Rob Reiner made many of us fall in love with the movies

nThere’s usually nothing romantic about corporate logos, but when I think about it rob rennerI think of Castle Rock. Rainer, who died at the age of 78 being investigated as murderCo-created the production company in 1987, and I think encapsulates the grand, mysterious magic of filmmaking in little more than the animation that opens the movies it makes, or closes the TV it produces. In it, the lamp from a lighthouse moves across the night sky, illuminating the sea and land, while a brilliant orange sun rises behind it. For subsequent incarnations, a musical flutter – stardust, it seems – eventually fades to black. Castle Rock Entertainment introduces movies including logo original romantic comedy When Harry met Sally…which Reiner directed, as well The Shawshank Redemption, before sunrise, miss Congeniality and Christopher Guest’s canine mockumentary best in ShowIt appears at the end of each episode seinfeld,

These animated logos – or “bumpers,” as they are officially known – are designed to say a lot with less. If Pixar’s bouncing table lamp promised slapstick ingenuity, or 20th Century Fox’s majestic wall of floodlights and trumpets teased pure grandeur, the presence of Castle Rock meant you were ready to be embraced. The earlier works of this stamp were broad and character-based, usually filmed in the autumn or winter season, and dealt with very human puzzles, even if their contexts were fictional: love, grief, betrayal, passion. And those films came after Reiner himself, whose work as a director was broad in scope and tone, more often than not kind and gentle, and more than a little surprising in their cultural significance.

Whether you were a child of the ’80s or long after, it’s likely something that made you fall in love with movies. When Harry met Sally…which practically invented the modern romcom, was released in 1989, shortly after Rainer’s rock mockumentary this is spinal tap (1984), his adaptation of Stephen King’s coming-of-age story stand with me (1986), and his thriller fantasy film the Princess Bride (1987). The eclecticism of those films, and their overall impact on Hollywood storytelling to this day, could easily make him the most important American filmmaker of the eighties.

Renner and his wife, photographer Michelle Singer, were both found dead in their Brentwood, California home on Sunday night. A Police investigation is currently ongoingFor Reiner, it’s a senseless and disturbing end for a filmmaker whose bright, round face, framed by gray hair, suggests only pure altruism,

Possibly due to the range of his output, which also included the wonderful psycho-thriller Suffering (1990) and courtroom drama some good men (1992), Reiner is not generally included among the great directors. This may also be due to his humility (he spoke openly about his struggles with self-confidence during his career), and the slow success of many of his high-profile films. this is spinal tap It took years to develop a cult following, while both stand with me And the Princess Bride It received mixed reviews upon release. There is a softness to his work that is read as disloyal, or lacking bite, in some corners of the critical sphere. Granted, danger isn’t really a factor in Reiner’s greatest work (save for Kathy Bates going kamikaze with a sledgehammer, of course), but therein lies his comforting power.

He made films for audiences to immerse themselves in, to be comforted by, and to be loved by young and old, parents and children. I clearly remember being in a school class at the age of eight or nine and a friend told our teacher what was his favorite movie? stand with meAnd he would watch it again and again with his father. stand with me It was about dirty white kids in rural Maine in the fifties, and my friend was Black, Bristolian, and – like me – cinematically educated in the works of Walt Disney at the time. but there was something about it stand with me Due to which it got punctured and he felt something. I also had to see it immediately.

Reiner always made films – a spinal Tap The sequel was released in September – but the stature of his work diminished over time. His focus became more on political objectives and fundraising and his films became somewhat anonymous and preachy. he made Rumour has it…A Jennifer Aniston vehicle that features comedy malpractice as well as movies you’ve probably never heard of (including political dramas, among them). shock and awemichael douglas romcom and it goes on like thisor Morgan Freeman YP The Magic of Belle Isle,

But it almost seems irrelevant when Renner’s braid was immaculate, and so endlessly replicated. every romcom is when harry met sallyevery scary glimpse into the camera Office And there are many, many imitators spinal TapThere are whispers in every coming-of-age story stand with meAnd, more than anything, Reiner understood why and how we watch movies, and the cathartic effect of sitting alone in the dark and absorbing others’ stories, Like the Castle Rock logo, his films were lighthearted,