Critic Bernard Leaves Daily News
Critic Dave Kehr, who is sorely missed here in Cannes, writes with emotion about what's happening to film critics today. Kehr, Jami Bernard, Mike Wilmington, John Anderson...there are a lot of excellent critics over 40 without a berth right now—as one outfit after another hires the younger, hipper, cheaper alternative, hoping to appeal to the all-too-sexy younger demographic. They don't read newspapers though. They go to the web for their film info. Aggregate sites like Metacritic, criticker and Film Freak Central and blogs like The House Next Door are the future of film criticism. There's plenty of good film writing on the web, including Kehr. It's just a lot harder to get paid for it.
True except that John Anderson and Michael Wilmington still have great voices and write film criticism all the time in Newsday, Variety and the Chicago Tribune. "Search" them out in new media fashion and enjoy.
Posted by: T. H. Ung | May 17, 2006 at 08:16 AM
Jami Bernard is not only a longtime friend but a brilliant and self-effacing journalist who wrote "young" no natter her chronological age. Perhaps it's inevitable that the critical meek shall inherit the print earth. But I don't have to like it. Jami, however, will find another job. Any paper would be privileged to have her.
Posted by: Ray | May 17, 2006 at 09:04 AM
well, yeah. nobody reads newspapers anymore (online or on paper). blogs and other review sites are the (cheaper) future.
the thing about the web is they're not looking for quality writing (like janet maslin at ny times when she reviewed movies), they're looking for the right mix of trash talk, frustration, 'stick it to the man', and depth of superficial knowledge about movies (like box office, who wrote what, etc).
there is a market for deep writing but not a mass market. we're in a literacy slide that gets worse with each passing year.
look forward to a totally new 'web english' to emerge in the next 20 years. by that time the peeps will only be able to tell if a movie is any good by how many stars it gets.
the end is near
z
Posted by: Alan Green | May 17, 2006 at 07:05 PM