Discuss: In Love of Past Decades
Filed under: Fandom
I have this problem. I have really sensitive triggers to the '90s. Dazed and Confused. Cameron Crowe. Sheryl Lee. Grunge music. Pirate DJs and Christian Slater. Kevin Smith. Plaid. Hackers.
Get started on one train of thought and in no time, many parts of that decade flash through my mind. When I see that perfectly coiffed teen movie, I think back to Empire Records, Dazed, Pump Up the Volume, and the other films that didn't look like fashion ads. Movies about relationships lead me back to the days of Singles and Chasing Amy. And the music. Oh, the music. Sure, there was bubble-gum mainstream fare, but there was also so much that was fresh and unexplored.
One of the main reasons that I adore the '90s is because many of the films were just a little different, a little less polished, and all the better for it. I could never relate to Angelina Jolie's Kate Libby (I, for one, never had the urge to buy a boyfriend a pleather bikini for example.), but I could relate to the idea of her. I didn't want to start my own pirate radio station, but I loved Hard Harry's monologues and how his musical tastes threw another nail in the coffin of my pop-loving past.
And now ... For me, this decade is missing that alternative edge -- not co-opted into hip retro fashions, but re-visited for its ideals. We need a music revolution and soundtracks that inspire us rather than simply tapping into nostalgia, more than just a few quirky guys and gals to hold the fort, snark and sarcasm to balance the song and dance, and teen fare that isn't all dimples and weak-kneed romance. High-definition is nice, but even grit has its place.
But what about you? Is there a cinematic decade you keep going back to and wish you could see more of? Themes that just aren't getting love as we head to 2010?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-17-2009 @ 12:44PM
ML said...
I'd love to see some really witty dialog ... I'm thinking Casablanca, Billy Wilder - something with some snap. This is ridiculous, though, because that era was way before my time.
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7-17-2009 @ 12:51PM
Tom said...
That question opens a huge can of cinematic worms for me, and many others I'm sure. The first decade that comes to mind is the 1970's. The 60's revolution was all but over, bringing some great films, some subversive films and some great, subversive films... but the 70's perfected a lot of that AND they brought the fun with some of American International's best pictures and, of course, the heydey of Hammer with heavyweights Cushing and Lee. Do I even need to mention Argento's best films having come out in that decade? What about Texas Chain Saw Massacre? Man what I would give to time warp back and experience those films when they were coming out... of course the culture was pretty damn groovy, too.
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7-17-2009 @ 1:03PM
Baxter said...
I completely agree with you about the films from the 90's. Though I recently saw "Pump Up the Volume" again and wasn't nearly as moved by it as I was as a teen, it certainly had more going for it on a cerebral level than anything Lindsay Lohan has been in.
Every time I see an iconic film from the late 60's and 70's, I'm overcome with a sadness about the current state of cinema. They just don't make them so bold, raw and balls-out as "Chinatown", "Rosemary's Baby", "Easy Rider", "Dog Day Afternoon" and YES "Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Even campier fare like "Head" and "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" is so trippy and out there. They were really testing the limits of cinema. It was an exciting time.
The film's I've adored in recent years, like "No Country For Old Men" and "The Devil's Rejects" have captured that spirit. But for the most part, even the "grittiest" of modern pictures feel hollow and commercial.
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7-17-2009 @ 3:45PM
Tom said...
I kneel humbly before this comment.
7-17-2009 @ 1:29PM
Scott L said...
I think your favorite decade shows your age. When you start forming your own ideas, the movies and media surrounding you at the time not only helped form those ideas, it provided the setting for them.
I think there are merits to every generation, and if you think one is inferior to another, maybe you just don't get it. Damn whippersnappers.
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7-17-2009 @ 5:40PM
Serkan Colak said...
Past decades were awesome
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7-20-2009 @ 2:18AM
Bomby von Bombsville said...
I am also a big 90's fan, having really grown up that decade (despite that I was born in the 80's). Certain films I love that just have that "90'sness" feel to me would be films like Chungking Express (or any of Wong Kar-Wai's films from that decade), Pulp Fiction (obvious), Shunji Iwai's Love Letter, Trainspotting, and as you already mentioned, Singles and Chasing Amy. It seemed that there was a much more intimate feel to movies - even with a lot of the big hits of the decade. It feels like the film industry started transitioning to the current schema of cinema around 1999, with Magnolia marking the end of the era and the Matrix marking the beginning of now.
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7-20-2009 @ 1:58PM
bowserman8 said...
This is a great post. I'll take pretty much any decade in cinema over this one but I paticularly identify with the 90's because thats when I was in high school.
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