What’s missing from At The Movies 10 years after its final season?

At the Movies first aired on the ABC on 1 July 2004, with its final episode airing on 9 December 2014. Presented and designed by Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton, the programme first began co-presenting on SBS’s The Movie Show on 30 October 1986, beginning one of the most significant cultural collaborations in Australian film culture.

There is much for today’s readers to pause and ponder as we consider the significance of the program during this anniversary season.

The final episode of At the Movies brought with it a sense of the end of an era. Academic Huw Walmsley-Evans is worried this could be the last picture show:

The Australian public need and want intelligent, entertaining and accessible film criticism discussions. It would be a much higher tribute to Margaret and David if we gave someone else the chance to provide that.

Critic Luke Buckmaster I saw Margaret and David retire It “symbolically marks the end of the golden age of traditional film criticism in Australia.”

Thanks to the internet, there is no shortage of information about movies or taste judgments about moving images these days. However, diversity of perspectives it doesn’t always work.

We have access to less and less; well-executed, fun and accessible cultural mediation

Beyond summary judgment

It was in the cinema There is no shortage of criticsReviews, especially on television, are often seen as poor criticism when compared to the respectable reviews found in film magazines and essays.

It is true that any publication review faces a fairly limited format and too much emphasis is often placed on the story summary. Also, because of the way publicity works, information about the actors and directors is vital.

The traditional idea that reviews are written for consumers tends to lead to a loud summary judgment of the sort seen on posters.

But Margaret and David did not always follow a general or typical review pattern.

During the ten years of At The Movies, seven movies Movies that both received five stars from Margaret and David: Brokeback Mountain (2005); Good Night, and Good Luck (2005); No Country for Old Men (2007); Samson and Delilah (2009); A Separation (2011); Love (2012); and Bird Man (2014).

These seven reviews offer a glimpse into Margaret and David’s reviewing style, a style they can use in a fun way. expand and overturn.

None of these reviews are driven by summary judgments. Instead, they tend to be descriptive and designed to engage the viewer with the film through a summary of the story, context, or some aspect of critical reception.

The pattern is roughly like this: summary the main story and the main complications, claim A claim has been made regarding the value of the film. The claim is a Elaboration It is full of observational information about the craft of film performance, dialogue, direction, screenplay, cinematography, editing or music.

For more free-flowing discussion and exchange of ideas, explanations are moved to the improv section.

The summary is presented through clips from the films, and the claim is presented to the camera with a sense of judgment: a sense that this is a measured testimony of what was seen and heard, what they think the audience will gain from it, and an analysis of how well the film was “made” or “made.”

This structure creates a deliberate approach that is a hallmark of many At the Movies reviews. As Margaret puts it, Brokeback Mountain is “a brilliant film made by Ang Lee, who can bring such authenticity to his films despite the wide range of genres and cultures he explores.”

Lee “made all the right choices,” while Margaret said “every shot meant something.”

Margaret says that for Good Night, and Good Luck, “there’s nothing monochromatic about (director George) Clooney’s passion for his subject or the importance of his message,” but that “the way he approaches the subject matter” is the main point being fleshed out.

“For me, it’s one of the greatest films this country has ever produced,” Margaret says of Samson & Delilah, “superbly made, full of discipline.”

Margaret and David’s final review, written together, called Birdman “wonderfully directed, magnificently acted by a magnificent cast”. Margaret said the film was “really beautifully written, magnificently acted and magnificently made”.

Logos, pathos and ethos

We are looking at a detailed and deliberative chain of argument or reasoning, not at reviews guided solely by summative judgment. Besides logos, the appeal to reason or logic, other terms from classical rhetoric, provide useful analytical tools.

The pathos or feeling (often expressed as “moved”) expressed in a review will often depend on the claim and the way the film is made and the feelings it evokes in the reviewer.

Ethos, integrity of character, becomes the key to understanding the logic of criticism, but it is removed from the critics and made into a matter of filmmaking and the treatment of the audience.

There are exceptions, and there are cases where contempt is offered instead of praise, where Margaret and David break away from the gentle version and give harsh, open criticism.

This is usually reserved for a film that doesn’t do things well or treats its audience poorly. Even in these cases, there’s usually some appeal to open-mindedness and a sense that the presenters are there to look out for the audience’s best interests.

The dynamic between Margaret and David was essential to what made the programme enjoyable. But beyond the interest in the friction of their on-screen partnership, we should also focus on their love of cinema, the valuable work they do as informed cultural mediators, and ask how this is being supported today.

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This article is based on the author’s book At the Movies, Film Reviewing, and Screenwriting: Selective Affinities and Cultural Mediation, to be published by Intellect Press.