Martin Scorsese has always been one of leaders in restoring old films and he's now taken his love to the internet. He's teaming up with a site called The Auteurs and is offering classic films for just five dollars. The films will also be available in Criterion Collection DVD's. While I am not blown away by the prospect of watching an old restored foreign film on my computer (I've yet to really embrace the TV on Computer movement), the state of film preservation is a bit depressing. The Reuters article pointed out, "Scorsese said almost 90 percent of U.S. silent movies are gone, and originals of classic titles such as Orson Welles' "The Magnificent Ambersons" (1942) no longer exist." Scorsese adds, ""The more audiences see these films, the more they want to see other films like them, and then what happens is the audience changes which means the movies that are being made change. There is an audience for special movies, and good movies, for a different way of looking at the world -- and not just blockbusters."

While I agree with that sentiment, it does also bother me because I still believe that blockbuster films can be saved from the pure braindead lights on a big screen with loud noises and special FX current state that they've devolved into. I feel like most people have just given up on the action or suspense film. 

If anything, fans of classic films have their art house flicks and a rabid fan base that eats them up and defends them. But there's nobody really pushing for improved blockbuster films. Hopefully this summer might be able to shake Hollywood from their slumber. The costs of these films are skyrocketing and in some cases, like Terminator Salvation or Wolverine, they are requiring huge ad campaigns to help them barely break even at the domestic box office. The Studio tricks can get people to come to an opening weekend but it takes a quality film to have a strong second weekend.

Unfortunately, that lesson will probably be lost and execs will focus on family films which seem to be the safest bet. Of course, that will just mean that everyone starts releasing films for the whole fam, the market will get saturated, and then they'll face the same issue as actioners do now.

I applaud Scorsese for his work as a film historian but I also wish he'd also remind the studios about the quality mainstream films out there, from Key Largo to The Great Escape to The Silence of the Lambs. The irony of Termator Salvation was that it was about humans fighting machines but the film itself relied almost entirely on machines and had little humanity to it. And, unfortunately, that's becoming more and more the norm. Let's try to restore that in our films and work to make our present films as inspirations as these classics.