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"Deskmate" is grim. I've been entirely too spoiled by having my own office for 5+ years and at least my own cubicle for my entire professional career, I certainly can't imagine sharing a desk with someone. White collar humblebrag, etc

Pretty dire. Remember when their former staff went off and formed the Dissolve, which didn't last very long? What seemed like a risk now comes off as a no-loss gambit. It wasn't easy making a living in criticism before, but Jesus...

Blame amateur writers willing to undercut acceptable rates for articles. I've already seen this with editing for some time, which is impossible to make any money doing unless you already have a connection willing to pay you above the ludicrous market rate

dadaistnun wrote: Fri Aug 31, 2018 6:15 pm R.I.P the Village Voice.

I would have thought this would have gotten more play here, considering this was so vital for keeping up with all NY had to offer. Much like my hometown Chicago Reader, this was probably a bit more crucial when J. Hoberman was still there, just as it was when Rosenbaum still wrote for the Reader.

Some of our older members may remember when this thing was 11x17! I don’t, but I’ve seen older copies in book stores.

Three volume collection of André Bazin's complete writings released this week. Press kit here. How I wish I knew French.

10 years in the making... They (Hervé Joubert-Laurencin, Cahiers and the Bazin estate) talk about publishing a complete oeuvre of Bazin since at least 2008 (see my blog)
And David Bordwell has a post on his blog about this release.
Finally access to the full version of Qu'est-ce que le cinéma ? / What is Cinema? originally in 3 volumes in 1958 (out of print), and abridged in 1 volume since 1985...

Slightly worryingly this month's edition of Sight & Sound (the one with the films of the year poll in it) is a larger than normal issue but comprises January and February editions of the magazine, with the next (March) edition being out on 4th February. Nick James in his editorial talks of it being "designed for the holiday period" and "largest issue ever produced in response to a complex year that's ending on a high note for films", yet signs off with a pleas for spreading the word about the magazine to attract more subscribers, which is slightly concerning!

(I have to say though that I do like the weighty feel to the larger magazine! 146 pages compared to the usual monthly 96. Though by the same measure that does not exactly equate to two entire separate issues worth of content)

I imagine the situation is similar in the UK, but in the US, not only has film criticism been decimated, but magazine publishing in general has been bleeding a slow death. I have quite a few classmates who work as reporters or editors here in NY (most people who want to break into magazines gravitate towards NYC), and it's been a rough decade to say the least. I'm not sure what the business model would be like for a British publication - for example, the number of physical newspapers read by the public there is certainly a lot higher than it is here in the US. And I'm not sure what it would be for a publication that doesn't cater to a general audience either. But it wouldn't surprise me if somewhere down the road they decide an all-digital publication is the best chance for longtime survival. Maybe not soon, but that seems to be the trajectory for most magazines.

It does seem that this is a factor as Nick James also says:

Nick James in Sight & Sound editorial wrote:Sight & Sound, like all publications, is trading in what the Guardian has called "an incredibly challenging commercial environment". Having a great double issue like this delivers a better, more comprehensive magazine while saving costs.

Plus Mark Cousins is stepping down from his column:

Mark Cousins wrote:This will be my last regular piece in S&S. Why? Here are three explanations. I had a big argument with the editor, Nick James, and he sacked me. I have been asking for some time to be sacked, because no one should have a writing job this long. Sight & Sound is changing and I am the old guard. Choose which you prefer.

BenoitRouilly wrote: Sun Nov 11, 2018 8:56 pm 10 years in the making... They (Hervé Joubert-Laurencin, Cahiers and the Bazin estate) talk about publishing a complete oeuvre of Bazin since at least 2008 (see my blog)
And David Bordwell has a post on his blog about this release.
Finally access to the full version of Qu'est-ce que le cinéma ? / What is Cinema? originally in 3 volumes in 1958 (out of print), and abridged in 1 volume since 1985...

Just in case anyone else, like me, clicked on Bordwell's Amazon fr link and was struck by severe sticker shock (a third-party seller asking nearly €500 with shipping fees), you can get it direct from Éditions Macula for €149. I may or may not have just ordered... :-$

Will release, I believe. This and the Godard book have been licensed from Caboose for US release in April (and the price went up threefold)

20 years in the making actually. Hervé Joubert-Laurencin was interviewed this weekend on the weekly French radio show "Plan large" (for the francophones). Pretty interesting conversation with him and Charlotte Garson and Alain Guillot.
And if it wasn't as steep as €149... I would offer myself this Xmas gift.

The BBC has confirmed they are ending their film review show on BBC1, which has run in some form since 1971 but disappeared for most of last year. Peter Bradshaw commemorates it, while there is assurances that there will be something 'more suitable' to replace it. For what its worth Mark Kemode has today ended his decade long video blog series in slightly suspicious timing!

colinr0380 wrote: Fri Dec 28, 2018 2:11 pm The BBC has confirmed they are ending their film review show on BBC1, which has run in some form since 1971 but disappeared for most of last year. Peter Bradshaw commemorates it, while there is assurances that there will be something 'more suitable' to replace it. For what its worth Mark Kemode has today ended his decade long video blog series in slightly suspicious timing!

I didn't even realise that Winkleman had left two years ago! I stopped watching it when Norman left - I don't really like Ross or Winkleman and felt it tried too many things to jazz the programme up when the Norman template was successful as it was. The BBC ditched the cultural slot after Friday's Newsnight as well, right? I assume they feel there is no appetite for cultural stuff to a mainstream audience. Does Talking Pictures still exist? I quite liked that.

David Bordwell’s latest post gets into his spat with Jonathan Rosenbaum and diagnoses a strand of criticism as “militant cinephilia”.

As documented further in this thread a few pages back here

Also, having now read his entire post, Bordwell is too pure for our world. Only Bordwell could make calling out another critic feel like a zen action of supreme confidence

I'm only familiar with Rosenbaum on a topical level but he strikes me as being entirely unprofessional here. Has always been so abrasive?

He's always been like this, and has a history of silly remarks (especially on the relative worth of many films) that people on this forum ignore because he likes a lot of the same movies many of us do. I'll double down on what I said earlier: he's just an Armond White with opinions many of the posters on this forum agree with

In 2007 Rosenbaum mocked Bergman on his death bed, in a NYT OpEd, right before his retirement. Bordwell and others called his bluff (my account of the story here). And his reaction was to refuse to read Bordwell's article. Turtling up. A critic who is afraid of criticism when it goes against him. It's not professionnal and discredits his right to criticize others' work if his own is above criticism. Rosenbaum has a fine taste and a record of quality reviews, but sometimes he can say the darnest things...
[EDIT] This said, I have to agree that Kubrick is leagues above Nolan (at this point of his career).

I love David Bordwell -- not infallible, sure, but decent and thoughtful and interesting.