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 Christopher Null has written an honest, clear and thorough guide to becoming a film critic. Null is incredibly forthright in his details for those aspiring to join the ranks of film critics; their numbers are few. However, he leads his readers through the line of thought that would bring someone to deciding to write film criticisms.
Reviewed by Elizabeth King-Humphries
Five Stars! How to Become a Film Critic, the World’s Greatest Job
By Christopher Null
Sutro Press / $24.99 ISBN: 0-9720981-1-9
256 pp.
Christopher Null has written an honest, clear and thorough guide to becoming a film critic. Null is incredibly forthright in his details for those aspiring to join the ranks of film critics; their numbers are few. However, he leads his readers through the line of thought that would bring someone to deciding to write film criticisms. This book is dedicated to “the filmcritic.com gang,” generally Null’s audience. A professional reviewer since 1992, filmcritic.com was cyber-launched in 1995 and has garnered a loyal following. Null has obviously written more than a few reviews since his first movie review. Null is also the author of Half Mast: A Novel.
Null sets the brisk pace in this nonfiction book by laying out what the market is and how much groundwork is required to become a film critic. One of Null’s points is that you need to know the history of cinema to build on that base; one cannot review The Empire Strikes Back without seeing Star Wars, for instance. Null sets out, in one of his chapters, to lead the uninitiated through a brief history of cinema—but in such a way that even those with some background in film history will also learn a thing or two. He instructs how someone can learn about cinema, especially in theses days of DVDs-by-mail rental services. Even more helpfully, His appendix to the book lists 300 must-see movies for the aspiring critic.
Along the way, Null dispenses one of the biggest rules of criticism: even when it’s bad, there is something worthwhile to discuss. This is how he brings a reader into the nuts and bolts of a movie: what are the elements of production and pre- or post-production? How might these elements influence a movie? Null gives the aspiring critic lists of questions to ask while watching a movie, but continues to remind his readers that “A film is a collection of elements both good and bad, but ultimately it is a single entity that should be considered as a whole instead of just a bunch of parts.” And one thing, while a critic is contemplating the whole of the parts, is whether, overall, the critic can recommend an audience spends the money to see the movie. After all, at the end of the day, isn’t that what a critic does? To let us know whether or not it’s worth the price of a ticket?
Null delves into the actors and their impact (or lack thereof) in a movie, including the different acting techniques and the role of the script.
Null, in a friendly, firm voice, brings his readers through the different elements that will direct a beginning or freelance critic to find their own audience: how to put the pieces together and write a first review; how to get such a review published; starting a Web site; and critic etiquette. Meanwhile, he dissects other reviews (including his own), showing the aspiring writer a thing or two about building a critique.
Null writes about other areas of interest to the critic, an intriguing chapter entitled “Handling Your Own Criticism” opens the window into how a critic deals with readers who may disagree with a review. Mail in the vein of “Why don’t you try and make a better movie!?” Interestingly, Null and another reviewer, Jeremiah Kipp, hold a dialogue about some of the more irate readers…but their even-handed and patient responses underline that Null is devoted to the cause of criticism.
Five Stars is so well-written and organized that, even though my aspirations lead me elsewhere, Null has me convinced that I might be one of the few able to make a living as a film critic. But along the way, I kind of felt that I didn’t need to go there, since Null is a noble gatekeeper for those wanting to see the movies, as well as those wanting to critique, as he does.
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