Writing – Fantomas Cinema

Over ten years ago, I started blogging. Not about movies, but about politics. I got linked to in more than one post at the burgeoning Huffington Post, a blog so new no one had yet thought to give it a nickname, and found my own posts getting not only increased readership but increased vitriol. It wasn’t what I wanted to spend my time doing, arguing with hostile, belligerent anons screaming at me for writing opinions that differed from their own. I decided movies and music would be much better, even though I had avoided doing so. Why? Because I was already known for movies and music and had jobs here and there writing them up. I wanted to delve into the world of political journalism but quickly found I didn’t have the stomach for it. More importantly, I realized the arts beckoned far too strongly.

Continue reading “Out with the Old… or Not.” →

keaton

There have been more than a few incidents in which the integrity of the profession of film criticism has been called into question. Of course, this is the kind of thing that, almost always, pleases anyone unlucky enough to be in that lowly profession, myself, of course, included. Being told one is a jealous, raging, comic book movie hating, bribe taking, all-around jackass is so hilariously off base that one cannot help but be flattered that anyone could think a film critic had that much power or personality as to attract that kind of temptation from those with the goods in the first place. Call me a drunkard or a terminal defeatist and you’re inching a lot closer to the truth. But back to the question addressed in the headline of this piece, or should I say, “to the question” since I have not yet addressed it, who do people think critics are anyway?

Continue reading “Who Do People Think Critics Are, Anyway?” →