Comments on: MovieFilter? Where can I find intelligent discussion about movies and t.v.?

Question: MovieFilter? Where can I find intelligent discussion about movies and t.v.?

callmejay — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 06:27:14 -0800

Where can I find intelligent writing or discussion about movies and t.v. shows?

When I'm done with a movie or show I enjoy, I want to read smart people writing about it. I'll often go home from the theater and read 3 or 4 reviews of the movie I just saw, but that doesn't quite hit the spot. I want analysis, I want tangents, I want recommendations for new material. Basically, I want MovieFilter.com and TVFilter.com, although personal blogs/sites are welcome too.

By: cider

cider — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 06:38:27 -0800

Television Without Pity is a great site, with intelligent analysis about TV shows. It can sometimes be a bit snarky, but generally, I've found the recappers to be on target and insightful.

By: hot soup girl

hot soup girl — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 06:56:02 -0800

Alan Sepinwall's What's Alan Watching column is my hands-down favourite source of writing about television—his episode analyses of Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Wire, BSG, Game of Thrones etc are the most satisfying I've found (I discovered him viaMeFi.)

The AV Club's TV reviews are also usually of a high standard.

By: msbubbaclees

msbubbaclees — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 06:56:03 -0800

The AV Club

By: litnerd

litnerd — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 07:08:27 -0800

For an insider's look, I really enjoy Ken Levine's blog. The comments are often just as smart and insightful as the blog content itself. This post, for instance, goes into a major deconstruction of a physical comedy scene out of Frasier.

By: phunniemee

phunniemee — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 07:22:05 -0800

I think The AV Club is kind of hit-or-miss based on which writer does the articles. For instance, the Breaking Bad analysis is really solid; the ones for Community sometimes sound like a guy writing his first paper for his first film analysis class in college. Their reality show reviews tend to be pretty decent, if you're into that, and sometimes hilarious. (If you watched Project Runway, you'll enjoy this one. I laughed the whole way through it. The poor owl!)

By: box

box — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 07:27:26 -0800

I sometimes like Tim Goodman's The Bastard Machine column. I also sometimes like Grantland's pop-culture writing better than their sportswriting.

And there's the MetaCooler.

By: Right On Red

Right On Red — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 07:31:41 -0800

I like the Filmspotting podcasts

By: John Cohen

John Cohen — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 08:04:49 -0800

Look up a specific episode on Wikipedia. (You can do this either by Googling the title of the episode, or by going to the Wikipedia page for a whole season and following the links.) Wikipedia will describe the reviews and link to them.

By: Iosephus

Iosephus — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 09:43:02 -0800

Jonathan Rosenbaum is extraordinary knowledgeable and his smarts about film art reach the level of wisdom sometimes.

Bright Lights Film Journal does what it says on the tin (i.e. erudite academic style journal on all matters filmic).

Sight and Sound is your typical "film magazine", in that they tend to cover stuff that rarely makes it out of the festival circuit, but they do it exceptionally well.

Slant are a pretty smart bunch of critics, and they like to watch everything under the sun too.

By: wondermouse

wondermouse — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 09:49:14 -0800

Seconding Television Without Pity. They've got good forums, too. They moderate them pretty strictly to keep discussions on topic and to stop people from bickering, and they frown upon poor typing styles and people posting stuff like "That was great LOL" without adding anything of substance to a thread. I like it.

By: Webbster

Webbster — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 10:06:45 -0800

Have you looked at the flagship wittertainment of Kermode and Mayo ?
Also have a look through You Tube for some previous Kermode reviews.

By: maudlin

maudlin — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 10:32:42 -0800

Seconding Ken Levine and Alan Sepinwall.

Also: John Rogers at Kung Fu Monkey. He's the show runner for Leverage, so there's abundant previews and production details about that show, but he has a vast archive on other topics as well. Plus, he's got a great blogroll. Plus plus, he gave us the Crazification Factor.

For a British perspective, there's the lovely Charlie Brooker. His current Guardian column is on a variety of topics, but they've kept his old Screen Burn archives available here.

By: yclipse

yclipse — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 13:12:15 -0800

In addition, Blogcritics.

By: Currer Belfry

Currer Belfry — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 13:57:59 -0800

Four of my favorite blogs (movies mostly, occasionally TV, great thoughts on other topics too):

Some Came Running, blog of former Premiere mag film critic Glenn Kenny

The Sheila Variations, deeply personal and erudite essays on all things cultural

Self Styled Siren, for a mordant look at Old Hollywood and beyond. Her comments section is fantastic: it's some of the best online conversation I've ever found.

Ferdy on Films: detailed looks at your favorite films (all eras) that you think no one else has ever heard of

When Mad Men is running, Wall Street Journal has a blogger who comments in depth the day after the newest episode. Worth a look.

By: spbmp

spbmp — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 19:53:19 -0800

Entertainment Weekly is quite good.

By: Ziggy500

Ziggy500 — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 08:50:15 -0800

I really like Pajiba.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 09:36:39 -0800

Todd Alcott isn't updating that much anymore ( he's making his own movie) but a trip through his archives is a very detailed and structured analysis of movie and tv scripts.

By: jpdoane

jpdoane — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 13:47:48 -0800

I've been listening to Filmspotting recently, and have really been enjoying it.

By: perpetual lurker

perpetual lurker — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:28:11 -0800

Cultural Learnings. From the about page:

Cultural Learnings, started in January 2007 by Myles McNutt, is a television blog with a focus on critical reviews and analysis of a wide range of television series. The goal is not to recap the events of the latest episode, but rather to place it within the context of the series, the season, its genre, and on occasion broad literary and cultural philosophies. While a fairly academic and analytical approach is generally employed, the subjects themselves are extremely diverse: from network to cable, Glee to Mad Men, science fiction to comedy, everything is both subject to criticism and, more importantly, open to interpretation.

By: dst

dst — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 16:09:29 -0800

Seconding Slant, especially The House Next Door. If you really really want to dive deep, take a look at their Conversations series, e.g. the recent one on Barry Lyndon. Breathtaking.

Matt Zoller Seitz is the force behind the aforementioned THND, but nowawdays he's Salon's TV critic. Unmissable.

Jim Emerson's Scanners is great.

The Mubi Notebook has a good, wide-ranging selection of both subjects and writers.

Kim Morgan's Sunset Gun is superb if your interests overlap with hers.

If you're watching movies from the Criterion Collection, do try The Criterion Contraception.

And last but not least you simply must read Observations on Film Art. It is hands down the best single online film publication. Erudite, understandable, filled with explanatory screenshots.

By: kostia

kostia — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:52:10 -0800

Alan Sepinwall and A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago.

By: jgirl

jgirl — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 18:40:26 -0800

I also love TWoP and post quite a bit. The Mad Men discussions are fabulous.

By: Sfving

Sfving — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:51:52 -0800

I'm really enjoying Splitsider, which is a sister site to The Awl, The Hairpin, and now The Wirecutter. Splitsider is really good at ridiculously comprehensive digs through the archives, like this.

By: sparrow89

sparrow89 — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:47:26 -0800

Tom and Lorenzo is primarily a fashion blog, but they do some cool recaps and analyses of a bunch of tv shows as well. (Look under the "Reality TV" and "Television" tabs).