Film criticism "blog-a-thon"

This blog has great links to a number of posts on film criticism going up this weekend. I won't waste time trying to describe all of them, you can see for yourself....this is all worth checking out.

For me, the journey towards film criticism (I write for LINK magazine in Greenville, SC) began with the discovery of a Pauline Kael collection in a used bookstore. At the time I hadn't seen most of the movies she was discussing, but I knew I wanted to write that way about something.

I certainly don't think I have much to add to what's been written about the pros and cons of Kael, but here are a few (very general) things I've learned.

Entertainment comes first - If I'm not engaged on a gut level as an audience member, nothing else matters. If I am engaged then a multitude of sins can be forgiven.

Finding good in the mediocre - Even in a film Kael disliked, an actor's performance or a bit of staging was often singled out. I also come to this from my own background; I've acted in about 25 plays and find that I enjoy watching great character actors do their stuff even in subpar material.

The director isn't everything - I loved Robert Altman's work, but no one should ever have to watch Dr. T and the Women again.

Just because we're told something is important doesn't make it good. The most recent example here is Stranger than Fiction.

Simple rules, not original or especially thought out. But they've served me well so far.....