What Should Red Carpet Coverage Look Like?

What Should Red Carpet Coverage Look Like?

Posted on January 8, 2018 at 9:10 pm

 

The New York Times, which broke the story about the abuse by Harvey Weinstein, is changing the way it reports on the red carpet at awards shows.

Red carpets have always been a clash of fame, sponsored content and super-cute shoes. The red carpet is where huge, powerful industries — celebrity, fashion, Hollywood, media, beauty, publicity — meet. Now that the curtain is finally being lifted on some of the grimy underbelly of Hollywood, we feel it’s more important than ever to not treat awards shows as silly things for silly people.

Given the enormity of our cultural reckoning in the last year with how women are treated in the workplace, on the internet and in Hollywood, we want to take a fresh look at how we cover this stuff. We have some plans about how to recognize the cultural moment — and would love to hear from readers about what you would like to see (and not see).

I’ll be very interested to see where this goes.  I don’t watch red carpet coverage (and won’t do it anymore myself) because it is so vapid.  I hope they ask people on the red carpet about why the projects were so important to them and what they hope people will think about what they see.  And that they give credit to the hard work of the designers they are wearing, too.

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Understanding Media and Pop Culture

New York Times: Best Movies Since 2000

Posted on June 11, 2017 at 1:56 pm

New York Times critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott have listed their favorite films of the 21st century so far, with some help from filmmakers Kathryn Bigelow, Guillermo del Toro, Ava DuVernay, Barry Jenkins, Richard Linklater, Robert Pattinson and Michelle Williams.  Like any such list/ranking, it is best seen as a conversation-starter and Netflix-queue refresher rather than any kind of canon.  Their list includes my favorite film of the 21st century (so far), “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” but also one of my least favorites, “Million Dollar Baby.”  I was glad to see “Inside Out” on the list, and “Inside Llewyn Davis” and the underrated Steven Spielberg film, “Munich.”  (And got a kick out of their admitted split over “A.I.” which provokes very mixed feelings in me.)  As always from these critics, it is fun to read and think about because of its thoughtful assessments, a rare chance for critics to take a more distanced look at some of their favorites.

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Critics For Your Netflix Queue Lists

One-Line Movies With the Year’s Best Actors

Posted on December 2, 2013 at 3:59 pm

The actors who created some of this year’s most intriguing performances each appear in a eleven original (very) short films directed by Oscar-winning cinematographer Janusz Kaminski.  The one-line scripts are from the year’s best screenwriters, from Lake Bell of “In a World” to Sarah Polley of “Stories We Tell” and Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg of “This is the End.”  Watch Oprah Winfrey, Michael B. Jordan, Bradley Cooper, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Robert Redford, Forest Whitaker, and more create a world in a moment.

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Actors Shorts

Decoding a Movie’s “Billing Block”

Posted on February 27, 2013 at 3:49 pm

What’s the difference between an executive producer and an associate producer?  Between screenwriters billed as “Smith and Jones” and “Smith & Jones?”  Which actors get an “and” or a “with” or an “as?”  What are all those “in association with” companies on the poster and in the credits?  The New York Times has a very handy guide to a movie’s “billing block,” dictated by an intricate intersection of individual and group contracts and MPAA rulings.

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Understanding Media and Pop Culture

Why Do Critics Hate Movies Audiences Love?

Posted on June 4, 2012 at 3:57 pm

David Carr and A.O. Scott had a lively discussion about the role of critics and whether they should lighten up a little bit when it comes to popular films.  It is well worth watching for anyone who is interested in movies, pop culture, or seeing smart people debate about something that matters to them.

 

Thanks to Adam for suggesting this!

 

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Critics
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