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With the end of the year upon us, it makes sense to start thinking about movie endings.
Is that a good thing?
Or is this a Careful What We Wish For situation?
We also saw Netflix starting to pull back on the mountains of money it throws toward film productions.
Many of us have been anticipating (maybe even hoping for) the end of the franchise era.
But now that it might be happening, what lies on the other side?
Alison Willmore:Thats been on my mind a lot this year.
This year gave usGuardians of the Galaxy Vol.
But the question of what comes next is not terribly reassuring.
I think aboutBarbie, which I didnt love but was a real movie under that patented pink chassis.
Disney, obviously, isnt going away, despite its current floundering.
Is that an anomaly or a possible glimpse of a more promising future?
So in some senses, we have to write that off as an anomaly.
(It helped that it was great.)
There were a lot of these bright spots this year.
But was it ever meant to?
Were doing that thing and I know I say this every year where were obsessing over box office.
I love the fact thatPassageswas a hit.
I love the fact thatThe Holdoverswas a hit.
I love the fact thatOppenheimerwas a hit.
I hate the fact that I have to love these facts.
Ive loved how longPassageshas lingered in the cultural conversation!
Bilge, is that something youre going to mourn?
BE:It was always pretty clear that the streaming gravy train was going to break down eventually.
I do wonder if it has completely.
But, yes, its probably just a matter of time before it all goes away.
Why not take advantage of it?
I would love to see a world in which the industry stops putting all its eggs in one basket.
This is not a new phenomenon.
(Hookopened big, but Boormans project never got made, sadly.)
Like you, however, Ive been encouraged by the way many smaller films seem to be hanging around.
I was pleased to see the ongoing buzz aroundAnatomy of a Fall.
Some of thats just my (ossified, reactionary, vulgar, horrible) taste.
Im sure its not easy for them, either.
Michael Mann has been trying to makeFerrarifor longer than Christopher Nolan has been making movies.
AW:Breaking through now does seem so much harder, and not just for directors.
The kind of career he has just doesnt seem available anymore.
Will anyone coming up be able to have Nolans career?