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By: Reeling by on Celluloid…» Blog Archive » 10 Ways to Become a Better Film Critic

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 05:17:07 +0000

[...] PART1 PART2 [...]

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By: Those Incredible Pears & Apples — filmcake

Those Incredible Pears & Apples — filmcake — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:26:08 +0000

[...] Derrick offers up excellent advice on 10 Ways To Become a Better Film Critic. The first thing I got from his post was that I needed to immediately add a book to my reading [...]

By: AnthonyYes

AnthonyYes — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:14:36 +0000

Excellent article! And by the way, due tha today the critic job is consider ‘endargered’, I wonder who was the first movie critic in film history.

By: Sunday Reading « As Cool As A Fruitstand

Sunday Reading « As Cool As A Fruitstand — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 10:45:11 +0000

[...] at all lately, let alone a critic. But that doesn’t mean I don’t take MovieZeal’s 10 tips to become a better movie critic (pt. 2 is here) to heart. Most of them (probably even all of them) are easier said then done, but [...]

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SolShine7 — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:49:14 +0000

Some good tips!

By: Tommy Salami

Tommy Salami — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:55:06 +0000

This was a great read. I’d read parts of Kael’s essay on great trash before, and I think she hit on something all viewers and critics should remember; great art doesn’t always seek to entertain, and it is rare when it does.

By: Evan Derrick

Evan Derrick — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 01:10:56 +0000

So narciso, if I was to describe one of the two films as being a “futuristic urban distopia where the people are oppressed and which deals with themes of revolution and anarchy,” which film would I be describing?

By: narciso

narciso — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:49:36 +0000

“V for Vendetta” and “Metropolis” are nothing related.

By: Evan Derrick

Evan Derrick — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:23:50 +0000

Cibbuano, Nathan Lee can be somewhat of an acquired taste, but when he’s on he’s on pretty strongly. He deftly combines middle-school sarcasm and intelligent thought, and although I find myself getting angry with him a lot of the time, I always enjoy reading him.

By: Cibbuano

Cibbuano — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:31:41 +0000

just read Nathan Lee’s review of Pirates of the Caribbean – a terrific scathing of the movie, and of modern ‘epics’ in general. Weary to watch, uninspired in form.

By: Cibbuano

Cibbuano — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:24:16 +0000

A fantastic, well-thought out article with terrific examples. I’ve got a lot of things to do today, but I’m going to make some time to read a few of these essays.

By: Luke Harrington

Luke Harrington — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:00:36 +0000

Casimir, I couldn’t agree more. “Harder to understand” doesn’t necessarily mean “better,” but it’s just as false to say it always means “worse.” I’d like to see the general public appreciate arthouse fare a bit more, but no less than I’d like to see the arty elites among us learn to love the multiplex.

Thanks for the awesome thoughts…come by MZ anytime.

By: Casimir Fornalski

Casimir Fornalski — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:56:58 +0000

Sorry, I’m new to this board. Maybe I should have said that first.

By: Casimir Fornalski

Casimir Fornalski — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:46:37 +0000

In a film theory and analysis class, I floated the wholly ridiculous but entertaining-nonetheless hypothetical:

Say there are too many films on earth and we need to jettison some into outer space. Don’t ask why or how, just run with it. The decision comes down to a choice between putting “Star Wars” or “The Seventh Seal” on the rocket and firing it into space. On what criteria do we make that decision?

If we were to be democratic and allow the public to vote on this, I do not think it a stretch by any means to say that “Star Wars” would be the clear winner. But does this mean “Star Wars” is the better film? I believe that, to any serious cinephile, it would be hard to argue that “Star Wars” is superior to “The Seventh Seal” as a film.

One thing I find rather heartbreaking is when people cast doubt on the ability for others to truly “enjoy” the more inaccessable, esoteric and challenging works of art that any medium provides. When people make comments like “Nobody really likes Bergman. They just pretend to so they can feel smarter”, I get really upset. This is really the populist equivalent of intellectual elitism.

This is why I’m glad we live in a culture that says both are allowed to co-exist, if somewhat uneasily. Thankfully, we’re not forced to make this either/or choice between films the general public likes and films a certain niche appreciates, and I get very annoyed when certain schools of thought in film criticism say we should.

By: Jeremy Welsch (The Rub)

Jeremy Welsch (The Rub) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:13:04 +0000

Evan, this is a fantastic article that I think all of us could learn something from. Looking forward to part 2

By: Luke Harrington

Luke Harrington — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:31:24 +0000

Dean,

You and I both know that Tron was just a rip off of The Gospel According to Matthew. Why pretend otherwise?

By: Evan Derrick

Evan Derrick — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:02:07 +0000

@Jason
That brings up a great point, the difference between a film reviewer and a film critic. The former tends to write for people who haven’t seen a film (helping them to choose whether or not they should see it), while the latter writes for those who have already seen the film. The film reviewer is becoming an increasingly pointless profession, as most people make their decisions based on the trailer, marketing, past experiences, etc. (a lot of people have already pointed this out in the comments). The film critic, on the other hand, is more interested in the art of criticism and determining why or why not a certain film worked. I personally think the middle ground between these two extremes works the best.

@Kevin
It is funny you should mention that, Kevin. We have a local critic here who is absolutely terrible, in much the same ways as the critic you mentioned. Not only is he a poor writer, but he seems to hate films on principle and each week is a diatribe against Hollywood. He’s one of the reasons I started this blog, because I figured if he could actually get paid to spew his middle school venom, I could at least do a marginally better job than him.

@begiles10
My apologies, miss. Those numerals in your name threw me off (as excuses go, that is a pretty weak one, I know ). Again, I agree with your sentiment. I don’t like pretentious critics who have a stick up their nether regions and enjoy ripping a film to shreds based on extenuating circumstances. However, every critic has their prejudices and blindspots, and the more I’ve thought about the more I’ve come to the conclusion that a critic should take advantage of their prejudices rather than crush them. In the end, what is there to separate one critic from another apart from their likes and dislikes? Again, this should be handled with care and respect, but I think a critic should capitalize on their prejudices as much as possible (goes back to that ‘developing a unique voice’ point).

Amy, Geoff, Caleb, Yikbo, & Nick, thanks so much for dropping by. Hope you come back more often.

@Dean
I think you may have missed the point, my friend.

By: Kristena

Kristena — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 02:58:03 +0000

No need to be snippy, friends.

By: G

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 02:57:34 +0000

CJencks, I think there are lots of reasons why critics and the people will disagree, and while occasionally I think the problem is that the critics are out of touch with the people I usually think it’s that the people are out of touch with the movies.

More to the point: thanks to sites like rottentomatoes and metacritic, if you say “the critics didn’t like [movie x]” someone can double-check that.

Enchanted: Metacritic 75/100
Rottentomatoes 94/100

Your point is still valid, but Enchanted is not a very good example. The critics loved it.

By: Dean

Dean — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 02:13:42 +0000

Speaking of myopic, it bemuses me when a film critic tells us to expand our cinematic vocabulary yet fails to cite the fact that The Matrix was a lot better when it came out in 1982 and was called Tron. Seriously, watch the two side by side sometime.

By: CJencks

CJencks — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:01:00 +0000

My personal opinion – and it is just that – is that despite whatever analytical genius they may have for correctly stating which previous movies have used similar plot devices, etcetera, the simple truth of the matter is that the vast majority of film critics disagree with the vast majority of the public as to what constitutes a “good” film.

The critics hated most of the most popular movies of all time. There are movies the critics loved that did not cover their own budgets (or even close). Some of that may be due to dumb people going to see some movie just because they saw a cute commercial, but a lot of it is word of mouth. If a movie sicks, a lot of people will hear about it and not go see it. And most of those people trust their friends and such, not film critics.

Take “Enchanted” for example. A lot of critics probably thought it was some pathetic rehash of all the classic Disney princess movies. And maybe it was. But it was well put together and a lot of people enjoyed it.

By: Nick Faust

Nick Faust — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:59:54 +0000

Bravo Evan, comprehensive, informative, entertaining. Your additional reading has sent me searching for more.

Am particularly fond of Kael’s definition of a good critic in “Circles and Squares.”

Thanks for this incredible piece. Am looking forward to the rest.

Nick

By: Phillip Johnston

Phillip Johnston — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:44:15 +0000

Thanks for the article, Evan. I’ve just recently started reading older critics (Kael, Sarris, Agee, etc) and theorists (Bazin, Eisenstein, Kuleshov) this year. Each one is so uniquely enriching, although in my reading I find less and less times to watch films. I’ve got to find the balance somewhere, but I have a feeling it will only come if more hours are added to the day.

Eagerly awaiting Part 2!

By: Yikbo

Yikbo — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:31:55 +0000

A well-written article. Can’t wait for part 2!

By: Caleb

Caleb — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:56:03 +0000

Nice article! i’m looking forward to part 2.

By: Geoff, Ohio

Geoff, Ohio — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:52:05 +0000

I am reminded of the David Hare play, “Amy’s View,” in which an aging British stage actress butts heads with her daughter’s innamorata, a nascent film critic and wannabe filmmaker. Good stuff, check it out.