A poor year for cinema?

[ethanfox]

Does any one agree that it has been a really poor year for films, particually the summer which had a lot of promise and few deliveries?

IMHO one of the best films this year was The Dish, which had a miniscule budget compared to many of the big films but was so much better.....

Speak

[Uridium]

Couldn't agree more mate. In fact I started this http://thedvdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16985 (thread) about it a while back....

I enjoyed The Dish as well...am also really looking forward to the new Coen Brothers film out Friday. Just a shame so many other films this year let us down.....

[ColinP]

I actually think this has been a pretty good year for films - the below are the standout films and I don't think anyone who takes the time to dig and maybe be a bit more adventurous has noticed too much of a problem with this year's releases. Of course if you're only looking at US produced Hollywood pap then the selection of good films is a bit more limiting.

Shrek
Amelie
American Pie 2
Le Pacte Des Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf)
Le Rivieres Poures (The Crimson Rivers)
Avalon
The Man Who Wasn't There
Moulin Rouge
Battle Royale
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

We've still got a couple of biggies to look forward to as well:

Lord of the Rings
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
(+ more that I can't think of at the mo! )


I think the only truly disappointing films are Tomb Raider (but then I wasn't expecting much) and The Mummy Returns - although these come under the Hollywood pap banner.

[Bolch]

A poor year for cinema?
Was that coming from an Oliver Platt fan? :D

I wouldn't say it was bad, then again I didn't go and see JP3, POTA, Pearl Harbour or Tomb Raider cos I knew they'd be crap.

But I have seen

CTHD
Shaolin Soccer
Battle Royale
Amlie
American Pie2 (ok some people thought it was crap)
Moulin Rouge
The Others
Meet the Parents
Ginger Snaps
Shrek
Jeepers Creepers
Rush Hour 2

And enjoyed them all and I've still got...

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Harry Potter
Lord of the Rings (I'm not too sure how this will turn out)

So personally I'd say a good year. As long as you stay away from the crap (I unfortunatly saw Mike Bassett) then you should be fine in future.

[nc]

I also totally agree with uridium and ethanfox. About 3 months back, there was a similar thread and I mentioned 'well its a bit premature to call it a bad year yet.' However, we are approaching November and I agree, I don't remember a year as bad as this in recent history. My expectations of new films are at an all time low!

[Creamstick]

This year has had it's share of highlights:

The Others
Ginger Snaps
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,
AI
Battle Royale

On Saturday I'll be seeing Jeepers Creepers and Brotherhood of Wolves.

[Michael Brooke]

Since I normally never bother with Hollywood rubbish, I can only go by what I've personally seen...

...and any year* that can produce <I>Amelie, Amores Perros, Blackboards, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Dish, Ginger Snaps, Le Gout des Autres, Little Otik, Moulin Rouge, A One and a Two, Tears of the Black Tiger, Together</I> (and I haven't seen <I>AI, The Man Who Wasn't There, The Others, Shaolin Soccer, Shrek</I> or <I>Brotherhood of the Wolf</I> yet) can't possibly be considered "poor".

I actually prefer most of these titles to the allegedly wonderful late 1999/early 2000 crop that saw the <I>American Pie, Being John Malkovich, Fight Club, The Insider</I> and <I>Three Kings</I>, all but one of which left me decidedly underwhelmed.

(*just to forestall the inevitable pedantry, I'm talking about UK releases!)

[Bolch]

Originally posted by nc
I don't remember a year as bad as this in recent history. My expectations of new films are at an all time low!

Judging by this thread (http://thedvdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27672) I don't think your comment counts :p

[nc]

On Saturday I'll be seeing Jeepers Creepers

You're making a huge mistake! It still gives me the creeps that such a disgrace made it into the cinema. Trust me, Chinese Torture is less painful than watching this film!

[Cap'n Al]

I think it's been a fantastic year for films, with a welcome growth in influence for foreign films, some genuinely interesting and thought-provoking 'blockbusters', and some great work from some fine directors. Any year that can throw up stuff like <i>Quills, Requiem for a Dream, Hannibal, AI, Moulin Rouge, Amelie, Tears of the Black Tiger, Brotherhood of the Wolf, Swordfish, Enigma, The Man who wasn't there, Les rivieres pourpres</i> and, yes, <i>Pearl Harbor</i>, is, in my book, a good year.

[Creamstick]

Originally posted by nc
On Saturday I'll be seeing Jeepers Creepers

You're making a huge mistake! It still gives me the creeps that such a disgrace made it into the cinema. Trust me, Chinese Torture is less painful than watching this film!

It's part of the Odeon Glasgow's horror marathon this year, along with Brotherhood of Wolves, Event Horizon, The Fly and Theatre of Blood. Pretty decent line up, not as good as last year's though : Carpenter's The Thing, Blair Witch 2, Army of Darkness, Night of the Living Dead '90, and Pitch Black.

[nc]

The line-up is very good (esp. Theatre of Blood.) Just make sure u miss Jeepers Creepers!

[nc]

...and any year* that can produce Amelie, Amores Perros, Blackboards, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Dish, Ginger Snaps, Le Gout des Autres, Little Otik, Moulin Rouge, A One and a Two, Tears of the Black Tiger, Together (and I haven't seen AI, The Man Who Wasn't There, The Others, Shaolin Soccer, Shrek or Brotherhood of the Wolf yet) can't possibly be considered "poor".


MB - I'm sure you're right, but I think I'm the only person on these forums who couldn't stand CTHD and that put me off foreign films, meaning I have to put up with mainly Hollywood rubbish.


Bolch - just because I consider Groundhog Day the standout comedy of the nineties hardly suggests I know nothing about films. I'd love to know your favourites....

[homerj]

the best film of the year hasnt come out yet, but i had the luck of seeing it in barbadous on my honeymoon and that film was jay and silent bob strike back i loved the film so much that i saw it 3 times.

[Shingster]

I think it's fairer to say that 2001 has been a very poor year when it comes to blockbusters/summer event movies. Films like Pearl harbour, Tomb Raider etc where bad, even for blockbusters. In fact, the only no-brainer action flick i've enjoyed this year was Rush hour 2. This is the 1st year in my memory where I can say that.

[SimonI]

I agree with the above that it's probably been a poor year for blockbusters, but for films that require some use of the brain it has been excellent: East-West, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Almost Famous, State and Main, Best in Show, The Dish, Amores Perros, The Captive, The Crimson Rivers, Shrek, Together, Amelie - these are only the ones I've managed to see! Seems like a damn good year to me!

[mr_woo]

Originally posted by nc
On Saturday I'll be seeing Jeepers Creepers

You're making a huge mistake! It still gives me the creeps that such a disgrace made it into the cinema. Trust me, Chinese Torture is less painful than watching this film!



Whilst i'm sure everyone here respects your opinion nc (including me! :)) please give it a rest!

On every single Jeepers Creepers thread i've read you complaining about it, how much you hate it etc etc. Now this is fair enough but at least let people make up their own minds!

Admittedly i havent even seen the film, though i fully intend to see it shortly, but i reckon i would actually quite enjoy this and IMO nothing could be much worse than any of the Scream films anyway (self referential unscary nonsense!)

Please dont take this as a personal attack because i dont mean it to be i just like to make the point that some people may actually LIKE this film (Gasp! Shock! Horror! :D)

[Mike]

I think it's been pretty good thus far. My personal list of the best I've seen is:

<b>Traffic
Quills
Hannibal
Requiem For A Dream
The Gift
Thirteen Days
Swordfish
AI
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
The Tailor of Panama
Audition
Enigma</b>

Along with various re-issues like "Don't Look Now" and "Mildred Pierce".

[GK]

Good year ? Bad year ? How on earth do you quantify this ? Well, before this came up, I don't remember thinking to myself "Ooh, bad year for for films this year." My feeling is, however, on the side of good.

I've enjoyed

Quills
Requiem for a Dream
Hannibal
CTHD
Chocolat
Audition
Shrek
Pitch Black
and my film-to-champion for 2001, Strange Planet (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0209368)

But, more crucially, my to-see list gives me a really good feeling, and on that I have :

Shaolin Soccer
Battle Royale
George Washington
Code Inconnu
The Pianist
Suspicious River
Amelie
Amores Perros
Ginger Snaps
Together
Le Captive,

and when I get around to that lot I'm sure I'll happily confirm my '2001, good year' feeling.

[ethanfox]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bolch
[b]A poor year for cinema?
Was that coming from an Oliver Platt fan? :D


Heyyyyyy, leave the big guy out of it....it wasn't like I was calling for more Pauly Shore films

[nc]

And he also criticicised my choice of Groundhog Day as top comedy of the nineties. But he rates Jeepers Creepers as one of the top films of the year. I think we can definitely ignore this boys comments.

[GK]

And he also criticicised my choice of Groundhog Day as top comedy of the nineties. But he rates Jeepers Creepers as one of the top films of the year. I think we can definitely ignore this boys comments.


If I was working on publicity for Jeepers Creepers, I'd certainly be tempted to stick a rather large "Most currently argued about about film on the DVD Forums !!" byline across the poster. I'm actually tempted to see it now.

(Groundhog Day is almost beyond criticism - we will have to ignore the smattering of dissenters on this one, nc.);)

[Tristan H]

Originally posted by Michael Brooke

I actually prefer most of these titles to the allegedly wonderful late 1999/early 2000 crop that saw the <I>American Pie, Being John Malkovich, Fight Club, The Insider</I> and <I>Three Kings</I>, all but one of which left me decidedly underwhelmed.



I hope The Insider didn't leave you underwhelmed Michael! That's still my favourite film of the last 2-3 years.

As for this year I thought it was a poor summer, but I've seen a great deal of good material over the year as a whole so far. Just for fun, here's my favourites:

Audition
Moulin Rouge
Thirteen Days
Hannibal
Traffic
Almost Famous
Shrek
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Quills
Amores Perros

[Arch Stanton]

I think it been a bad year for Hollywood blockbusters but for the smaller less hyped movie it's been a damn fine year.

[Michael Brooke]

<B>I hope The Insider didn't leave you underwhelmed Michael! That's still my favourite film of the last 2-3 years. </B>

I said there was an exception... and that was it!

[Bolch]

Originally posted by nc
And he also criticicised my choice of Groundhog Day as top comedy of the nineties. But he rates Jeepers Creepers as one of the top films of the year. I think we can definitely ignore this boys comments.

Glad to see you noticed my smilie :rolleyes:

As you asked, I would have to say my top comedies of the 90's were...

Big Lebowski
South Park: Bigger Longer Uncut
Toy Story 2 &
Chasing Amy

I also enjoyed but to a lesser extent...

Clerks
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Drunken Master 2
Life is Sweet
Bad Boys
Fargo &
Rush Hour


I was lucky enough to have seen the short story12:01 PM (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0098962) on T.V in America whilst on Holiday. I thought this was 10x better Groundhog Day (Which is a far cry from Murry's 1980's movies) albeit it was a lot shorter (it's only about 1/2 an hour). Even the extended made for T.V remake 12:01 (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0106188) was better and explained what was going on and why. I watched both of these before Groundhog day (Although I think Groundhog day came out between the two) and both where much more interesting and had a better story.

The only 'recent' things I've seen lately that I enjoyed Bill Murrey in where "What about Bob" and "Quick Change". But I find it painfull to watch a once great 80's comedy actor go from the likes of Stripes and Caddyshack to Groundhog Day. Just my opionion of course!

RE: Oliver Platt. I did like him in "Time to Kill" and "The Three Musketeers". He also made Lake Placid semi-watchable ;)