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Los Angele Times‘ Calendar journos have always had high praise for entertainment editor Betsy Sharkey (whom I’ve known since she wrote for Ad Age). She’s been described to me as knowledgeable, competent, feisty and over-protective of her writers beyond what they deserved (i.e. when mistakes were made, she helped cover them up…) So the LAT bosses should have hog-tied to her desk when she came back from book leave 
(co-writing an autobiography of Marlee Matlin) and LAT’s film reviewers. “I love writing, and I love film, and when I came back I started talking to [editor] Russ Stanton about it,” Sharkey told me today. ”Maybe it’ll be an absolute disaster. But I think I’ve got a good mind, and I think I know film. In any case, I’m thrilled and could not be happier.” But will LA Times‘ readers?
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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No matter how “nice” and “feisty” she may be, this sounds like another nail in the coffin for the LAT’s movie review page. Simply being “into” film is not, and should not be, the prerequisite to be a serious film reviewer in Hollywood’s main mass-market newspaper. What are we left with? The frequently incomprehensible Kenneth Turan? It’s embarrassing.
And, no, I’m not about to say the NYT’S is any better. Case in point is Manohla Dargis’ ridiculous and self-serving attempt to rewrite Pauline Kael, and movie history, in her recent review of Eastwood’s “Gran Torino.” No wonder no one takes movie reviewers seriously anymore.
How about the laughable Ben Lyons? Another joke. Since when does your father being a critic make you a critic. The kid has never succeeded at anything except now being made a critic.
The show is a bad infomercial and should be taken off the air. I find it offensive.
Thank you.
Any leads on where an unemployed Ph.D. in Film Studies can land a job? Academia’s too competitive at the moment, and I guess the L.A. Times isn’t interested in people with actual film knowledge. The sad thing is, I’m completely serious in my request…
It seems to me the public doesn’t really care about professional reviewers anymore with film blogs popping up everyday.
I would rather hear what FURIOUS D has to say than the LAT anyway.
First, the late Mr. Siskel gets replaced by columnist Roeper. Seeing/reading him a few times, I had to ask: WTF? Are you kidding me?
Then NYT’s excellent Janet Maslin moves from film reviews back to book reviews. I think she said something to the effect that “movie reviews now are expected to be more polarizing” and that’s not her thing. Maslin told you what a film was like so you could make up your mind if it was your cup of tea or not. That’s what I expect from a review. Silly me.
Maslin’s replacement, former LAT now NYT reviewer Dargis comes across as rather uneven. (I agree – Gran Torino? Cassandra’s Dream? It’s supposed to be a movie review, ferchrissakes.)
To top it all off, Roger Ebert recently had to admit that he reviewed a movie – or rather, trashed it – after having watched only 8 minutes of it. Not cool.
If a reviewer doesn’t respect the films, why should the readers respect the reviewer?
That seems to be the state of professional reviews.
Do not despair, there are some decent bloggers who knock themselves out to produce decent reviews – within 24 hours (no press screenings for them)
NB: AICN? Long dead, not being taken seriously by anyone since they sold out years back. IMDB scores? Are you kidding me? Rigged, rigged, rigged. Rotten Tomatoes? Their heavy advertising (and growth) killed them quite some time back. metacritic.com’s the way to go. By the time the industry notices sites (as in: hey, this site seems to be hot! Let’s go and write some comments! Plant, plant, plant), they’re usually yesterday’s news. If not, the plants will kill them.
My browser is Safari…maybe there is something up with it, but I’m missing a chunk of your post.
Anyway…I don’t think LAT film is going to be saved by a qualified critic. There entire section has been destroyed by idiotic slideshows on stupid topics.
Really…does anyone look to LAT for credible reviews?
I make minimal use of critics and try to make my own decisions about films…but i can say that outside Manohla and A.O. there’s no one i bother reading any more.
Well, Mary McNamara switched from suck-up feature writer to pretty tough TV critic. But Betsy’s another member of the older demographic that the LAT already has–I thought young people were supposed to be cheaper.
And no, a PhD in film studies isn’t an employable degree. Sorry and not meaning to be harsh, but who cares? A reviewer doesn’t need theory classes, and to make films, you need a camera.
It’s less important where reviews appear than if the reviews are reliable. So if the LAT wants to give low priority to film reviews, then readers will find them elsewhere. If some readers aren’t in tune with the NYT reviewer, same thing – ro, try the New Yorker or the Baltimore Sun, etc. There’s a tectonic shift in media, but those interested in the reviewer’s views will find that. So, hold the tears.
Not a very nice lady at all.
Would have loved to see someone knowledgable like Elvis Mitchell get that prime gig.
Her reasons and “discussions” about going for and getting the job would be pretty hilarious if they weren’t so sad.