Which film critics do you trust (if any?)

Has no one ever linked to Cheshire's "Death of Film / Decay of Cinema" essay from '99?

http://www.nypress.com/print.cfm?content_id=243

“Film refers to the old, celluloid-based technology; movies refer to motion pictures as entertainment; and cinema refers to motion pictures as art.”

People sure read that Cheshire interview (and his linked reviews and essays) fast...

"TV, from which (big surprise) Gaghan emerged, is all about the unintended atomization of meaning: momentary effects, big, empty gestures and the glinting impression of substance where there actually is none. As TV continues to erode cinema aesthetics, I'm afraid we'll see lots more movies like Crash and Syriana, facile mini-series crammed into two hours and pumped up on steroids of self-regard."

Hahaha ok fair enough. Who is that Buffy the Vampire Slayer dude? He's another Joel Surnow. Or Joel Surnow is another him. Whatever. Tho I have to say, you must admit that Kiefer Sutherland has the most exciting life of any man who ever lived.

xpost has Keifer had plastic surgery? Every time I look at him now his lips seem blubbery.

momentary effects, big, empty gestures and the glinting impression of substance where there actually is none.

OH WAIT WHO DOES THAT SOUND LIKE

The idea that art and entertainment are two wholly separate entities and not two circles with a central overlap kind of freaks me out, but I guess it's akin to "TV Values" and "Liberal Media."

xpost oh the Sopranos is just ok. I tried to watch it because one of my best buds was all about it bout it and I just really kind of was a little bored off and on. Sometimes interesting but definitely overrated in my opinion--though of course if I wasn't expecting it to be greatest thing ever coming into it I might've been more receptive.

This and the comment about how acclaimed show viewing isn't necessary meaning for shit are the best things said in the current discussion.

Replace "TV" with "Film" and it's just as meaningless.

In any case, it's not as if I haven't seen my share of "cinema" as being defined by Cheshire here, but like Ally, the idea that "cinema" and "movies" don't have some major Venn diagram shit going on is absolutely mind-boggling to me. And you can't seriously insist that "television values" is not a coded way of saying "LOL @ teh stupid proles."

the best films>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>the best tv shows

to answer the thread question, J Hoberman is great

"No, you're supposed to say movies don't matter, that's what you're arguing."

phil (I don't remotely think you're a dummy), it's possible that the makers of (mainstream) (network) TV assume the 'proles' are dumber than they are, which results in the LCDness.

And if we don't make some kind of distinction between "cinema" and "movies," people will almost always assume you're talking about the Queen Latifah-The Rock spectrum rather than the Nicole Holofcener-Tsai ming-Liang one. (see every ILE film thread ever)

There's some question-begging going on here.

x-post EW was iffy on "Friends With Money" because of teh Aniston. Anyone seen it? Opinions?

OTM. most overrated show ever!

This is totally true (as is yr best movies greater than best tv equation), but with the caveat that I would say "these days at least" indicates an increase in quality of television (thanks to cable and its reduction of restrictions on the form) and not a decrease in the quality of movies over time.

Keep doin that strawman workout, gabb -- "genius" was never raised. I mights as well have said Haneke or Paul Weitz, anybody who's not a barrelscraper.

No one is addressing the specifics of inherent TV vs cinema aesthetics Cheshire is talking about, what a surprise.

Well, see phil, I utterly disagree with your point, given the ADHD butchery of Chicago.

What IS very interesting in the interview is his discussion of film criticism as a dying breed, and a highly unfortunate casualty of the internet age that is indeed.

I admit to having to struggle to continue reading after the laughable Eisenstein/Godard line, I mean that could've been written into a Linklater "comedy". Probably spoken by Ethan Hawke.