Cinema News

Hollywood is in a funk?and not just because the writers’ strike has shut down film and scripted TV drama production and directly and indirectly thrown thousands of people out of work.
No, the mood appears far deeper and more pervasive. For proof, look at the candidates for the best pic Oscar. While all are superbly made, none is uplifting. Juno is funny and full of charm, but there are sad undercurrents, especially in the relationship between the couple who adopt the teenager’s baby. No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood deal with the bleak side of human nature. Atonement is a tragic tale of betrayal and doomed romance. And Michael Clayton looks at corporate and personal corruption. Moreover, Julie Christie was nominated for best actress for playing an Alzheimer’s victim in Away From Her. Other Oscar hopefuls focus on a murderous barber (Sweeney Todd), vicious Russian thugs (Eastern Promises, pictured) and a grieving father (In the Valley of Elah). Little or no joy there!
Those and other movies like Cloverfield, I am Legend and Into the Wild seem to be emblematic of a state of mind in LA, and the entire nation, as America plunges into recession, its troops are stuck in the Iraq quagmire, and the rest of the world feels the after-shocks of the sub-prime meltdown.
“Art reflects its time and I think we’re living in dark, dire times,” says Maxim film critic Pete Hammond. “There’s been a definite trend towards darker films in recent years and the (Oscar) nominations reflect that.”
Variety’s Peter Bart praised many of the films released last year for their courage and creativity. But he said: “The movies covered a disturbingly narrow range of subject matter. And their view of the world was almost obsessively dark.”
Memo to Hollywood: For the sake of filmgoers who are hungering for films that offer fun, romance and escapism: Lighten up!