The San Francisco Film Critics Circle acknowledged with great sadness the passing of beloved film publicist Bill McLeod. He was a good friend to all, and will be dearly missed. An obituary of Mr. McLeod can be found here. Donations may be made in McLeod's name to the Myelodysplastic Syndromes Foundation, Hospice by the Bay, or a favorite charity of the donor's choice.

The San Francisco Film Critics Circle is proud to co-present a documentary by Gerald Peary, screening as part of the the 52nd San Francisco International Film Festival.

FOR THE LOVE OF MOVIES:
THE STORY OF AMERICAN FILM CRITICISM

Sundance Kabuki Cinemas
May 3 at 3:45pm
May 4 at 6:15pm

Pacific Film Archive
May 7 at 8:40pm

For tickets and information visit the
San Francisco Film Society or call 925-866-9559.

For a century, film critics have separated the wheat from the chaff and made the case for great films. But who will make the case for these bleary-eyed, ink-stained devotees?

Boston Phoenix film critic Gerald Peary sharply evaluates the history of critical-analytical writing on moving pictures in this stimulating tour through the rise, fall and reorientation of film criticism in the United States: Early silent-era plot summarizers give way to the daily newspaper reviewers of the '30s, replaced by auteur-theory debaters of the '60s, succeeded in turn by the alt-weekly thinkers of the '70s who, finally, face extinction via the past decade's upsurge in bloggers.

Peary's documentary begins by calling film criticism "a profession under siege," but this is no strident whine from a victim class. It's a smart look at key figures and how they've changed public consciousness of both the movies and criticism itself.

Peary prioritizes the wry over the dry, even giving legendary New York critic Andrew Sarris the opportunity to dish on his adversary Pauline Kael, who was not above gay-baiting her rival in the early stages of their rivalry. (His retort: "I took one look at Pauline, and she was not Katharine Hepburn.")

In addition to the iconic Sarris, interviewees include The New Republic's stately Stanley Kauffmann, self-starting phenom Harry Knowles (Ain't It Cool News), pop-and-academic theorist B. Ruby Rich, Boston Globe daily reviewer Wesley Morris, the Los Angeles Times' sometimes embattled Kenneth Turan and breakthrough newspaper-to-TV critic Roger Ebert.

Few opinions are shared, but all stand shoulder-to-shoulder on a broad and abiding love of film.

For more information about FOR THE LOVE OF MOVIES: THE STORY OF AMERICAN FILM CRITICISM visit http://fest09.sffs.org/films/film_details.php?id=32

- Susan Gerhard

© San Francisco Film Critics Circle