2001 So Far and The Outlook for Summer
The first four months of 2001 are now history, and it's time to look over the film year so far, and see if there are any films that have a possibility of being remembered as serious contenders for the 74th Annual Academy Awards next March. Also, I will provide a look ahead to the films slated to be released this summer, and predict which films may end up having a serious shot at the Oscars.
Well, is it any big surprise that once again, I can report that the first four months of the year have been about as disappointing for cinema quality as it always seems to be. We seem to get the absolute worst that cinema can offer in the first four months of the year. Last year, we at least had one film emerge from the first four months, Erin Brockovich, which survived all the way to Oscar's Best Picture circle, but I don't think we'll see anything like that this year.
It's almost sad once the flurry of high quality films comes out at the end of the previous year to have to face some of the truly awful films that come out at the beginning of the new year, and just look at what 2001 has provided us so far ... Saving Silverman, Sweet November, 3000 Miles to Graceland, Monkeybone, See Spot Run, Someone Like You, Tomcats, Josie and the Pussycats, Joe Dirt, One Night at McCool's and possibly the worst film of all time, Tom Green's Freddy Got Fingered.
But there are always exceptions, and there were a few good achievements in the first four months of 2001, but I'm not sure how many will make it to the next Oscar race. The Pledge was a well executed dark film by Sean Penn, with a solid performance by Jack Nicholson. Hannibal was not as bad as some others made out, and it clearly did very well at the boxoffice, but this is still no Silence of the Lambs, and it won't be remembered come time for Academy members to make their nominations. Panic was very well written, and could score a Screenplay nod, but the fact that the film was so obscure definitely hurt its chances. Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt had a modest success with The Mexican, but we won't see Julia back up on Oscar's stage for this one. The Caveman's Valentine does contain a very good performance by Samuel L. Jackson, but the rest of the year will have to very short in good performances for the Academy to remember this one. Memento, one of the best films of the year so far, is one that I hope grows in success, and I hope the Academy nominates this wonderful experiment for at least a Screenplay Oscar ... this is definitely a film you should see.
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