Comments on: Top 10 (Well, 8) Film Critics Working Today

By: Michael H

Michael H — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:20:16 +0000

I know he has been mentioned already but I have to put a shout out for Mark Kermode. His championing of horror films (particularly The Exorcist and flim nasties such as the Evil Dead 1 and 2) in the face of censorship, prejudice and small minded stupidity has helped hugely in making it a genre which HAS to be taken seriously (when they deserve to be, he equally has no love for recent repackaging of Chainsaw, House of the Left etc). He does a regular podcast on the BBC which is usually insightful and very funny (his “reviews” of Terminator Salivation and Transformers Part Deux were brill). Al is pretty good too.

By: Brian Duignan

Brian Duignan — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 02:35:26 +0000

Roger Ebert, Owen Gleiberman, Jeffrey Overstreet

By: Peter Davies

Peter Davies — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:43:39 +0000

Hi Ricky, have you read the blog by the editor of Rogerebert.com Jim Emerson? While he doesn’t review films on a week-by-week basis, he does great analysis and discussion of cinema and sometimes politics as well.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/

By: Ricky

Ricky — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:42:34 +0000

I am trying. Still don’t have a place to stay. All the hotels are booked except this really expensive one. Let’s hope for the best.

By: Duncan

Duncan — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:52:25 +0000

Gotta get you to Toronto.

By: Ricky

Ricky — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:49:50 +0000

Also thank you for your pay pal donation again Duncan. You rock!

By: Ricky

Ricky — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:47:00 +0000

Kim Newman is great. Maybe I will stretch my list to ten. However I can’ agree with Ebert. Sure he is great in many ways and starting “At the Movies“ really helped shift the spotlight on critics. However throughout the years I have seen him change his opinion on a film over and over (the most famous being Brown Bunny) and I find he gets lazy at times. Have you ever read or heard a Roger Ebert review on a Peter Greenaway film? Rather than trying to understand a great movie like The Cook, the Thief… he just throws his hands in the air and says I don’t get it. Why not try to and pose a question instead or take some time to think about it rather than dismiss it completely. He also has the tendency to surprise you over and over. A great example would be his review on Alex Proyas’ film Knowing. He gave it four stars. Did you know that he is friends with Alex Proyas? Ebert is too much in the spotlight and sometimes I feel he is not being honest because he works so closely to many film makers. I think he is great in many ways but in the past decade he hasn’t impressed me much. There are times that he writes a great review like his review on Synecdoche New York but sometimes he is just lazy.

With that being said, I always quote him on the show but usually from his reviews from the past and not the present. He has changed.

By: Duncan

Duncan — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:48:12 +0000

I agree! From a UK perspective, Kim Newman is one of my favourite B-Movie writers. Mark Kermode is great, a very passionate critic. He got wonderfully upset with Transformers 2.

By: Wil

Wil — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:48:19 +0000

Peter Bradshaw, David Thomson, Mark Kermode & Kim Newman are my top critics.

By: repete

repete — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:54:17 +0000

It’s ironic Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times)didn’t make the list but the picture of him and Gene Siskel is at the beginning of the story.Ebert would make my top 3,and he is still working today.He and Siskel practically created the television movie review show.

By: Keith

Keith — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 05:21:48 +0000

The Michael Phillips link doesn't work. Try this instead

By: jilliancs

jilliancs — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 03:07:23 +0000

woot! RT @filmspotting A coup for Team Matty. And a spot higher than @scott_tobias no less! Good company. http://bit.ly/Zezk2

By: Ricky

Ricky — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 02:19:30 +0000

Indeed they are but this is my own personal list. These critics just happen to be the eight I tend to follow. I mean Pauline Kael is one of the greats too and there are plenty of talented women writers in this world but I had to be honest.

By: Hedwig

Hedwig — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:11:07 +0000

Nice list, but where are the women? Kim Morgan, Manohla Dargis, Karina Longworth… There are quite a few worthy candidates!

By: Ricky

Ricky — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:23:53 +0000

Holy Shit didn’t make my top 10. Sorry