Click film titles for OFCS member reviews:
Funny People
Aliens in the Attic
The Collector
Adam
The Cove
Lorna's Silence
Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!
You, the Living
Thirst
Flame & Citron
Fragments
Ghosted
July 31, 2009
July 26, 2009
July 20, 2009
the OFCS welcomes new member Paul Brenner
The OFCS is delighted to announce that Paul Brenner has been granted membership in the organization. Brenner’s reviews appear at Filmcritic.com.
Brenner says:
The OFCS welcomes Brenner as a member.
Brenner says:
I have had a burning interest in cinema ever since I saw Jerry Lewis with a pith helmet and an elephant gun in Who's Minding the Store? From that point on, my youth was misspent on watching everything from Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood to Weekend. My first film review was for F. for Fake and one thing led to another and I ended up receiving a Master's degree in TV, Radio & Film from Northwestern University. Since that time, I have written for print publications such as The Motion Picture Guide, Magill's Survey of Foreign Language Cinema, and The Encyclopedia of Film. Online publications have included Mediascreen.com, AOL's Critics Choice, The All Movie Guide and Filmcritic.com. At one point, I even worked on the pre-production of an orangutan comedy in Hollywood USA. My critical hero is Manny Farber and my wish is to be as cool as Robert Mitchum and as sarcastic as Groucho Marx.
The OFCS welcomes Brenner as a member.
the OFCS welcomes new member Mike Bracken
The OFCS is delighted to announce that Mike Bracken has been granted membership in the organization. Bracken’s reviews appear at The Horror Geek.com.
Bracken says:
The OFCS welcomes Bracken as a member.
Bracken says:
I've been an online film critic for over a decade now. I'll watch and write about anything, but my area of expertise is horror cinema--from modern day slashers, Italian gore epics, zombie flicks, all the way back to the classics. I spent two seasons as The Horror Geek on Comedy Central's pop culture game show Beat the Geeks and I currently run Thehorrorgeek.com. When not covering films online, I review movies for The Big O and Dukes Show on WJFK FM.
The OFCS welcomes Bracken as a member.
the OFCS welcomes new member Amber Wilkinson
The OFCS is delighted to announce that Amber Wilkinson has been granted membership in the organization. Wilkinson’s reviews appear at Eye for Film.
Wilkinson introduces herself:
The OFCS welcomes Wilkinson as a member.
Wilkinson introduces herself:
I'm the co-founder and editorial director of Eye For Film. We're based in Scotland and aim to produce quality online journalism that covers more than movies in the mainstream. I'm a big film festival goer and watch a lot of independent and foreign language cinema. I also watch a lot of short films - I believe they are a breeding ground not only of new talent but of fresh ideas which often go on to have an impact in bigger budget features. I'm a huge fan of Spanish language cinema and I have a weakness for sweet popcorn.
The OFCS welcomes Wilkinson as a member.
July 17, 2009
the OFCS welcomes new member Anders Wotzke
The OFCS is delighted to announce that Anders Wotzke has been granted membership in the organization. Wotzke’s reviews appear at Cut Print Review.
Wotzke introduces himself:
The OFCS welcomes Wotzke as a member.
Wotzke introduces himself:
With so many of today’s films aimed at adolescent audiences, it has always nagged me that there are few legitimate critical voices that spoke from their perspective. The same can be said about Australian films, which often struggle to get the recognition they deserve, nationally and globally.
So as a 20 year old media student living in South Australia, and movie fanatic, I felt that this was a void I could help fill. At first, I began writing reviews for my University’s student magazine, On Dit. As I started to review more films than the magazine could feature, I ventured online and set up my own blog www.cutprintreview.com. It is here were I realized the brilliance of online criticism; my readership was no longer just my University, it now was the far reaches of the world. With my membership in the OFCS, I hope to further shed light on the Australian film industry and give film criticism a youthful voice (before I lose it!).
The OFCS welcomes Wotzke as a member.
July 15, 2009
the OFCS welcomes new member Adam Lippe
The OFCS is delighted to announce that Adam Lippe has been granted membership in the organization. Lippe’s reviews appear at Outlook, Out in America, and A Regrettable Moment of Sincerity.
Lippe explains:
The OFCS welcomes Lippe as a member.
Lippe explains:
I take the art of film criticism very seriously, and am sad to see not just the death of newspapers and film reviews being written by interns who don't know much about film, and they have no intention on eliminating that ignorance. I've been quite vocal for at least 10 years on how the internet has given the armchair critic the idea that their writing is just as valid as a professional, simply because it is available to the public and can't get around the fact that it is of very little importance that they liked or disliked a film, but why they felt that way. I take notes in the theater on paper that uses out-of-print Pauline Kael to prop it up, books I've been reading over and over since I was 15 years old. I loathe those who mistake snarkiness and critical buzzwords for a legit review, not analyzing the movie but their knee-jerk reaction to plot points without ever being specific, and not realizing that their job is not only to tell their readers whether or not a movie is seeing, but having unique observations to share, which can be discussed even if the reader disagrees with the critic. But at the same time, I don't take myself very seriously, and am quite aware of the elitist attitude inherent in being a critic, and what an insulated world we live in, so my reviews tend to be assertive but deadpan, while attempting to inform the public of what I've learned about how the studio and independent worlds work, such as how PR people often think of us as their employees, who they have to schmooze and manipulate into writing a positive article, treating us like a herd of cattle, and at the same time discrediting any effect we might have on the public's reaction to a film, box office or otherwise. Also, I clearly like run-on sentences.
I want people to see good movies, whether it is because of me or not, and to open up their minds so they can look at a film from a new perspective. I don't want them to feel condescended to, but rather have an open debate on a movie, and making the important distinction between argument and discussion. While my expertise helps me write about themes and ideas in a way that is occasionally accused as academic, I want nothing more than to have conversations about film with others willing to be open-minded and that there's no such thing as right or wrong in an opinion, only the way you express it.
If you find the above to be high-falutin' and pompous, that's fine. And you're probably right.
The OFCS welcomes Lippe as a member.
15 July 2009: the weekly roundup of film criticism news
• Cory Doctorow in The Guardian defends critics against implied charges of piracy: “Let's talk about hypothetical risks. If you go to a big preview screening in Leicester Square – a privilege given to the press, entertainment industry VIPs, and a fair number of punters who win radio phone-in prizes – you'll be asked to leave your mobile phone in a baggie behind a counter at the front of the cinema. The film industry says that this is a necessary precaution against the hypothetical losses that would result should someone use a mobile phone to 'camcord' (that is, record from the audience) a pre-release movie and leak it onto the internet. ... When pressed, spokespeople from the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) and the Film Distributors' Association (FDA) admitted they had never heard of a pirated movie ‘in the wild’ that originated with a mobile phone, nor, to the best of their knowledge, had anyone ever been ejected from a cinema for attempting this.”
• In a story about wine journalism, an unbylined article at The Times of Johannesburg insists that “[c]ertainly film criticism as a profession has gone the way of night-soil collectors.” Really? (Maybe -- see the next entry.)
• Andy Kaufman at IndieWire laments the impossibility of making a living as a film journalist these days: “I’m finally starting to feel the economic crunch—personally. Over the last year, I’ve written about the crashes of ThinkFilm and New Yorker Films, tracked the demise of VHS, the collapse of indie film financing and followed the obsolescence of movie critics. Now, I, too, am seeing my occupation slip away from me with every passing week. Major publications have admitted to me that they ‘ran out of money’; others don’t have the room or budget for feature stories anymore; and fair compensation has dropped to the insulting ‘blog rate’—$35 to $50 for what would have been $100 to $200 for an equivalent amount of work a couple years ago. This shit is real.”
• Jim Quilty at The Daily Star of Beirut offers his insider’s perspective on film-festival jury duty: “On the face of it, film criticism and jury work look the same. While other festival attendees are presumably off being festive somewhere, journalists and judges should (should) spend inordinate amounts of time sitting in dark rooms – sober and alone – watching moving pictures. The guts of hackwork is entirely different from jury duty. The main difference is social.”
• Michael Powell at The New York Times profiles Andrew Sarris, “A Survivor of Film Criticism’s Heroic Age”: “‘We were so gloriously contentious, everyone bitching at everyone,’ said Andrew Sarris, 81, nattily attired in gray slacks and a blue sport jacket, his hair slicked back. ‘We all said some stupid things, but film seemed to matter so much.’”
• In a story about wine journalism, an unbylined article at The Times of Johannesburg insists that “[c]ertainly film criticism as a profession has gone the way of night-soil collectors.” Really? (Maybe -- see the next entry.)
• Andy Kaufman at IndieWire laments the impossibility of making a living as a film journalist these days: “I’m finally starting to feel the economic crunch—personally. Over the last year, I’ve written about the crashes of ThinkFilm and New Yorker Films, tracked the demise of VHS, the collapse of indie film financing and followed the obsolescence of movie critics. Now, I, too, am seeing my occupation slip away from me with every passing week. Major publications have admitted to me that they ‘ran out of money’; others don’t have the room or budget for feature stories anymore; and fair compensation has dropped to the insulting ‘blog rate’—$35 to $50 for what would have been $100 to $200 for an equivalent amount of work a couple years ago. This shit is real.”
• Jim Quilty at The Daily Star of Beirut offers his insider’s perspective on film-festival jury duty: “On the face of it, film criticism and jury work look the same. While other festival attendees are presumably off being festive somewhere, journalists and judges should (should) spend inordinate amounts of time sitting in dark rooms – sober and alone – watching moving pictures. The guts of hackwork is entirely different from jury duty. The main difference is social.”
• Michael Powell at The New York Times profiles Andrew Sarris, “A Survivor of Film Criticism’s Heroic Age”: “‘We were so gloriously contentious, everyone bitching at everyone,’ said Andrew Sarris, 81, nattily attired in gray slacks and a blue sport jacket, his hair slicked back. ‘We all said some stupid things, but film seemed to matter so much.’”
the OFCS welcomes new member A.J. Hakari
The OFCS is proud to announce that A.J. Hakari has been granted membership in the organization. Hakari’s reviews appear at Passport Cinema, ReelTalk Movie Reviews, Classic Movie Guide, Review Express, and Terror Tube -- and formerly at DVD Clinic and Blogcritics.org, where his archived reviews can still be found.
Hakari describes himself as:
The OFCS welcomes Hakari as a member.
Hakari describes himself as:
an 11-year veteran of online film criticism who enjoys dabbling in all genres of film. Though my specialities are the areas of foreign and horror cinema, I enjoy the movies as a whole and bring a playful but informative approach in writing about them. Be they classics or new releases, the latest family romp or festival of fear, I pride myself on my honesty and knowledge of everything film has to offer. I look forward to bringing my style to the OFCS and serving it well in whatever ways I can!
The OFCS welcomes Hakari as a member.
July 10, 2009
July 08, 2009
8 July 2009: the weekly roundup of film criticism news
• Anne Midgete at The Washington Post ponders the difference between critics and “user” reviews.
• Stendhal at The Unpersons defends the art and craft of film criticism... even in the face of the box-office juggernaut of the critically reviled Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: “A reviewer’s job is inherently narcissistic (just like, dare I say, a blogger’s). A reviewer watches a film, then writes down her observations on that film, using the experiences (both film-based and otherwise) that she has accumulated over the years. Her job is not to agree with the audience, because the audience is not her.... What we need in criticism is not a reinforcement of our existing values, but a challenge against the tastes we have developed and a demand for a different perspective on looking at a film.... [A] critic’s job is to serve her audience — through providing alternative perspectives, analytical acumen, and as Anton Ego would say, “the defense of the new”...
• Keanu Reeves tells Contactmusic.com that he loves his critics: “I want to see what they write, for sure. You know it's going to be whatever it's going to be and you have to take a review as it is. I mean, whatever they write is whatever they write, and I'm not going to be able to change it. The review is part of why you want to entertain. You want to know what your audience thinks about the film and the performance. I'm interested in what people think, even if it's just one person.”
• Sean at Film Junk wonders about “the sudden wave of criticism coming from moviegoers who now automatically assume that all handheld camera work is a sign of bad filmmaking”...
• Stendhal at The Unpersons defends the art and craft of film criticism... even in the face of the box-office juggernaut of the critically reviled Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: “A reviewer’s job is inherently narcissistic (just like, dare I say, a blogger’s). A reviewer watches a film, then writes down her observations on that film, using the experiences (both film-based and otherwise) that she has accumulated over the years. Her job is not to agree with the audience, because the audience is not her.... What we need in criticism is not a reinforcement of our existing values, but a challenge against the tastes we have developed and a demand for a different perspective on looking at a film.... [A] critic’s job is to serve her audience — through providing alternative perspectives, analytical acumen, and as Anton Ego would say, “the defense of the new”...
• Keanu Reeves tells Contactmusic.com that he loves his critics: “I want to see what they write, for sure. You know it's going to be whatever it's going to be and you have to take a review as it is. I mean, whatever they write is whatever they write, and I'm not going to be able to change it. The review is part of why you want to entertain. You want to know what your audience thinks about the film and the performance. I'm interested in what people think, even if it's just one person.”
• Sean at Film Junk wonders about “the sudden wave of criticism coming from moviegoers who now automatically assume that all handheld camera work is a sign of bad filmmaking”...
July 06, 2009
OFCS member Phil Hall appears on NPR
OFCS member Phil Hall appeared on National Public Radio affiliate WNPR of Connecticut recently to discuss independent cinema, and to promote his new book, The History of Independent Cinema.The radio program is available online as a downloadable MP3 at the site of the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network.
The OFCS congratulates Hall on his appearance, and on the publication of his new book.
OFCS member Nell Minow featured in ‘The Washington Post’
OFCS member Nell Minow, whose reviews appear at the Beliefnet blog Movie Mom, was profiled in an extensive feature article at The Washington Post on Sunday, July 5. A sample:
The OFCS congratulates Minow on this prestigious coverage of her work.
Minow took on her Movie Mom persona when her children, Ben, now 25, and Rachel, 23, were small. She'd go to the video store, she says, and "see parents standing in front of the new releases shelf looking confused and helplessly asking people walking by, 'Is "The Nutty Professor" okay for a 6-year-old's birthday party?' I'd say, 'No, it's not.' "
Sensing a void, she created a rudimentary Web site of movie criticism for parents about 15 years ago, just as the Internet was becoming a phenomenon. Her blog eventually wound up on Yahoo!, where, after a year of unpaid postings, she received what she calls a "decent part-time salary."
Two years ago, Steve Waldman, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Beliefnet.com, a Web site devoted to faith and spiritual issues, wooed Minow to his site with the promise of a wider audience and the chance to write more general cultural criticism along with her reviews. Her Movie Mom page gets 150,000 to 200,000 visits a month, making Minow, "one of our most popular writers," Waldman says.
The OFCS congratulates Minow on this prestigious coverage of her work.
July 03, 2009
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