I don't often recommend movie reviews, but i sincerely recommend that people check out Ann Hornaday's review of This Is the End in yesterday's Washington Post. This is not so much about the quality of the review but rather its value in explaining why audiences don't value the opinions of movie critics. Yes, Hornaday is a better writer than some of her Post colleagues such as "Celebritologist" Jen Chaney, but so is my pet guppy. There's no excuse for sentences like Hornaday's following assault on sensible English.
"As both homage and sendup, it presents viewers with the ultra-meta image of a comedy genre eating its own tail."
A reference to something "eating its own tail" is dangerous ground for any film critic, as it's an area of writing whose practitioners frequently flirt with doing just that. There are exceptions to be sure. The writing of the late Roger Ebert and Pauline Kael, as well as the very much living Peter Travers, displays an understanding that the movie and the audience are the thing - not the critic. That bit of self awareness seems lost on Hornaday. Where a good critic's writing rewards the reader with insight as to whether a movie is worth their effort, Hornaday's is simply an effort without the reward.
