By Daniel Janssen
Staff Writer
In this special pre-anniversary edition of our student newspaper, it is time to take a look back at what the past decade had to offer in terms of movies. If we were to look at the movies produced after the turn of the millennium in the same way we would look at trends in films further in the past, what would the 2000s be remembered for?
Ironically, there is one film that captures the essence of the last ten years in a nutshell: 
Josh Trank’s Chronicle. This film features two of the most prominent gimmicks in decennary cinema, by blending the supernatural spectrum with the contemporarily over-used style in cinematography of the found-footage film. Although Chronicle lacks any self-awareness of its context, the supernatural high school drama definitely reiterates the cinematic breath of the last ten years.
Let’s go back to where this all started: 1999 – The Blair Witch Project. Three students enter a forest in search of the Blair Witch. In order to prove the existence of any abnormality in the legendary woods, the trio brings a camera to capture the events. The three students disappear, the police find the recordings, and voila – the popularity found-footage gimmick ensues.
Ten years ago, only fifteen found-footage films had been released. Since that moment in time, Hollywood has gradually increased the number of movies made with “recovered footage”, leading up to ten different found-footage films in 2013. For the past four years, the movie world has gained an average number of ten found-footage films every year.
But as the failure of Chronicle pointed out, a movie cannot thrive solely on mystique in style. Thus came along the ideal companion for movies of this genre: a paranormal plot. Similar to Blair Witch, Chronicle tells the tale of three students finding a supernatural entity in a forest, with the added value of giving them the power of telekinesis. Not only did telekinetic ability combined with found-footage film spark the ongoing series of Paranormal Activity movies, but it also empowered another obvious trend of the third millennium – the superhero.
In an ostensible Cinematic Cold War between DC Comics, Marvel, and a number of other scattered film studios, the amount of superhero films has exploded over the last few years. The successful formula of The Avengers has given us yet another Spiderman franchise and an almost exact copy of the aforementioned heroic group, DC’s Justice League.
Is there reason to be optimistic about the chances of cinematic refreshment in the coming few years? Don’t get your hopes up: whilst the supernatural ship is slowly sailing away, it seems to be making room for the topic of slavery. After all, this year’s “Best Picture” winner at the Academy Awards – 12 Years a Slave – is only the fourth movie in a year’s time to discuss the tragic past of the African American man. But considering the success of Lincoln, Django Unchained and now 12 Years – only The Butler was not nominated for an Academy Award – it seems that Hollywood has found her new cash cow.
Daniel Janssen, class of 2015, is a Psychology and International Relations major from Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.
