Latchkey Cinema @ Cineccentric
Recently, things have been afoot over at Cineccentric, where I’ve taken on the thrillingly unenviable task of writing about the movies of Generation X, in all their fortune and folly. It’s an ongoing, monthly column entitled Latchkey Cinema. As a Gen Xer myself, all of these articles will contain a personal element as I mention the impact these movies had on my life and where I was when I first encountered them.
We kicked things off with a look at Richard Linklater’s Slacker, which was released at a pivotal generational moment, at the end of the 1980s, and does a fine job of introducing us to many of the generational themes that we’ll cover as the series goes on.
In the second column, we went to the dark side with Tim Hunter’s River’s Edge, and found hope and optimism with Sidney Lumet’s Running on Empty — two films that look back at the previous generation while considering the troubles that lie ahead of kids growing up in the 80s. The aim is to track this era of filmmaking, from the 80s through to the early aughts, roundabout when the internet and smart phones signified a true break from the past.