great film criticims is all too rare, and an under-rated art form. to do it well (as with theatre criticism), the practitioner must combine a bit of the sociologist, a bit of the political pundit .. as well as be a participant observer in his or her own culture. to do it well a person must be able to immerse himself or herself in the art and in the fun of film. my mother, an ardent movie lover, would make fun of the use of the term 'film' to describe the art form. they're movies, she would say. its fun .. you go because you love them. great critics of theatre and of film go because they love the art form ... and lopate has collected some great examples.

however ... the format of this anthology is sorely wanting. each of the entries is incompletely or confusingly sourced .. and the dates of individual reviews by individual reviewers are nowhere to be found. i wrote to the editor about this very fact when this book came out .. i think the anthology as it currently is formatted introduces the reader to the wide range of writing in this area. grand! but it does not serve, as a well done anthology must serve when it has done its job .. to be an introduction, an initial gateway into individual writings, i.e. back to the published sources. the average reader is more thwarted with that next step than they should be with this book as currently formatted. and this is the job of the editor ....