Review by Booklist Review
Readers of a certain age might remember the phrase opening at a theater or drive-in near you as something one heard in TV commercials for B movies. Taylor, a film historian, focuses on the movies that slipped into the background during the 1970s, ignored by film critics and, now, mostly forgotten by audiences. Movies like Vanishing Point, a 1971 car-chase flick; 1974's Foxy Brown, one of the preeminent entries in the blaxploitation genre; or Citizens Band, a 1977 comedy by Jonathan Demme about the then-popular CB-radio craze. The author talks a bit about how each of the movies was made, the inspirations behind them, and their significance in film and pop culture. His main point is that we should not overlook these movies, because they often represent filmmaking at its most visceral visual spectacle and raw human drama. And, he points out, many of the decade's B movies were made by directors who went on to become A-listers (Demme and Sam Peckinpah, among them). An interesting and frequently surprising look at a vibrant era in American film history.--Pitt, David Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Actor Chandler styles his reading of Taylor's essay collection on American B movies from the 1970s in a low, sonorous tone that's reminiscent of the voice of Don LaFontaine, the voiceover actor heard on thousands of movie trailers. It's perfectly fitting for the audio edition of Taylor's book, which highlights the pleasures of films either long forgotten or surviving on cult followings. Surveying such films as Prime Cut, Foxy Brown, and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Taylor discusses the undervalued elements and overlooked influence of these forgotten gems. Chandler playfully adds over-the-top emphasis while reading Taylor's summaries and background information on each film and aptly capturing the lines and attitudes of each. It makes for a fun, entertaining listening experience that will likely lead listeners to watching the films. A Bloomsbury hardcover. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Many film buffs and cinema historians believe that the 1970s represented a great decade of filmmaking, perhaps the last one before the onslaught of popular "blockbusters" and their numerous prequels and sequels. The 1970s engendered modern-day classics such as the "Godfather" films, Cabaret, The French Connection, and Annie Hall, but also gave rise to the ilk of Jaws and Star Wars, often blamed for the decline of the "golden age." Film and culture critic -Taylor opines that many worthy 1970s movies (or at least those worthy of reconsideration) have been unfairly overlooked; he terms them the shadow cinema. In a series of essays, he writes about a little more than a dozen of these films in various genres, among them so-called blaxploitation films such as Coffy and Foxy Brown, offbeat Westerns, including Ulzana's Raid and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, and the thrillers Winter Kills and The Eyes of Laura Mars. For each, he talks about the plot, cultural underpinnings, and sometimes troubled production histories. -VERDICT Although many could quibble about the films included, some of which were critically panned and poorly performed, Taylor makes a very reasonable case for reexamining each one, assisted by a most readable writing style.-Roy Liebman, formerly with California State Univ., Los Angeles © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Critical perception is laced with love in this appreciation of the B-movies and exploitation flicks of the 1970s, which remain "the thirdand, to date, lastgreat period in American movies."An astute critic of film and popular culture in general, Taylor is often drawn to the grittier vitality of the dark underbelly. This collection of critical essays will provide revelation for manyreaders who have never heard of most of these moviesbut it also serves as vindication for the movie geeks who know exactly where Quentin Tarantino finds inspiration. The author celebrates the emergence of directors Walter Hill and Jonathan Demme, the coronation of Sam Peckinpah, and the riveting onscreen presence of Warren Oates, Charles Bronson, and particularly Pam Grier. Most of these essays are about something larger than just one particular film, and the homage to Grier, "A Queen Without a Throne: Coffy and Foxy Brown," is particularly ambitious, showing how institutional racism contributes to the systemic underuse of great black actresses and how some of the forces that were at work in the rise of the blaxploitation trend anticipated the popular emergence of hip-hop. "Like the gangsta images of hip-hop," writes Taylor, "blaxploitation offered a disreputable form of feel-good minstrelsy." He continues: "there's no denying that blaxploitation allowed many black moviegoers their first images of black heroes, affording them some of the good, disreputable pleasures that white audiences had enjoyed for years at shoot-'em-ups and gangster films." The author is equally perceptive and provocative on the connections between the Rolling Stones' much-heralded "Some Girls" and the less-celebrated Faye Dunaway film Eyes of Laura Mars, "a celebration of sleaze as high chic." Though Taylor is careful not to inflate the artistic case"outsized claims for their greatness would only falsify their grungy, visceral appeal"he makes readers eager to see movies that were barely seen the first time through. An illuminating collection of film criticism that is like a critical history of rock as exemplified by garage bands and one-hit wonders. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
