Splicetoday

Moving Pictures
Nov 11, 2009, 06:20AM

Barry Levinson takes on Alessandra Stanley

The legendary filmmaker breaks the rules and takes a New York Times' Alessandra Stanley to task.

As I write this, I realize I am about to do something that, for the most part, is never done. I am going to criticize a critic. Filmmakers are never supposed to respond to a critic about their work. It's an unspoken rule of engagement. But in this case, I feel compelled.

Discussion
  • This was on target, and Levinson has no need to apologize. Stanley's long been an embarrassment to the Times--just look at the catalog of corrections the paper has made on her stories.

    Responses to this comment
  • Eh, this is a tepid rebuttal at best, a classic case of writing too much when precision and bluntness would have so much more effect (looking back at earlier pieces of my own, I wince at my heavy-handedness). The Cronkite quote pretty facetious, but to spend half of your blog post talking about that before getting to your actual point is bad argumentative writing. If, as a filmmaker you're going to cross some colossal threshold and confront the critic, at least have the patience to make sure your counterattack is as effective as possible.

    Responses to this comment

Register or Login to leave a comment