In this morning’s roundup of movie news ‘n’ notes from around the web, documentaries are under attack, and critics bust the "Robin Hood" embargo.
Documentary director Ric Burns tells the New York Times that the recent court ruling ordering the director of “Crude” to turn over his footage to Chevron jeopardizes the trust that a filmmaker must gain with his sources, possibly endangers the art of documentary filmmaking, and “contributes to a general culture of contempt for investigative journalism.” Then Dave Itzkoff, who talked to Burns for that piece, turns around and interviews the most famous documentarian around, Michael Moore – who unsurprisingly has a similar take: “Obviously the ramifications of this go far beyond documentary films, if corporations are allowed to pry into a reporter’s notebook or into a television station’s newsroom.” (New York Times)
The more things change, the more they remain the same. Todd McCarthy is no longer working as the chief film critic for Variety, but he’s still jumping to review movies quickly in his new position at indieWIRE. Sunday brought his lukewarm review of Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood" (right), reviews of which were initially supposed to be embargoed until Wednesday “in respect for the Cannes Film Festival.” But the British magazine Empire broke the embargo, and the “we’ve gotta be first” brigade followed: Variety, the Hollywood Reporter, McCarthy … For the record, McCarthy thinks the movie is nothing special (“a fashionably gritty period drama, conceived by intelligent minds and handsomely decked out, but featuring no beating heart or compelling raison d’etre”), but at least it’s better than the Kevin Costner version. I guess that’s something. (indieWIRE)
Pete Hammond defends the art (or at least the importance) of film criticism against doomsayers who say it’s become irrelevant. After quoting the New York Times’ A.O. Scott’s lament – “Where once reasoned debate and knowledgeable evaluation flourished, there are now social networking and marketing algorithms and a nattering gaggle of bloggers" – Hammond insists that critics do matter, and as evidence point to the fact that most movie ads include quotes from critics (including, quite frequently, Hammond himself.) Which is true enough, although I’m afraid that a blurb that calls, say, “The Back-up Plan” “the perfect date movie!” says more about the critic than the movie … and what it says doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the future, or even the utility, of the job. (Boxoffice Magazine)
In Toronto, where they may be out of reach of the U.S. court ruling for now, a group of documentary filmmakers take home awards at the 2010 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, which announced its winners over the weekend. “A Film Unfinished,” which takes footage from an uncompleted Nazi propaganda film shot in the Warsaw Ghetto, won the $10,000 prize for best international film, while Laura Poitras’ “The Oath” won a $5,000 special jury award. Peter Knegt has the full list of winners. (indieWIRE)
John Horn talks to prospective buyers who’ve seen Casey Affleck’s documentary “I’m Still Here: The Lost Year of Joaquin Phoenix,” and the conclusion is that they have no idea whether it’s a true documentary or an elaborate piece of performance art. Apparently the film includes full-frontal male nudity, drug use, pretty repellent behavior from Phoenix and others … and Phoenix’s appearance on David Letterman. That’s entertainment. (24 Frames)
CORRECTION: The original version of this story reported that HitFix was among the outlets to break the embargo and run an early review of "Robin Hood." It did not.
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