David Fincher on Criticism and Embargoes ⇒

· Joanthan Poritsky

Great piece at Miami.com from Rene Redriguez, including statements from Fincher on the New Yorker/Dragon Tattoo debacle:

This is not about controlling the media. If people realized how much thought goes into deciding at what point can we allow our movie to be seen, they would understand.

Then there’s this:

Nothing against film criticism. I think film critics are really valuable. But the most valuable film critics are usually those people who come see a movie with their Blackberry and then text their friends ‘It sucked.’ or ‘It’s awesome. You should see it.’ You know what I mean?

This may open up that whole “does criticism matter” can of worms yet again, but Fincher is right, to a point. The keyword here is “valuable,” by which he means quantifiable. Film critics don’t really make a movie money anymore. He does not mean they are worthless, but that word of mouth gets butts in seats.