My favourite film critic, Mark Kermode, tries here to explain what the point of film critics is. His argument is basically, “Because they can point you in the direction of some good stuff you might have missed.” Not exactly water-tight – is there any point in a film critic giving a negative review or a widely-released movie? – but interesting all the same.
What do you think though? Is there a point to critics, not just of film but of any media? Is there a point to professional critics or are amateur critics as useful? And if there is a point, what is it?
I’m Rob Buckley, a journalist who writes for UK media magazines that most people have never heard of although you might have heard me on the podcast Lockdown Land or Radio 5 Live’s Saturday Edition or Afternoon Edition. I’ve edited Dreamwatch, Sprocket and Cambridge Film Festival Daily; been technical editor for TV producers magazine Televisual; reviewed films for the short-lived newspaper Cambridge Insider; written features for the even shorter-lived newspaper Soho Independent; and was regularly sarcastic about television on the blink-and-you-missed-it “web site for urban hedonists” The Tribe. Since going freelance, I've contributed to the likes of Broadcast, Total Content + Media, Action TV, Off The Telly, Action Network, TV Scoop and The Custard TV.
