Nice to see Nigel Horrocks blogging at www.aikenstix.com.
I enjoyed his post on the declining relevance of movie critics, particularly this part:
Today, I picked up the printed programme for a film festival about to hit my town and gave up trying to work out what each movie was about. I’m sure there were a few I would like, but the programme is a cryptic crossword.
Let me pick a movie at random from the programme.
This one is a must see for its “daring proposition in an era that frantically insists upon marketable conformity. This makes Gentlemen Broncos as daring as the latest work of Hess’ other American Eccentrics peers Spike Jonze and Wes Anderson. In Gentlemen Broncos, sci-fi’s poignant charms even coexist with churchgoing – note the quilt hanging in Benji’s bedroom of Jesus riding Barney the dinosaur. It’s all part of our authentic and poignant cultural mess.”
If only critics would learn the art of communication all over again so I can understand a) what the movie is about and b) whether I might like it.
Second that.
Nigel notes that we have become our own movie critics, sharing our thoughts on Twitter and Facebook and forums about movies we like, and he’s right.
That said, there’s still a place for critics who can, as he says, communicate well and I still have no trouble reading a New Yorker review months after the fact and on the other side of the world.
I came across Dan Slevin here in NZ recently and like his straightforward style. I may not always agree with him but I always know where I am with him, which is, I think, more important. He’s now selling reviews through allaboutthestory.com (you need to be a Registered Buyer to see the reviews in full).
All Evolving Newsroom
Nigel, blogging and movie critics
Nice to see Nigel Horrocks blogging at www.aikenstix.com.
I enjoyed his post on the declining relevance of movie critics, particularly this part:
Second that.
Nigel notes that we have become our own movie critics, sharing our thoughts on Twitter and Facebook and forums about movies we like, and he’s right.
That said, there’s still a place for critics who can, as he says, communicate well and I still have no trouble reading a New Yorker review months after the fact and on the other side of the world.
I came across Dan Slevin here in NZ recently and like his straightforward style. I may not always agree with him but I always know where I am with him, which is, I think, more important. He’s now selling reviews through allaboutthestory.com (you need to be a Registered Buyer to see the reviews in full).