Quote of the Week

There’s a place for digging into The Grapes of Wrath during a catastrophe like the Dust Bowl. Of course. But there’s also a place for Swing Time, and Swing Time may be even more important because it gives hope, it allows them to forget – and during that space of forgetting, they remember themselves and better times, and it gives them strength to go on.

It’s funny how people who claim to be Experts in film don’t get this, don’t understand the history, and … even more importantly … don’t seem to understand PEOPLE. How can you not understand human beings and consider yourself qualified to write about a popular artform like the movies?
--Sheila O'Malley, "Watch What You Want. Find Comfort Where You Can," The Sheila Variations, April 1, 2020.

Trailer of the Week: Fight Club

Remember the good old days of the late 1990s when it was considered perfectly acceptable for film critics to like movies that encouraged you to root for poor white losers who turned to violence to solve their problems? Of course, few critics back then bothered to point how different this movie would be if Tyler Durden were black or Hispanic. So apparently racism did not exist back then...

R.I.P. Richard Schickel

American film critic and journalist Richard Schickel -- best known for the many movie reviews he wrote for Time Magazine from 1965 to 2010 -- did his final editing on February 18, 2017, at age 84.

He will be missed.

R.I.P. Nat Hentoff

American writer, historian and music critic Nat Hentoff -- best known for his columns for The Village Voice and for such books as Free Speech for Me — But Not for Thee: How the American Left and Right Relentlessly Censor Each Other -- closed his word processor for the last time on January 7, 2017, at age 91.

He will be missed.

Book of the Week

Hey, it's a book of film essays written by an actual Latina. And yet she refers to her Peruvian ancestry only once. Almost as if she were a regular film critic. Or a film philosopher.

A Latina film philosopher... What a concept!

Seriously, I found this book quite interesting. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Chocano's work in the future.

Edited to Add:

If there's one major problem with this book, it's the way Ms. Chocano's writing makes me want to think twice about my review of Lars and the Real Girl. And that's hardly a bad problem to have.

R.I.P. Harlan Ellison

American writer Harlan Ellison -- best known for such short stories as "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" and "I Have No Mouth Yet I Must Scream" as well as for his "Glass Teat" columns and his Dangerous Visions anthologies, not to mention his achievements in other fields of writing -- put the cover on his typewriter for the final time on June 28, 2018, at age 84.

He will be missed.

R.I.P. Stephen Cozzi

Jill Cozzi of the Brilliant at Breakfast site has always been one of my favorite bloggers on the Internet as well as one of my favorite critics on the old Cinemarati site so I was more than a bit saddened to learn a few years ago that her husband Stephen had passed away and that she was now a widow.

I was a bit embarrassed to comment on it when I first heard about it since so much time had passed since the last time I visited her site. But as time went on, it seemed far better for me to try to say something than to say nothing at all.

Besides, Jill has always treated me in a civil manner even when I didn't deserve it and I still remember the kind words she wrote to me on the Cinemarati site after my father died. I can't pretend I know what it is like to lose a spouse but I do like to think I know something about grief.

In any event, I wish the best for Jill Cozzi.

And, of course, I'd like to think that her late husband has been -- and will be -- missed.

P.S. Upon re-reading the last post on her site, I suddenly remembered that Ms. Cozzi also lost her parents a few year back. I'm sorry for this loss as well -- and for not remembering it earlier.

Then again, when it comes to grief, it's better to risk saying the wrong thing than to say nothing at all.

R.I.P. Richard Corliss

American film critic Richard Corliss -- best known for the reviews he wrote for Time magazine -- watched his last movie on April 23 at age 71.

He will be missed.

Quote of the Week

Criticism comes easier than craftsmanship.
--Zeuxis

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, La Filósofa de Felícula!

AKA MaryAnn Johanson or the Flick Chick or the Flick Filosopher.

Born August 19, 1969.

She, of course, is one of my favorite web-critics and the one person who got me inspired to start blogging in the first place. I hope she considers that last part to be a compliment. She does not post reviews as often as I would like but then that is not exactly her fault.

R.I.P. Lucius Shepard

American science fiction author and film critic Lucius Shepard -- best known for his novel Green Eyes and his many short stories about Central America as well as the movie reviews he wrote for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction -- finished his last story on March 18 of this year at age 70.

He will be missed.

Literary Quote I Like

It must be the business of the critic to soar that he shall see the sun, even tho' its orb be far below the horizon.
--Bernhardt J. Hurwood, My Savage Muse: The Story of My Life: Edgar Allan Poe

TV Quote of the Week

Every year you prepare a terrible meal and every year I criticize it. Do our traditions mean nothing to you?
--Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory, "The Thanksgiving Decoupling"

R.I.P. Stanley Kauffmann

American film critic Stanley Kauffmann, most famous for his work for The New Republic, finished his last review on October 9 at age 97.

He will be missed.

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, La Filósofa de Felícula!

AKA MaryAnn Johanson or the Flick Chick or the Flick Filosopher.

Born August 19, 1969.

She, of course, is one of my favorite web-critics and the one person who got me inspired to start blogging in the first place. I hope she considers that last part to be a compliment.

R.I.P. Roger Ebert

American film critic Roger Ebert, former co-host of the TV series Sneak Previews (aka At the Movies), left the theatre for good yesterday at age 70. Here's hoping that wherever he ends up next, Gene Siskel is already saving him the aisle seat -- and plenty of popcorn.

He will be missed.

R.I.P. Judith Crist

American film critic Judith Crist, the first woman to get a position as a full-time critic at a major U.S. newspaper, finished her last review yesterday at age 90.

She will be missed.

Movie Song of the Week: “It's a Bore”

Anyone else get the feeling that Gaston would have made a great film critic -- and an even better Oscar judge?

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, La Filósofa de Felícula!

It's MaryAnn Johanson's birthday today. I hope the coming year is better for her than the last one.

Trailer of the Week: Theatre of Blood (1973)

And you think today's critics have problems...