What was the last GREAT film you saw at the cinema?
When was that then?
If you can't remember, I understand completely. I'm not sure if I can, exactly. (I think I know what it was - 'Inception', over a year ago, nuff said on that score methinks - but I haven't quite made up my mind whether it was truly great or merely "encouraging". If I rack my brains there are three other potential candidates for greatness, which may require some gentle critiquing at some point in the future, ideally when I've seen them again: 'Black Swan', 'The Social Network' and 'Enter The Void'.)
Sure, there have been a handful of "not bads' in the last year or so - to pick a few examples from various nations and production contexts: 'Source Code' (USA), 'Another Year' (UK), 'Uncle Boonmee Who Can Blah Blah Blah..." (Thailand), 'How I Spent The Summer' (Russia). BuI good films were few and far between, and I was left with a sense of mild disappointment by several films I thought I was going to enjoy more: 'Blue Valentine'; 'Norwegian Wood'; 'The Adjustment Bureau; 'Neds' and 'Meek's Cutoff' were all plagued by tonal uncertainty and their lack of purposefulness caused a petering-out effect in their narratives that left me yawning and yearning for the exit, while the tonally-secure, confident narrative of 'The King's Speech' only achieved its purpose (rousing, royal-rogering, one-eye-on-the-recent-royal-wedding, globalised jingoism for and on behalf of plucky England) by being modelled on the same old overused template that every other Oscar-winning, Miramax-produced, quality-assured piece of Royalist propaganda has been over the past fifteen years. Well-written, excellently-acted and highly-entertaining. But pretty bleeding obvious. Oh, I have yet to see 'Winter's Bone', but I gather that's rather good.
With a growing sense of unease in my belly, and a continental shift on the horizon (a move from London to Belo Horizonte, Brazil) it was bitter-sweet-n-sour nourishment indeed to get a small amount of encouragement from the penultimate Harry Potter movie, which I saw in Derby by accident with my girlfriend to while away a few hours while waiting for something far more important to start. I hate Harry Potter. Slept right through one of the movies at the cinema. But there was a certain cinematic flair and quality to this instalment that had us looking forward to the presumably thrilling climax.
So now I live far away from the cultural centre of the world and it is more difficult to get to the films that one supposes have a bit of spark to them. Over here, Hollywood dominates. (Oh, and I totally recognise the relative Anglo-Americo-centricism of my focus but, hey, it's what we all grew up on, right? Right.) I am a ridiculous enough 35-year-old man to continue supporting the increasingly disgusting and synergy-obsessed super-hero-movie industry, and in another bittersweet irony, the first film I saw in Brazil was 'Thor'. Unlike the uneventful 'Iron Man 2' and the lazy, unfocussed 'X-Men: First Class', it felt like watching actual DRAMA, and was therefore pleasantly diverting. Perhaps I could relax, chill-the-fuck-out and just enjoy and appreciate popcorn movies and quality cinema on the levels they should be enjoyed and appreciated. I knew there was at least one art-house shed nestled among the sprawling malls of Belo Horizonte, so I could try and achieve a balanced cinematic diet. I - foolishly - started to feel positive about cinema again , and even got myself excited over a few imminent releases. Then I received a series of debilitating body-blows and was forced to face up to the alarming fact that cinema, or at least my appreciation of cinema, was critically ill and may well be beyond recovery. (And yeah, I know it's all about TV these days but I'll address that in another post...)
What for me really hammered the final nails in the coffin of a once - even recently - fecund and adaptable art-form, only recently adopted as such, is the sheer awfulness - disappointing awfulness or just plain awfulness - of the last five films I've seen at the cinema.
1. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows (Part 2)
2. Melancholia
3. The Tree Of Life
4. Captain America
5. Super 8
I accept that I am not necessarily the target audience for at least two of these films but I believe I had certain realistic expectations of what each one would provide. Minimal expectations, I should add, because I was not coming to these cultural nuggets from a vacuum. I was aware of the critical context for them all. I will shortly go on to provide a brief film-by-film analysis of the titanic failings of each, so as to provide a rationale for my new perspective/persona. They may be the last straw(s) but, in their own unique ways, these five films have made me what I am today: The Culture Mulcher - sifting fruitlessly through the compost heap of popular culture waiting patiently for the growth of the new seeds this shite will inevitably nourish. Waiting for the new day of post-post-modern, post-cultural awakening that is at hand!
