tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1571769854236946971.post850832374694516182..comments2023-03-25T02:52:15.537-07:00Comments on You Talking to Me?: The Lone Ranger, Star Wars and An Open Letter to DisneyThe Taxi Driverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04352371911592068643noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1571769854236946971.post-24956744152127449012013-07-17T12:57:42.064-07:002013-07-17T12:57:42.064-07:00Love that blog title as Taxi Driver is one of my f...Love that blog title as Taxi Driver is one of my favorite movies. Anyway.<br /><br />I can't really agree with the much advanced notion that Star Wars and Jaws destroyed the era of auteur filmmaking. I agree with Paul Schrader's observation that it was an era that came and went. A few years ago there was an article in GQ magazine that shifted the blame away from those two often cited suspects on to a later film: Top Gun. While I realize that the author was being pretty arbitrary in choosing that as his target, it was more accurate. Jaws and Star Wars both still hold up as legitimately good movies, worthwhile pieces of entertainment. Top Gun is more or less a piece of 80s kitsch. <br /><br />Top Gun didn't singlehandedly case this. But it did set the stage for it and it went into overdrive with the likes of Armageddon. <br /><br />To paraphrase Warren Littlefield: The Michael Bayization of cinema in recent years comes from a viewpoint that audiences exist not to be nourished. But to be manipulated. In the Michael Bay worldview the audience does not count, only the numbers do. This philosophy in practice led to John Carter, Battleship and Total Recall last year and we know how well those turned out. This year we had The Lone Ranger. <br /><br />Great letter. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com