Part LVII
Feel Good Inc. - Culture 2005
IMDB Quotes - Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Padmé Amidala: Hasn't this war gone on long enough? We have an opportunity for peace, and if the chancellor will not take it, I propose that a new chancellor is needed. I move for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Palpatine's leadership.
Palpatine: Senators, please
[The Senators shout in agreement over Padme’s decision as Palpatine looks around stunned]
…
[Mace Arrives with Clone Troopers to confront Palpatine]
PALPATINE: Master Windu. I take it the Senate has voted. What is their decision?
MACE WINDU: In the name of the Galactic Senate of the Republic, you have been removed from office, Senator.
Palpatine: Master Jedi, this is a mistake, the Senators will come to their senses, support me and we will finish the Separatists.
Mace Windu: It’s already been decided Senator.
Palpatine: I see, very well. Please allow me a moment.
[Palpatine turns his back to Mace and takes out a commlink]
Palpatine: Commander, execute order 66
…
Palpatine: It’s clear the Jedi have been in league with the Separatists, for how long we cannot know, but their forces have massacred the Senate, and now they are dictating the end of the Republic.
Anakin Skywalker: Where is Padme?
Palpatine: Manipulated by the Jedi, to Mustufar, right into the Separatist's hands. Do what must be done, Lord Vader. Do not hesitate.
…
Obi-Wan Kenobi: You have allowed this dark lord to twist your mind, you've become the very thing you once swore to destroy.
Anakin Skywalker: Don't lecture me, Obi-Wan! I see through the Jedi's lies. I understand the dark side, and only I can destroy it. I alone can save the republic from the separatists and traitors, to build a just Empire.
Obi-Wan Kenobi: A just Empire?
Anakin Skywalker: Don't make me kill you.
Obi-Wan Kenobi: Anakin, I’m here for the sake of the Republic, for peace!
Anakin Skywalker: You’re a spy and a traitor.
Obi-Wan Kenobi: [realizing that Anakin is consumed by evil and there's no reasoning with him anymore] Only a Sith could be so blind.
[draws his lightsabre]
Obi-Wan Kenobi: I will do what I must.
Anakin Skywalker: You will try.
[draws his lightsabre and confronts Obi-Wan]
2005 was another big year for tent poll franchises, with the final installment of George Lucas’s Star Wars Prequel trilogy; 'Episode Three, Revenge of the Sith' making big numbers as the year's biggest movie, it was joined by other major franchise blockbusters, 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' and a new Batman movie, ‘Batman Born Again’.
Batsman Born Again Review
Billionaire Bruce Wayne (Guy Pierce), traumatized since the murder of his parents, returns to his home, Gotham City after 12 years of globetrotting. Prepared to wage his one-man war against crime, allying himself with Detective Jim Gordon (Will Hurt) and Cat Burglar Selena Kyle (Halle Berry).
As the title suggests this is a different Batman from the series inaugurated by Tim Burton's Batman in 1989 and trashed by Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin in 1997. The Wachowskis fresh from their Matrix trilogy take on the cowled comic world with their own distinctive blend of kung-fu flick and crime thriller as Batman takes on Gotham’s various crime families in this rustier, filthier Gotham City.
The Wachowskis hit the streets of Gotham without skimping on the action with well-choreographed cinematic sequences, undoubtedly the best yet for the auteur siblings.
★★★★☆ - Kim Newman, Empire
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(Left to Right), Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Batman Born Again, and Actor Guy Pierce
Another DC comic book film released this year was, 'V for Vendetta' based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore, the film was noted for its guerrilla marketing campaign centered around Guy Fawkes masks and its release date of November 5th, 2005, 500 years after the ‘gun powder plot’ The movie proved polarising, as critics shunned the brutal violence and mixed messaging of the film specifically its fatalistic themes of Anarchism and Fascism, fans of the source material embraced it and it was proved popular among general audiences.
[1]
The year saw major directors release new projects, including Steven Spielberg who released two historical epics. First 'Munich', depicting the 1972 terror attack on Israeli athletes and the subsequent Mossad operation to hunt down those responsible, the film garnered praise but also immense criticism inside Israel as it was seen as equivocating the Palestinians and the Israelis, his other Film was 'Ghost Soldiers' seen as a spiritual successor to the WW2 epic Saving Private Ryan, about U.S. Army rangers liberating Japanese prisoner of war camps in the Pacific War. Another historic epic by Director Ridley Scott was released, the modestly successful 'Tripoli' about the obscure Barbary War.
Fresh from his successful Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Peter Jackson leaped at the opportunity to create what he described as his ‘dream film’ a reimagined ' Planet of the Apes' film, complete with the same stunning effects, sets and design work he was known for. And the legendary veteran crime film director Martin Scorsese bewildered and delighted audiences by helming the 2005 remake of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory based on the Roald Dahl Novel, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as the eponymous Wonka, Scorsese said he wanted to
“make a film that my daughter can watch for once” [2].
View attachment 837515
(Above Left to Right), V for Vendetta, Munich, and Ghost Soldiers promotional material
(Below Left to Right), Tripoli DVD cover, Still from Peter Jacksons Planet of the Apes and Leanardo DiCaprio as Willy Wonka promo art
Additionally, there were other popcorn movies including a sequel to Zorro, a movie follow-up to the canceled Fox series Battle Star Galactica, the Corporate thriller 'See No Evil', a gulf war movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal' Ziploc', and the Jackie Chan Action Movie 'Nosebleed'
Nosebleed
A Window Washer on the World Trade Centre is thrust into action. When a cadre of terrorists seizes hold of the towers and Rei (Jackie Chan) must prevent them from carrying out their threats to bring the towers down.
While the premise is interesting it is impossible to ignore the clear Die-hard parallels and for every comparison this film falls far below that high bar. Chan's appeal is the only thing that holds up this film, as his irrepressible charm and stunt work is always entertaining, it may provide enough for it to be worth the price of admission and he shows no sign of slowing down.
Perhaps the film's biggest flaw is its bad guys. They are so unbelievable that the whole plot feels like it belongs in a cartoon or video game, as they broadcast their plot to bring down the towers on the internet, like a villain of the week procedural terrorist.
If you can push through the dialogue and abysmal humor, you're rewarded with an hour of CGI-free action.
★★☆☆☆ - David Hughes, Empire
Awards season featured some of the year’s higher art, where 'Brokeback Mountain' by Ang Lee a film covering homosexuality in the American heartland took away many of the biggest trophies, paired with 'The Aviator' by Christopher Nolan a biopic of the eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes and 'Capote' about the writer Truman Capote. And in more global cinematic news, the Lebanese film producer Moustapha Akkad announced he would be creating an epic depicting the life of Saladin
[3], and controversy was provoked when a Godzilla movie was pulled from Russian television due to a scene where Rodan attacks Moscow, imagery akin to that of the terror attacks of the previous year.
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(Above Left to Right), Promo Art for Zorro 2, Battle Star Galactica, See No Evil, Ziplock and Nosebleed
(Below Left to Right), Promo Art for Brokeback Mountain, The Aviator, Capote Lebanese producer Moustapha Akkad
Whereas 2004 saw the rise of the iPod, 2005 saw the product truly adopted at large by the public. It seemed that by 2005, the century was finally getting a sound of its own.
Nu Metal had largely faded from its 90’s peak replaced by the New New Wave of Rock, or ‘Garage Rock’. Bands from across the world reviving elements of rock from ages past. These bands were granted much greater exposure thanks to the internet and sites like MySspace, allowing bands like Frans Ferdinand a Scottish group, the Killers a Las Vegas-based band, and Bloc Party an English group to spearhead this Rock revival.
New cheaper electronics combined with the revival led to an offshoot of faster-paced dance-focused ‘New Rave’ or ‘NuRave’ music, and allowed the genre to break out into the mainstream, becoming a popular subculture, especially among younger audiences. Exemplified by bright garish clothing dripping with lots of neon and fluorescent highlights that became a huge part of the music’s most dedicated fanbase. Driven by bands of the genre like the New Young Pony Club and LCD Soundsystem, the style received some backlash from critics as a ‘fad’ and an industry marketing scheme but regardless retained a dedicated audience. [4]
The Nu Rave fashion arose at the same time as other trends, like Jelly wristbands sported by politicians and celebrities of all stripes, south Asian-inspired fashion so-called ‘Indi-Chic’ comprised of swirling prints, shawls bejeweled flip flops, and plenty of jewelry, the trend was representative of the growing globalization of fashion.
View attachment 837517
(Above Left to Right), IPod advertisements, Garage Rock Bands, Franz Ferdinand, the Killers, and Bloc Party
(Middle, Left to Right), NuRave Kids, The New Young Pony Club, and LCD Soundsystem
(Bottom, Left to Right), Shawls, Wrist Band and Indi Chic dress
More prominent strains of music battled for the top stop on the billboards, with the main rivalry being between Country and Hip Hop for the most dominant sound. Both genres continued to grow in sales out of their niches, Carrie Underwood rose to fame as the winner of the TV singing competition American Idol, becoming one of the most successful singers of the era, as well as Keith Urban the Australian country singer and a sign of Countries growing national prominence was that the Country Music Awards for the first time were presented outside of Tennessee and instead from New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Despite its successes, by 2005 Hip Hop was being criticized within the medium for losing its way, critics noted that there was a growing divide between traditional, popular, and alternative rap described as a veritable schism within the genre. Perhaps best shown by the band the ‘Black-Eyed Peas’ who after an attempt to cover a more commercial sound with their third album 'Elephunk' which resulted in the band being dropped by their label after it proved a commercial and critical failure.
Top 10 Best-Selling Albums of the Year
- Breakaway, Kelly Clarkson
- X & Y, Coldplay
- Fireflies, Faith Hill
- Jealousy, Britney Spears
- Massacre, 50 Cent
- Hot Fuss, The Killers
- Feels Like Today, Rascal Flatts
- Demon Days, Gorillaz
- Love. Angel. Music. Baby, Gwen Stefani
- I Am Me, Ashlee Simpson
Regarding music events globally, there were three major concerts. Two were related to natural disasters, the Asian Tsunami relief concert and the Hurricane Katrina relief concert. And then there was the Live 8 benefit concert about African poverty. Events that cumulatively raised billions for their respective causes. The Eurovision Song Contest was won by Russian artist Natalia Podolskaya for her anti-terror ballad “Nobody Hurt No One”.
And on the pop culture side of the news, Pop legend Michael Jackson was found not guilty of child molestation, the rapper Eminem entered rehab, the tabloids struggled to decide between their favorite story the feud between Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, and Madonna’s curious conversion to Hinduism.
View attachment 837518
(Above Left to Right), Country artists Carrie Underwood and Kieth Urban, Hip Hop Artists 50 Cents and the Black Eyed Peas
(Below Left to Right), Poster for Live 8, Russian Artist Natalia Podolskaya, News headlines of Michael Jackson's acquittal and Madonna
In sports, the biggest event of the year took place away from the sports themselves and in the form of televised hearings, after a series of exposes regarding doping in the great national pastime, baseball. A series of high-profile investigations and hearings led by attorney general Eliot Spitzer, including placing star players Barry Bonds and Jason Giambini in the hot seat. The investigations forced the Major League to enforce stronger restrictions and penalties for performance-enhancing drugs and threatened to spiral out into the wider sporting world.
Globally the typical faces pulled off wins, Federer, The Williams Sisters, Tiger, and Lance Armstrong. The Superbowl was another close game between the New England Patriots and The Philadelphia Eagles and after a halftime performance by Alicia Keys, the Eagles narrowly won out in the 4th quarter winning their first Superbowl rings and leaving the Patriots as back-to-back runners-up.
On the world of the smaller screen, a spate of new shows released included the Hospital-based drama ‘Grey's Anatomy’, ‘Prison Break’ a crime drama, ‘Supernatural’ a horror/fantasy and ‘Rome’ a big-budget drama about the fall of the Roman Republic.
But the year became known for its comedies. Several Sitcoms became mainstays of the era. ‘How I Met Your Mother’, ‘Everybody Hates Chris, ‘My Name is Earl’, and ‘Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ showed a vast variety of comedic programming.
View attachment 837519
(Above Left to Right) The cast of Grey's Anatomy, Prison Break, Supernatural, and Rome
(Below Left to Right), Promo material for How I Met Your Mother, Everybody Hates Chris, My Name is Earl, and Always Sunny in Philadelphia
From the creator of the canceled animated comedy ‘Family Guy’, Seth McFarland decided to pitch a new production to the Fox network that would hopefully attract a wider audience, a reboot of the iconic animated sitcom ‘The Flintstones, commentators, and network execs were nervous but the show quickly became a critical and commercial success playing off the animated family comedy tropes that the original practically invented, integrating more adult humor while remaining faithful to the Flintstones aesthetic.
The Daily Show, a satirical news program on Comedy Central experienced a major shakeup when two of its principal ‘reporters’ Steve Carrell and Steven Colbert left the show to pursue their own careers. Host Jon Stewart was also rumored to be leaving the show but decided in the end to re-up his contract. Carrel began a movie career starring in the comedy ‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin’ while Colbert starred in an American remake of the British comedy ‘The Office’ each to differing levels of success.
View attachment 837520
(Left to Right), Promo Material for The Flinstones Revival, the 40-Year-Old Virgin and The Office (US)
On the theme of British reboots, the 1963 Sci-Fi time travel program ‘Doctor Who’ received a revival from its long hiatus in a more serialized and darker format more akin to sci-fi gothic horror helmed by showrunner Matthew Graham and starring former comedy actor Hugh Laurie as the ‘Doctor’.
When it came to recuring television. Lost, Deadwood, Firefly, and The West Wing all made returns. Season 6 of the political drama proved especially dramatic, continuing the cliffhanger from the previous season of a biological attack on the United States Congress and the sudden collapse of President Bartlett. The nation is forced into DEFCON 1, Vice President Owens leads the government while the nation’s security agencies confront a large number of possible threats. Eventually, the FBI finds the source of the attacks, a former Army scientist who claims his intention is to prove the true threat of bioweapons, revealing the doses were non-lethal and he turns himself in. Bartlett recovers and resumes the Presidency however throughout the rest of the season his health continues to deteriorate while he deals with a midwestern energy crisis, the kidnapping of an American general, a vice presidential sex scandal and the start of the Presidential election season. Culminating in a reveal in the mid-season finale where, at the State of the Union he tells the country his intention to resign the Presidency.
The show also received competition in the realm of political drams from the show ‘Commander in Chief’ about a politically independent female senator, being catapulted to the Presidency after the death of the President. And another show, that gained popularity was the suddenly poignant ABC show ‘Invasion’ a sci-fi about an alien infiltration of a Florida town following a devastating hurricane.
View attachment 837521
(Above Left to Right), Promo art for Doctor Who (2005), Season 2 of Lost Deadwood, and Firefly
(Below Left to Right), DVD Cover for Season 6 of the West Wing, Poster for Commander in Cheif and Invasion
The major business news of 2005 was oil prices, shaken in the aftermath of the damage done to refineries thanks to Hurricane Katrina before a slow recovery began. Controversial HP CEO Carly Fiorina was ousted after her 3-year tumultuous reign over the company, Bob Iger replaced Michael Isner at the Disney Company to oversee the companies buyout by Comcast, and Bernie Ebbers former CEO of WorldCom was given a 30-year prison sentence for his companies fraud. But perhaps the most important piece of news was that after five years of growth, the Housing Market slowed down, leading to some worries that the wider economy could be affected but most experts agreed that
“even if the housing market does go into a sustained decline next year, it is unlikely to cause a wholesale recession.”[5]
2005 also became the first year where safe money began to reinvest into the internet after confidence had finally recovered from the dot.com bubble burst. For instance, Google the most used search engine, saw its share price balloon 4 times over. And internet businesses and services began to boom again, as sites like Amazon, eBay, and Yahoo competed and some even merged, for instance, the social media website MySpace completed an offer to acquire competing service TheFacebook for 77 Million dollars beefing itself up for larger investors Viacom and News Corp to bid over. 2005 also saw the advent of new sites, like the link sharing website Reddit or video sharing sites like Dailymotion and WebTube. On the business end of the movie industry comic company Marvel Enterprises worked out a financing agreement to independently produce a slate of movies based on their IP as opposed to licensing agreements to produce movies like the Spider-Man, X-Men, Hulk, and Fantastic 4 franchises.
When it came to gaming news a new console the ‘Xbox 360’ released became a highly sought-after piece of hardware equipped with popular titles like a sequel to Call of Duty, the wild west game ‘Gun’ and an adaptation of Peter Jacksons' Planet of the Apes’, Other notable releases in 2005 included a sequel to 'Battlefield Vietnam', ‘Battlefield Iraq’ for the PC, God of War for the Play Station 2, 'Tails Adventures' on all consoles, 'Quake 4 'and from Capcom the game ‘Dead Phoenix’ a 3-D shoot ‘em up.[
6]
View attachment 837522
(Above Left to Right) Bob Iger, Carly Fiorina, and Bernie Ebbers
(Middle, Left to Right), WEbsites Google, MySpace and WebTube
(Bottom, Left to Right), Video Game Covers for battlefield Iraq, Dead Phoenix, and Tails Adventure
In other world events, a major cultural rift emerged in the United States over the case of Terri Schiavo. A right-to-life case where the nation's conservatives were outraged at the federal government's lack of action. A popular young adult novel Starlight was released by author Stephanie Myer, the Kyoto Protocol regulating emissions went into effect without the United States, hundreds of religious worshippers were killed in a massacre and subsequent stampede by Iraqi security forces, the Dutch narrowly voted against the proposed European Constitution a wrench in the European project and the United Nations Security Council sent peacekeepers into the Darfur region of Sudan to ‘prevent genocide’ a move opposed by the Sudanese government.
View attachment 837524
(left to right) Terry Schiavo, The European Constitution, Iraqi funeral, and Sudanian militia
[1] V for Vendetta was originally supposed to release on that date but was postponed due to the London attacks
[2] Scorsese was in the running to direct, while it seems weird he did Hugo a few years later
[3] Akkad was killed in the 2005 Lebanese attack which occurred earlier ITTL
[4] NuRave replaces Emo in terms of popularity
[5] Why is this here?
[6] Resident Evil 4 doesn't release
