Must Read

I can't stop reading random Armond White essays and film reviews.  Here is one from 2005 on Smugness.  Check it:

At no time in my experience reading cultural journalism was there a period when the culture was as hostile as today. Awful movies are foisted upon the public through critics’ hypocritical confusion of bad taste and private interest. Propaganda for themselves. They automatically acclaim movies that align with their personal beliefs while shunning any intellectual challenge.

Conflict-of-interest duds—from The Squid and the Whale to Good Night, and Good Luck—represent boomer vanity; their implicit values denote the backed-up sewage of the ’60s counterculture’s self-importance. These are films only people who fancy themselves New York intellectuals could love. Such lousy movies and their critical praise signify an attempt to create a cultural consensus. One social set’s prejudices get validated based on the unexamined acceptance of particular class priorities. This hegemony is put into effect by pundits with no grace or humility, who assert their difference—their smartness—from the general public.

No one has written anything smarter or more honest about movies since I started film school. I don't agree with everything the guy says...but thank god he's out there working.