Film criticism is the comparison, analysis, interpretation, and/or evaluation of films.
There are two different types of publications that offer opinions about films: academic criticism by film scholars that appear in scholarly journals, and journalistic film reviews that appear in newspapers and other popular media. The film critic tries to understand why film works, how it works, and what effects it has on people; while the film reviewer looks a film's production values and general appeal.
Leading film critics include André Bazin, Rudolf Arnheim, Siegfried Kracauer, Sergei Eisenstein, Christian Metz, Robin Wood, François Truffaut, Laura Mulvey, David Bordwell, Kristin Thompson, Kaja Silverman, Susan Sontag, bell hooks, Mary Ann Doane, B. Ruby Rich, Jack Halberstam, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Andrew Sarris, Janet Staiger, Béla Balázs, Miriam Hansen, Peter Bogdanovich, Serge Daney, Jane Gaines, and Janet Walker.
Influential film reviewers include Janet Maslin, Richard Roeper, Emily Nussbaum, Joel Siegel, Manohla Dargis, Peter Travers, Jen Yamato, Karina Longworth, Claudia Puig, Judith Crist, Amy Taubin, Manny Farber, J. Hoberman, Molly Haskell, Justin Chang, Roger Ebert, Pauline Kael, Àlex Gorina, John Ivan Simon, and Barry Norman.
When searching for film criticism online, it may help to use “criticism” as a subject term along with the title of the work or author.
Access scholarly and popular information covering the spectrum of television and film studies. This collection includes articles on film & television theory, preservation & restoration, writing, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews. Coverage: 20th century to present. Full text.
Explore historical and recent journals, books and images in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, with some natural science coverage. Coverage: varies - historical up to 1-5 years from current date, contains primary sources. Full text.
Search for articles in the popular press (magazines, news magazines, general interest periodicals), on topics including art, business, computers, dance, drama, education, entertainment, fashion, film & television, food, health & medicine, history, literature, news & current events, photography, popular & classical music, politics, popular culture, religion, science, sports & fitness, transportation, and travel. Coverage: 1890-1982. Some full text.