A veteran critic turns rookie programmer for the 45th New York Film Festival
By Scott Foundas
From The Reeler

On Monday, July 30, as I arrived in New York for my first tour of duty on the New York Film Festival selection committee, I received an e-mail announcing the death of Ingmar Bergman -- one of two devastating blows that would be suffered by the world film community before the week was out (or even half-over). A fortnight -- and some 60 or 70 movies vying for a coveted NYFF slot -- later, I felt assured that, despite the doomsday tone of many Bergman and Antonioni obits, cinema itself was still very much alive and well, and that anyone claiming otherwise simply wasn't looking very hard.

Indeed, for two weeks in Manhattan, I did little else but watch movies, staggering the seven blocks from Lincoln Center back to my hotel most nights in a kind of euphoric daze, my thoughts abuzz with the movies and pieces of movies I had seen in the hours prior, my brain feeling as though it needed a rub down. Looking back on it now, I can say without hesitation that it was the tougher (if also the most rewarding) of the two jobs I have worked in the thick of a sweltering East Coast summer -- and if I tell you that the first was putting roofs on houses underneath the Florida sun over the three months between my freshman and sophomore years of college, that should help put things into perspective. There are, of course, people out there who believe that watching movies for a living fails to qualify as "real" work. To which I say: Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.

Read on...

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From an article in the August/September 2007 American Journalism Review by Jennifer Dorroh

Squeezed for profits, newspapers send their staff film critics packing. Is this sound cost-cutting or a missed opportunity?

"My grandma's in town, is there anything I can take her to see?"

"You have already ruined this movie for me!"

"I won't see any film unless you recommend it."

"I disagree with you about every movie. I know if you like it, I won't."

Like the newspaper readers quoted above, almost everyone who has an opinion about movies also has an opinion about movie critics. We're grateful they convinced us to give "Knocked Up" a chance (or not). We share their love of (or disdain for) the "Spiderman" franchise. We agree (or take issue) with every word they've ever written about Quentin Tarantino or Angelina Jolie.

We care about what they write. But do we care where they write? When we crave a movie fix, does it matter whether the film review we read comes from New York, Los Angeles, Chicago or down the street?

A growing number of newspapers are betting that we don't care. Under pressure to increase profits, trim expenses and sharpen their focus on local topics to compete better online, they are jettisoning or shrinking their homegrown movie criticism.

Click here to read the rest of the article at ajr.org

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