A Critical Acclaim

I always wanted to be a critic; I don't know why. I think being a critic, like being a teacher, is a great ego-booster. You get to correct and criticize people without a fear of repurcussion and you actually get paid for it. I mean, "What better job is there?"

I usually read the blog lists on IMDB. Somedays, I even find some things I really like. Today, I across this article A Love Letter to Cinema (http://thedeletedscene.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/a-love-letter-to-cinema/) by Daniel Bergamini, quoting " My biggest fear was that I would stop watching film for the fun of it, and start watching it as education; analyzing the work and ignoring the actual reason I fell in love with film. This is something I see over and over, with film students, buffs and even filmmakers as they lose the passion and gain the expertise. Fortunately my passion for film has not changed, only grown. It is possible this initial fear was largely unfounded. That is not to say that I have not learned anything, nor do I ignore the technical aspects of film. It is such a great shame when someone looses their passion as they watch film completely disconnected, as a way to analyze it more clinically."

And I thought "Hey! That could be me" I mean as a regular film buff, someone who spends more time in movie theatres than in classes and in watching movies than in studying I liked to think myself as more than just a movie goer. But there are certain aspects of filming that can be understood only if you are watching it purely as an 'ordinary money-paying cine-goer'. I mean that is the actual target audience after all.

In words of Anton Ego, from Ratatouille (2007), "In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so."