The First Rule of Movie Club...
Slate film critic David Edelstein once again hosts one of my favorite online reads of the year, the 2005 edition of The Movie Club. Starting Tuesday, Edelstein rounded up some of the nation's leading film critics for some back-and-forth on the best movies of the year, posted in the form of messages from each critic. The early debate centers on the messages and methods behind Spielberg's Munich, the Clooney-produced Syriana and Terrance Mallick's The New World.
It's always an insightful read for me, as a movie fan. Although I'm often left feeling the hillbilly rube as they discuss the finer points of art films, niche pictures and lots of movies I haven't seen or even heard of. But then again, it does put me onto some movies I might never have sought out. The discussion also provides some interesting views of movies from people who watch movies for a living. Needless to say when I list my favorite films of the year, it'll be pretty pedestrian compared to theirs. But so what. To paraphrase a Raising Arizona quote, I'm OK, their OK, that there's what it is.
In talking about movie reviews and reviewers, I'm reminded of something I think local reviewer Philip Martin said at some point. That reviewers walk that line between providing consumer information to people wondering if they should shell out the bucks to see King Kong and trying to analyze a movie and offer artistic criticism about a film. When done well, I think a good reviewer can accomplish both, I think. What do you think?
The Movie Club 2005 [Slate]
It's always an insightful read for me, as a movie fan. Although I'm often left feeling the hillbilly rube as they discuss the finer points of art films, niche pictures and lots of movies I haven't seen or even heard of. But then again, it does put me onto some movies I might never have sought out. The discussion also provides some interesting views of movies from people who watch movies for a living. Needless to say when I list my favorite films of the year, it'll be pretty pedestrian compared to theirs. But so what. To paraphrase a Raising Arizona quote, I'm OK, their OK, that there's what it is.
In talking about movie reviews and reviewers, I'm reminded of something I think local reviewer Philip Martin said at some point. That reviewers walk that line between providing consumer information to people wondering if they should shell out the bucks to see King Kong and trying to analyze a movie and offer artistic criticism about a film. When done well, I think a good reviewer can accomplish both, I think. What do you think?
The Movie Club 2005 [Slate]
posted by JP at 8:50 AM
2 Comments:
I Thought the first rule was there R no rules!
:o
Well since you asked....
I whole-heartedly agree with your closing statement.
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