Austin360 blogs
>
Austin Movie Blog
>
Archives
>
2009 > March > 12 > Entry
By Chris Garcia
| Thursday, March 12, 2009, 01:15 PM
Part primer, part eulogy, this
century-long survey of the art and racket of movie criticism arrives when film critics are the first to be hurled overboard as newspapers sink.
Splash — there went another career critic, who will likely scamper to the refuge/wilderness of the Web, joining swelling legions of self-anointed arbiters.
In this engaging if superficial documentary, filmmaker and longtime critic Gerald Peary notes that 28 print critics have been canned in recent years. He enlists a range of critics to anatomize what this means to consumers and filmmakers and, of course, the art form itself. We meet ‘em all: the trailblazers, from James Agee to Pauline Kael; agreeable consumer guides with supple thumbs; and today’s digital whippersnappers, including Austin’s Harry Knowles.
Critics are a querulous, self-important and tribal bunch, huffing and puffing about stuff that passionately matters to them. They’re smart but increasingly monomaniacal. As an ambivalent member of this group, I most appreciated what Entertainment Weekly’s Lisa Schwarzbaum advises aspiring critics: travel, cultivate other interests, read, take a break from movies as a lifeblood. In other words: Get a life.
Screenings: 8 p.m. Monday and noon Wednesday, Alamo Ritz; 4 p.m. March 21, Alamo South.
Permalink
| Comments (0)
| Post your comment
Categories:
SXSW 2009
Commenting is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. M-F
Comments
Click here to report comment abuse.