Short cuts

Resolution No. 9 Dept.: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, etc., etc. It was the year with the lingering echoes of Y2K redux and a presidential race straight out of Bizarro World, finishing with a global paradigm shift of such tectonic proportions that it will likely be decades before our current situation can be fully comprehended. Viewed through the loupe of sudden history, it seems a feeble joke indeed to carp about the deficiencies in Hollywood filmmaking, or to babble on about indie versus studio, or to be able to say much of anything at all, film-wise, that might gird our fragile egos against the darkness. Whither Paulie Shore? Who gives a rat's ass? But then, clichéd though it may well be, we are being forced to learn yet again that life goes on. We are clinging tenaciously, ferociously, most of us, to the mundane, to what we call "normal," in the hopes that it will rescue us from our tottering, perilous perch atop the onrushing tsunami of history. And at the risk of trivializing nothing, I think film -- and, more inclusively, art of any kind -- is crucial now. Into the harsh and bitter face of chaos, what better stone to sling than the rough cobble of creation? We are potential Davids all, at this time and in this place more than ever before. Austin's history overflows with creativity of every stripe. It's no coincidence that four of the best and most passionate films of the year -- Robert Rodriguez's Spy Kids, Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone, and Richard Linklater's Waking Life and Tape -- came from directors who call this city home. And, really now, what are the odds of that? We are so lucky. History has presented us with a rare gift wrapped in a terrible ribbon: the opportunity -- the mandate -- to fix what's broken in our lives and in our world, and for many of us, especially here in Austin, that means diving headfirst into our art -- whatever that may be -- and emerging with something altogether new and different and glorious. Big words, I know, but I also know that resolutions made this year will be carried out and adhered to, scripts languishing in drawers will be hauled out and dusted off, films begun will be finished, ideas will pour forth like sparrows and pinwheel across the mind's sky in a creative tour de force the likes of which we haven't seen in decades, if ever. Redemption for even the most damaged is within our grasp, and in the midst of all the ash and fear you can catch the first tangs of creation. Absolutely anything is possible right now. Great things are in the wind. Prepare to be astonished.