Dear Hollywood,
It’s too early for a Films of the Year list, and too obvious to do a Christmas one (it’s all burnt in our brains by now anyhow. Gremlins, Muppets Christmas Carol, Home Alone, etc. – yawn, rinse, repeat), so instead I’m making a “Cinematic Hopes and Dreams for 2013 List,” including clichés I hope never to see again.
1. I hope to see more films where men and women in a romantic situation are of same age.
If the woman is younger then the man then I hope attention is drawn to it, instead of it being accepted as the norm in Hollywood.
Or if it is vice versa and the man is younger then the women, then attention is not drawn to the age difference or the film is not about a woman rediscovering her sexuality after a messy divorce.
2. I wish to see more romantic comedies and love stories with balls.
Silver Linings Playbook started out as an interesting exploration into living with bi-polar disorder, but quickly descended into “you will be fine with the love of a good or similarly mixed up woman.” I enjoyed the film and the performances, yes but it was not the gritty drama I hoped it would be.
It needed to grow a pair and lean into the darkness.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower was a far more successful portrait of depression, and Rust and Bone for love against the odds.
3. Further note on that – I wish to see a film where someone’s problems are not totally fixed by the love of a good woman.
How about sort of fixed, but they had some other stuff going on which helped with their emotional or spiritual journey, too.
Or how about they work things out alone, and that’s okay.
I enjoyed parts of Lola Versus, not only because Greta Gerwig is incredibly watchable, but because I admired the bravery of an ending where she decided to try and strike out on her own for a while.
4. No more films that claim mystery as an excuse for plot holes
Damon Lindelof.
5. I hope to never see a trailer again, because I actually want to be surprised by a film.
6. I hope to see more impressive turns from actors long cast into the dust of boring leading man. I am Team Tatum. I am Team McConaughey
7. I hope Haliee Steinfeld and Chloe Motez get the chance to be awkward teenagers, instead of well-groomed style queens who dress ten years older then they are.
I hope they get to make fashion mistakes, and are not torn apart by the press.
8. I hope Kirsten Dunst gets another chance to wow the critics without stupid comments made by directors tarnishing her shine.
9. I hope The Hobbit isn’t so saccharin that my teeth fall out and I am diagnosed with diabetes.
10. I hope Brit Marling continues to make beautifully well observed sci fi films on a budget of nothing.
11. I hope to understand how millions of dollars can turn out scripts so bad with characters so widely observed and unsubtle.
12. I hope Robert Pattinson manages to step away from Edward Cullen, and make something he is both proud of and is exceptionally good in.
14. I hope that Katherine Heigl can go back to being the outspoken women who pointed out the laziness of the depiction of female characters in Judd Apatow movies, instead of starring in roles which only serve to promote that laziness.
15. I hope Diablo Cody does not go back to writing characters as unrealistic and cringey as Juno just because Young Adult, a far more mature and interesting film, was not a box office success.
16. I hope Patton Oswalt is in everything.
17. I hope Michelle Williams and Jason Segal have a rainbow on their wedding day. SO Fraking CUTE.
Love,
Ellen x
