Slog - Comments on "Elegy" & the Female Film Critic http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/elegy_the_female_film_critic It shouldn't come as a surprise that there are many, many more male film critics than there are female film critics. Pauline Kael aside, film criticism has always been dominated by men, perhaps in part because amateur film criticism—standing around after a movie and yakking about it—usually descends into a foolish exercise in oneupsmanship in which blowhards compete to see who's committed how much trivia to memory. (Once, in an example of this behavior I find particularly ripe, I found myself arguing with three other critics and programmers about who loved Claire Denis the most. Gross.) Variety blogger Anne Thompson... Copyright 2008 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:17:43 -0800 Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:09:12 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by slim Spleen? Like, the organ?

]]> slim http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/elegy_the_female_film_critic#c1095231 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/elegy_the_female_film_critic#c1095231 Film Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:34:33 -0800 Comment by annie Derived from, yes. Here, why don't you look it up? I'll help: spleen, splenetic.

]]> annie http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/elegy_the_female_film_critic#c1095248 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/elegy_the_female_film_critic#c1095248 Film Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:45:11 -0800 Comment by eh I agree with you, and though I don't know anything about Elegy, I remember being really disgusted by the premise of "Lars and the Real Girl" and wishing someone in Seattle had presented a feminist critique of that film. I saw about 15 minutes of it, hated the Lars character, and gave up.

There seemed to be so many obviously disturbing, misogynistic issues that this movie raised which were completely ignored by critics, and it was simply viewed as a sweet, quirky indie film. Granted, I think I only read the Weekly, the PI, and the Stranger reviews, but you expect your alternative papers to pick up on these things.

]]> eh http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/elegy_the_female_film_critic#c1095308 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/elegy_the_female_film_critic#c1095308 Film Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:36:59 -0800 Comment by keshmeshi @3,

You might want to give that movie another try. I could barely watch the beginning, but the premise of the film and its ultimate resolution are not what they appear at first glance.

]]> keshmeshi http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/elegy_the_female_film_critic#c1095468 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/elegy_the_female_film_critic#c1095468 Film Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:30:11 -0800 Comment by Matthew I know this is beside the point, but is there any actress anywhere in the world aging as well as Penelope Cruz? Every year that goes by, she looks that much more stunning.

]]> Matthew http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/elegy_the_female_film_critic#c1095494 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/elegy_the_female_film_critic#c1095494 Film Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:40:26 -0800 Comment by ratzkywatzky Good point, Annie. David Bordwell just wrote a very amusing piece about cinephile oneupsmanship: http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/?p=2662

]]> ratzkywatzky http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/elegy_the_female_film_critic#c1095681 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/elegy_the_female_film_critic#c1095681 Film Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:07:49 -0800 Comment by K. Thank you.

]]> K. http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/elegy_the_female_film_critic#c1095697 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/elegy_the_female_film_critic#c1095697 Film Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:08:38 -0800 Comment by presuposition aside well... at least if you don't like wooden boats you can go fly a kite and stay as fixated on beautiful oneupmansship as an obviously aging breast idolizor and younger cubist art student incognito.

]]> presuposition aside http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/elegy_the_female_film_critic#c1095932 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/elegy_the_female_film_critic#c1095932 Film Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:57:54 -0800 Comment by Enuja They are radio reviews, but as I was listening to "AirTalk" this morning (LA public radio station KPCC's morning talk show with host Larry Mantle) "Jean Oppenheimer, of Village Voice Media, and Claudia Puig, of USA Today" reviewed "Elegy". And they both liked it. There is an audio file available at http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/

]]> Enuja http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/elegy_the_female_film_critic#c1096793 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/elegy_the_female_film_critic#c1096793 Film Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:09:12 -0800