film criticism

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Nanjiani: I Sought Therapy After Crappy Film Reviews

'Eternals' star says it was 'very, very tough' to hear criticism of the 2021 Marvel movie

(Newser) - When Kumail Nanjiani shot 2021's Eternals, alongside big names like Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, and Barry Keoghan, he had a blast. "I had the best time doing that movie, and I realized this is how work should feel like," the 45-year-old Silicon Valley star said Tuesday on...

What Critics Are Saying About Martin Scorsese's Latest
DiCaprio Is the Star,
but She Is a 'Revelation'
movie review

DiCaprio Is the Star, but She Is a 'Revelation'

Martin Scorsese's latest is getting strong reviews, as is Lily Gladstone

(Newser) - One of the most highly anticipated movies in a while is out, and Killers of the Flower Moon was apparently worth the wait. Director Martin Scorsese reunites with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro to tell the story of the 1920s murders of members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma....

Bad-Art Stockholm Syndrome Is Making Critics Uncritical

Ben Yagoda at Slate says critics are going too easy on films, TV, books

(Newser) - You just can't get into the Ted Danson-starring The Good Place despite critics' raves. And that Emily Dickson biopic A Quiet Passion has a 92% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes but only a 48% rating from audiences. So what gives? "In my viewing and reading life, I’...

Guy Who Coined 'Manic Pixie Dream Girl' Wishes He Hadn't

Phrase to call out sexism has become sexist: Nathan Rabin

(Newser) - Nathan Rabin invented the phrase "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" in 2007 after seeing the film Elizabethtown, starring Kirsten Dunst. His goal was to point out a "fundamentally sexist" film trope centering around a male fantasy "of being saved from depression and ennui by a fantasy woman who...

Westboro to Protest at Ebert's Funeral

Group says 'fool' was gay 'enabler'

(Newser) - The Westboro Baptist Church has announced the latest target of its charming attentions: this morning's funeral of the "fool" Roger Ebert . In a press release, the group calls the critic a 'f-g enabler," saying he "sold his soul for some fame & fortune" and is...

Ebert Was Our 'Ideal Companion' at the Movies

Wife, fellow critics reflect on his legacy

(Newser) - Following Roger Ebert's passing, voices across the country are remembering his landmark contribution to film criticism—as well as his companionship.
  • At Variety , Justin Chang reflects on Ebert's "characteristic good nature and genuine delight in engaging with his readers—the very qualities that made him, for so
...

Roger Ebert's Cancer Is Back

Critic taking a 'leave of presence' from reviewing

(Newser) - Roger Ebert is announcing a "leave of presence" from his work as a critic as he suffers from "a new cancer," he writes at the Chicago Sun-Times . Radiation treatment prevents him from attending screenings as frequently as in the past, but his work will go on, he...

Love, Actually Is Sexist Junk, Actually
Love Actually Is
Sexist Junk, Actually
opinion

Love Actually Is Sexist Junk, Actually

Hugh Grant flick is ubiquitous but offensive: Mary Elizabeth Williams

(Newser) - Been channel-surfing this holiday season? Then you've had the chance to watch Love Actually, a Hugh Grant favorite that's stuffed with romantic plot lines and a rosy view of London life. But Mary Elizabeth Williams is making a plea at Salon : Don't watch it. It's a...

Lawless Less Than Flawless
 Lawless Less Than Flawless 
movie review

Lawless Less Than Flawless

Prohibition-era tale has great cast, tangled story

(Newser) - Critics are weighing in on one of the last big summer movies, Lawless, which interprets the true story of the Bondurant Brothers, who were bootleggers/gangsters in the Prohibition era. Reviews are mixed—65% approval at Rotten Tomatoes —but most critics seem to put it in the good-but-not-great category.
  • Writing
...

Shyamalan: I'm Speaking a 'Different Language'

M. Night gets the bad news about Airbender's reviews

(Newser) - M. Night Shyamalan doesn’t worry about the critics. In fact, he says he wasn’t even aware of the brutal reviews for The Last Airbender until he gave an interview to New York magazine yesterday. “I don’t know what to say to that stuff,” Shyamalan replied...

Oprah Books Ebert
 Oprah Books Ebert 
updated

Oprah Books Ebert

Film critic will use computer for interview on Tuesday's show

(Newser) - Roger Ebert can no longer speak , but he's been booked on the Oprah Winfrey Show. The legendary film critic, who lost his lower jaw during cancer treatment, communicates with computer assistance. He's been in the news thanks to an Esquire profile and his good-natured reaction , and the queen of all...

Roger Ebert: I'm Not Dying

And he's fine with the jarring photo in 'Esquire'

(Newser) - Like others who read the profile of Roger Ebert in Esquire, Ebert himself got a "jolt" when he saw the full-page photo of face, now altered by cancer surgeries. But he has no regrets about it. "Not a lovely sight," he writes in the Chicago Sun-Times . "...

Roger Ebert Regains His Voice Online
 Roger Ebert 
 Regains His 
 Voice Online 
PROFILE

Roger Ebert Regains His Voice Online

Massive online journal is 'saving' ailing film critic as he faces death

(Newser) - Roger Ebert once “lived his life through microphones,” writes Chris Jones. But since his voice and the ability to eat or drink were taken from him in a 2006 surgery for thyroid cancer, he has returned to his best gift—the written word. “His new life is...

Up in the Air Will Edge Hurt Locker
 Up in the Air Will 
 Edge Hurt Locker 
oscar predictions

Up in the Air Will Edge Hurt Locker

But Kathryn Bigelow will win best director for 'Locker'

(Newser) - Jay A. Fernandez has crunched the votes from more than 20 critics' groups but finds that predicting this year's Oscar winner for best picture remains a "head-scratcher." The Hurt Locker has gotten the most votes for its tense tale of an elite group of soldiers who disarm bombs,...

A Look Back at Movies of the '00s
 A Look Back at 
 Movies of the '00s 
AO SCOTT

A Look Back at Movies of the '00s

Which films will be remembered, and which ones deserve it?

(Newser) - The shifting sands of entertainment technology make a look at the past decade's movies a tricky proposition simply because standing the test of time means something different almost daily. "The possibility of a digital, on-demand afterlife guarantees at least a theoretically universal long-tail immortality to blockbusters and curiosities alike,...

For What It Is, Whip It Works
 For What It Is, Whip It Works 
MOVIE REVIEW

For What It Is, Whip It Works

Barrymore is a revelation—as a director

(Newser) - Drew Barrymore's Whip It isn't a revelation, but fans of the aspirational sports comedy/drama probably won't do better this season, critics forecast:
  • The film is "hard to mock and easy to like." Though it won't "change the way you think about movies, roller derby or the relations
...

The Human Condition Is 9.5 Hours, in Japanese...
The Human Condition Is
9.5 Hours, in Japanese...
DVD REVIEW

The Human Condition Is 9.5 Hours, in Japanese...

...and 'the greatest film ever made'

(Newser) - The Criterion Collection re-release of Masaki Kobayashi’s The Human Condition does high-definition justice to the WWII film critic David Shipman has called “unequivocally the greatest film ever made,” according to Very Short List. The movie follows a good—and handsome—man through the “innumerable trials in...

Grown-Ups Return to At the Movies
 Grown-Ups Return 
 to At the Movies 
TV REVIEW

Grown-Ups Return to At the Movies

(Newser) - ABC execs seem to be trying their hardest to atone for the “two Bens” period of At the Movies, replacing Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz with two of print criticism’s best—AO Scott of the New York Times and and Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune. The result...

Times, Tribune Critics Next-Gen Siskel & Ebert

Dueling critics Scott, Phillips mark return to old At the Movies format

(Newser) - At the Movies, the longtime home of Chicago critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, is getting a new pair of dueling cineastes. AO Scott of the New York Times and Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune will take over the syndicated program, which returns to the air next month. The...

Ebert on Siskel: 'He Is in My Mind Almost Every Day'
Ebert on Siskel: 'He Is in My Mind Almost Every Day'
IN MEMORIAM

Ebert on Siskel: 'He Is in My Mind Almost Every Day'

(Newser) - Ten years after the death of his sparring partner, Roger Ebert pays tribute to Gene Siskel in the Chicago Sun-Times. "He is in my mind almost every day," writes Ebert. Yes, they had a sometimes volatile relationship, but the friendship endured. “No one else could possibly understand...

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