David Denby is a film critic for The New Yorker who thinks deeply about movies. Do the Movies Have a Future? collects several of Denby’s essays on films that he loves and admires. Sadly, those films could not be made today. Denby notes that today’s Hollywood studios want mega-hits like The Avengers rather than the noir films of the Fifties. My favorite essays in this book involve Denby’s favorite directors. After I finished Denby’s essay on Otto Preminger, I wanted to drop everything and watch Anatomy of a Murder (Denby calls it the best courtroom drama in American film). Other outstanding essays include Denby’s searing exploration of Joan Crawford, his analysis of David Fincher’s films, and the mystique of Pauline Kael. If you love movies, you’re going to love Do the Movies Have a Future?. GRADE: A
I’ve long known that small intimate films were going the way of the dodo. Fils of the thirties, forties, and fifties are my mainstays for viewing these days(thank God for Turner Classic). I still watch the new movie occasionally(I do have a weakness for SF and superhero movies), but only after they hit DVD where I can usually find them on the ON DEMAND channel for my cable system.
Whatever the evils of the Studio System, Randy, many great films got made that are impossible to imagine today. Musicals (unless they’re based on Broadway hits) are extinct.
Although I think he is an extremely quirky reviewer in THE NEW YORKER, I am still interested in reading this. On the list.
Yes, thank God for TCM indeed.
Yes, Denby is quirky, Patti. But he knows movies and his insights are provocative. DO THE MOVIES HAVE A FUTURE? is well worth reading and thinking about.
This is a definite read for me. Denby was my favorite movie critic in the days he wrote for NEW YORK and I loved his GREAT BOOKS.
Denby’s ideas about movies should generate plenty of discussion, Jeff. I loved his GREAT BOOKS, too!
Does Denby like Fincher’s films?
Yes, Denby admires Fincher’s films, Drongo, and I do, too. Congratulations on the Broncos’ win over the Chargers. Norv Turner is toast.
So is there a yes/no answer to the question posed in the title, or is it intended only to be a lead-in, a tease to get people to buy it?
Yes, Rick, the title is a tease. But Denby’s answer isn’t what most readers will expect.
One imagines to see the tiel on a book all the past tense very shortly … but hey, this onbe sounds really great at least! Thansk George.
Apologies for the typos and just plain lack of consecutio temporum – what I meant to type was,
“One imagines to see the title on a book soon but all in the past tense” – think it’s getting to me being so gloomy – sorry George.
I’m hoping technology helps our the movies, Sergio. If you and I can use cheap CGI to make movies on our computers, it would be a Game Changer.