On the PT Vs. OT, I'll say this. The OT is much more competently made and is ultimately the better product. The PT had much grander ideas and could've been better, but ultimately falls flat. I do prefer the PT Era though. I agree with Oscar Wilde in that art's carried by its aesthetics, and the PT was much more vibrant, full and interesting than the OT in that regard. I'm too bored to comment on anything else. I'll just say that the 70s had absolutely a huge impact on cinema. We can discuss subgenres all day, but the 70s turned films and dramas into blockbusters of sorts. I still think great films are being made and they exist across all periods, it's just that now they're much more under the radar.
The 00s were different to the 10s. The 00s had this version of the future that was mostly optimistic, riding that new millenium high. And it also had a lot of leftover 90s bits. So while you still had your black leather being cool and all over the place, you also had all of those Sci-Fi flicks with that 00s feel. Sleek tech, lots of lights, usually blue or white, a more uniformal society with lots of bells and whistles and focused on a sort of corpocracy. It could be argued we're heading there, just without the good stuff. Seriously, go look at Soderbergh's Solaris, the Minority Report, I Robot, even X-Men, and you'll notice that. The future was seen as something imminent, not far off. We thought we'd have flying cars and spaceships and whatever. For my money, Bay's The Island perfectly capture that 00s look:
It was futuristic, but not utterly alien. In a way, I'd describe it as the "updated" 00s version of the 50s. Look at the Sci-Fi of the time and you'll notice it had that Art Deco, "50s... but in SPACE" look to it all. Generally, the 00s still had a distinct look to them, I'd say. And that was a "realistic" view of the future. Fllowing the patterns and going "yeah, we're not going to have a Feudal Empire, but we'll get those sleek bodysuits and flying cars". At least in Sci-Fi. In the actual world you again had this obsession with getting more and more "sleek". The gloss that was everywhere. It's called the Y2K Aesthetic and I think it fits.
And you know what, I still like it. It does feel futuristic and it has its own flair. It's not generic, like pulp sci-fi or just "puts some guns and whatever in space and some power armours or something". You know that the leather's from the 90s, the clear plastic is from the early 00s, it does give you a resemblance of a specific point in time. I think the whole Blackberry Vs. Apple thing perfectly encapsulates that too. Blackberry was sleek, and had lots of buttons, giving the illusion that it was super-duper-hi-tech and sophisticated. Compare that to the old Nokia mobiles, the flip-phones and whatnot, the Blackberry was seen like a pocket-sized computer. Then the iPhone came about and it put a new meaning in "sleek". It was so advanced it didn't need buttons. It didn't need a design. It was a smooth surface; period. And people got hooked. Say what you will about Jobs, but the man was a marketing genius and I admire him for that. More than Gates, anyhow.
Beyond that, the 00s had the fallout of 9/11 and it was reflected in everything. You had both unironic pro-millitary propaganda and also lots of satire. You had Secularism Vs. Religion which really drove those early Atheist personalities all over the net. You had stuff like 24 that while dealing with deep state conspiracies, ultimately wanted to tell the audience that those Three-Letter-Agencies were there to protect the people. Halo was directly influenced by the wars of the time. You had Modern Warfare taking the world by storm. IMO, MGS is the most 00s franchise I can think of. MGS2 especially tapped into things that were just beginning then, but are extremely relevant today. Nolan's BatFilms deal with those themes as well. TDK is about an uber-billionaire becoming big brother. Batman being in an all-black power armoured version of the 90s/00s leather wasn' random. For me, the 00s ended in 2010.
Iron Man was the last franchise to be directly influenced by the events and look of the early 00s. And IM2 carried that over, by continuing the militaristic storyline with the Power Armour Wars. Back then we thought Power Armours would be the next big breakthrough, instead of drones. When IM3 rolled around all basis in reality was gone and we had magic serums regrowing lava arms. IM 1 & 2 were still products of their own time. The IM2 expo with American-Flag Bikini Girls dancing, the glorification of Stark's billionaire lifestyle, it all was the last stretch before Occupy. More than that, the armours felt real. They were big, they were somewhat "clunky", they had weight. It's no stretch to say that Stark influenced a lot of kids heading out of High School and going into Engineering. Hell, doesn't anyone remember the Engineering craze of the 10s? That was a direct result of things like Iron Man and the general secular culture developed in the 00s. IM was the last "true" product of the 00s.
Moving on, 09 Trek still had that lens flare, early 00s look. The "grittier" lighing but with the vibrant colours popping out. Avatar most certainly was the last 00s "epic blockbuster". The human tech looks straight out of Halo and Pandora is a SolarPunk painting come to life. It's a Sci-FI Dances With Wolves, with an added Post-9/11 look and environmentalist message. And finally, Tron Legacy took the Y2K Aesthetic, made it more futuristic, and closed the decade completely. Maybe that's why I have such a soft spot for Tron and love it so. I don't know. You could argue that it started with the X-Men. Directly influenced by the 90s, they begun the 00s.
Now look at Tron Legacy.
It's the last step of that aesthetic. Going from the "retro" and relatively realistic look of the era, and making it actually futuristic. You can see how it's similar to both the X-Men and the Matrix (late 90s/early 00s) and the Island (mid-00s) while also taking it a step further. It's the culmination of all the 00s looks. So, yeah, I'd say the 00s had their own "thing". It's something you can revisit. It's an actual aesthetic, at the end of the day.
In contrast, the 10s really had nothing. There was no massive event that really changed the landscape. There was the 2008 crash, and there were real ramifications, but there was no impact on pop culture. If anything, it all went straight to "party like there's no tomorrow". Occupy happened and then it all moved to idpol. What do I remember about the 10s? The 2012 hysteria that got some suckers scammed, hipsters, raves, things like YOLO and general memespeak becoming normie-friendly, but apart from that I can't tell you what the "feel" of the 10s was. There was no unifying theme across all media. No defining franchise or genre. In the 00s you had Sci-Fi going through a long stretch, you had historical epics trying to make a comeback like in the old Hollywood days, and you had the militaristic aesthetic due to 9/11. The 10s were empty, but the culture was kept ramping on, which is why we are where we are. One could argue the 10s went through more rapid, real world changes, but in terms of having a set "identity", I'd say there's nothing you can point at and go "yeah, that's so 10s". I can name movies that capure the 00s pefectly, in style or period. But with the 10s I have no clue.
It's honestly pretty funny how our likes and dislikes are so heavily attached to our times. I still have a nostalgia for the 90s/00s, and by extension have it for the products, events and "feel" of the times too. And the same goes for the 80s people and so on. Well, at least we can all agree the 10s were utterly creatively bankrupt.
