Sin #49: The Critics

The general consensus among moviegoers is that film critics are pompous assholes who sit above the rest praising high art and demeaning popular entertainment. Since virtually anyone can write a review, why the hell do we need them, right?

Well, while it may be true that anyone can spurt an opinion about a movie, a critic will always have a more thoughtful criteria, merely because of the fact that he sees a lot more movies than the average moviegoer. A good critic will analyze different aspects of the production, reveal its emotional impact and state an opinion that doesn’t claim to be an indisputable fact (he has to acknowledge that there are people that may enjoy the movie even if it rebukes their personal assertion). My favorite critic, Roger Ebert, whom I not always agree with, is a terrific writer (winner of the Pulitzer Prize, no doubt) and always brings important points to his reviews that deserve to be considered.

The job of the critic is not to agree with the majority of the population’s view but to state an educated opinion, helping the viewer to come up with his own conclusions. The extent of their influence depends mostly on the education of their readers; casual moviegoers don’t even care in taking their time choosing worthy movies to watch on the weekend (this attitude helps turn fiascos like “Transformers 2” into huge box office hits).

It’s been a difficult time for critics. Todd McCarthy, the respected critic for Variety was recently fired and the show “At the Movies”, which a long time ago was hosted by Ebert and Gene Siskel, has been cancelled. Some blame the internet, since bloggers and web critics instantly publish their reviews on websites and offer a more convenient (and economical) approach than buying a magazine or newspaper. Technological advances like Facebook or Twitter have even enabled people to instantly publish comments, even during a screening in theaters (most of these comments however read something like: “OMG! The movie was awesome!! J”)

Still, I find fascinating reading “old-school” critics like Ebert (whose blog is also a marvelous example of fine and evocative writing), A.O. Scott, Peter Travers and Michael Phillips; of the web-based critics I enjoy James Berardinelli who is also a talented writer. I enjoy that they are smart people who write out of joy and enthusiasm for cinema and are mere observers of its evolution; it’s them who give film criticism a good name.

They can be read at their respective websites:

Roger Ebert: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/

A.O.Scott: http://movies.nytimes.com/pages/movies/index.html

Peter Travers: http://www.rollingstone.com/

Michael Phillips: http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/

James Berardinelli: http://www.reelviews.net/movies.php