Film Critics are Meaningless

How else could you explain the fact that arguably the most acclaimed foreign film of 2008, no, it was not “Slumdog Millionaire,” only reaches Milwaukee four months after its theatrical release.

“It filled me with unadulterated joy” A.O. Scott, New York Times

French director Arnaud Desplechin’s “A Christmas Tale” filled film critic top ten lists and garnered the types of quotes (from legitimate film critics, not the ones living in their parents basement) that make film distributors salivate, but only played in about 30 US cities (14 of which were in California).

“A marvelously rich visual, intellectual and emotional experience” Andrew O’Hehir, Salon

We at Milwaukee Film are presenting “A Christmas Tale” on Monday, March 23 as the opening film of our six week film series “Monday Night at the Movies with Milwaukee Film.” Our exciting new partnership with Marcus Theatres made it possible for us to bring six award-winning, critically acclaimed U.S. and foreign films to Milwaukee. Each premiere film will be shown at North Shore Cinema located in Mequon, a Northern Milwaukee suburb, and admission for each is $10 with tickets available now at www.marcustheatres.com or at the North Shore Cinema box office 11700 N. Port Washington Rd., Mequon.

“Nothing could be more energizing, more captivating, more pure pleasure on screen than (this) passionate, evocative experience .“ Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times

We should be thankful in Milwaukee that at least our daily paper has its own film critic, Duane Dudek of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Many dailies around the country have laid-off their film critics and are now only publishing Associated Press reviews. In order for our film community to thrive it is vital that we have a quality film critic like Dudek who has access to the wide audience of a daily paper. The film events here are distinct from other cities and should only be covered from a local angle.