"Taylor occasionally veers dangerously close to being a stereotypical grouch about the contemporary state of cinema—a book-length version of 'They just don't make 'em like they used to,' its author a sentient 'Why, in my day…' anecdote—but when it comes to his actual subject matter, he's engrossing and persuasive, pulling off the rare feat of turning cinema into works of cultural anthropology without losing his reader in either long-winded minutiae or overly simplistic summaries. He’s mastered the art of film criticism as historical analysis, using these movies as a way in to the study of an America that no longer exists—and, using his movies to tee off against other, more reductive films, the idea that maybe a happier one never really did."
In a 2017 AV Club article, Alex McLevy reviews Opening Wednesday at a Theater or Drive-In Near You: The Shadow Cinema of the American '70s.
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