This is very fascinating, thank you for sharing! I believe that indie cinema is in a cyclical peak of quality and originality (perhaps beginning with Robert Eggers' The Witch in 2014, A24's first film) and that we are due for a dip very soon. Here's hoping the major studios learn from it, or not - either way, I'll continue to seek out indie films over big blockbusters
Thanks Dylan! Yeah, there’s been lots of very cool stuff from A24, Neon and the like over the last few years. Plenty of great films out there still, thankfully.
I do indeed those wonderful days of 1999, just banger after banger, week after week.
I think what frustrates me about executives today is that obviously they go on, over and over again, saying IP, IP, IP. And that makes sense from a business perspective. But you need to develop NEW IP for that plan to work. And that TERRIFIES them.
Yeahhhh, I think a lot of these highs are retrospective in nature and largely invisible while they're happening. There's the successes that stated popular over time and became considered classics, influencing later artists... The cult successes have swam to the surface using their long tails...
And most importantly, everyone's forgotten all the other stuff that annoyed them.
You cite what, a dozen and a half movies here? Hundreds of movies came out. It's easier to feel underwhelmed when these illustrious titles are being released next to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Wild Wild West, Inspector Gadget, Pokemon: the First Movie, and something called Deuce Bigelow, Male Gigolo (by the way, I'm not saying these movies are bad but I am saying they perfectly represent audience's complaints of commercial excess).
I do think 1999 was particularly good, but because of the nature of retrospective I am also waiting for when people invariably start talking about the Golden Age of Superhero Movies launching from either Sam Raimi's Spiderman, Chris Nolan's Batman Returns, or Jon Favreau's Iron Man, and ending either with The Avengers: Endgame or Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Not sure I agree with the police work there, Lou - we knew it was happening when it was happening. When I could comfortably do a triple bill of Sixth Sense, Blair Witch and Fight Club (they came out around the same time in the UK), that felt a bit special, especially knowing American Psycho was right around the corner. Every month of 1999 had something to recommend it. Even January had a Lumet remake of a Cassavetes movie!
Hundreds of movies did come out, and many of them were based on weird TV IP (like Wild Wild West, Inspector Gadget, My Favorite Martian, The Mod Squad), but many others were based on original screenplays or adaptations of novels. Half of the top-grossers of 1999 were originals, two were sequels to recent originals (Austin Powers and Toy Story), and two more were loosely based on ancient source material (The Mummy and Tarzan). Compare that even to 2007, where 8/10 were franchise or sequels.
For me the line in the book about "we thought it was the beginning of something, but it was the end" really rings true, not just because it's nostalgic (which it is), but because it came to pass. It all arguably started in 2001 with Potter and Tolkein. While studios have always been risk averse and sequel-happy, it always felt like a cash-in before rather than a fully-fledged business plan for theatrical releases. And I think one of the biggest gripes about modern Hollywood isn't that good films aren't being made - they absolutely are - it's that they're not being given the kind of wide release afforded to those made in the late '90s and so are unlikely to enter the public consciousness the way something like Blair Witch did.
That’s a fair read. From a young teen perspective a lot of that ‘weird IP’ stuff just seemed like Dad’s Old TV Shows (and ‘Dad’ would always leave them grumbling about how bad they were) and the big exciting stuff like The Matrix was continuity from your regularly expected schedule of summer blockbusters like Independence Day or Titanic, really. And Hollywood, especially the studio indies, have always deluged us with prestige dramas particularly during the end of the year, so it didn’t feel like all those original scripts and book adaptations were something special we’d lose to the collapse of the “mid-sized movies” later.
Yeah, that was a weird time with the TV adaptations - the '90s also gave us Car 54 Where Are You? and a take on Amos and Andy, for crying out loud. Most of us Brits had no idea that these were adaptations, especially the likes of Wild Wild West. And I think you're absolutely right about the prestige dramas - I don't think they really went anywhere.
This is very fascinating, thank you for sharing! I believe that indie cinema is in a cyclical peak of quality and originality (perhaps beginning with Robert Eggers' The Witch in 2014, A24's first film) and that we are due for a dip very soon. Here's hoping the major studios learn from it, or not - either way, I'll continue to seek out indie films over big blockbusters
Thanks Dylan! Yeah, there’s been lots of very cool stuff from A24, Neon and the like over the last few years. Plenty of great films out there still, thankfully.
I do indeed those wonderful days of 1999, just banger after banger, week after week.
I think what frustrates me about executives today is that obviously they go on, over and over again, saying IP, IP, IP. And that makes sense from a business perspective. But you need to develop NEW IP for that plan to work. And that TERRIFIES them.
Fromtheyardtothearthouse,substack.com
Does Raftery talk about the Matrix sequels at all in that post 1999 section?
No he doesn’t… I think he only mentions the first one
Yeahhhh, I think a lot of these highs are retrospective in nature and largely invisible while they're happening. There's the successes that stated popular over time and became considered classics, influencing later artists... The cult successes have swam to the surface using their long tails...
And most importantly, everyone's forgotten all the other stuff that annoyed them.
You cite what, a dozen and a half movies here? Hundreds of movies came out. It's easier to feel underwhelmed when these illustrious titles are being released next to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Wild Wild West, Inspector Gadget, Pokemon: the First Movie, and something called Deuce Bigelow, Male Gigolo (by the way, I'm not saying these movies are bad but I am saying they perfectly represent audience's complaints of commercial excess).
I do think 1999 was particularly good, but because of the nature of retrospective I am also waiting for when people invariably start talking about the Golden Age of Superhero Movies launching from either Sam Raimi's Spiderman, Chris Nolan's Batman Returns, or Jon Favreau's Iron Man, and ending either with The Avengers: Endgame or Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Today's complaints are tomorrow's nostalgia.
OK, I need to watch Deuce Bigelow, Male Gigolo immediately.
And yeah, I agree. I'm sure there will be a 2007 retrospective published at some point, if it's not already in the works.
I mean it was funny, but I was also 13 years old.
Not sure I agree with the police work there, Lou - we knew it was happening when it was happening. When I could comfortably do a triple bill of Sixth Sense, Blair Witch and Fight Club (they came out around the same time in the UK), that felt a bit special, especially knowing American Psycho was right around the corner. Every month of 1999 had something to recommend it. Even January had a Lumet remake of a Cassavetes movie!
Hundreds of movies did come out, and many of them were based on weird TV IP (like Wild Wild West, Inspector Gadget, My Favorite Martian, The Mod Squad), but many others were based on original screenplays or adaptations of novels. Half of the top-grossers of 1999 were originals, two were sequels to recent originals (Austin Powers and Toy Story), and two more were loosely based on ancient source material (The Mummy and Tarzan). Compare that even to 2007, where 8/10 were franchise or sequels.
For me the line in the book about "we thought it was the beginning of something, but it was the end" really rings true, not just because it's nostalgic (which it is), but because it came to pass. It all arguably started in 2001 with Potter and Tolkein. While studios have always been risk averse and sequel-happy, it always felt like a cash-in before rather than a fully-fledged business plan for theatrical releases. And I think one of the biggest gripes about modern Hollywood isn't that good films aren't being made - they absolutely are - it's that they're not being given the kind of wide release afforded to those made in the late '90s and so are unlikely to enter the public consciousness the way something like Blair Witch did.
That’s a fair read. From a young teen perspective a lot of that ‘weird IP’ stuff just seemed like Dad’s Old TV Shows (and ‘Dad’ would always leave them grumbling about how bad they were) and the big exciting stuff like The Matrix was continuity from your regularly expected schedule of summer blockbusters like Independence Day or Titanic, really. And Hollywood, especially the studio indies, have always deluged us with prestige dramas particularly during the end of the year, so it didn’t feel like all those original scripts and book adaptations were something special we’d lose to the collapse of the “mid-sized movies” later.
Yeah, that was a weird time with the TV adaptations - the '90s also gave us Car 54 Where Are You? and a take on Amos and Andy, for crying out loud. Most of us Brits had no idea that these were adaptations, especially the likes of Wild Wild West. And I think you're absolutely right about the prestige dramas - I don't think they really went anywhere.
Indeed "Perhaps the lesson is that great movies surround us if we only have the eyes to see them."
I believe this has been the case for all of cinema history.
Maybe it's just because it's the era I grew up in but many of my favourite films have been made post-1999.
2019 and 2023 were stellar years for cinema!