lilja4ever
ex "natalie73"
Reg.: 23 Ago 2003
Messaggi: 1872
Da: este (PD)
|  Inviato: 22-09-2004 03:27 |
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Ragazzi, mi tocca, è obbligatorio! Devo riportare questo pezzo (in inglese, tanto lo so che lo masticate…), della mia cara MaryAnn Johanson. Riguarda alcune cosette sulla critica americana…
...one of the things that keeps me going lately is sheer rage at the bland corporate bullshit that passes for "legitimate" movie criticism these days. An article in Variety a few weeks ago highlighted some of the problems. Ostensibly, the piece was about the contentious relationship between studios and critics but between the lines, it was really about the abysmal lack of respect studios have for audiences as demonstrated by the media manipulation they engage in, and about how the corporate media lets itself be compromised. Check this:
quote:
Since it has a Tuesday deadline and the screening [of The Village] was on a Wednesday, Entertainment Weekly decided to run a piece by editor-at-large Mark Harris, who had seen the film for editorial purposes, with a disclaimer that he was not a critic and that the film he'd seen was not a final print.
...
Even before Spider-man 2 was finished, Sony screened it exclusively to Newsweek editors to pitch the film for feature consideration.
The gamble paid off. Spidey graced Newsweek's cover two days before the film opened, allowing the magazine to "break" the story. The positive review of Spider-Man 2 that accompanied the story was written by [Jeff] Giles [Newsweek's arts and entertainment editor], because critic David Ansen was on sabbatical.
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This is the crap we, as movie lovers, are up against. I may be biast, but I'm not fucking compromised. When I raved about Spider-Man 2, it wasn't because I'd been bought off by the studio, it was because I honestly want to have Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi's babies.
I'm being flip (no, I'm not; Tobey, honey, call me), but there's another issue at work, too. When I read these supposedly professional critics with high-profile print gigs, I get the sense, from most of them, that they don't actually like movies. Their reviews, for the most part, make me feel like they consider it something of a chore to sit through a film and then share their reactions with us. They don't make me feel like they go to the movies for the same reasons the rest of us go to the movies: to be entertained, to forget about our messed-up lives for a while, and to watch attractive, talented people doing exciting things while we imagine ourselves having sex with them.
"But surely," you protest, "these people, these so-called 'mainstream critics,' are trained experts, aren't they? Whereas you, Ms. Filosopher, are but a devoted fangirl?"
From the Variety article:
quote:
[L]ocal TV stations and cablers often ask green reporters to double as critics. Even newspaper powerhouses like the L.A. Times are giving lofty positions to younger blood like Carina Chocano, who had never reviewed films before being shifted from her post as TV critic.
When Roger Ebert needed a new partner on his syndicated TV show after the death of Gene Siskel, the slot went to Richard Roeper, who had never reviewed films before.
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To which I say: Arrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhh.
So, major publications bend over for the studios and some guy from the high-school sports beat is suddenly reviewing movies, and Internet critics are the problem? From the studios' perspective, you bet.
Variety:
quote:
One of the biggest headaches... is the Internet.
...
"The Internet has created an atmosphere where we are a lot more protective than ever before," says [Dennis] Rice [senior VP of publicity for Buena Vista Pictures].
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Translation: "We're worried because we can't control the message when it comes to little Web sites."
Good.
If you look at the mainstream media, then sure, the state of film criticism is downright embarrassing. But online, where film lovers roam free of corporate pressure and are actually, you know, enthusiastic about movies, there's some okay stuff going down.
Like my stuff, I hope.
[ Questo messaggio è stato modificato da: lilja4ever il 22-09-2004 alle 03:31 ] |
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