cinema HYPE

Questions by: Marc Ashed

Steven Rea is a movie critic that writes for the Philadelphia Inquirer and can be easily read off of philly.com.

Q: Do you have a certain criteria or checklist of sorts to review movies?

A: Not anything that's written in stone, or set in concrete. My response to a film remains to a large degree instinctive. If a movie works -- no matter what genre, or what the filmmakers set out to accomplish -- it works, and I try to articulate why. If it doesn't, it doesn't, and I try to articulate why as well.

Q: As a critic, do you see any correlation between money spent advertising and ticket revenue? Can a bad movie still make money due to the constant advertising?

A: Massive hype can make a difference with opening weekend box office, and opening weekends now count for so much of a film's ultimate take. But audiences can still sense a real stinker, no matter how aggressively it's being marketed to them.

Q:Do you feel that movies are beginning to incorporate more than just entertainment value and are now trying to persuade or spin their own messages (the way people say Avatar is a sort of protest against American military actions is an example)?

A: It's not a question of "now." Movies -- some movies -- have always pushed an agenda, subtlely or overtly. After all, there are people with ideas trying to express their passions and concerns, their politics and beliefs, in these films.

Q:You graduated with a degree in Creative Writing; how do you feel that your education has prepared you to write movie reviews?

A: I've been a film lover my entire life, took film classes in school, was a projectionist for the film society and just had the good luck to combine my two passions -- writing and film -- into a job.

Q: With advanced technology, it is much easier for independent film producers to make their movies; do you feel that the big movie companies are in danger?

A: Not in danger of going under, but in danger of only making movies on an epic scale -- big "event" pictures and sequels and remakes -- and losing the impetus to make movies on a more modest scale.

Q: Are there any movies on the horizon that you think will be big hits?

A: I think "Kick-Ass," opening this weekend, will do well, and it's a given that the next "Harry Potter" and "Iron Man 2" will be huge.

Q: What are your personal top 5 favorite movies?

A: It's difficult to answer that question -- I have a rotating list of favorite films. But certainly some at the top include "Sullivan's Travels," "The Wizard of Oz," "Citizen Kane" and "In a Lonely Place," and more recently "There Will Be Blood," "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" and "Goodbye Solo."