New York Times writer A.O. Scott has officially stepped aside as the publication’s long-serving film critic (1999-2023). He’s now going to be a book reviewer for the newspaper.
Scott’s farewell essay, published this morning, reads like a well thought out obit for the art form, at least the one we once knew.
The more you read Scott’s piece, the more you come to realize that he just had enough at the direction movies were headed in. Here’s an excerpt where he tackles today’s toxic cultural fandom:
I’m not a fan of modern fandom. This isn’t only because I’ve been swarmed on Twitter by angry devotees of Marvel and DC and (more recently) Top Gun: Maverick and Everything Everywhere All at Once. It’s more that the behavior of these social media hordes represents an anti-democratic, anti-intellectual mind-set that is harmful to the cause of art and antithetical to the spirit of movies. Fan culture is rooted in conformity, obedience, group identity and mob behavior, and its rise mirrors and models the spread of intolerant, authoritarian, aggressive tendencies in our politics and our communal life.
Scott is exiting maybe the most prestigious film critic job in the country. His decision to shift into book reviewing was announced last month. That basically leaves the NYT with Manhola Dargis and whoever Scott’s replacement will be.
So, who replaces Scott? Times contributors Wesley Morris or Glenn Kenny? Dargis could just take over as chief film critic but NYT would still need a second fiddle.
There are rumors that Morris may not want the job, as he allegedly prefers being a critic-at-large. That leaves us with Kenny or a newly hired outsider. I don’t, for a second, believe the job will go to a white male, sorry Glenn — it is more likely the Times see this as an opportunity to make “history,” maybe an all female duo or the first POC chief film critic.
Some of the noteworthy film critics the NYT have employed over the last 5 decades include Vincent Canby, Bosley Crowther, Dave Kehr, J. Hoberman Elvis Mitchell and Janet Maslin.
Tim Blake Nelson has been making films for thirty years and hasn't directed a narrative feature in more than ten. "The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd," is the best thing he's done since "The Grey Zone.”