I don't trust Marcus, though; he has a tendency to be very prescriptive about Black artists' politics, whether overt or just as he perceives them. He famously went after Anita Baker in a very ugly manner in the 80s, and before that wrote a pretty uncouth review of Bob Marley's Exodus, which, to be fair, he apologized for on his Substack this week:
Now, I have to say that reading this is somewhat embarrassing, as re-reading so many old record reviews, mine and others', can be embarrassing. It's that the form itself is boring. Even if what's being said is somehow invigoratingly right, or rightly dissenting, it can die in its box. Obviously, I didn't know that "One Love" would go on to become a sort of anthem, or to stand in for everything the group ever did—but I should have caught on to that ambition in the song, what today we would call its attempt at self-branding, and then gone on to try to explore what was cheap and pandering in the song, in its embracing music even more than its I'll-tell-you-what-you-want-to-hear words. But I do have to mention that the review brought forth a phone call from Nik Cohn, the first music writer I admired unreservedly, who taught me so much, the only time we ever talked, with he telling me how uncomfortable the piece made him, with a white American writer telling a black Jamaican musician what to say and how. He didn't condemn me. He just wanted to say, think before you do that again.
But, you know, as they say in journalism, three is a trend. And his being right about Beyoncé ("Beyoncé is a brand that stands for absolutely nothing beyond its own greatness" has been true all the way back to Destiny's Child) is more coincidence than anything else.
― Tahuti Watches L&O:SVU Reruns Without His Ape (unperson), Friday, 8 December 2023 03:10 (four months ago) link
Made the mistake of reading tweets reacting to the AJB Renaissance review. Stan culture is the worst. Someone posted a screenshot of their request for Rotten Tomatoes to take down the review, good Lord.
― jaymc, Friday, 8 December 2023 14:19 (four months ago) link
What really boils my blood is when stans complain that a review isn't valid because the critic is bringing their personal opinion into it. Like ... yes???
― jaymc, Friday, 8 December 2023 14:21 (four months ago) link
The individuality buck stops there, evidently
― stephen miller is not your friend (Eric H.), Friday, 8 December 2023 15:07 (four months ago) link
Oh Paul pic.twitter.com/iBlRvd2Qsc— Conor (@sadfilmcritic) January 18, 2024
― adam t. (abanana), Saturday, 20 January 2024 21:30 (three months ago) link
I need a proofreader here; he needs a proofreader there.
― clemenza, Saturday, 20 January 2024 23:11 (three months ago) link
pic.twitter.com/lkLKuhKbRs— Cinema Scope (@CinemaScopeMag) January 24, 2024
As Peter Labuza pointed out on Twitter, there are now exactly zero North American magazines devoted to film as an art
― badpee pooper (Eric H.), Wednesday, 24 January 2024 23:03 (three months ago) link
(I suppose one could count Film Quarterly yet, but still)
― badpee pooper (Eric H.), Wednesday, 24 January 2024 23:05 (three months ago) link
(Ope, Cineaste is still around too)
― badpee pooper (Eric H.), Wednesday, 24 January 2024 23:08 (three months ago) link
I had two pieces in there early on. They seemed to become all about festivals and films no one had yet seen at some point, and I lost interest in them and they lost interest in me at exactly the same moment.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 24 January 2024 23:23 (three months ago) link
That’s unfortunate. In general the EIC seems a little insufferable but he did create a magazine as good as if. Or better than Film Comment imo
― badpee pooper (Eric H.), Thursday, 25 January 2024 01:02 (three months ago) link