We're bucking a small trend at the Shreveport Times. Today, I began reviewing select movies that will play at the Robinson Film Center. My first installment is "Honeydripper." I most certainly won't be reviewing all movies that play there, but I'm going to work to check out the best. My guess is that I will average about 2 to 3 per month.
I'll also continue to review movies that were shot in Shreveport.
Why are we bucking the trend? Newspaper movie critics -- like performing arts critics -- are disappearing pretty quickly. Just take a listen to a story by NPR's David Folkenflik. He cites increased interest in online trailers, shrinking newspaper profits, early online reviews, and the proliferation of web-only movie reviews as reasons why newspaper criticism is suffering. Sites that compile and rate reviews -- like Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes -- are also providing movie consumers with new ways to choose what they see.
As is the case with my performing arts reviews, I hope my opinion provides a starting point for local conversation about independent film. I'm always open for a good conversation about movies and the arts. If you want to chat about what you see, please leave a comment or send me an email.
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I'm also partnering with the Robinson Film Center to lead monthly post-screening discussions. Our first will be this Sunday after the 6 p.m. screening of "Forever." For about 20 minutes, I'll discuss the documentary with local photographers Scarlett Hendricks and Steve Roell. Both "Forever" and the photographers share an interest in the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris and memorials. Photographs of Hendricks and Roell form artspace's "In Memoriam" exhibition, which opens May 15.
Hope to see you there.
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1 comment:
I totally agree with your review of HONEYDRIPPER. I get chill bumps telling people about that soliloquoy (sp?) that Danny Glover gives at the piano. What a beautiful moment. A friend and I were talking about the slow pace of the film, and I think he summed it up best when he said "I think this might be a reader's film," which is true. The cinematography, also, is just a miracle. I want to see everything that Dick Pope shoots now.
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