Between The Lines: Critiquing The Movie Critics

Catalog description

How do movie critics decide if a movie is good, bad, or ugly? Why do they so often disagree?This class is designed to look analytically at a few contemporary reviewers: What is consistent or inconsistent about their methodologies? What might Jim Hoberman of the Village Voice be hoping to discover when he sees a film? Is it the same thing that,say, Anthony Lane of The New Yorker is looking for? Shouldn't we expect reasonably intelligent reviewers to come to a consensus? Or is their something vital about their very disagreement? How, exactly, does critical discourse function in our culture? Although the main focus is on contemporary films and reviewers, some of the fundamentals of film theory, as well as the critical and popular histories of several directors will also be covered. The course requires several trips to movie theaters.