on my face)
January 4th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
cjKennedy,
don’t feel bad. i have known chuck very well for a long time, and i sometimes can’t tell when he is telling the truth in face to face conversations…much less on the internets. my personal solution: question everything he says. hahaha.
-ben
January 5th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Until my suggestion for a “sarcasm font” takes the internets by storm Ben, that will be my new course of action.