Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Amy Nicholson and Wade Major review this weekend’s new movie releases. We also talk about Rotten Tomatoes' recent move to include more diverse critics from varied platforms, and how this might influence critic qualifications.
FilmWeek: ‘Operation Finale,’ ‘Kin,’ ‘The Little Stranger’ and more
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Amy Nicholson and Wade Major review this weekend’s new movie releases.
" Operation Finale " in wide release
Listen to The Frame's interview with director Chris Weitz here .
" Kin " in wide release
" The Little Stranger " in select theatres (check local listings)
" Destination Wedding " at AMC Burbank Town Center & Laemmle’s Monica Film Center
" Ya Veremos " in select theatres (check local listings)
" Pick of the Litter " at Laemmle’s Royal Theater
" Let The Corpses Tan (Laissez Bronzer Les Cadavres!) " at Nuart Theatre
" Active Measures " at AMC Sunset
" John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection " at Laemmle’s Playhouse, Laemmle’s Royal Theatre, Laemmle’s Town Center, AMC Rolling Hills (Torrance) & Edwards Westpark (Irvine)
" An Actor Prepares " at Laemmle’s Music Hall
CRITICS' HITS
Amy: "Kin" & "The Little Stranger"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac5wrM2uYbk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASR04zW4K8w
Wade: "Pick of the Litter" & "John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW7GVR2c80k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_mOBXFtub0
MIXED FEELINGS
Amy: "Destination Wedding"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjXQzRWmb_I
Wade: "Operation Finale"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07Y4_6PD0Z4
MISSES
Amy: "An Actor Prepares"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyEV6FyJFcY
Wade: "Let The Corpses Tan (Laissez Bronzer Les Cadavres!)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONMbWj8u-RA
Guests:
Amy Nicholson , film critic for KPCC, film writer for The Guardian and host of the podcasts The Canon and Unspooled ; she tweets
Wade Major , film critic for KPCC and CineGods.com
Everyone’s a critic: Rotten Tomatoes revises reviewer criteria to foster inclusivity — how does it change what it means to be a film critic?
In an effort to include newer and more diverse critics from a wider array of platforms like YouTube and podcasts, Rotten Tomatoes announced earlier this week that it would be revising its criteria for what qualifies someone as a critic whose reviews could be considered in determining a film’s overall score on the site’s 1-100 percentage scale.
RT is considered by many to be a helpful tool in determining on which of the many films in movie theaters we’re going to spend our money. But some say that for as much influence as its “rotten” or “certified fresh” ratings carry with the moviegoing public, RT is cavalier with its definition of “critic” and that the way it compiles hundreds of reviews to churn out one score ignores importance nuance in the movies.
Earlier this year, a report USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found a 3.5 to 1 male to female ratio and other race and gender disparities among reviewers on RT after evaluating close to 20,000 reviews.
Larry Mantle and FilmWeek critics Amy Nicholson and Wade Major are joined by Rotten Tomatoes’ editor-in-chief Joel Meares to go over the revisions to RT’s critic criteria and talk about what it means for the diversity and inclusivity among critics and their platforms and, given RT’s significant influence on the public, whether and how it changes who qualifies to be a critic.
Guests:
Joel Meares , editor-in-chief of Rotten Tomatoes; he tweets
Amy Nicholson , film critic for KPCC, film writer for The Guardian and host of the podcasts The Canon and Unspooled ; she tweets
Wade Major , film critic for KPCC and CineGods.com
Claudia Puig, film critic for KPCC and president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association; she tweets