Film Criticism

[mfunk9786]

Let's target an ugly fat short person, then there are three bad things and it is better. Oh, knives. You can be such a tremendous arse

[knives]

Yes, that would be much better.

Yeah, that did not come out how I intended at all. I just meant she's a truly bizarre choice to be the example of a fat is gross argument.

[Perkins Cobb]

I'm confused -- this is the film criticism thread; why are we talking about Rex Reed?

[Brian C]

The funny thing about that Marie Claire article is the writer starts by referencing her editor. What editor? Certainly that piece couldn't have made it by an actual professional editor, right?

[zedz]

Rex Reed hits a new low by calling Melissa McCarthy ‘tractor-sized’.

What's the problem? There are plenty of old Soviet socialist realist films with tractors as the romantic leads.

[mfunk9786]

So I google "the crushinator" because that's all I could think of when I read the tractor line from Reed, and I shit you not, this was on the first page of image results:

[Jeff]

Variety has wisely tapped Scott Foundas as their lead critic.

[hearthesilence]

I thought Variety was on shaky ground? Has its fortunes rebounded?

[Matt]

Anybody want to be the new Film Editor for the Onion A.V. Club? Scott Tobias has stepped down.

[mfunk9786]

Scott Tobias is the best critic they have (had) over there, here's hoping he has a smooth landing elsewhere.

[matrixschmatrix]

Geez, between him and Phipps, they're losing a lot of the old guard. Tobias followed my comments on their board, for reasons I never fully understood, so I like him for reasons over and above his generally excellent criticism.

[dx23]

Roger Ebert, sadly, has cancer again.

[Perkins Cobb]

I thought Variety was on shaky ground? Has its fortunes rebounded?

It has a new publisher and a new business model (new website, no paywall, and no more Daily Variety). Time will tell.

[essrog]

Now Tasha Robinson is leaving the A.V. Club. Something is going on there. One departure is interesting, two could be a coincidence, but three in the last few months is a pattern. The film section over there is pretty much gutted right now. Only Nathan Rabin remains of the old guard.

[antnield]

Now Tasha Robinson is leaving the A.V. Club. Something is going on there. One departure is interesting, two could be a coincidence, but three in the last few months is a pattern. The film section over there is pretty much gutted right now. Only Nathan Rabin remains of the old guard.

Afraid not, he's just tweeted:

Hey everyone, after 16 years, I have decided to leave The A.V Club. Thanks for all the years of readership. I will miss you all tremendously

[hearthesilence]

Jesus, is it a really bad sign for print criticism in general if the A.V. Club can't hold on to its critics? I don't think they were losing money the way other print publications were.

[domino harvey]

And Genevieve Koski-- something's def up

[AlexHansen]

They’re joining former staffers Keith Phipps and Scott Tobias at another Chicago-based media company, for a film-specific project that will be announced soon.

[mfunk9786]

The entire personality of that place is going to change. Rather, whatever personality they had. I was always disappointed that they went from having a solid podcast, to having no podcast, to having tiny bits of a podcast, to not having one at all again. They really missed the boat on that - because for better (Tobias) or worse (Robinson), their critics all had distinctive voices and brought a lot to a discussion format like that.

[knives]

Robinson was one of their best even if I often disagreed with her. What makes her worse?

[Professor Wagstaff]

Now they need to take along Sean O'Neal so all of my favorites will be in one central location for me to enjoy them, while Todd VanDerWerff sits alone in the AV Club offices waiting for someone to ask for his opinions on Hemlock Grove.

[essrog]

The scuttlebutt in the comments section here is that film writers like Tobias were getting disenchanted with the site's increasing focus on TV, which makes sense because the TV Club has been getting bigger and bigger, and it wouldn't surprise me if it drove most of the traffic to the site. Tobias and friends might have felt like longer-form pieces related to film were not being given their due. As long as I'm engaging in wild speculation, I'm going to guess the "film-specific project" they're going to be working on has something to do with the Chicago Sun-Times and/or Rogerebert.com. I'll definitely follow them.

[Cold Bishop]

It also sounds like Noel Murray is out.

[Professor Wagstaff]

It also sounds like Noel Murray is out.

Wonder if that means Donna Bowman will be following along as well.

[knives]

Given that AVC is only a side job for her (I believe she primarily works as a teacher) it's probably a safe presumption.