Notes From D.R. | Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene

The Wall Street Journal says a new film about anti-slavery activist William Wilberforce is being deceptively matrketed to Christians.

UPDATE: More from Rich Lowry and Stanley Crouch.

Jonah Goldberg on the likability factor in the ‘08 election.

A federal appeals court rules that suspected terrorists being held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba do not have the right to challenge their imprisonment in US courts. More from the New York Times.

Britain makes plans to leave Iraq. More from Jules Crittenden.

Are we witnessing the end of an era in terms of film criticism in the United States?

It’s hard to believe that only a half-decade ago, a report that a movie studio had decided not to screen a film in advance for critics would have been a deathblow for the film in question (remember Eddie Murphy’s Adventures of Pluto Nash?). Now, it seems that refusing to screen a film for critics is a badge of honor; in the last two years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of films opening at the top of the box-office charts, in some cases with record-breaking hauls, despite not being screened for reviewers beforehand.

How did this happen so quickly? I can still remember when a film being reviewed in Saturday’s newspaper was a lock not to finish in the weekend top ten. Now, a film being reviewed in Saturday’s newspaper is a lock to knock off the previous weekend’s top film.

It seems as though there is a deliberate attempt by the studios to phase out newspaper-based film criticism once and for all. One can envision a scenario in the very near future in which arts and entertainment sections of major newspapers never run reviews at all, only transcripts of press-junket interviews.

Film critics at America’s major newspapers have often been the best writers at those papers, superior in many ways to their respective op-ed rosters. The incipient demise of newspaper-based film criticism is a deep disappointment for those of us who value good writing.

Granted, the studios are not solely to blame for the slow phasing out of newspaper-based criticism. Some major critics have severely damaged their credibility, either by engaging in groupthink (witness the over-the-top denunciations of The Passion of the Christ in 2004) or indefensible silliness (such as former New York Times critic Elvis Mitchell’s odd habit of attacking movies for supposedly having insufficiently racially diverse casts). Trust is the film critic’s currency, and some prominent reviewers have been engaging in counterfeiting.

Nevertheless, the apparent phasing out of newspaper-based criticism is a lamentable development. The best film critics have inspired countless readers with their wit and command of the language. The move away from movie reviews in major newspapers is just another example of the dumbing down of America–a trend that cannot possibly have a happy ending.

Perhaps the executives at formerly conservative Boston talk station WRKO-AM should read this Ken Blackwell article about the failure of progressive talk radio.

Perhaps the executives at formerly conservative Boston talk station WRKO-AM should read this Ken Blackwell article about the failure of progressive talk radio.

Some "baby-mama drama" for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. More from the Boston Herald and Scott Allen Miller.

UPDATE: More from the Globe and Herald.

A blog for the non-blue in the Bay State.

The New York Times on the future of New Line Cinema.

Ghost Rider tops the charts. Meanwhile, Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls underperforms, though I’m not sure it’s for the reasons I predicted.

Senate Republicans put the kibosh on a resolution opposing President Bush’s efforts to win in Iraq. More from the New York Times, Power Line, the Washington Times, the Wall Street Journal, Jeff Jacoby and Politico.

UPDATE: More from the Washington Times, Human Events, Jewish World Review and Washington Post.

Secretary of State Condi Rice visits Iraq. More from Captain’s Quarters.

In a sad development, the US House of Representatives passes a symbolic measure expressing disapproval of President Bush’s efforts to secure victory in Iraq. More from the New York Times, Michelle Malkin, Power Line, the Washington Times, Hugh Hewitt, Captain’s Quarters, the Weekly Standard, Politico and Human Events.

The Washington Post profiles Michelle Malkin.