Movie Natters: April 24, 2007 Archive

Critical thinking

Posted at 3:31 PM on April 24, 2007 by Euan Kerr (2 Comments)

I was pondering recently on what makes for good film criticism and was pleased top come across Boston Globe critic Ty Burr's response to an article by academic and critic Ronald Bergan on what a film critic must know.

Both pieces make interesting reading, with Bergan basically arguing for critics needing a film degree, and Burr, while agreeing background knowledge is important, points to the importance of cultural context, but sees the ability to write well as being of ultimate value.

Underlying all this is the realization and allied concern, at least from Bergan's point of view, that technology in the form of the home computer, the TV and the DVD, have given just about anyone the opportunity to be a film critic. When combined with the deluge of product from Hollywood and the independent film makers, and all the stuff pumped out by the TV folk there's a lot of people both with opinions and looking for more information about films.

Sadly if you take a look at many film bulletin boards, and in particular the postings on the IMDB, you find a lot of heat and very little light to power the critical projector.

The comments after the Bergan article are kind of fun though.

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