village voice Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Cinematical Seven: Pieces of Advice for Critics to Come
Filed under: Cinematical Seven », Columns »
"I believe that children are our future
(Thank you)
Teach them well and let them lead the way..."
-Randy Watson (Eddie Murphy), Coming to America
It might be presumptuous for someone as young as I am to offer up words of wisdom to any fledgling film critics out there, but in an age where print critics are only dwindling in number and online reviewers are subjected to constantly shifting standards of the industry, the prospect of constructive advice is my effort to provide something that wasn't necessarily there when I started in the field. Just because anyone can start their own review site doesn't mean that they should, but hopefully, some of the following tips will help encourage those of you still determined to give this a go to hold yourself and your work to a higher standard.
What's in Harvey Weinstein's Recycling Bin?
Filed under: RumorMonger », The Weinstein Co. », Michael Moore », Miramax »
For everyone who's ever watched a bad movie and thought, "If this is what they produced, I wonder what they threw away?," the Village Voice has found an answer. In an amusing and fascinating article posted today, reporter Tony Ortega says he and a buddy accidentally stumbled across a recycling bin full of paper from Harvey Weinstein's office -- and not just from the office, but from Weinstein's own desk. Ortega proceeds to tell us all the juicy details he learned about the daily work of a movie mogul.So what is Harvey Weinstein throwing away? Lots of copies of screenplays, naturally, as well as daily sheets (prepared by an assistant, no doubt) listing phone calls he needs to make or return. As you might imagine, the roster of people seeking Weinstein's attention is staggering, with actors, agents, lawyers, producers, and reporters all vying for his time. Michael Moore called him on April 25 and Weinstein didn't return the call for over a month. I'd say being able to ignore Michael Moore for a full month is the very definition of power.
Strangely, Weinstein's e-mails are printed out for him to peruse. (Maybe he gets eye strain from looking at a computer monitor? Maybe he just likes wasting paper?) There were some pretty interesting tidbits in the copies he tossed, including lots of stuff about the Weinstein-produced Project Runway, if you're into that.
This Week on Cinematical: Village Voice Shakeup, Michael Apted Interview, and The Departed Junket
Filed under: Action », Animation », Comedy », Documentary », Drama », Foreign Language », Gay & Lesbian », Horror », Romance », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Site Announcements », Casting », Executive shifts », Celebrities and Controversy », Box Office », Scripts », Newsstand », Movie Marketing », Politics », Obits », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels », Games and Game Movies », Oscar Watch », Columns », Cinematical Indie »
Just in case you missed them the first time around, here's a round-up of what we've been talking about on Cinematical this week:
Interviews, Columns, and Hot Topics
- Ryan Stewart Interviews 49 Up's Michael Apted
- What Makes a Black Film Authentic?
- Kevin Costner as Neo?!? And Other Near Disasters
- Erik Davis Covers The Departed Junket
- Jim Carrey Ain't Got No Game
- Cinematical Seven: The "Retro-Movie" Videogames
- Jeff Anderson's 400 Screens, 400 Blows: Streep Smart
- Mark Beall's Geek Beat: Marvel Musings
- Should a Film's Subjects Have a Say in Its Rating?
- Does the World Really Need Mr. Woodcock?
- Scene Stealers: Tom Wilson
- Film Blog Group Hug: Enter Witty Post Title Here
- Major Shakeup at Village Voice Leaves Only J Hoberman Standing
More, much more, after the jump ...
Major Shakeup at Village Voice Leaves Only J Hoberman Standing
Filed under: Executive shifts », Newsstand », Politics »
The bees have been buzzing for a couple days now with word that the Village Voice, once one of the great bastions of print film criticism, is gutting its film staff. Critic Michael Atkinson was given the boot a couple days ago, and now film editor Dennis Lim has also been shown the door, leaving only J Hoberman (pictured, right) to hold down the film criticism fort at the Voice. Gawker wrote up Atkinson's firing earlier this week, with a scathing indictment of the shakedown going on at the Voice, noting that the old guard is being replaced with an awful lot of friends of Voice EIC David Blum. Anthony Kaufman is mourning, especially, the loss of Lim, who, as Kaufman notes, has been a champion for independent film over the years. The IFC Blog wrote up the Voice makeover as well, bemoaning the loss of one of the few reliable print outlets that bothered to cover indie film . And David Poland, natch, has a write-up on the sackings as well.
As interesting as the string of firings over at the Voice are to follow -- including the rather shocking canning of Robert Christgau, the Voice's venerable top music critic -- what's really going to be interesting is to see what happens there over the next few months. Will the old vanguard of Village Voice critics be replaced with more generic voices writing across publications? Will the Voice's coverage of independent film be silenced as a result of the turnover?
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