by J.R. Jones on March 13th 2008 - 5:08 p.m.
Digg this
| 
Post to del.icio.us
| 
E-mail to a friend
Tags: 1970S, Movies, Atlantic, The Bourne Ultimatum, Ross Douthat, paranoid style, Syriana, The Good Shepherd, The Conversation, The Parallax View, Three Days of the Condor, slasher movies, zombie movies, vigilante movies
Digg this
| Post to del.icio.us
| E-mail to a friend
The new Atlantic has a sharp essay by senior editor Ross Douthat about the return of the 70s "paranoid style" in movies made since the Iraq war began. Not only does it connect espionage thrillers like Syriana (pictured), The Good Shepherd, and The Bourne Ultimatum to their Watergate-era counterparts The Conversation (1974), The Parallax View (1974), and Three Days of the Condor (1975), but it astutely notes the new boom in slasher and vigilante movies, both staples of the 70s crisis of confidence. Douthat closes with the debatable but still interesting argument that the new movies are more of a retro party than a profound expression of the national psyche. A great read—check it out.
And let's not forget the whole boom of horror films harkening back to their '70s counterparts. Forgettable remakes of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Omen, The Wicker Man, Dawn of the Dead, etc. Also, Rob Zombie - who is a huge fan of this decade of cinema - with an unabashed love letter to '70s cinema with The Devil's Rejects. And, of course, his remake of another '70s horror classic, Halloween
Those 70’s era films, especially the horror, work better than their millennial copycats, which come across as calculated and formulaically lifeless. These recent political thrillers fare (and may be) better. It reminds me of the stripped down rock ‘n’ roll renaissance that has occurred since the 90’s – their 60’s and 70’s inspirations also seemed to benefit dramatically from an innocence, breaking new ground with a raw manifest destiny.
Not that there isn’t the occasional, glorious exception.
That interview was conducted in June of 2003, however, three months into the Iraq war. It wasn't until 2004 that it was confirmed there were never any WMDs stockpiled in Iraq, right? And now that we're five years into this war, not to mention the war in Afghanistan ...