I take exception to this presumption

jakec:

From the comments: “no matter who she is, it’s a great list. totally believable for a literate film buff.”

I despise people that say this. I consider myself a “literate film buff”. I’ve watched films from all eras of cinema (except maybe silent and probably some art-house genre bullshit). However, the ones I enjoy the most have, for the most part, come from the last twenty years of cinema. It makes sense that films these days would be more advanced than those that came before it, because film is an evolutionary medium. But am I somehow less knowledgeable about film because I liked Superbad more than I liked The Great Escape? I understand why The Godfather is so popular, but personally I thought it was the worst experience I’ve ever had watching a film. Do my tastes make me lesser in the eyes of critics, despite my cinematic knowledge? Because that makes no fucking sense.

Are you kidding? You think film is getting BETTER over time? You say you’re a literate film buff and then discount silent and ‘art-house bullshit genre stuff’? Christ. I bet you think Tombstone is the high-water mark for westerns.

The last 20 years have not been cinema’s best, unless you’re broadly in favour of art made by accountants.

If I see you this weekend I am going to punch you in the dick.