Quentin Falk on MovieScope, interviewed leading film-reviewers about the state of the Film Critic Industry – a must-read for all film-bloggers and anyone who writes about film:

While the distributors will gleefully appropriate those stars for their newspaper, poster or TV campaigns, there is at least some acknowledgment of their shortcoming. Duncan Clark, executive vice-president for international distribution at Universal Pictures, who spent years at the coalface of ad/pub promo for various European and Hollywood companies, describes them as an “inevitability. That instant soundbite-style gratification is just a sign of the times.

“It’s like when you sometimes get a mini-review, rather like a précis at the top of the review itself. If it’s poor then you probably won’t read any further. It’s a shame you’re effectively reducing things to just a thumbs-up or thumbs-down especially when there’s so much material that kind of slips into a greyer area than that.”

You can read the full article – a must-read for Film Bloggers – by clicking here

I do believe that everyone has an opinion on Art, but like any opinion, it has to backed up by experience. Film Critics watch countless films on a daily basis, whilst also pursuing their own interest in cinema and writing about the business itself multiple times on a weekly basis. My idea of heaven.

I would like to think that this credability is what will separate the men from the boys. Is blogging a hobby? Or are you going out of your way to refine and improve on your trade? Are you reading your contemporaries and your competition – are you learning from them?

I know I have on my Google Reader multiple critics – Derek Malcolm, Peter Bradshaw and Jason Solomons to name a few. These are people that, though I may disagree with, I whole-heartedly respect and it would be a tragedy if these writers became redundant – uder the asusmption that any opinion matters. Informed-opinion matters, passionate-opinion matters and, dare I say it, educated-opinion matters. And, if I am honest, I still feel I am a long way off ensuring that my opinion is of such a standard. But then, I hope I always think that even if I am working in the best-paid film-critic position in the world. I will always seek out more … and there will always be more.

All the other opinions, I may be interested in, but I don’t think you should be paid to give it.