The Work of a Critic

"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends...Not everyone can become a great artist; but a great artist can come from anywhere." - Anton Ego [Brad Bird, Ratatouille]

The Purpose of This Blog

What is this blog about?  This blog is about giving personal film reviews.  I haven't yet, but may eventually get some flack for my less-than scholarly reviews of films or television.  And so I think it's important that I take a moment to discuss why I created this blog in the first place.

I read all these reviews from critics and can't connect with any of them.  Sometimes they are very accurate in their reviews, sometimes not so much.  But there is one thing that the critic lacks - humanity.

As I have begun to see, no film is flawless, yet by critics, they are treated as though the should be. But I wonder if the flaws of a film are part of why we can connect with them?  If we as humans, are flawed and imperfect, then even our artwork will be, in some capacity, flawed.

Critics look at movies from a critic's perspective, not from a human perspective, not as a weak, vulnerable, faulty, real person with feelings and emotions.  Films were made for people not critics.  So why do we rely so heavily on their opinions?  Because we have no human voice to listen to.  I'm not saying I expect this blog to become some huge thing that "speaks for the people," but you should know that the reviews on here come from someone who watches and appreciates films from a human perspective.  These are reviews from an ordinary person.