Here’s another one of those “bloggers and critics are the story” pieces that some people hate so much, but when there’s a dust-up, I like to grab the popcorn and rubberneck like anyone else.
This time around it’s Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times, you know, the guy that hates bloggers but finds himself doing just that these days. Anyway, he seems to have taken umbrage with Todd McCarthy’s recent review of “Flash of Genius,” the Universal Greg Kinnear starrer that I’m, frankly, interested in seeing, despite its apparent tendency toward the sentimental.
Goldstein seems to think there is more to McCarthy’s hemming and hawing than a simple dissatisfaction with the material:
McCarthy seems intent on taking down the movie, which debuted over the weekend at the Telluride Film Festival…
As it turns out, “Flash of Genius” is one of the few movies that was invited to both Telluride and Toronto, putting it in distinguished company. My colleague John Horn was at Telluride and says the people he spoke to who saw the film — just regular festival-goers — were impressed by it. In fact, the Telluride screenings were so popular that the festival had to put on additional showings.
My suspicion is that McCarthy’s real problem with the movie — as he implied in his Telluride wrap-up — is that film festivals shouldn’t be showing what he believes are everyday studio product. If so, he oughta get off the festival circuit, starting with Toronto, which, as always, is loaded with studio fare, some of it no doubt bland and forgettable. The L.A. Film Festival actually premiered a Michael Bay movie a few summers back, which gives you an idea of the length festivals will go to get attention these days.
Well, there we are. Two of the old MSM guys going at it. If only McCarthy had his own blog, we could see some real fireworks.
But I guess Variety’s blog situation is in…flux…lately.
Comments
4 responses to “Patrick Goldstein goes after Variety’s Todd McCarthy”
The problem with Flash of Genius is the fact that the story it tells is nothing more than a Page 4 newspaper story. The film itself is fine but boring as sin. I couldn’t have been any more uninterested as I watched it.
What in the name of Thor does this article have to do with blogging and co.?
1. Todd saw the movie and Patrick didn’t
2. I agree with Todd (http://weblogs.variety.com/thompsononhollywood/2008/09/toronto-wrap.html)
3. critics do not have to report audience reaction. That is not their job.
I think a lot of people agreed with Todd. That doesn’t mean Patrick — having seen the film or not — was wrong to point out that his disavowal of “Flash” seemed to stem from an irritation that Telluride would play such a “studio” film (which is ironic, since the film was made on the cheap and ultimately picked up by a studio).
And I don’t think he ever made the case that Todd should be reporting audience reaction…
By the way, why would Patrick write the following if he hadn’t seen the film:
“I’ve seen the film and in my opinion, it’s a charming, refreshingly low-key and well-acted little-guy-fights-the-system drama that has a special resonance these days, especially after nearly eight years of Republican rule where Corporate America has enjoyed all sorts of tax breaks but little in the way of government oversight.”