GeraldPeary Tagged Articles at Cinematical

(Full disclosure: current Cinematical Managing Editor Scott Weinberg and Cinematical co-founder Karina Longworth, now editor of Spout.com, make brief appearances in this film.)

Some documentaries demand to be seen on the big screen; others are best discovered while channel surfing. Gerald Peary's For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism falls into the latter category.

On the film's official site, Peary declares his doc to be "an unapologetic defense of a profession under siege." It's filled with talking head interviews with critics whose bylines are more familiar than their faces: A.O. Scott, J. Hoberman, Lisa Schwarzbaum, Owen Gleiberman, Kenneth Turan, and many others. It's a treat to see the best-known film critic on the planet, Roger Ebert, give a never-before-seen interview. The sound bites are distinctive, the insider's perspective is refreshing, the historical overview is welcome, and the overall impression is positive.

Here's the sticking point: For the Love of Movies features an academic approach to the subject. Unless you have a great interest in film criticism, it feels like you're watching a term paper. Peary is both a long-time film studies professor at Suffolk University and a film critic for The Boston Phoenix, an alternative weekly, and is obviously not the first film critic to direct a movie.

Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut were critics before they made movies; so were fellow French New Wave directors Claude Chabrol, Eric Rohmer, and Jacques Rivette. The difference is that they were younger men in rebellion; Peary is an older man more interested in defending his longtime colleagues from charges that film criticism is no longer relevant or needed.

Glorious sunshine greeted festival attendees on Monday. The warmer weather pushed more people out onto the streets. Skirts rose along with the temperature, though blue jeans and t-shirts remained the predominant clothing of choice.

Deals. Oscilloscope Laboratories announced that it has acquired North American distribution rights to Gabriel Mendina's The Paranoids, which had its US Premiere at the festival yesterday. The Paranoids is described as an "offbeat comedy" about an aspiring writer in Buenos Aires, Argentina, who learns that a childhood friend has produced a very successful TV show in Spain based on the writer's life. Personal chaos ensues. Oscilloscope plans a theatrical release later this year.

Secret (and Not So Secret) Screenings. A large crowd woke up early to see a "super special screening" of Richard Linklater's period romance Me and Orson Welles, starring Zac Efron and Claire Danes. In the evening, another special treat awaited folks who squeezed into the Alamo Ritz: a 16mm print of a film that dare not speak its name (due to legal reasons). Hint: running time was listed as 43 minutes. No wagering, please.

Simultaneously, Jody Hill's Observe and Report, starring Seth Rogen, enjoyed its world premiere at the Paramount Theater. Early word via Tweeter has been very strong. Gerald Peary's doc For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism, also debuted. It is, perhaps, too prosaic for a general audience, but it's essential viewing for anyone who wants to be a film critic (and for working film critics, too, for that matter). Bonus: our own Scott Weinberg makes an appearance!

Cinematical Coverage. Eric D. Snider, who never laughs at anything, laughed himself silly at the 20 minutes of footage shown from Sacha Baron Cohen's upcoming Bruno.

After the jump: more links to our coverage, plus some notable coverage on other sites.