Arts Criticism 140 Characters At A Time
Forget about lengthy reviews that hold for opening night. Many of today’s most popular critics have emerged as 24/7 brands, tweeting instant reactions from the screening room as they simultaneously preside over debates on their websites and prepare to live blog the newest episode of “Boardwalk Empire.”
As the Internet integrates with TV via apps like GetGlue and systems like Xfinity, critics are enjoying unprecedented levels of access to readers and multimedia tools, but also facing greater competition and demands. As the demand for instant analysis skyrockets, does it undermine the thoughtful reflection that distinguishes the most meaningful critical essays or enhance the role? When everyone is a critic, how can the professionals set themselves apart? This panel will feature cultural critics across multiple disciplines, spotlight new challenges and successes in the social media age and highlight the opportunities that await critics in the future.
Presenters
Linda Holmes writes and edits NPR's entertainment and culture blog, Monkey See, and is the host of its roundtable podcast, Pop Culture Happy Hour. She has several elaborate theories involving pop culture and monkeys, all of which are available on request.
Linda began her professional life as an attorney. In time, however, her affection for writing, popular culture and the online universe eclipsed her legal ambitions, while her enthusiasm for footnotes and lawyers diminished.
She was a writer and editor at Television Without Pity, where she recapped several hundred hours of programming — including the first two High School Musical movies, for which she did not receive hazard pay. She has been at NPR, where she is the founding nerd of Monkey See, since 2008.
Linda's work has also appeared at Vulture, in TV Guide and in many, many uninteresting legal documents.
She lives in Takoma Park, Md., where she devotes herself to her scruffy friends, her lovely family, and pining for the frozen tundra of her former home state of Minnesota.
FILM CRIT HULK WAS CREATED IN A CHAOTIC LAB EXPERIMENT INVOLVING GAMMA RADIATION, TELEPODS, AND THE GHOST OF PAULINE KAEL. NOW HULK HAVE DEEP AND ABIDING LOVE OF CINEMA. HULK EVEN RECOGNIZE THE INHERENT VALUES OF POPULAR, NARRATIVE, AND EXPERIMENTAL STYLES! HULK ALSO LIKE OTHER THINGS! HULK'S DAY JOB INVOLVES REGULARLY SAVING THE THE WORLD FROM CERTAIN DOOM AND NOT ACCIDENTALLY SMASHING THE AVENGER INTERNS (THEY SO PUNY). NOW EMBARKING ON A CAREER AS A LEGIBLE WRITER FOR BADASS DIGEST, HULK DID Y'ALL A SOLID AND LEARNED SOME COPULAR VERBS. HULK SMASH AND SUCH!
Emily Nussbaum is the TV critic for The New Yorker. Previously, she worked at New York Magazine, where she created The Approval Matrix. She lives in Brooklyn.
James Poniewozik is television and media critic for Time magazine. He writes the Tuned In column for Time magazine and the Tuned In blog for time.com, covering the intersection of pop culture, society and politics. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Alex Iskold is the founder & CEO of GetGlue, the social network for entertainment. Alex has established GetGlue as the fast-growing leader in the space through partnerships with top networks, movie studios and other entertainment brands. Previously he worked as chief architect for Data Synapse and for IBM, which acquired his first start-up, Information Laboratory, in 2003. Alex holds an M.S. from New York University.
Sunday, March 11
