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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsYour Favorite Art-House Film From 2001
On Monday, we asked you to vote for your favorite art-house film from 2001. The results are in.https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/08/your-favorite-art-house-film-from-2001/619679/
The year 2001 was a pivotal one for Hollywood. The indie wave of the 90s was still cresting, but an era of franchises and unending sequels and reboots was on the horizon. Some of the hits of 20 years ago (Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, The Fast and the Furious) have footprints that extend into the present day. Its hard to imagine other daring work (A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Vanilla Sky) making as big of an impression now. Film critics love to celebrate 1999, when American independent cinema was thriving and filmmakers like David Fincher and the Coen brothers became celebrated auteurs.
Id posit that 2001 is almost as good, while being a little heavier on the blockbuster front. Exciting new directors (though frustratingly almost always male), such as Christopher Nolan and Wes Anderson, emerged into the mainstream, while established heavyweights such as John Singleton and Baz Luhrmann did career-best work thats stood the test of time. The year was also sprinkled with warning signs for Hollywoods more narratively homogenous future. The biggest hits were open-ended fantasy epics destined for sequels, and animated films pitched at the broadest audience possible. (The most crucial pillar of the industrys blockbuster obsessionsuperhero moviesdidnt really take off until the first Spider-Man, in 2002.)
But in Hollywood, the most fertile moments always have red flags, because its a world that survives by driving the hottest trends into the ground. Over the next month, Ill discuss some of the best films of 20 years ago. Weve broken the candidates into four broad categories: art-house films, dramas, comedies, and franchise hits. And you, Atlantic readers, will vote for one movie from each section to (hopefully) watch along with us week by week. This weeks winner is David Lynchs Mulholland Dr., which beat out Sexy Beast, Monsoon Wedding, and Amélie in the art-house category. Mulholland Dr. began as a pilot episode for ABC, which was hoping to recapture the magic of Lynchs prime-time hit, Twin Peaks, a decade prior.
The Hollywood-set murder mystery Lynch presented to the networkthe tale of an aspiring starlet (Naomi Watts) and her amnesiac friend (Laura Harring), who appears in her apartment with a strange blue keywas baffling, oblique, and oddly paced. After ABC rejected it, Lynch reshot footage and added in the movies final, haunting act. The film remains his magnum opus, a perfect distillation of his most lasting fascinations: pulpy tales of women in trouble, frightening dream logic, and the wrenching pain that comes when love and artistic passion crash up against cruel reality. Mulholland Dr. remains one of the most compelling, terrifying theatre experiences of my life. While there is logic to be found in its strange, bifurcated plot, I find myself revisiting the film over and over again for its singular scenes: the introduction of The Cowboy, the monster looming behind the diner, the emotional labyrinth of Club Silencio. Ive been pondering the meaning of those set pieces ever since my first viewing 20 years ago.
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Haggard Celine
(16,846 posts)My favorite is still Blue Velvet. Love the cast and the contrast between innocence and corruption. I haven't heard from Lynch in a long time; wish he would do something new. He's probably getting up in age, though.
Celerity
(43,357 posts)UNRECORDED NIGHT LIKELY TITLE OF DAVID LYNCHS NEW NETFLIX SERIES
https://welcometotwinpeaks.com/news/unrecorded-night-david-lynch-netflix/
Haggard Celine
(16,846 posts)Thanks for the head's up. I'll be checking that out.
Upthevibe
(8,048 posts)Thanks for this post.
Mulholland Drive wasn't just seeing a movie for me but it was an experience.
I'm a major movie fan so I remember who I went with to see it, which theatre I saw it in, and even the fact that Carl Reiner and his wife were in same theatre watching it as my friend and I were.
I was a teacher with my own class (I'm now happily a permanent sub) and it was year round school (here in Los Angeles). It was during one of my two month breaks (it may have even been around 9/11).
FANTASTIC MOVIE!