A 1981 issue of American Film complains about the dramatic changes seen in the way critics approach movies, noting the watershed moment of longtime New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther retirement in 1967 and the new wave of writers, including the New Yorker’s Pauline Kael and the Village Voice’s Andrew Sarris, whose voices shifted the discussion.
“Most of the people who go to see films like Scanners, Halloween, and Dressed to Kill don’t read the New Yorker or the New York Times; they don’t read at all.”
“lesser talents like Brian De Palma and John Carpenter can’t transcend their hokey stories through technical razzle-dazzle”
