David Kehr in discussing the fate of contemporary film criticism, especially in the light of the recent dismissal of Jami Bernard’s from the New York Daily News, suggests a fascinating idea – that the future of web-based film criticism lays with filmmakers, not cranky old writers.

I’m starting to think that the best criticism on the internet isn’t coming from writers at all, but the desktop video editors who are putting together brilliant little pieces.

As way of example he provides this tasty trailer for the (non-existent) film 10 Things I Hate About Commandments, a parody that turns Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments into a teen comedy. While this clip adds to the wonderful new genre of trailer parodies -- think all those Brokeback pieces -- Kehr’s overall point is worth considering. With the wide-spread availability of editing tools and film clips, as well as a liberal understanding of fair usage policy for copyrighted material, cunning editors and filmmakers can easily turn out web-based cinematic essays, works that explore film on their own terms. Think Jean-Luc Godard's rarely seen Histoire(s) du cinema.

# posted by Peter Bowen @ 6/02/2006 01:04:00 PM

Comments (2)

 
Two quotations from Msr. Godard on the topic: "The way to criticize a film is to make another film," and "I write essays in the form of novels, or novels in the form of essays. I'm still as much of a critic as I ever was during the time of 'Cahiers du Cinema.' The only difference is that instead of writing criticism, I now film it."
# posted by  Ray Pride @ 6/02/2006 5:37 PM  

 
did you see these ones?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9rzMaAucI4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stQrlNx_-ec
# posted by  Anonymous @ 6/22/2006 7:43 PM  

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