I just started receiving my subscription of Film Comment which i didn't even know existed till i was reading Awake in the Dark: The Best of Roger Ebert Part 7 on film criticism he states that good film criticism is commonplace and "Film Comment" itself is healthier and more widely distributed than ever before. He also makes note to Film Quarterly, Cineaste, American Film, Fangoria, and Premiere. I do subscirbe to Fangoria as well and would recommend it to any horror lover. I was receiving Premiere but was informed it is no longer in publication and they sent me Us Weekly to fulfill my subscription (no thanks)Most people have heard of Entertainment Weekly and it's a good magazine i also subscribe it's nice to see how much the movies made and some of the articles but it's more of ew polls on "Which of Carries (sex and the city) boyfriends would you like to see return? type stuff. Also it is more mainstream stuff. Film Comment is a nice way to hear about some more obscure titles or smaller movies that are worth your viewing.
In the July/August issue i read a great piece on Klaus Kinski by Maitland Mcdonagh which is the reason I purchased the day after I read the article the Kinski and Herzog box set from Amazon, and it was a great worthwhile buy, I'd recommend to anybody.
The magazine gives a sampling of critics ratings as Entertainment Weekly does and also includes a page of international critics as well.
They also cover current mainstream and small titles at great length in their Screenings section.
In there home video section they have the left and the right columns chock full of worthy titles in categories from there top 10 recommended, followed by other notable recommendations, then cult corner, avant-garde, hot docs, foreign releases, of interest, remasters and special editions, and prime time releases. In the middle in between these pillars there are insightful reviews such as there directors cut pick, editors pick, underated pick, omnibus pick, cult pick, psychotronic pick, and nostalgia pick, WHAT A SELECTION!
The editors pick is Malpertuis with Orson Welles i had never heard of this obscure horror movie now I can't wait till this Tuesday for It's release.
There is tons of info on movie festivals from the larger scale to the local scene.
They also review and recommend books in there "in brief" section these aren't just new book reviews but book reviews relating to film, this august there reviews were from books on screen writing, Orson Welles, and one called the Cinematic.
All throughout there are current, in depth, and insightful articles on anything film from the past to whats significant now.
The magazine if anything will improve your overall vocabulary.
The one negative with Film Comment is the amount of money you are going to want to spend on all these great titles your hearing about.
Also when i ordered mine it was 40$ for the year and now it's only 25$. Twenty five bucks, that's you and your girlfriend going to the local crummy theater buying two tickets and sharing a small coke not to mention gas for one mainstream movie you probably won't like because your to annoyed by some obnoxious person who you are contemplating punching. So skip the movies this week and buy a subscription to a great film magazine which might point out a better movie at a festival with other people that like film and wont put their feet up on your chair and talk on their cell phones.
Leave your thoughts, always appreciated.
Thanks for reading.
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