Cynthia Rockwell's "review" of Hannah Takes The Stairs is depressing not because she didn't like the movie but because after reading the entire thing, 6 small to medium sized paragraphs, I can't figure out the following: the plot of the movie or the situation or roughly what happens for 70 - 90 minutes, the main characters & any significant minor characters, who plays the characters, ideas that may have been expressed in the movie, similar ideas and situations that may have been explored in other movies or other art/entertainment and how those compare with the film being reviewed, the reviewer's opinion of the technical craftsmanship of the movie, how real life compares to the world being depicted in the movie. At the very least I would like to learn a few of those things about a movie from a review.
(and yes, Rockwell does consider her post re: Hannah a review, as noted here, not just a blog entry reflecting on the lack of female participation in indie film & a couple of related subjects using Hannah as an example; more on that below)
The stuff that Rockwell did talk about in her review; her belief that the lead actress was cast because she is cute, observation that there isn't enough female directors making movies, belief that the male gaze gets in the way of making good movies, are all interesting stuff to read & think about, but the essentials about the movie would be a very nice thing to find in a movie review. Even if it is just a blog entry movie review.
It's a good thing that newspapers still write reviews. Such coverage/press may be harder to get for real indies such as Hannah, but at least newspaper reviews, in my experience, impart the essential information about a movie that would help a reader decide if he/she wants to check the movie out even if the reviewer had tons of problems with the movie.
Also, several blogs & websites - GreenCine Daily, Filmmaker Blog, The Chutry Experiment, Hollywood Is Talking, indieWIRE, The House Next Door to name a few - do write reviews that provide the essential information plus a lot more to think about, so there is hope for more well written movie reviews on the web, all is not lost.
Indie filmmakers, even if they end up making a movie that makes very little sense to most audience members, put a lot of work into making their movies. It would be nice if bloggers who decide to review a movie can show a tiny bit of respect for the amount of work that goes into making a movie by sharing the basic and essential information about a movie with their readers.
Also, if you are a filmmaker/blogger/film reviewer, I am not very interested in hearing only or even mostly about what you would do differently on someone else's movie; deal with the movie as it exists and go from there. When you make a movie you will have plenty of time & opportunities, for many years to come hopefully, to discuss what you would have done differently on your movie. But when writing about other people's movies in a reviewer capacity, please give me the basics about the movie and then build from there. Thanksalot.
- Sujewa
(and yes, Rockwell does consider her post re: Hannah a review, as noted here, not just a blog entry reflecting on the lack of female participation in indie film & a couple of related subjects using Hannah as an example; more on that below)
The stuff that Rockwell did talk about in her review; her belief that the lead actress was cast because she is cute, observation that there isn't enough female directors making movies, belief that the male gaze gets in the way of making good movies, are all interesting stuff to read & think about, but the essentials about the movie would be a very nice thing to find in a movie review. Even if it is just a blog entry movie review.
It's a good thing that newspapers still write reviews. Such coverage/press may be harder to get for real indies such as Hannah, but at least newspaper reviews, in my experience, impart the essential information about a movie that would help a reader decide if he/she wants to check the movie out even if the reviewer had tons of problems with the movie.
Also, several blogs & websites - GreenCine Daily, Filmmaker Blog, The Chutry Experiment, Hollywood Is Talking, indieWIRE, The House Next Door to name a few - do write reviews that provide the essential information plus a lot more to think about, so there is hope for more well written movie reviews on the web, all is not lost.
Indie filmmakers, even if they end up making a movie that makes very little sense to most audience members, put a lot of work into making their movies. It would be nice if bloggers who decide to review a movie can show a tiny bit of respect for the amount of work that goes into making a movie by sharing the basic and essential information about a movie with their readers.
Also, if you are a filmmaker/blogger/film reviewer, I am not very interested in hearing only or even mostly about what you would do differently on someone else's movie; deal with the movie as it exists and go from there. When you make a movie you will have plenty of time & opportunities, for many years to come hopefully, to discuss what you would have done differently on your movie. But when writing about other people's movies in a reviewer capacity, please give me the basics about the movie and then build from there. Thanksalot.
- Sujewa
