For Roger Ebert,
it's a prayer that made him "more alert to the awe of existence." For Rober Koehler,
it's a kitschy New Age con. For Richard Brody, it perfectly captures the essence of a generation by depicting a character thinking
"back to the musings and fantasies of childhood, which are the product of a wondrous and fantastic view of science formed by popular-science books for children and by the commercial artists whose illustrations adorned them." For Stephanie Zacharek, it's
"a gargantuan work of pretension." For Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, it's
"a creation myth in the guise of a crypto-autobiography" that invents a universe of its own only to destroy it. For J. Hoberman, it's lifeless and dull,
"essentially a religious work and, as such, may please the director's devotees, cultists, and apologists." It spent thirty years in development,
three in editing and, yes,
it contains dinosaurs.
The Tree of Life, written and directed by
famously reclusive Zoolander fan and
"JD Salinger of American movies" Terrence Malick , won the
Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Tomorrow,
it comes out in the United States.
[more inside]
posted by alexoscar
on May 26, 2011 -
64 comments
Then That's What They Called Music is a series of posts on the Onion AV Club where writer Nathan Rabin (
previously) listens to all of the NOW! That's What I Call Music CDs from 1999 onwards. The essays read like a history of a forgotten world, reminding you of terrible yet infectious pop tunes, and are full of great links, snappy writing and one man's struggle to deal with why the Black Eyed Peas, the
most corporate band in America, are so popular.
[more inside]
posted by Sifter
on Dec 24, 2010 -
29 comments
Roger Ebert is returning to television: "'This is the rebirth of a dream,' said Ebert, who partnered in recent years with Richard Roeper before cancer robbed him of the ability to speak. He said he will act as co-producer and employ a computer voice to appear on every episode with segments titled Roger's Office devoted to classic, overlooked and new films." (
Ebert, previously on MeFi.)
posted by jbickers
on Sep 10, 2010 -
22 comments
Shockingly, a novel about a Nazi officer who abets murder squads, transports Jews to Auschwitz, has sex with his twin sister, possibly kills his parents and then dies rich, old and reflective has caused a trans-Atlantic controversy among literary critics. Published in the original French three years ago, the English translation of
Jonathan Littell's The Kindly Ones hit American bookstores this week.
[more inside]
posted by zoomorphic
on Mar 11, 2009 -
86 comments
Lorenzo Semple, 84, has been a screenwriter for more than 50 years; his credits include "Papillion," "The Parallax View" and "Three Days of the Condor." Marcia Nasatir, 81, is a longtime agent and production executive, was the first female VP of production at United Artists, and produced films like "The Big Chill" and "Hamburger Hill." Together, they are the "
Reel Geezers," offering irresistible film reviews on YouTube. To wit:
Superbad,
Iron Man,
Sex and the City,
Lars and the Real Girl,
No Country for Old Men,
There Will Be Blood.
[more inside]
posted by jbickers
on Jun 11, 2008 -
27 comments
Looking for an ego boost? The fine people over at
The Screenplay Agency are the place for you! No logline too stupid, no script too poorly written! Are you tired of agency after agency telling you that they don't want your 20 year old screenplay about how much you love peanut butter just because "It doesn't make any sense, and is written with crayon on a pile of dirty gym socks?" I know I was! Until I found out about The Screenplay Agency, who promptly accepted every criminally copyright infringing idea I threw at them until I just KNEW I was every bit as good I writer as I've always told myself I am. And all they asked of me was approximately $250 in fees paid to coverage agencies no one has ever heard of and which seem to be owned by the same company that owns The Screenplay Agency! Sure, you've heard of publishing scams like
Publish America (part 2) thanks to the diligence of sites like
Making Light and our own
thread on the matter, but The Screenplay Agency is totally different! For one thing, they only
rip you off boost your ego through
screenplays.
Now, some
legitimate screenplay writers high and mighty hollywood types have gone and
pranked this excellent automated delusion reinforcer. But don't let those spoilsports spoil your sport! (God, I am such a great writer. No wonder they loved my screenplay!) Go ahead and
generate your own rave reviews!
posted by shmegegge
on Feb 25, 2006 -
14 comments
Ten best film list a critique of the U.S? The venerable [some say notorious] French film magazine
Cahiers du Cinema unveiled their
ten best films of 2004 list recently.
Other than their list typically leaning toward films by
auteurs - such as
Ingmar Bergman and
Hou Hsiao-hsien [and
Tarantino] - they also included
The Village by M. Night Shyamalan. With that choice are they rewarding the artistic merits of the film [which
most critics view as minimal] or are they making a statement about The United States? In short do they view the U.S. like the characters in the film - an isolated bunch of paranoid [Puritan] villagers living and acting off of their fears? Or is there some other reason they would choose the film as one of the year's best?
posted by Rashomon
on Feb 24, 2005 -
38 comments
SPOILER ALERT: There's a movie out now that, like
The Crying Game, depends for much of its impact on a plot twist. Are critics honor-bound not to blab that development to readers?
(More Inside, including, duh, spoilers)
posted by soyjoy
on Feb 8, 2005 -
65 comments
A Critic's Coda. William Grimes, departing NYT food critic, gives an interview to Newsweek. "It’s like 'Groundhog Day.' You wake up the next day having eaten a four-star meal, you must go out and eat another four-star meal. And you get up the next day and you have to go out and eat another four-star meal." I think we've all been there before.
posted by adrober
on Nov 25, 2003 -
17 comments
Why Are The Six Best Restaurants in New York All French? Because
William Grimes from the
New York Times is a massive, provincial, toadying snob, that's why says so. [
NYT reg. req.] With his haughty tone, architectural blatherings and
whiney voice [
Real Video link] he's undoubtedly my pet hate among
restaurant critics, even though he obviously knows his stuff, not to mention a thing or two about cocktails [
here is his take on the Martini]. My favourite
critics are GQ's
Alan Richman and the
Anti-Grimes himself, a man who truly knows his food,
Robert Sietsema of
The Village Voice. What critics get
your goat or vote? Which ones are worth reading and following? More importantly, which ones - or anonymous restaurant guides, like
Zagat's, can you trust,
if any?
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Jun 10, 2003 -
36 comments
Ain't It Cool: Hollywood's Redheaded Stepchild Speaks Out is the title of
Harry Knowles' recently published book. Written with Paul Cullum and Mark Ebner, the book is a biting, dead-on critique of the film industry. "If smart audiences can't find the smart movies that are out there, then it's only because they have been systematically alientated from movies over a hard-fought twenty years. Films didn't get stupid all on their own; they were beaten and bloodied into submission in the mistaken belief that it would generate greater profits."
posted by Mo Nickels
on Apr 11, 2002 -
38 comments
The Bottom Feeders. Are these truly the 5 worst movie critics in America? Personally, Ebert gives me migraines and Joel Siegel makes me want to claw out my eyes. Who's your most hated movie critic?
posted by tankboy
on Mar 29, 2002 -
30 comments
As to be expected the dumb critics are ripping Lara Croft to shreds; I mean
really tearing it a new orifice. Which means of course I must see
this film. Major argument against? A hack plot designed only to engender scenes of mindless violence. Duh. It's not supposed to have
emotional impact. It's just supposed to be fun. Did any of these critics actually play the game? What frightens me though is that
Roger Ebert enjoyed it...
I'm so torn...
posted by ZachsMind
on Jun 16, 2001 -
50 comments
Fun to be Clueless Literati in the L.A. area will no doubt like this take on the odd tastes of the
Times Book Review section. For the rest of us, there's the fun of watching one paper try and stick it to another. Also, and interesting take on the role books play as a medium in this media-rich age.
posted by jasonsmall
on Mar 8, 2001 -
5 comments
The rock-critic "community" Jack Saturn and Jack Saturn manqués, ahoy! A young fella runs an entire site,
Popped, dedicated to the art of rock criticism. And despite being from Toronto, he's not so prissy as to pretend he isn't a fan. Because those are the
worst rock critics. If rock even matters anymore.
posted by joeclark
on Oct 19, 2000 -
8 comments
