Noire Notes XX

25 For 25: A Personal Summary Of The 21st Century

Author’s Note: This is a personal list featuring some of my favorite films and albums of the 21st Century (so far). To help create a wider variety of selections, picks were limited to one film per director and one album per artist. Enjoy!

“There’s only five years left!” – Busta Rhymes, “Everything Remains Raw”

It’s the 31^st of December, 1999. There is only one day left until the year 2000 and a potent mix of fear and excitement is swirling in the air. Journalists warn that the new millennium will bring pandemonium to global computer systems. Preachers proclaim that it will be a moment of rapture. The biggest entertainer in the world suggests that it will simply be one big party.

As one chapter of history comes to an end, questions abound as to what will be written in the next one? Will we, as a civilization, improve upon the mistakes of the past and build a better future?

Twenty-five years later and it’s clear that the future was meant to be better than this. It was supposed to be more advanced, more collaborative, more peaceful. Instead, what we got was a steady descent into disillusionment. Institutions, both literal and metaphorical, are now on the verge of collapse. Our lifestyles gradually becoming more geared towards complacency and convenience rather than achievement and abundance.

The movies that were released during these times reflected this shift. Gone were the boundless beacons of optimism and in came a robust round of realism. What good is escapism when your supposed safety routes can simultaneously lead you to your doom?

With each passing day, we get closer to the cyberpunk nightmare that The Matrix warned us about. If it is not artificial intelligence that will be our undoing then it will be the fallout from an increasingly fractured society. And, if it is not that, then, surely, it will be the existential, ecological catastrophe that consistently looms over heads called climate change. The final stage of capitalism coolly awaiting the moment when our physical cells become inextricably interlinked with digital code, trapped by the terrors of technology.

But, until that time comes, here is a list of some films that, in my opinion, best represent the prevailing mood of the past twenty-five years.

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1. Aftersun (Directed By: Charlotte Wells, 2022)

2. Before Sunset (Directed By: Richard Linklater, 2004)

3. Blade Runner 2049 (Directed By: Denis Villeneuve, 2017)

4. Casino Royale (Directed By: Martin Campbell, 2006)

5. Children Of Men (Directed By: Alfonso Cuarón, 2006)

6. City Of God (Directed By: Fernando Meirelles & Kátia Lund, 2002)

7. The Dark Knight (Directed By: Christopher Nolan, 2008)

8. Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (Directed By: Matt Reeves, 2014)

9. Decision To Leave (Directed By: Park Chan-Wook, 2022)

10. Get Out (Directed By: Jordan Peele, 2017)

11. Gladiator (Directed By: Ridley Scott, 2000)

12. In The Mood For Love (Directed By: Wong Kar-Wai, 2000)

13. John Wick (Directed By: Chad Stahelski, 2014)

14. Mad Max: Fury Road (Directed By: George Miller, 2015)

15. Moonlight (Directed By: Barry Jenkins, 2016)

16. No Country For Old Men (Directed By: The Coen Brothers, 2007)

17. Pan’s Labyrinth (Directed By: Guillermo Del Toro, 2006)

18. Parasite (Directed By: Bong Joon Ho, 2019)

19. The Raid (Directed By: Gareth Evans, 2011)

20. The Social Network (Directed By: David Fincher, 2010)

21. Spider-Man 2 (Directed By: Sam Raimi, 2004)

22. Spirited Away (Directed By: Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)

23. There Will Be Blood (Directed By: Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)

24. Whiplash (Directed By: Damien Chazelle, 2014)

25. The Wolf Of Wall Street (Directed By: Martin Scorsese, 2013)

“And as I end, I begin again….If that world is driven by life, by hope…then this one would be driven by challenge, by turmoil…A world where heroes are born facing greater odds. Instead of being raised in Paradise, they are raised in Hell. Where all their advantages are gone. Where they are the small chaos, rather than the system itself. A world where hope is the underdog. Where it is the villain, the opposing force. And where it will have to burn brighter than ever before to survive at all.” – Darkseid (DC All-In Special #1)

TW: This section features extensive discussion about the 2020 pandemic

It’s the 11th of March, 2020. The NBA announces that it will be shutting down and life, as I once knew it, ceases to exist.

As I stay indoors, news of a virus spreads around the world and fatalities rise in a way that can only be likened to the Bubonic Plague in medieval times. The apocalypse people prophesied about had finally arrived, but in a way that nobody expected. No zombies. No aliens. No sudden disappearances. Just an invisible force viciously taking lives, with no seeming end in sight.

Days blur into nights, weeks suddenly become months and time seems to slip through my grasp like sand in a broken hourglass. The only way for me to stay sane during this period is to walk around the nearest park and listen to music that, briefly, makes me forget about my predicament. An experience that can best be described as being stuck in some version of purgatory, witnessing the world shift from one timeline into the next.

In its purest form, hip-hop is a genre of music that represents the struggle. It speaks to the spirit of perseverance, breaking down boundaries and providing future generations with a platform to proudly express themselves in the face of persecution and paranoia. Over the 21st Century, this strand of hip-hop (and music as a whole) seems to have receded into the background. A trend that, unfortunately, parallels the trajectory of the comic book industry (as well as other forms of modern entertainment).

However, the best work released during this era, still give that energy of persistence. Whether it was public or private challenges these artists faced, they looked adversity straight in the eye and refused to blink. They dared themselves to be better and gave us a soundtrack to do the same. While very few of them have lived up to the heroic standards they once set for themselves, these twenty-five albums function as a testament to overcoming obstacles and turning your trials into triumphs, one issue at a time.

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1. 2014 Forest Hills Drive (J. Cole, 2014)

2. Bandana (Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, 2019)

3. Blank Face LP (ScHoolboy Q, 2016)

4. Blonde (Frank Ocean, 2016)

5. The Blueprint (Jay-Z, 2001)

6. Confessions (Usher, 2004)

7. CTRL (SZA, 2017)

8. Discovery (Daft Punk, 2001)

9. The Forever Story (J.I.D, 2022)

10. good kid, m.A.A.d city (Kendrick Lamar, 2012)

11. Hell Hath No Fury (Clipse, 2006)

12. Lemonade (Beyoncé, 2016)

13. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Kanye West, 2010)

14. Over It (Summer Walker, 2019)

15. Process (Sampha, 2017)

16. A Seat At The Table (Solange, 2016)

17. Silent Alarm (Bloc Party, 2005)

18. Stankonia (OutKast, 2000)

19. Summertime ‘06 (Vince Staples, 2015)

20. Take Care (Drake, 2011)

21. Take Me Apart (Kelela, 2017)

22. Tetsuo & Youth (Lupe Fiasco, 2015)

23. T R A P S O U L (Bryson Tiller, 2015)

24. Victory Lap (Nipsey Hussle, 2019)

25. Voodoo (D’Angelo, 2000)

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Further Listening

[1] Cole Cuchna & Charles Holmes, Crowning The Best Album Of The 21st Century, Dissect

Further Reading

[1] Alissa Wilkinson, A Syllabus For The End Of The World, Vox

[2] Alissa Wilkinson, A Syllabus For A New World, Vox

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