that kind of runaway internet thing where a very colloquial personal style gets swapped in for actual criticism and then the person writing it is the subject of a sort of cult of personality, where you're reading more for how they write than what they actually say, let alone whether or not the movie is any good.
I think that happened to Robin McKinley. It made her blog unreadable for me. I was very sad.
Which isn't new, it was a big thing with Pauline Kael and the New Yorker. Even James Agee indulged in some of it. Dorothy Parker. But all those writers also had enough critical acumen and professional discipline that even when they were just cracking wise, there was still some wisdom in it.
And none of their reviews went on for sixteen thousand words. I think Agee's record was the time he took three columns to talk about Monsieur Verdoux (1947) and that was extraordinary. Of course, you don't have to pay for printing costs on the internet. [edit: I see you covered that in your additional paragraph!]
I found a decently high level of signal to noise per paragraph in this essay, so I don't think it felt quite as jello-y to me, but I agree with the very colloquial style—it reads almost like it's meant to be heard, not seen on a page.
no subject
I think that happened to Robin McKinley. It made her blog unreadable for me. I was very sad.
Which isn't new, it was a big thing with Pauline Kael and the New Yorker. Even James Agee indulged in some of it. Dorothy Parker. But all those writers also had enough critical acumen and professional discipline that even when they were just cracking wise, there was still some wisdom in it.
And none of their reviews went on for sixteen thousand words. I think Agee's record was the time he took three columns to talk about Monsieur Verdoux (1947) and that was extraordinary. Of course, you don't have to pay for printing costs on the internet. [edit: I see you covered that in your additional paragraph!]
I found a decently high level of signal to noise per paragraph in this essay, so I don't think it felt quite as jello-y to me, but I agree with the very colloquial style—it reads almost like it's meant to be heard, not seen on a page.