How to Write a Film Review

In an interview following his appointment as chief film critic for The Observer Mark outlines his approach:

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/aug/17/mark-kermode-film-critic-observer

I particularly like his description of the role of the critic:

For Kermode, a critic should first "accurately describe a film and then ascribe it to the right school of film, before mentioning its tangential connections to other films. Beyond that, your opinion is opinion and my feeling is that you should be honest about that. I don't think the reader has to agree with you and I don't think a critic is there to tell you what to see. They are there to contextualise, to describe, to be passionately honest and entertaining."

New Film Critic for The Observer

The soon to be legendary Mark Kermode is to take over as film critic for The Observer when the legendary Philip French retires:

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/aug/17/mark-kermode-film-critic-observer

Hooray!

Our New Season

I spent an enjoyable evening with the Film Club (aka Community Cinema) Committee selecting films for our new season.

Between us all we came up with a list that would enable us to schedule a screening every night (well until Doctor Who and Sherlock return there is nothing much to see on TV).  However we finally cam up with the following:

Song For Marion

Lincoln

 

 

 

Les Miserables

 



Hitchcock

Beautiful Lies

A Late Quartet

It looks like it's going to be a good Autumn...

The Persisting Vision: Reading the Language of Cinema

This is a brilliant article by Martin Scorsese:

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2013/aug/15/persisting-vision-reading-language-cinema/?pagination=false

I particularly enjoyed his comments about what makes cinema (not film - or the movies) special:

What was it about cinema? What was so special about it? I think I’ve discovered some of my own answers to that question a little bit at a time over the years.

First of all, there’s light.

And then, there’s movement…