best-film

Never have I written a blog or column that generated as much response as the last one I wrote about the dark, violent preferences of both critics and Hollywood. Now it’s plain that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has the party line: The Academy Award nominations were announced on January 22 and, sure enough, the parade of darkness continues.

I have a message for both the mainstream film industry and its film critics: You have both lost all connection with film audiences.

Hollywood has seemingly decided that “quality” now equates with dark, violent and depressing; consequently, 2007 was one of the bleakest years ever for film distribution. To make matters worse, and to illustrate anew the fable of the emperor’s new clothes, film critics have fallen into lockstep with film distributors.