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The Blair Witch Project

There was a time before movies like Paranormal Activity, a time before movies like The Last Exorcism. There was a time when people took movies at face value, and nothing more. When people were told, in 1999, that the movie The Blair Witch Project was a found-footage film made up of what was discovered from the remnants of three college students who disappeared, they believed it. By the time the movie hit theaters, and hit big, the game was up. Example: the weekend The Blair Witch Project opened, the three college students who disappeared were interviewed on The Today Show. Funny how that works out, huh? Yes, as we all know, The Blair Witch Project was an elaborate, purposeful hoax, but one that scared the pants off those who first saw it. And those who first saw it were at the Sundance Film Festival.

These days, The Blair Witch Project is something of a quaint curiosity, kind of like thinking about America Online being a major force in the Internet in the late-1990s. Of course, if it wasn’t for Blair Witch, would Paranormal Activity exist? If it existed, would it have been nearly as successful? Of course, The Blair Witch Project may not be as big a hit these days as it was when it came out, but like only a handful of films, it’s entered the American lexicon. It’s so well known that a single shot from the film - say, of the young woman staring the camera down and breathing heavily in fear - is an instant touchstone. And it all started at the Sundance Film Festival, gaining so much buzz instantly that it was hard to avoid in the media. I’ve never been a fan of the film, but it only became a juggernaut because of Sundance.

Taxi Driver

Taxi Driver is one of the most iconic, quoted films in American cinema. “You talkin’ to me?” has been a common line in our culture for 35 years. Of course, before it came out, Martin Scorsese wasn’t one of the best or well-known directors of our time. Now, he’s the king of directors (and if you want to argue with me, good luck finding any solid explanation for how he’s not the grand poobah). When Taxi Driver came out in the States, it had the rare distinction for an American film: winner of the Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. A few films over the past decades have won the Palme D’Or (including previous entry sex, lies, and videotape), but Taxi Driver’s award stands out, partly because it ended up losing the biggest American prize: the Best Picture Oscar.

There are, of course, plenty of people who won’t dispute the 1976 winner (my wife included): Rocky. I like Rocky. Of all the many, many, MANY Sylvester Stallone films, it’s probably the best. But I gotta tell you, it’s not Taxi Driver. And when you consider that Taxi Driver and Rocky were joined by Network and All The President’s Men in the Best Picture category, it’s all the more jaw-dropping that the crowd-pleasing boxer mook won the big golden boy. We all know how long it took for Martin Scorsese to win a Best Director Oscar, but for Taxi Driver, all he had to console with was the Palme D’Or. I don’t often agree with the Cannes voters - they often vote for the most esoteric entries - but they were dead to rights about Taxi Driver. Too bad the Americans weren’t.

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