Scott Ryan takes us back to the 1990s in his eminently readable book. The Last Decade of Cinema returns us to a world of video rentals, real-life flirting, and perhaps the last hurrah of a core of really great cinematic experiences.
Your choices may not be the same as Ryan’s; mine weren’t. But as a fellow Gen X cinephile I could swap out one film for another and get the same effect.
But Ryan doesn’t just choose films, he dissects them and places them within his own experiences. He finds links with other media. He zones in on particular moments, whether he’s seeing the film for a 100th time or the 1st.
Here and there he adds interviews with those involved with his picks, full of insight and delving into what made the person make the feature.
The films are a mixed bag, but all the ones I have seen have something to recommend them, and I hungrily noted down the titles I hadn’t seen because one day I might.
Spoilers abound: it’s up to you, the reader, whether you want to mark certain titles to return to later. There’s a lot to enjoy here.
As younger generations eschew the cinema and physical home media for streaming services, many of these 1990s films are in danger of being ‘lost’ due to their unavailability.
Although there are regular TV showings for the likes of Goodfellas and Pulp Fiction, they are the ones backed with big bucks. Ryan rounds up some of the less starry vehicles which rarely receive such exposure.
The Last Decade of Cinema has an informal writing style and a very personal viewpoint – because cinema is personal.
However large a watching audience, there is no guarantee everyone will have the same reaction. But when they do, that’s the final piece in the movie magic puzzle. You can have a YouTube watchalong, but it isn’t quite the same.
I watch films any way I can. The cinema is great, but like Ryan, I find less and less worth my time and money. DVDs, TV, streaming are more individual, but perhaps the quality and vision are compromised.
Ryan’s book is part nostalgia, part personal journey, part primer to decade of memorable titles. He discusses how he tracks the work of particular directors or writers, but rarely actors.
Yet his film discussions are often about what an actor’s performance, yes, out of sequence, yes, often created or at least refined in the editing room, brings to the final product.
Does To Die For really say enough about the hunger for fame? Did films centring on blacks, teenagers, women, gay men work within the context of when they were made, and do they now?
Ryan has a full knowledge of the genres that made up 1990s cinema, and whether he is discussing Pretty Woman, Magnolia, The Big Lebowski, or Reality Bites he always has something interesting to say.
The Last Decade of Cinema is available to purchase from Amazon and other outlets. For more information go to https://www.scottryanproductions.com/product/the-last-decade-of-cinema/.
A copy of the book was made available for review through NetGalley.