Rating America’s Contemporary Directors
Mathews charts the decline of filmmakers from the ‘80s to the present; actually, the trend started somewhat earlier, with the mid-’70s adolescent, special-effects-laden blockbusters such as “Jaws” and “Star Wars.”
The new breed of film executives, puppets of major corporations, slavishly tried to duplicate the astronomical grosses generated by films coming out of the Spielberg and Lucas factories, by producing scores of movies designed to pander to teen-aged audiences and generate big box office. These films were directed by sub-literate film school “brats” and by veteran directors who had to accept these assignments in order to keep working.
The period immediately preceding this (1968-74) was a golden age of American film, producing a series of socially conscious masterpieces that rivaled the classic films the studios produced in the ‘30s.
STEVE FINKELSTEIN
Los Angeles
Only good movies
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