Film criticism

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Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. In general, this can be divided into journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, and other popular, mass-media outlets and academic criticism by film scholars that is informed by film theory and published in journals.

Contents 1 Journalistic criticism 1.1 Reviews and film marketing 1.2 Online film reviews 2 Academic criticism 3 See also 4 References 5 External links 5.1 Hubs for film journalism

[edit] Journalistic criticism

Film critics working for newspapers, magazines, broadcast media, and online publications, mainly review new releases. The plot summary and description of a film that makes up the majority of any film review can have an important impact on whether people decide to see a film. Poor reviews will often doom a film to obscurity and financial loss.

[edit] Reviews and film marketing

The impact of reviews on a film's box office performance and DVD rentals/sales is a matter of debate. It is claimed movie marketing is so intense and well financed that reviewers cannot make an impact against it. It has also been claimed positive film reviews have been shown to spark interest in little-known films. Major box-office analysis websites like Box Office Prophets and Box Office Guru regularly factor in general film review opinions in their projections of a film's earnings.

Film reviewers who appear on television are given clips from the movie which they may use.

[edit] Online film reviews

Some websites, such as Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, seek to improve the usefulness of film reviews by compiling them and assigning a score to each in order to gauge the general reception a film receives. Other sites such as Spill.com review sites with ratings such as "rent it" or "matinée" to tell the viewer in what setting to watch the film rather than a numerical score. The Online Film Critics Society, an international professional association of Internet-based cinema reviewers, consists of writers from all over the world.

A number of websites allow internet users to submit movie reviews and scores to allow a broad consensus review of a movie. Some websites specialize in narrow aspects of film reviewing. For instance, there are sites that focus on specific content advisories for parents to judge a film's suitability for children (e.g. Screen it!). Others focus on a religious perspective (e.g. CAP Alert). Another Website is sarcasticmoviereviews.com which takes a sardonic, sarcastic look at mostly newly released films. Still others highlight more esoteric subjects such as the depiction of science in fiction films. One such example is Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics by Intuitor. One website, Everyone's a Critic, allows anyone to publish film reviews and comment on them.

Blogging has also introduced opportunities for a new wave of amateur film critics to have their opinions heard. These review blogs may focus on one genre, director or actor, or encompass a much wider variety of films. Friends, friends of friends, or complete strangers are able to visit these sites, and can often leave their own comments about the movie and/or the author's review. Although much less frequented than their professional counterparts, these sites can gather a following of like-minded people who look to specific bloggers for reviews as they have found that the critic consistently exhibits an outlook very similar to their own.

[edit] Academic criticism

It has been claimed that journalist film critics should only be known as film reviewers, and that true film critics are those who take an academic approach to films. This work is more often known as film theory or film studies. These film critics try to come to understand why film works, how it works, what it means, and what effects it has on people. Rather than write for mass-market publications their articles are published in scholarly journals that tend to be affiliated with university presses; or sometimes in up-market magazines.

[edit] See also

• Critic
• Film canon
• List of film critics
• List of film journals and magazines
• At the Movies, a TV series for reviews of movies, originally hosted by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert

[edit] References

Notes

Further reading

• Haberski, Raymond J. Jr. It's Only A Movie!: Film and Critics in American Culture, University Press of Kentucky, 2001.
• Rosenbaum, Jonathan. Movie Wars: How Hollywood and the Media Conspire to Limit What Films We Can See, A Cappella Books, 2000.

[edit] External links

• Rotten Tomatoes
• Metacritic
• The Online Film Critics Society
• New York Film Critics Circle
• Kansas City Film Critics Circle
• Los Angeles Film Critics Association
• National Board of Review
• Peter Bradshaw gives advice to young, aspiring, would-be film critics (The Guardian, 8 July 2008)
• Plugged In Online, a service of Focus on the Family

[edit] Hubs for film journalism

• Movies at The New York Times
• Movies at The Washington Post
• Film reviews at The Independent
• Film at The Times
• Film reviews at The Daily Telegraph
• Film at The Guardian

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