Thursday, March 06, 2008

Pictures at a Revolution

Over at Pajiba, I review Pictures at a Revolution, a book by Mark Harris about the five movies nominated for the Best Picture Oscar in 1967. Overall, I liked it, but here's a slight criticism:
By focusing on these films, Harris has fleshed out a pivotal moment in cinematic (and American) history, but his fashionably portentous subtitle ignores the fact that the New Hollywood died very young. By the late ’70s, Jaws and Star Wars would set the template for everything that was to come — metastasizing sequels, screenplays inspired by action figures, a scorched-earth release schedule in which movies built to make or break in their first 48 hours simultaneously flooded thousands of screens across the country.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I would also be careful to point out that while "Jaws" and "Star Wars" may have set these unfortunate trends on their way, those two films themselves were massively entertaining and milestones in pop culture.

-Dezmond

3:30 AM  

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