Writing Film Criticism: Finding Art Even in a Glossy Hollywood Potboiler

Film critics are often accused of being elitist and detached from the mainstream audience, as evidenced by the fact that while Citizen Kane routinely tops the list of greatest film of all time compiled by critics, that same movie clocks in at number 23 as of August 2007 on IMDB's top 250 list, sandwiched along with seven other films between the first two entries in the Bored of the Rings trilogy. There is another genre of film critic, however, who seeks out low-rent movies of the kind that rarely even make it onto the IMDB top lists of the year. These are the critics who see hidden genius in the works of Ed Wood or Roger Corman. There is still yet another kind of critic who neither dismisses the intention to create art nor the possibility of accidentally creating art from schlock, but routinely discovers depths of meaning in Hollywood genre. (Kind of life my discovering that Nacho Libre may have been the most intellectually engaging film of its year.)

Hollywood had historically lived or died by the genre film. From Universal's money-machine horror shows to MGM's lavish musicals to today's two hour long commercials for a video game, it isn't and never has been the push for Oscar gold that keeps Hollywood running. It has been the reliable and untroubling genre films that bring home the biggest bacon. And yet, within those familiar and welcome endorsements of our carefully constructed reality, some very talented writers and directors have found ways to touch upon subjects-with rather obvious constraints, of course-with sometimes as much artistry and intelligence as an uncommercial art-house film from Ingmar Bergman or Jean-Luc Godard.