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A cynical, curmudgeonous little man
with a Roger Ebert physique, Jay Sherman was the title
character of the short-lived mid-nineties animated sitcom
"The Critic." Giving Jon Lovitz a post-SNL
paycheck, "The Critic" opened each show with
some ridiculous movie hybrid, often stuff like Arnold
Schwarzeneggar in Driving Miss Daisy. The magic
of these opening skits is that some of this stuff actually
makes it too the screen, like when Jay reviewed Stop
Or My Mom Will Shoot. At Filmsnobs, we know how
Jay feels: "Iiiiit Stiiiinks" is sometimes
the only thing you can say.
One of the reasons JimmyO and I started
this little enterprise is because most film critics
really suck right now. Major print critics are pressured
by parent companies; older film critics have gotten
lazy because of the virtual tenure allotted to them.
We don't think that there's not a market for quality
film criticism, but "serious" film critics
try so desperately to separate themselves from mainstream
culture that they become pretentious and out-of-touch.
Then there are the pop critics who are too afraid to
dig below the surface of a film out of a fear of losing
their audience. Then there are the Gene Shalits of the
world who judge a film by how long it is. At Filmsnobs,
we think that criticism should be read for itself, that
the critic expresses a certain worldview through the
prism of the movies. By looking at a critic's body of
work, certain truths about the world arise that you
might not have gotten from the films themselves, but
the experience of film itself is enriched by critical
essays. We can count on our hands the number of film
critics who we think "get" what film criticism
is really about. And at Filmsnobs, we also give you
dick jokes, jokes about Angelina's boobs, cocaine jokes,
and most importantly, jokes about Robert Altman.
The Jay Sherman Award for Excellence
in Film Criticism is not just our way of slamming critics
who suck. A Jay Sherman Award is bestowed upon critics
who are so bad they harm film criticism itself. This
award is for critics who are a detriment to the art
of criticism, be it online or print. Or, as Jay himself
might say, "Iiiit Stiiiinks!"
The
First Jay Sherman Award for Excellence in Film Criticism:
Roger Ebert
We really do love Ebert, but we
think he misses Siskel something awful. It's becoming
apparent that Siskel meant a lot to Ebert in terms of
balance, and without Gene to police Roger, shimes took
up the cause and noticed a trend in Ebert's reviews....hint:
It concerns the ampleness of a certain actress's Billy
Bobs.
The
Second Jay Sherman Award for Excellence in Film Criticism:
The New Film Geek
The first casualty of the Filmsnobs
cause. Since this guy hasn't posted on his site since
JimmyO dropped this bomb on him, we're taking credit
for running him off the internet and wish for him to
turn over the FilmGeek domain name immediately.
The
Third Jay Sherman Award for Excellence in Film Criticism:
Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News
For online film critics, respect
is hard to come by. After all, we do review movies on
the internet for a hobby. But some of the best, strongest,
most independent voices in criticism right now are online,
and just a look around at Cinemarati.org
or RottenTomatoes.com
proves it. But whenever an article is written about
online film criticism, one name is used as the crux
example of the entire community: Harry Knowles. Knowles
is a fan-boy whose site is so popular that he's courted
by Hollywood studios to pump up the buzz on their movies.
His "criticism" is so awful and profane that
it's used by print critics to defile onliners as whole.
If you don't think that's fair, then check out some
of his reviews. It's horrifying.
The
Fourth Jay Sherman Award for Excellence in Film Criticism:
Shawn Edwards, Popcorn Bags for the People
Shawn Edwards called us, the Filmsnobs,
"bin Laden-like." In the Kansas City Star!
We didn't really want an on-going feud with this guy,
but KC Star gossip columnist Hearne Christopher, Jr.
every so often feels the need to attack us in the paper,
which means that my relatives get to cut out the articles
and send them to me.
The
Pauline Kael Award For Excellence in Film Criticism
These we actually mean. Much more
has been written about Pauline than we ever could, but
we like to think that her voice as a "Movie"
critic is something that we capture a litte of here.
The
First Pauline Kael Award For Excellence in Film Criticism:
Gene Siskel, Making Ebert Fat Jokes into a Form of Art
JimmyO laments the passing of
Gene Siskel, whose viewpoints were often overshadowed
by his Pulitzer-winning partner. Siskel too was a movie
guy--a perfect foil for Ebert's penchant for pretension.
The
Second Pauline Kael Award For Excellence in Film Criticism:
Rick Ferguson, The Original Film Geek
We started this little charade
whenever Rick left film criticism back in 2001. Since
we considered him the Patron Saint of Filmsnobs, I wrote
this little ode in the sincere hope that he would someday
return to online film criticism. He
did. And here's what
happened to him. If you scroll down a bit, you'll
find that he actually did read our tribute to him, and
it actually did help bring him back. See--Hollywood
dreams do come true.
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