Review: How to become a film critic, the best job in the world
Author: Christopher Null:
Publisher: Sutro Press
ISBN: 0972098119
There aren’t many books related to film criticism, and in fact, according to Christopher Null, the author of Five Stars: How To Become A Film Critic, The World’s Greatest Job, this is the first manual for aspiring film critics to be one. . published.
Null is the founder of the website filmcritic.com, which today is one of the largest and most successful movie websites on the Internet.
As the author points out, the main focus of Five Stars: How To Become A Film Critic, The World’s Greatest Job, is to teach newcomers how to break into internet criticism and grow a career from there.
I have to admit, I had my reservations if it was possible to condense movie review techniques with all their intricacies into an informative 255-page manual.
But the Null manual goes a long way to clarify my doubts.
Written in a lively and organized manner, the book is divided into fifteen easy-to-read chapters that provide an overview of the film industry, covering topics such as the film critic market, film history, and understanding filmmaking, reviewing concepts and techniques, qualifying, starting your career, building a movie review site, securing complimentary movie passes, movie critic etiquette, handling your own review (this is pretty fun), and interviewing.
There’s even an appendix suggesting 300 Must-See Movies for aspiring critics.
While the focus may be for the aspiring film critic, the manual nonetheless serves as an excellent primer even for those among us not inclined to become critics.
This is particularly evident when we consider the remarkable breadth of the book and its success in articulating the basic ingredients needed to appreciate the movies.
As an example, an entire section of the book is dedicated to different genres of movies and what to look for when watching movies.
We are given tips on how to evaluate slapstick comedy, satire, sequels and remakes, documentaries, foreign films, classics, kids’ movies, and weird movies.
In addition, Null provides us with a framework of questions to ask ourselves when watching movies: did the movie achieve its goal? The story is interesting? How are the performances? How is the address? What about the support team? , is too long and how well does it all come together.
Although, as Null points out, these shouldn’t be thought of as a checklist or rating test, they are important items to consider when evaluating any movie.
Anyone who wants to know about movie reviews and what to look for when watching any genre of movie would do well to read this book. Who knows, you might even be able to show off some of the information you gleaned from the book at cocktail parties, when engaging in conversations about the latest movies.