Film Critics: Everyone's a critic
Trent Griffiths spoke with six of Australia’s leading film critics to find out how they approach their craft, how their role has changed in the modern media landscape, and what they think the future of film criticism holds.
The evolution of digital media, social networking, and the global information society has ushered in a brave new world of possibilities for the film industry. The 3D revolution, downloading and DIY filmmaking have all been widely discussed, but the concurrent change in the nature of film criticism has received scant attention.
At Encore, we decided it was high time film critics had the chance to talk about the shifting sands of their place in the industry, so we contacted Marc Fennell (Triple J, Hungry Beast, The Circle), David Stratton (At The Movies, The Australian), Margaret Pomeranz (At The Movies), Louise Keller (Urban Cinefile), Sandra Hall (The Sydney MorningHerald), and Leigh Paatsch (The Herald Sun, The Daily Telegraph) to discuss the changing role of film critics.
AN EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE
Food for thought: http://www.presspauseplay.com/
If you have an appetite for boring pretentious rubbish.
“When a ticket for an Australian film starts costing less than it does for a British or an American film, I will start giving you different reviews because the comparative value is different,” explains Fennell.
Damn straight. The last thing this industry needs is to be patronised.
Great story.
The days of Pauline Kael making or breaking a film are long long.
Good thing, too because, despite their pontificating, many critics don’t have any more knowledge or offer any greater insight than the average film buff blogger.
Some recent examples that make you doubt their credibility:
“Sydney Morning Herald” TV critic Ruth Ritchie basically blaming the editors for the “Park Street” disaster. Even without knowing the behind-the-scenes fiasco of that show, you’d have to appreciate that the editors are at the mercy of what’s been shot. Or more to the point, what hasn’t been.
ABC “At the Movies” co-host Margaret Pomeranz and Nick Dent from “The Sunday Telegraph” erroneously attribute the success of “The Hangover” to the screenwriting team of Jon Lucas and Scott Moore.
They obviously haven’t read that stinker.
The basic structure in place. But most of the elements that made the first “Hangover” such a success – really funny bits like the baby, Mike Tyson and Chow, not to mention characterization and much more – are the work of Todd Phillips and Jeremy Gerelick, who did a major rewrite.
I never go to films based on critcs reviews…
Touched a soft spot @ Mark Stonnigton….sorry
Since when is it boring and pretentious to consider the past, present and the future?
I think it’s good to read reviews after watching the film, you then get to know which critic has similar tastes to you. So many movies past and present your never going to see them all so critics play an important role in guiding us on what we are missing out on. Find a good critic and it’s like finding a really good mate you can trust in to give you the hot tip on what to check out.