…even if it is the unfortunate, ultimately necessary nature of the beast. But it’s not like the festivals aren’t courting this by getting top tier, highly anticipated films and muscling for their exclusivity. It breeds on-site competition. Ouroboros, etc. Anyway, from Roger Ebert’s Toronto dispatch:
More than in previous years, I’m noticing the laptops in the audiences here at the Toronto Film Festival. Some of the bloggers seem to be beginning their reviews as the end credits still play. Then you see them outside, sitting on a corridor floor, their computers tethered to an electric umbilical, as they type urgently. Of course many of them share their opinions in quick conversational bursts, and a consensus develops. Most films good enough for an important festival, I think, require a little more marinating.
Comments
18 responses to “Can’t really argue…”
it makes all sense. Both sides.
If you have a laptop open during a movie, you should be kicked out. If you can’t remember details of a movie without taking notes during it, then you shouldn’t be a critic.
What Rashad said.
***If you can’t remember details of a movie without taking notes during it, then you shouldn’t be a critic.***
That is completely ridiculous. Who are you to say who “shouldn’t” be a critic? Some of the best, most renowned film critics actually DO take notes during films. Whatever method works best for a particular person is a method that shouldn’t be dismissed. Besides, it often can be very difficult to pick up on tiny details in a movie, especially after only seeing it once, and especially after seeing it sandwiched in between loads of other movies. Your statement is really stupid.
Outside the lobby I don’t care if there are laptops, but in the dark of the matinee there should be no other lights flashing.
I don’t think the issue is so much having laptops in the theater as it is writing reviews sixty seconds after the film is over. At least that is the problem Ebert seems to have with these bloggers.
Granted I agree with Rashad obviously no one should be writing during a movie but that is another argument than this one.
Yeah, the laptop thing isn’t the deal here (and besides, he’s obviously being flip with the “seem to be beginning to write their reviews as the end credits still play” comment). He’s just noticing journalists carrying them to movies so they can get the jump outside the theater. And, indeed, that’s not ideal. But as I argue, it’s kind of the environment big festivals are breeding these days.
I do agree with Ebert, a writer should ideally at least sleep on a film before writing a review. I change my opinions on films pretty often throughout the year actually.
Ideally.
Clearly I shouldn’t be a critic, since I often take notes during screenings — whether it’s to jot down a fleeting observation that might feed into a larger argument later, or to accurately record quotable dialogue. I have plenty of smart, professional peers who do the same.
Of course, I’d never do so on a laptop during a screening, which strikes me as both inconsiderate and inconvenient. Have people forgotten how to write by hand?
(And yeah, writing notes at screenings is crucial to the process for many. Joe Morgenstern connects a bluetooth keyboard to his ipad and types under his jacket. It’s not loud and he’s able to jot down his thoughts quickly. Nothing wrong with that.)
Who are you to say who “shouldn’t” be a critic?
I’m someone that can understand and comprehend movies without taking myself out of it every so often. These are the people who decry modern movies and being spoonfed things, yet they cant even finish the movie without forgetting the things that happened in it. I don’t care which critics do what. I don’t care for any of them.
I can assure you, Rashad, that most film critics taking notes during screenings aren’t merely writing down what happens in the film. (In the unlikely event that they can’t remember, there are press notes for that.)
Everyone’s process is different — some people write more intuitively and emotionally than others, and may need fewer prompts. But until you see five or six films a day at a festival for ten days and have to keep them clear in your head until you write about them — possibly a few days later, after which you’ve seen another dozen or two films — you’re in no position to judge others’ writing habits so snidely.
What irritates me is that this time of year it seems movies can’t be reviewed or enjoyed without the “is it or is it not Oscar caliber” question ….Also with the festivals and tweeting their instant analysis of films drives me up a wall. However, I don’t consider Guy and Kris on this site to be guilty of this. I thank you guys.
On a personal note, in regards to writing notes during a screening, I think I would find it stressful and would it inhibit me from really taking in the movie. But that’s just me.
I’m not judging writing habits, I’m judging move watching habits. It’s the fact that you’re in a theater and not fully invested in a movie is the problem. How can you trust someone to work with a film, to go with its shifts in tone, humor, action, if they’re being taken out of it to jot down something every so often?
Maybe seeing 5 or 6 movies a day is the problem. I already hate the festival circuit, from a prognostication standpoint anyway.
Having recently covered the London Frightfest, let me say taking notes when you’re watching 4-5 films a day is crucial so as to, as Guy said, keep the films fresh in mind and prompt a key ideas.
At Frightfest bloggers had their laptops opened within 30 seconds of the lights coming up. Not a problem in terms of film disruption as normally the hosts had gotten on the mic to talk over the credits anyway. And the blogosphere is generally condusive to the idea of an instant reaction, not filtered through the more studiously-written reviews which crop up a little later.
It serves a purpose at the end of the day. There’s little reason to decry it as most of the bloggers aren’t going to be regarded in the serious critical discussion that the trades kickstart anyway.
You’re being so unbearably, cluelessly nonsensical, Rashad, that I’m stunned.
It doesn’t necessarily take one out of a movie to jot down, say, a thematic epiphany that you’d like to bring up in print later, or take note of some other element that may spring to mind that you think is pertinent. And it’s not like one must being scribbling throughout a film. It’s about the small things you want to remember.
Not everyone does this, of course. It’s mainly an old school thing, I find. Me, for instance, I’ve never been much for jotting notes, but I’ll tell you there have been plenty times where I wish I did. Days after writing a review I might remember something I wanted to mention that sprang to mind in the screening but that I ultimately forgot and it’s generally a bummer.
The point is, it doesn’t have to impede your process of watching the film, and I assure you, most who do this for a living are well aware of that. Anne Thompson, for instance, jots down things frequently, never taking her eyes of the screen, in shorthand. It’s a process and it’s different for everyone and, indeed, you’re being snide from the sidelines without knowing the first thing about this as WORK, only about this as a FAN.
In any case, I actually side with you about the festival system. Seeing five and six films a day IS a problem, and for the most part, festivals, I think, are just not an ideal environment for watching movies, certainly not the gorge-fests like Toronto. But luxury goes to the few, and for most, the reality is seeing a lot of films at these things. Your uneducated judgmental stance could use some perspective.