Posts by giovanni tiso
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God I love the end of that Bordwell piece.
The review, professional or amateur, shouldn’t go extinct. But we also benefit from ambitious critical essays, pieces that illuminate movies through analysis and interpretation. Web critics could write less often, but longer. In an era of slow food, let’s try slow film blogging. It might encourage slow reading.
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Something to put in the 'be very afraid' basket: I have to have regular eyesight tests & check-ups- many many drivers out there have never had a proper eyesight test in their lives.
My mother got a driver's licence. By that stage, she had a neurological impairment that severely limited her field of vision on the right side, but she didn't know it - ie the brain "filled in" the right portion of each picture for her. Generally it did so without supplying any pedestrians who might be crossing from that side, however. Fortunately my father noticed this before she had a major accident.
Of course a simple eye test would have picked up on this.
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We really do need a social announcements thread...
Three cheers to Danielle and her family! -
According to I/S Hide has tried to go for Chauvel in the House -- and asked him -- he actually fucking said this -- "why do you hate children?".
Tell me that he replied "I don't hate all children - just Fred Phillips'".
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It was a good gig but sadly I had a whole bunch of reasons for going
As a (then) loyal reader, I found it appalling that when you, Russell and a bunch of others went, there wasn't a word about it in the magazine - not a thank you, not a "he left to spend more time with his family", not so much as an acknowledgment that the writer had gone for good. It had quite a sinister feel ("Philip has gone to a farm now, he's much happier there"), but perhaps it's how it's done in New Zealand.
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It's like a thread taken over by a PHIL 101 tutorial group out of control.
I assume this is a compliment.
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We miss you, is what I'm trying to say. :-)
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What does sophistication mean in this context? I take it as meaning a more developed ability to discern artistic quality, based largely on training and experience. Your implication is that some tastes are more sophisticated than others.
Yes, it is. I'll give you an example: the Listener used to employ a very able critic that in the little space allowed for describing the films that were scheduled on TV on any given week was able to tell you not only if he regarded them as good films, and why, but also give you a pretty good idea of whether they'd be to your own personal taste, by drawing wide-ranging comparisons to other films. That takes a whole lot of skill, and is very valuable.
When this chap moved on, the magazine contracted the column to two of its feature writers. They were able journalists in their own right, but nowhere near able to aspire to the title of film critics, alas. One of them once called Bernardo Bertolucci a French director. But beyond that, it was just painfully obvious that neither of them could offer the services of their predecessor. They lacked the breadth and depth of knowledge of cinema, as well as the ability to condense it in a dozen or more weekly mini-reviews.
That's obviously where I want a critic, and not a general punter. But that's not to imply that the critic sits atop something called the "objective artistic merit" of a film or work of art. That to me is entirely a social construct, modulated by the community of critics, the film industry and the public at large in complex ways. And let's face it, sometimes critics are the last to catch on to the value of an innovative work. The critical history of Bonnie and Clyde is a good illustration of that.
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That's what I'm saying!
Is it? Well, I can safely say I'm totally confused now.
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If you'll forgive me, there seems a relatively short route between "Well... who's to say what's 'right' and 'wrong' in this modern world?" and - sorry - fascism.
Except for the very small detail that Fascism is predicated exactly on forbidding whole categories of people to have a say on what's right and wrong.
ETA: or, what Rich said.