Educational Media Reviews Online

This expansive and illuminating documentary made by Gerald Peary, a scholar and long-time film critic for The Boston Phoenix, bluntly captures the impetus behind its making by beginning with this announcement: “Today, film criticism is a profession under siege.” Peary additionally observes that twenty-eight film critics have been fired in recent years. Moreover, Variety, the source for this figure, recently announced the firing of its two top veteran film and theatre critics; and the nearly three decade-long syndicated television program At the Movies has announced that it will cease production this summer. So while being an enlightening and surprising exploration of the history of film criticism as it has variously flourished in print media from the silent era to up to the online blogosphere-dominated present, For Love of the Movies also has the feel of both an urgent apologia for continuing relevance and a lament against declining vitality.

Peary traverses this rich history with the help of nearly thirty active or retired American film critics interviewed, including, for instance, Roger Ebert, Andrew Sarris (formerly of The New York Observer), Lisa Schwarzbaum (Entertainment Weekly), Kenneth Turan (L.A. Times), Elvis Mitchell (formerly of The New York Times), and, perhaps the oldest active American film critic, the indefatigable Stanley Kauffmann (The New Republic), as well as several web-based critics like Katrina Longworth and, epitomizing much of what many of the traditional print critics interviewed regard as anathema to their craft and the tradition it represents, Harry Knowles, whose massively popular web site Ain’t It Cool News is claimed to enjoy approximately two and a half million views per day.

The interviews of the main feature are richly interspersed with archival footage (of both films and famous critics, like Pauline Kael), and the Special Features section is generously packed with extended interviews with both traditional and newer online critics. Given the wide breadth of interests it will appeal to everyone from students and practitioners of film criticism to average movie-goers. For the Love of Movies is highly recommended not only for collections serving film studies and communications, but also for more general public and academic library collections.