A New New Hollywood: The 1980s and 1990sA New New Hollywood: Introduction

A New New Hollywood: Introduction

In 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected, and the nation became more

conservative and more deregulatory (Lecture). He also opposed the Cold War

and labeled the USSR an "evil empire," and the Berlin Wall fell in 1989

(Gaddis, chs.). 6-7). The studios became conglomerates which "controlled the

popular media even more completely and complexly than the studio trusts had

in the 1930s" (Lewis, qtd. in Lecture).

1. Home-Box-Office Market

In 1980, SAG went on strike, demanding a cut of the profits from pay TV,

videotape sales and rentals, and TV residuals. The studios stood their ground,

and SAG backed down (Lecture).

2. VCR

The VCR was still a novelty in the home-entertainment market when it

was introduced, and enabled viewers to make copies of copyrighted movies

without paying any studios (Lecture).

3. Genres and Trends: BlockbusterThe sensation was the main element for the audience in a series of

"event films" like formulaic, usually action-adventure for young men, including

James Bond, Indiana Jones, Rambo, and Rocky. The success of Star Wars

(1977) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) helped to perpetuate the trend

(Lecture).

4. Ridley Scott's Blade Runner

Blade Runner (1982) is based on the novel by Philip K. Dick and portrays

a world in America that relies heavily on technology and is fearful of it.

(Lecture).

5. The Alien Films

The Alien movies condemned conglomerate capitalism like the

Reaganomics deregulated industry, and companies risking lives for profit

(Lecture).

6. Teen Comedy

John Hughes started with Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club,

and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, a formula which was appropriate to the suburban

high-school white experience (Lecture).7. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas

They were on top of the box office during the 1980's, with Raiders of the

Lost Ark and E.T., with a formula of predictable plots, childish themes, a

fascination with serials and comics from the past, and special effects. The

studios' aim of reaching the widest audience was as ambitious as they were,

and the bottom line was the box office (Lecture).

8. Oliver Stone

Born during the Kennedy assassination and Vietnam era, Stone was an

award-winning filmmaker of politically charged films regarding the Kennedy

assassination, Central America (Lecture), and Vietnam).

9. Spike Lee

After She's Gotta Have It (1986) (mostly in black and white), which made

Lee a cult celebrity director, he was awarded a Universal deal for Do the Right

Thing (1989) (Lecture).

10. Tim BurtonBurton is one of the rare people who draw on his childhood experiences

to create films about and for children without being patronizing, as he does in

his Batman (1989) and Edward Scissorhands (1990) (Lecture).

11. David Lynch

Lynch was trained as a painter and created Eraserhead(1977) and The

Elephant Man (with eight Oscar nominations) in the process. It was followed

by a borderline weird cinema, namely Blue Velvet (1986) and Twin Peaks).

12. Quentin Tarantino

Tarantino, a former clerk in a video store, was a natural self-promoter and

was influenced by Godard in Reservoir Dogs(1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994)

and exploitation films (Lecture).

13. Joel and Ethan Coen

Fargo (1997) and The Big Lebowski (1998) (Lecture) are the two films

that are the signature of the Coens, dealing with fateful characters who suffer

under explicit violence, with the emphasis on pace and critical distance).

14. Steven Soderbergh

Traffic and Erin Brockovich (Lecture) are among his later films, which have crossed over into mainstream audiences, and his sex, Lies, and

Videotape (1989) grossed more than $25 million as an arthouse crossover).

15. Kathryn Bigelow

Most of the women directors were met with small budgets and arthouse

releases, but Bigelow managed to overcome all difficulties by making the type

of films men make. She is the first woman to win Best Director in 2010 for The

Hurt Locker(2009) (Lecture).

Works Cited

Gaddis, John Lewis. The Cold War: A New History. Penguin Press, 2005.

Lewis, Jon. American Film: A History. W. W. Norton, 2008.

"Module 7: A New New Hollywood, 1980s and 1990s." American Film

History, COMM/THEA 479W, lecture.