"The first impulse of any good film critic, and to this I think you would agree, must be of love. To be moved enough to want to share their affection for a particular work or to relate their experience so that others may be curious. This is why criticism, teaching, and curating or programming, in an ideal sense, must all go hand in hand."
"The Letter I would Love To Read To You In Person" by Alexis Tioseco [to Nika Bohinc], July 15, 2008, pt 1, pt 2, pt 3
Today, Film Studies For Free is very merrily celebrating its first birthday. It is marking this auspicious date -- in style and on style -- by posting one of its longest links lists yet: to online and openly accessible articles and essays on the subject of film criticism (scholarly and otherwise) that FSFF's author has found important and/or stimulating over the last years.
FSFF would like its list to be even longer, though, so do please take note of the four headings below (on film style: on film criticism; on film critics; and important, self-reflexive, examples of film criticism online) and do let the blog know of links to other relevant work (especially to good examples of online film criticism), preferably in the comments section, please.
This post was inspired, in great part, some weeks back by the peerless Girish Shambu who launched a characteristically thoughtful and important discussion, in a blog entry entitled "Building A Large Conversation", about the divide that exists between the fields of film scholarship and film criticism. Girish wrote:
Except for a small number of invaluable critic-scholars who work to bridge the gap, the two groups similarly shy away from citing each other. Why is this so? For critics, it would require the significant effort of familiarizing themselves with scholarly literature past and present, an effort made more difficult by the presence of a specialized scholarly vocabulary. For scholars, whose jobs already require them to do vast amounts of reading, this would mean widening their field of vision to include writing in film magazines, the Internet (including blogs), and newspapers. Added to this are the demands in both professions of watching scores of films on a steady basis.
Like Girish, the many important commenters to his blog post, and other thoughtful respondents to it, such as HarryTuttle, FSFF readily acknowledges the difficulties in bridging these gaps.
In his response to Girish's post, film scholar and blogger Chris Cagle wrote eloquently and concisely about those difficulties, but in an optimistic frame, he noted that what might be needed is
a model that's different than pure specialization or pure dilettantism. For lack of a better name, I'd call it randomization. Each scholar specializes but looks to new ideas, methodologies, and inspiration in a limited fashion with the hope that collectively we mitigate the downside of stale intellectual mindsets. The journalist, blogger, or public intellectual could have a role in this.
Film Studies For Free owes its very existence to the desire to help to 'join up' scholars and critics in the global online arena. And it very much seconds Cagle's assertions about what is required to achieve this. Today, then, it reaffirms its own mission by helping to encourage a richer and more connected 'scholar-critic conversation' through the below list of 'randomly collected' but also 'specialized' links.
On a final note, FSFF has received lots of encouragement in its first year of existence, but none warmer, more timely or more generous than that given in its early days by Girish, whose own website continues to be a huge inspiration in all sorts of ways. Thanks a million to him, and to all of you who have welcomed and supported this blog. Onwards!
On film style:
- David Bordwell [interviewed by Jakob Isak Nielsen], 'Bordwell on Bordwell: Part I – Hitchcock, Hartley and the Poetics of Cinema' 16:9, Volume 2, Number 7, June 2004
- David Bordwell [interviewed by Jakob Isak Nielsen], 'Bordwell on Bordwell: Part II - Functions of Film Style', 16: 9, Volume 2, number 8, September 2004
- David Bordwell [interviewed by Jakob Isak Nielsen], 'Bordwell on Bordwell: Part III - Writing On Film Style', 16: 9, Volume 2, number 9, November 2004
- Edward Colless, 'The Possessed', Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture, vol. 5 no 2 (1990)
- Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture, vol. 5 no 2 (1990): 'Film: Matters of Style' Issue, edited by Adrian Martin
- Jeffrey Crouse, ' Cinema's Recounting of the Ordinary [Review of Andrew Klevan, Disclosure of the Everyday: Undramatic Achievement in Narrative Film, Trowbridge, Wiltshire: Flicks Books, 2000]', CineAction, Fall, 2001
- Barrett Hodsdon, 'The mystique of mise en scene revisited', Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture, vol. 5 no 2 (1990)
- Kent Jones, 'Can Movies Think?', Rouge, 2008
- Andrew Klevan, 'A Reply to Adrian Martin['s review of Film Performance: From Achievement to Appreciation (London: Wallflower Press, 2006)', Fipresci, Issue 4, 2008
- Adrian Martin, 'Review of John Gibbs & Douglas Pye (eds). Style and meaning: studies in the detailed analysis of film. Manchester University Press, 2005', Screening the Past, July 2005
- Adrian Martin, 'Secret Agents [ A review of Andrew Klevan, Film Performance: From Achievement to Appreciation (London: Wallflower Press, 2006)', Fipresci, Issue 4, 2007
- Adrian Martin, 'S.O.S.', Continuum, The Australian Journal of Media & Culture, vol. 5, no 2 , 1990
- William D. Routt, 'L'Evidence', Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture, vol. 5 no 2 (1990)
- Robin Wood, 'Only (Dis)Connect; and Never Relaxez-Vous; or, "I Can’t Sleep"', Film International, Issue 11
On film criticism:
- Richard Armstrong, 'Notes on a Scandal: On Film Criticism and Its Teachers', Bright Lights Film Journal, Issue 57, August 2007
- Mark Asch, 'What I Took From ‘Film Criticism in Crisis?’ ', The L Magazine, September 29, 2008
- David Bordwell, 'Film Interpretation Revisited', Vol. 27, No. 3, Winter-Spring 1993
- David Bordwell, 'Against Insight', Cinema Scope, Issue 26
- David Bordwell, 'In critical condition', Observations on film art and Film Art, May 14, 2008
- David Bordwell, 'Studying Cinema', Observations on film art and Film Art, 2000
- Nicole Brenez, 'The ultimate journey: remarks on contemporary theory', Screening the Past, December 1997
- Chris Cagle, 'Taste and Scholarship', Category D: A Film and Media Studies blog, July 23, 2009
- Lorena Cancela, 'Import or Confront?', Fipresci, Issue 2, 2006
- Stanley Cavell interviewed by Harry Kreisler, 'Philosophy and film criticism', Conversations with History: Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley, 2002
- 'Crisis Averted: Film Comment Reports on “Film Criticism in Crisis?”', FilmLinc Blog, September 30, 2008
- Dublin2009, 'From Robin Wood to Robin Askwith', Explorations in British Film, July 2, 2009'
- Matthew Clayfield, 'Missionaries and Sceptics', Esoteric Rabbit Blog, December 16th, 2005
- Matthew Clayfield, 'Reading, Closely', Esoteric Rabbit Blog, November 18th, 2005
- Jim Emerson, 'Film Criticism Blogathon!', Scanners, December 1, 2006
- Jim Emerson, '"Oh yeah? Well, I criticize you back!"', Scanners, June 29, 2009
- 'Film Criticism in Crisis?: A New York Film Festival panel discussion [Contributions from Jonathan Rosenbaum, Emmanuel Burdeau, Cahiers du cinéma Editor, Kent Jones, Film Comment Editor-at-Large, David Hudson, GreenCine Daily Editor, Jessica Winter, O magazine film critic, Pascual Espiritu (aka Acquarello) of Strictly Film School, Seung-hoon Jeong, former critic for Korean film weekly Cine 21, and hosted by Gavin Smith]', Film Comment, September 27, 2008
- 'Film Criticism in the Age of the Internet: A Critical Symposium [contributions from Zach Campbell, Robert Cashill, Mike D’Angelo, Steve Erickson, Andrew Grant, J. Hoberman, Kent Jones, Glenn Kenny, Robert Koehler, Kevin B. Lee, Karina Longworth, Adrian Martin, Adam Nayman, Theodoros Panayides, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Dan Sallitt, Richard Schickel, The Self-Styled Siren, Girish Shambu, Michael Sicinski, Amy Taubin, Andrew Tracy, and Stephanie Zacharek]', Cineaste, Vol. 33 No.4 (Fall 2008)
- Tag Gallagher, 'Truly Doing Movie Criticism', Kunst-der Vermittlung, May 2009
- Girish Shambu [and commenters], ' Building A Large Conversation', girish, July 13, 2009
- Girish Shambu, 'A Cinema Haunted By Writing', girish, May 3, 2009
- Matthew Holtmeier, 'Solanas and Getino's Problem with Film Criticism', Cinema without Organs, August 13, 2009
- 'How Film Critics Work [Contributions from Julie Rigg, Adrian Martin, Klaus Eder, Richard Kulpers, and chaired by Roslyn Petelin]', A forum, presented by the Australian Film, Television and Radio School as part of the Brisbane International Film Festival 2005, Fipresci, Issue 1, 2006
- Nick James, 'Who needs critics?', Sight and Sound, October 2008
- Noel King, 'Critical alibis and thin description', Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture, vol. 6 no 2 (1991)
- Noel King, 'Critical occasions: David Bordwell's Making Meaning and the institution of film criticism', Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture, vol. 6 no 1 (1992)
- Andrew Klevan, 'A Reply to Adrian Martin['s review of Film Performance: From Achievement to Appreciation (London: Wallflower Press, 2006)', Fipresci, Issue 4, 2008
- Joseph "Jon" Lanthier, 'Window to the (Critic's) Soul: Film Criticism 101: Why You Should Recycle the Promo Packet', Bright Lights After Dark, May 06, 2009
- Scott Macaulay, 'How to (maybe?) make a lving as a film journalist', Filmmaker Magazine blog, July 12, 2009
- Adrian Martin, 'Scanning Godard', Screening the Past, June 2000
- Adrian Martin, 'The State of Film Criticism', La lectora provisoria, October 9, 2007
- Adrian Martin and Cinemascope – Independent Film Journal, 'Responsibility and Criticism', Cinemascope, Issue 7, January-April 2007
- Maya, 'A Critical Moment: Three Perspectives [B. Ruby Rich, David D'Arcy, John Anderson]', based on a panel moderated by SF360 editor Susan Gerhard. Panel participants included Gerald Peary, B. Ruby Rich, David D'Arcy, Dennis Harvey, John Anderson, Jonathan Curiel, and Mary Pols, The Auteurs Notebook, August 25, 2009
- Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, 'The Rise and Fall of Film Criticism', Film Quarterly, Vol. 62, No. 1, Fall 2008
- Tom O'Regan, 'Writing an Australian film history: some methodological notes', Continuum, 1996
- William D.Routt, 'Textual criticism in the study of film', Screening the Past, 3 July, 1997
- William D. Routt, 'L'Evidence', Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture, vol. 5 no 2 (1990)
- Girish Shambu, 'On Film Criticism', girish, February 12, 2007
- Andrew Schenker, 'On the interview in film criticism', The Cine File, August 24, 2009
- Sam Thorne, 'Back & Forward [on the changing role of cultural theory ]', Frieze Magazine, Issue 125, September 2009
- HarryTuttle, 'Bordwell on cliché in criticism', Screenville, July 17, 2009
- HarryTuttle, 'Nomad Cinephilia (Adrian Martin) [on Martin's 'The State of Film Criticism]', Screenville, October 17, 2008
- Chuck Tryon, 'Blogging, Film Criticism, and Niche Audiences', The Chutry Experiment, August 6, 2009
- Chuck Tryon, 'Has Film Criticism Lost its (Box Office) Mojo?', The Chutry Experiment, July 24, 2009
- Chuck Tryon, 'Film Criticism in the Internet Age', The Chutry Experiment, May 3, 2009
- Chuck Tryon, 'Blogging and Criticism: Some Reflections', The Chutry Experiment, May 25, 2008
- Two Week Film Collective, 'Film Criticism: Evolution and Importance In the Digital Age', #2wkfilm (aka Royal Baronial Theatre), May 4, 2009
- Robin Wood, 'Only (Dis)Connect; and Never Relaxez-Vous; or, "I Can’t Sleep"', Film International, Issue 11
- Patrick Amos and Jean-Pierre Gorin, 'The Farber Machine', Rouge, 2008
- Richard Armstrong, 'Review of "It’s Only a Movie!": Films and Critics in American Culture, by Raymond J. Haberski Jr. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2001', Bright Lights Film Journal, Issue 35, January 2002
- Jason Bellamy et al, 'Pauline Kael Week', The Cooler, June 20, 2009
- David Bordwell, 'Weather Bird Flies Again [on Gary Giddins], Observations on film art and Film Art, January 30, 2007
- Stanley Cavell interviewed by Harry Kreisler, Conversations with History: Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley, 2002
- Dennis Cozzalio, 'Seeing and Writing (and Sewing): Quality Time with Stephanie Zacherek', Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule, July 28, 2009
- 'Critics on Critics [Contributions from Geoff Andrew, Michael Atkinson, Tom Charity, Ian Christie, Michel Ciment, Hamid Dabashi, Jean-Michel Frodon, Graham Fuller, Ryan Gilbey, Kent Jones, Mark Le Fanu, Adrian Martin, Olaf Moller, Kim Newman, Jonathan Rosenbaum,Sukhdev Sandhu, Tadao Sato, David Thomson, Kenneth Turan, Armond White]', Sight and Sound, October 2008
- Serge Daney interviewed by Bill Krohn for Cahiers du Cinéma and The Thousand Eyes, 1977
- Anna Dzenis, 'Review of Serge Daney, Postcards from the cinema. Oxford, New York: Berg Publishers, 2007', Screening the Past, 2007
- Raymond Durgnat, ‘Culture Always is a Fog’, Rouge, 2006
- Roger Ebert, 'I'm a proud brainiac', Chicago Sun-TImes, July 5, 2009
- Richard Eldridge, 'Review of Russell Goodman (ed.), Contending with Stanley Cavell, Oxford University Press, 2005', Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, August 2004
- Colin Fleming, 'Review of Britton on Film: The Complete Film Criticism of Andrew Britton, edited by Barry Keith Grant. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 2008', CIneaste, Vol.XXXIV No.4 2009
- Chris Fujiwara, 'For the Love of Movies: An Interview with Gerald Peary', Firpresci, Issue 5, 2009
- Tag Gallagher, 'Truly Doing Movie Criticism', Kunst-der Vermittlung, May 2009
- Christian Hamaker, 'Sarris 101: A Film Critic’s Politics', Christian Hamaker's Blog, August 13, 2009
- A. S. Hamrah, 'Only Angels Have Wings: Insoluble Farber', Fipresci, Issue 4, 2008
- D. K. Holm et al, 'A Raymond Durgnat Bibliography', Cinemonkey, February 2007
- Gary Indiana, Annette Michelson, Geoffrey O'Brien, Paul Schrader, and Craig Seligman, 'Prose and Cons. [on Pauline Kael]', Artforum International Magazine, 2002
- Bill Krohn, 'My Budd by Manny Farber, Rouge, 2008
- Adrian Martin, 'The Qualities I Like: Impressions of Manny Farber', Rouge, 2008
- Tony McKibbin, 'Durgnatian Doublethink', Senses of Cinema, April 2002
- Jeffrey Overstreet, 'In memory of Andrew Sarris’s New York Observer reviews', Filmwell, August 11, 2009
- Donald Phelps, 'Critic Going Everywhere [on Manny Farber', Rouge, 2008
- Michael Powell, 'A Survivor of Film Criticism’s Heroic Age' [on Andrew Sarris] The New York Times, July 9, 2009
- Andy Rector, '"Truly doing movie criticism" [on Tag Gallagher and his video essays', Kino Slang, August 16, 2009
- Jonathan Rosenbaum, Moving Places: A Life at the Movies, (University of California Press, 1995) e-book
- Jonathan Rosenbaum, 'Thinking About (Personal) History Lessons: The Movie Paintings of Manny Farber', Rouge 2008
- Jonathan Rosenbaum, 'They Drive By Night: the Criticism of Manny Farber', JonathanRosenbaum.com, August 18, 2008
- Alexis Tioseco, "The Letter I would Love To Read To You In Person, ROGUE, July 15, 2008, pt 1, pt 2, pt 3
- Josep Torrell, 'Barthélemy Amengual Has Died', Fipresci, Issue 1, 2006
- Harry Tuttle, 'Bazin - on Criticism - 1943', Screenville, May 17, 2006
- Harry Tuttle, Bazin - on Criticism - 1958', Screenville, July 14, 2006
- Charles Warren, 'Cavell, Altman, Cassavetes', Film International, Issue 22
Important, self-reflexive, examples of film criticism online:
- Michael J. Anderson, ' Face & Form in Rohmer: From Ma nuit chez Maud’s Talking Cinema to the Denial of Eloquence in Le Rayon vert', Tativille, August 9, 2009
- David Bordwell, 'Cognition and Comprehension: Viewing and Forgetting in Mildred Pierce', Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, Spring 1992
- Serge Daney, 'The Tracking Shot in Kapo' (translation by Laurent Kretzschmar), Senses of Cinema, Issue 30, Jan-Feb 2004
- Raymond Durgnat, 'Extract from A Long Hard Look at Psycho', Senses of Cinema, 2002
- Ross Gibson, 'The Searchers - Dismantled', Rouge, 2005
- James MacDowell, 'Beneath the Surface of Things: Interpretation and Far From Heaven', Offscreen Journal, Volume 10, Issue 5, May 31, 2006
- Shigehiko Hasumi, 'John Ford, or The Eloquence of Gesture', Rouge, 2005
- Alain Masson, 'An architectural promenade', Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture, vol. 5 no 2 (1990)
- Alain Masson, 'A sequence from Avanti', Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture, vol. 5 no 2 (1990)
- Ken Mogg, 'Will and wilfulness: recent commentary on Hitchcock's The Birds', Screening the Past, March 2001
- Steven Peacock, 'Holding onto Moments in The Age of Innocence', Film Studies, Issue 9, Winter 2006
- VF Perkins, 'You Only Live Once', WRAP: the Warwick Research Archive Project (Date Unknown), plus frame stills (one HERE, two HERE and three HERE)
- VF Perkins, 'Same Tune Again! Repetition and Framing in Letter from an Unknown Woman'(originally published in CineAction! no. 52) republished online by Danish film studies journal 16:9 (September 2003)
- VF Perkins, 'Moments of Choice' [on film directing] (originally published in The Movie, ch. 58, reprinted in Ann Lloyd (ed.), Movie Book of the Fifties, Orbis, 1982) republished online by the Australian journal Rouge (issue 9, 2006)
- William Rothman, 'Chronicle of a Summer', Documentary Film Classics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1997)
- Jean-Louis Schefer, 'On La Jetée', (translated by Paul Smith), Chris Marker: Notes from the Era of Imperfect Memory, 2008
- Jason Sperb, 'Punch-Drunk Love', Jamais Vu, May 23, 2008
- George Wilson, 'Love and Bullshit in Santa Rosa: On the Coen Brothers' The Man Who Wasn't There,' For a session of the Working Group on Philosophy, Film, and Fiction at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2007.
- George Wilson, 'Rapport, Rupture, and Rape: Reflections on Talk to Her,' For a volume devoted to Almodovar's movie Talk to Her, Anne Wescott Eaton (ed.), Routledge Publishing, 2007
- Robin Wood, 'Only (Dis)Connect; and Never Relaxez-Vous; or, "I Can’t Sleep"', Film International, Issue 11
- Robin Wood, 'Revenge is Sweet: The Bitterness of "Audition"', Film International, Issue 7
9 comments:
An impressive links list. Happy birthday Film Studies for Free!
Great post. Thanks for the links.
I would add, if you find them stimulating too:
- Bordwell, "Against Insight", cinemascope #26
- "How critics work" FIPRESCI roundtable, Undercurrent #1, with Klaus Eder, Julie Rigg, Richard Kuipers, Adrian Martin, Roslyn Petelin
- "Bazin on criticism, 1943"
- "Bazin on criticism, 1958"
- Adrian Martin, "Responsability and Criticism", cinemascope.it #7
- Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, "The rise and fall of criticism", Film Quarterly
I guess I missed a couple of those that were on your list already. Sorry about that.
Unbelievable, Catherine. You spoil us.
Great recs too, Harry. That interview with Adrian is essential...
Thanks all - especially to Harry. No worries about slight repetition - it's a long list to take in! But it's great to be reminded of the posts of Bazin and discover Geoffrey Nowell-Smith's great article.
Happy anniversary! I enjoy reading you. I learn so much following your links. Thanks!
Incredible list - bookmarking for future reference.
Thanks so much for compiling these links all the time! They're immensely useful, especially for lapsed academics like me who no longer have access to academic libraries.
Simply outstanding and astounding in terms of resources. An amazingly detailed post, could be here for the rest of the month in a good way though. Thank you for generosity, Catherine. I will add you to my blog roll.
Thanks for a fantastic and wonderfully useful year of your peerless blog work, Catherine! Just remember to get some more of your own critical writing done between epic net-searches, your stuff is too good for us to be without ...
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