Customer Reviews

Placing Movies: The Practice of Film Criticism

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This is the first collection of criticism by Jonathan Rosenbaum, "Chicago Reader" critic from 1987-2008; all of the reviews collected herein date from his first few years (1987-93) on that paper. The "Reader" has long been one of the best sources for serious film criticism in the USA, employing the fine Dave Kehr before Rosenbaum. But JR really put himself on the map during his 20-year stint and helped make Chicago one of the liveliest film communities around with his consistent championing of the lesser-known cinematic worlds outside of the borders of mainstream, current, blockbuster-bound Hollywood.

The reviews here are presented just as they were in the paper; most range from 2000-3000 words or so though there are a few that stretch those boundaries. Some few are devoted to fairly well-known contemporary films like RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (to which he gives zero stars), BARTON FINK, and BIRD; most of them deal with films and filmmakers that are typically described as "arthouse", and many are of older films that were reviewed upon their Chicago premiered or for retrospectives. Among the better pieces in my opinion are those on contemporary Hungarian director Béla Tarr, American maverick Josef von Sternberg's ANATHAN (1953), Danish master Carl Theodor Dreyer's final film GERTRUD (1964), Orson Welles' OTHELLO (1952), French "New Wave" cypher Jacques Rivette, American independent director John Cassavetes, Orson Welles' documentary-essay films, Chilean-French surrealist Raoul Ruiz, Clint Eastwood's Charlie Parker bio-pic BIRD (1988), Samuel Fuller's last American film WHITE DOG (1982) and the Hollywood blacklist.

As you might guess from a few of these titles, Rosenbaum has a strong interest in politics and ethics, which shine through in the majority of his films. Movies are rarely if ever just dumb entertainment for him - and those who will appreciate this book are likely to have similar sentiments. Recommended with enthusiasm to anyone interested in any of these subjects at all; the author is a clear and thoughtful writer in almost all cases, and a provocative and entertaining one on many occasions.