Above: the nearly five minute trailer for the new incarnation of At the Movies, starring A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips. Of note for the strenuous attempt to imprint the notion that this pair is all that those young, recently fired guys named Ben were not. Actual titles used on screen within the first minute of the trailer: “Two accomplished critics”; “Serious reviews”; “Serious journalists.” The trailer also allows Philips and Scott to casually run down their list of professional credentials, and then goes behind the scenes of a photo shoot producing a very serious promotional shot of the two critics sitting at a big shiny table. It’s all very, very serious. Which is awesome.
Karina, this could be you and Mike D’Angelo five/ten years from now!
“They’re the HIPPEST critics on the web!”
Karina: Mumblecore was never really a *airquotes* genre…
“They take no prisoners.”
Mike D: Basically, I give a film 40 minutes to wow me…
“But it’s all about the movies.”
Karina & Mike: “Can we at least agree that Antichrist sucks?”
[mutual, convivial laughter]
Not just “serious” critics, but “real” critics, too!
So they invited back Michael Phillips who was booted off a year ago. I wonder why Richard Roeper, Ebert’s one hand-picked choice to replace Gene Siskel, wasn’t invited back?