Columns

A scene from “AninA"

Conversation: Eric Beltmann and Shelly Sampon React to the 2014 Milwaukee Film Festival

Film festivals are about seeing tons of movies, sure, but they’re also about hanging out with people who love talking about all those movies. Not long after the curtain fell on the 2014 Milwaukee Film Festival, Critic Speak contributor Eric Beltmann and The Cinemaphile blogger Shelly Sampon decided to continue a dialogue that started between …

Conversation: Eric Beltmann and Shelly Sampon React to the 2014 Milwaukee Film Festival Read More »

"Manuscripts Don't Burn"

2014 Milwaukee Film Festival: Eric Beltmann’s Top Five

“I’m going to yell at him when I go back to Iran,” Maryam Sepehri said while we chatted in the lobby of the Downer Theatre. She was referring to Mohammed Rasoulof, whose risky new feature “Manuscripts Don’t Burn” screened at this year’s Milwaukee Film Festival. Maryam, a documentary filmmaker from Tehran, knows Rasoulof but was …

2014 Milwaukee Film Festival: Eric Beltmann’s Top Five Read More »

Could the Anchorfan Pass be Hollywood’s newest business model?

Paramount and the Alamo Drafthouse movie theater chain today announced the “Anchorfan Pass,” a $15 ticket that will allow patrons to see “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” an unlimited number of times at any Drafthouse location beginning on January 1. It’s a nifty promotional idea for a film that is sure to have many repeat …

Could the Anchorfan Pass be Hollywood’s newest business model? Read More »

A ‘Con’ is right: Why Comic-Con is destructive to film journalism and fanhood

Regular readers of Critic Speak probably realize the absence of something that nearly every other movie blog on the web is currently running: Comic-Con coverage. I figure it’s best that I clue everyone in as to why, because our reasons for avoiding the popular convention will significantly influence the site’s content from now on. Those …

A ‘Con’ is right: Why Comic-Con is destructive to film journalism and fanhood Read More »

Consider the Contrary: Why theaters allowing texting might actually reduce distractions

“Over my dead body will I introduce texting into the movie theater. It’s our job to understand that this is a sacred place,” said Alamo Drafthouse CEO Tim League at a recent CinemaCon panel on theaters potentially allowing texting during movies, a comment that has been championed by blog after blog in the days since. …

Consider the Contrary: Why theaters allowing texting might actually reduce distractions Read More »

Rian Johnson's LOOPER drops September 28.

Trailer Overkill: Taking the Mystique out of Looper

Rian Johnson's LOOPER drops September 28.

Last week, the trailer for Rian Johnson’s (Brick, The Brothers Bloom) highly anticipated new film Looper hit the web. I watched once out of curiosity and it solidified the movie’s place on my personal list of Fall must-sees. I was prepared to not think any more of the trailer — after all, why should I? The purpose of a trailer is to convince you to buy a ticket and this assemblage of Looper did exactly that for me.

But over the next few days, it seemed like my Twitter and Facebook feeds were crowded with nothing but re-posts of said trailer, with friends and colleagues practically analyzing it frame-by-frame. At the very least, some had watched it dozens of times. My big question was: Why? Surely, the trailer is expertly edited enough that it gets your adrenaline pumping as you watch it… But don’t repeat viewings of promotional materials ultimately take away from the experience of watching the movie once it’s out?

Continue Reading >>