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In Reply to: Why'd you bother? What's the last American film, posted by tinear on August 25, 2005 at 23:12:19:
Does it matter to you? I've yet to hear a cogent film criticsm beyond a few negatives. He's not a film critic.I have been reading through some film critics who have some kind of credible background and recently have been reading Emanual Levy
"This might sound pretentious but, having lived in three different countries (Israel, France, and the U.S.), the only element that has provided stability and continuity in my life, not to speak of excitement, is my love for film, my determination from a very young age to devote my life to the appreciation of movies. After a quarter of a century of teaching and writing about film, I still feel as a student, trying to catch up with a medium that’s rapidly changing and continuously reinvents itself.
Film criticism has been a way of anchoring myself in the real world. Whether academic or popular, criticism has been a process of planting myself into American life, a process of transforming myself into an American citizen. It’s no coincidence that most of my books are about uniquely American symbols: John Wayne, the Oscar Award, Small-Town America.
I studied sociology of culture at Columbia, where I received a Ph.D., at a time when there was M.A. but no doctorate in film studies. I belong to a small group of film scholars who have juggled two careers: teaching and criticism. Over the years, I have taught film at Columbia University, the New School of Social Research, Wellesley College, Arizona State University, and UCLA.
As a critic, I had a prominent voice at Variety, the bible of showbiz, for which I wrote throughout the 1990s. I then assumed the position of chief film critic for Screen International, which I left to pursue more serious scholarship.
Reflecting the schizophrenic nature of the film medium itself, as an art form and mass medium of entertainment, I have written in different styles for different publications, ranging from the most popular to the most academic and esoteric.
My eight film books include: the definitive biography of the legendary Hollywood director, “George Cukor, Master of Elegance†(1994); “John Wayne: Prophet of the American Way Life†(1988, paperback 1998); “Small-Town America in Film: The Fall and Decline of Community†(1991).
“Cinema of Outsiders: The Rise of American Independent Film,†the first chronicle of the American Independent Cinema, was published by NYU Press in 1999, and quickly became a textbook in classes across the country. My tribute volume, “Citizen Sarris, American Film Critic,†a collection of essays by directors, scholars, and critics in honor of the distinguished Columbia professor and Village Voice critic, was published in 2001.
“All About Oscar: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards,†was published in a new, expanded version in 2003 to commemorate Oscar's 75th anniversary. “Painting With Light,†the first biography of the director Vincente Minnelli, will be published next year by St. Martin’s Press.
I am working on a new book, "Michael Moore and the New American Documentaries," that tries to account for the recent popularity of non-fiction films vis-a-vis the broader socio-political context.
I have contributed to the Los Angeles Times as well as other newspapers and magazines, and have appeared on ABC's Nightline, NPR, PBS, CNN, NBC, FOX TV, the Sundance Channel, and National Public Radio. Other related activities include participation in a number of documentaries and commentaries on several DVD editions, including Fellini’s “City of Women†and Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs.â€
Of the numerous panels I have moderated at various international festivals, I am particularly proud of those dealing with the New Hollywood, the American Independent Cinema, Women in Film, Globalization Vs. National Cinemas, Politics and American Film in the post-9/11 era.
I am a member of five film groups: the National Society of Film Critics, the Los Angeles Film Critics association (of which I was president for two years), the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and the International Federation of Film Critics (Fipresci).
I have served on 42 festival juries, including San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, Dallas, and Palm Springs. Most recently, I was a member on the grand juries of the Montreal, Taormina, Locarno, and Venice International Film Festivals, and on the Fipresci jury at Cannes at its golden anniversary, in 1997. In 2003, as a member of the Dramatic Jury at Sundance, I was honored to be in the company of Tilda Swinton, Steve Buscemi, Forest Whitaker, and David O. Russell.
In 2004, I had the honor of serving on the Hawaii International Film Festival with two actors I admire: Maggie Cheung ("In the Mood for Love") and Aussie David ("Lord of the Rings").
To experience the joy of introducing films to live, often young audiences, I have programmed film societies and festivals, among which I am particularly proud of the ASU Film Society, which showed a film every Friday throughout the 1990s. In 1999, I established and directed the Scottsdale Independent Film Festival, an operation that ran for three years, until I relocated to L.A.
Samuel Butler once observed that, “Every man’s work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself.†In that spirit, I hope that my criticism, though expressing a personal voice, will be relevant to those who love movies and want to know more about them."
I am hoping the film in the link will be as good as it looks. Though I don't see much American about it.
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Follow Ups
- Re: Why'd you bother? What's the last American film, - RGA 18:46:38 08/26/05 (0)
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