2023 - Cinematic Expectations
Paramount Pictures
So, curious reader, am I unjustly perturbed at our beloved film industry for its currently problematic offerings? Christmas movies, though not entirely without cause, have mostly fallen from cheesy yet charming into a more brash formula that, while entertaining, mostly borders on a festive-themed parody. Relationships, I would argue, particularly those of family, are a thematic concern that warrants centre-stage in these features, as I look to It’s a Wonderful Life and question why I’ve still yet to see it in colour.
I’m dogged by this sense that cinema has drifted towards an enigmatic presence over the last month or two, except for one or two films that use the natural wonderment of cinema as a very literal influence. Not since the pandemic has it felt lacking in this manner. Ultimately, I’m no fan of extravagant CGI on an eye-watering scale. Besides, Avatar: The Way of Water will likely commercially surpass its predecessor, whether or not I buy a ticket.
With the Academy Awards somewhat imminent, Oscar season, often a fertile period for cinema, if a little contrived, is in bloom with Babylon (2022) and The Whale (2022) soon to be released in the UK. Perhaps there remains some cause for excitement.
Mostly I think it’s that I’m releasing how much I miss my happy place in the dead of winter. In the comfort of the cinema, with my partner sitting next to me, mirroring my childish state of elation, I may as well be in paradise; nirvana; the promised land. Sincerely, it’s the one place where I can switch off my adult-centric disposition and enjoy the spectacle as a child might, with purity and without agenda.
I look ahead further still to Oppenheimer (2023), Zach Braff’s first solo creative venture since Garden State (2004), and Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) and realise there’s certainly light on the horizon. Barbie (2023), meanwhile, is certainly an intriguing prospect in this context. A return to relative normality, then, it seems; reasons for us to cross that golden threshold once more.
Cinema is overdue for a change in the status quo. It clammers for a more concurrent supply of quality features with genuine depth. I doubt the time will ever pass when I don’t long to be under its roof, with her.
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