I’m having trouble locating reliable and entertaining film reviews.
I used to read Roger Ebert (online), not because I usually agreed with his assessments (I often didn’t) but because a) his writing was always top-notch, entertaining, and informative; and b) he respected all movies for what they were trying to be rather than what he thought they should be.
My other go-to reviewer in the olden days (2000-2010, roughly) was Jack Garner, but he’s long since retired and just passed away last month.
I occasionally read James Beardinelli, and I still respect his analyses, but he’s pretty dry as a writer.
Neither my local paper nor the USA Today reliably publish film reviews anymore, so it’d be nice to find a reviewer with an online presence separate from any paywalls.
The A.V. Club still has a good staff of film reviewers even if the rest of the site has gone downhill ever since an ownership change a few years ago. Ignatiy Vishnevetsky is particularly good IMO. If you’re looking for entertaining reviews of bad movies as much as timely reviews of good ones, Nathan Rabin is a former A.V. Club writer who now has his own site where he reviews a lot of bad and forgotten films, especially schlock from the '80s and '90s.
A.V. Club is a good thought. Do they parcel out each film to a different reviewer, or do all the reviewers operate independently? I’d prefer a single consistent voice to follow over a whole stable.
I’ve not much interest in reading reviews of bad films, unless they’re new releases I’d otherwise be interested in.
Well, I’m interested in cleverly-worded reviews, even if they’re for movies that I’ll then know to avoid. So bring on the insightful reviews, because I’ve been feeling the same lack that the OP has.
I’ve always liked Mark Kermode who does reviews for The Guardian and is the BBC’s most prominent film critic. He really knows his stuff, and isn’t too pious about dumb films. If they are fun to watch he will call it.
He’s more interesting to listen to than to read though…
EDIT: part of it is that he seems to share similar tastes to me. That’s a useful thing to find when looking for a reviewer.