The American Spectator

AmSpecBlog

The Vulnerability of the Film Critic

By Hunter Baker on 8.16.06 @ 10:45AM

I have a good friend who is a reporter for a big station in a big market. He wrote me a few days ago complaining about the explosion of blogs and net sources who reduce his work to just one small voice among the multitudes. As a frequent net writer, I had to tell him my sympathies were in favor in the democratization of discourse.

But you know who is really threatened by blog work? Film critics, that's who. Think about it. Bloggers have a tough time competing with news outlets when it comes to actual reportage, but they have no similar trouble with film review. It's a skill, not a matter of resources. If you have the ability to review film intelligently, you can compete head-on with Mr. Ebert or Entertainment Weekly.