Tendencies of 2020: The Yr in Movie and Tv
It's been a year of disruption and adaptation to the film and television landscape. With the announcement of a series of national bans, cinemas had to close their doors and stall big budget productions including Stranger Things and Succession. Meanwhile, traditional broadcasters were rationing episodes of our favorite soaps and becoming more creative in keeping us entertained in the midst of doom and darkness. This resulted in everything from Charlie Brooker's satirical review show Screenwipe as Antiviral Wipe to ITV's Isolation Stories by Award being reborn. Winner producer Jeff Pope, who was touted as "the first lockdown television drama".
As the world gradually rebuilds, the challenge for broadcasters and production companies is to strike a balance between the flurry of high-end movies and TV dramas that we expected to trigger pre-coronavirus and the DIY aesthetic from the pandemic. Meanwhile, the UK Government's key message, “Stay Home, Save the NHS, Save Lives” provided the perfect opportunity to sit on our couches and watch our way through the flurry of brilliant entertainment 2020 was on. Here we dive into the ups and downs of the year in film and television.
Uncut gemstones
HOLLYWOOD BECAME VIRTUAL
While streaming platforms were already disrupting the long-standing tradition of theatrical releases before 2020 (like Netflix and the Safdie Brothers' collaboration, Uncut Gems, which declined in January), the trend accelerated this year with the closure of cinemas around the world. For every film release postponed to 2021, including Daniel Craig's final appearance as James Bond and Wes Anderson's latest film, The French Dispatch, we've seen highly anticipated blockbusters switch to streaming platforms instead, with Disney's live-action reboot of Mulan debuted on Disney + and Spike Lee War Joint Da 5 Bloods is finding a new home on Netflix.
Warner Bros' recent announcement that its 2021 releases, including Dune and The Matrix 4, will premiere on HBO Max at the same time they are released in theaters, has been mocked by much of the industry. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, filmmaker Christopher Nolan led the indictment, saying, “Some of the greatest filmmakers and major movie stars in our industry went to bed that night before they thought they were working for the biggest film studio and woke up to find out that they were working for the worst streaming service. Warner Bros had an incredible machine to do the job of a filmmaker anywhere, both in theaters and at home, and they are dismantling it as we speak. They don't even understand what they are losing. "