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Changing the dialogue: How digital creators are reshaping film criticism

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Changing the dialogue: How digital creators are reshaping film criticism

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Changing the Dialogue:
How Digital Creators are Reshaping Film Criticism
Rosemarie Alejandrino
Specialized Journalism, The Arts
Master of the Arts
University of Southern California
USC Graduate School
May 2018

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ……… 3
Abstract ……… 4
Project Introduction ……… 5
Article Introduction ……… 7
Critics’ Short Biographies ……… 10
Critic Q&As ……… 11
Critics’ Long Biographies ……… 30
Bibliography ……… 34

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank my thesis committee — Sasha Anawalt, Laura Davis, and Tim Page
— for their support and guidance throughout this process.
I would also like to acknowledge the team at Rotten Tomatoes for giving me the
resources necessary to complete this project, specifically Jeff Voris, Julió de Oliveira, Jenny
Jediny, Tim Ryan, Yerania Sanchez, and Hañalina Lucero-Colin.
And finally: to Charisse Celestial, Krista Kurisaki, Joshua Bote, and Katrina Grace
Guzman Sadang for staying online.

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ABSTRACT
Since the premiere of Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel’s movie review talk show At the
Movies in 1982, film critics have pondered what the future of film criticism could look like
beyond print and text publications and trade journals. In the digital age, the rise of online review
aggregators — such as Rotten Tomatoes — has once again brought the question of what the
future of film criticism could be to the forefront. This longform article, written as in the
inaugural year of the USC Annenberg-Rotten Tomatoes Digital Innovatioon and Entertainment
Criticism Fellowship, explores the future of film criticism through interviews with eight video
and podcast critics who are changing what criticism means in the digital age.

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PROJECT INTRODUCTION
When Frances McDormand accepted her Academy Award for Best Actress at the 90th
Academy Awards, very few people were surprised. She had dominated the preceding awards
season by racking up multiple accolades for her role Mildred Hayes in the controversial 2017
film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. But what was shocking to most viewers that
night was her impassioned acceptance speech, at the end of which she uttered the phrase that
launched billions of search engines: “inclusion rider.”
The inclusion rider, a term coined by University of Southern California professor Stacy
Smith, is a clause that is added to an actor’s contract to ensure certain levels of diversity when
casting and hiring crew for any of their upcoming projects. Just weeks later, at the time of
writing this introduction, many actors and studios have pledged to adopt inclusion riders into
their contracts, marking a hopeful — and long overdue — shift in the culture of Hollywood and
filmmaking at large.
These reactionary measures within the film industry should also be mirrored in the
criticism of the craft of filmmaking itself. As the inaugural USC Annenberg-Rotten Tomatoes
Digital Innovation and Entertainment Criticism Fellow, I had the privilege of working within
Rotten Tomatoes, a company that is both praised and criticized for playing a vital role in the way
we critique and watch movies in the digital age. As part of my fellowship, I aimed to explore the
future of film criticism as it exists online through longform video and podcast audio, pinpointing
critics that were not previously on Rotten Tomatoes’ radar and exploring why the criticism
they’re producing is different from what is quantifiable by the Tomatometer score.
As someone who has always been tapped into the culture of the internet — from growing,
obvious trends to pulsing online undercurrents — I took it upon myself to find eight new voices
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to profile on RottenTomatoes.com that represent a range of perspectives, styles, and approaches
to film criticism. From longform video essays to comedy podcasts, these creators are taking the
act of discussing film and putting those discussions into action by connecting with their online
audiences. These burgeoning forms of criticism also give an opportunity for new, diverse voices
to be heard. Platforms like YouTube and podcast networks have allowed for previously unheard
voices to be amplified, making strides at leveling the playing field of the white male-dominated
film criticism sphere.
Over the last eight months, I not only interviewed the critics featured in the following
article, but also worked closely with the team at Rotten Tomatoes to use their connections and
resources to produce the piece. Even up until the final days before publication — where I worked
with the social media team to strategize a distribution plan for the article across the various
Rotten Tomatoes social platforms — the team at Rotten Tomatoes acted as an invaluable
research for this project.
The following is the longform article that I reported, researched, wrote, and produced for
Rotten Tomatoes. It is the first editorial content of its kind of the Rotten Tomatoes website, and
hopes to mark a shift in the ways we look at film criticism, data, and internet culture at large.
Throughout the process of reporting, it felt like I was receiving a crash course in the film
industry while charting out the new frontier. And to be working in Hollywood at a time when so
much social change is erupting in both the art form itself and the industries that surround it is an
unparalleled experience.

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ARTICLE INTRODUCTION
Film criticism died at the birth of television.
At least, that’s what former Time movie critic and editor-in-chief of Film Comment
Richard Corliss said in his 1990 column: “All Thumbs: Or, Is There a Future for Film
Criticism?” The cause of his concern? Two new, flashy television personalities he felt were the
disintegration of the pure, academic, poetic form of written film criticism — Roger Ebert and
Gene Siskel.
That’s right. The guys who so many movie fans consider the kings of rejuvenating film
criticism for the visual age got backlash from “traditional” written critics. It’s kind of funny to
think that now — eight years after the show, featuring different hosts, went off the air — the
rapidly changing digital media space might have Corliss begging for the days of At the Movies.
Now, the question of “All Thumbs?” has become “Fresh or Rotten?,” “What’s Trending?,” or a
combination of those and more, caused by the onslaught of online opinion, analysis and, yes,
aggregation. Just as the ways we consume media have changed drastically in the last few
decades, so have the ways to produce thoughtful criticism about the media we consume.
Across multimedia platforms — particularly online video and podcasts — a new class of
critics has arisen, made up of people who view the world of film and entertainment criticism
through a digital lens. This new breed of content creators isn’t looking to compete with
traditional print critics; in fact, they exist side-by-side in the same cinesphere, often using written
reviews as a jumping off point for their discussions.
Where these video and audio critics are taking us represents an exciting chapter in the
evolving narrative of film criticism. The ability to pause and zoom allows a crafty YouTuber to
dive into a scene’s shot construction in minute detail. Access to streaming services lets a critic
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watch a movie over and over as to not miss a detail while dissecting the plot for easter eggs and
hidden gems. The rise in podcasts and longform audio platforms connects the critic to the listener
in an intimate setting, as if you’re listening in on a conversation between friends love (or hate) a
film as much as you do.
The key culture-shifting component of new media film criticism is the critics’
relationship with their audience. A critic’s specific interests and the cult of personality
sometimes surrounding them fosters a special, kinetic of fan-to-critic relationship, one that takes
critical opinion off the page and into an ongoing sphere of discourse. Are interested in taking a
revisionist look at classic Disney animated films? Passionate about fair representations of race
and gender in films? Curious to see what your favorite director’s might reveal about their next
film after having a glass or two of champagne? There’s probably somebody out there who shares
the same interests, no matter how niche or off-kilter. It’s just a matter of finding a voice that
speaks to you.
According to a survey we conducted on YouTube of users on Rotten Tomatoes and
Fandango channels, people overwhelmingly preferred movie-related video content over audio or
text. (This is a result you might expect, given the medium on which the survey was conducted).
But when asked where they preferred to get movie recommendations, an overwhelming majority
of respondents selected friends and family (60%) over video reviews (11%). It’s possible that the
audience for video — and subsequently, longform audio — is seeking film content that dives
deeper than reviews and recommendation, and aims to start and extend the conversation in new
ways.

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Survey was conducted from 10/11/17-10/17/17 across Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango YouTube
channels.
So what do those conversations look and sound like? We spoke to a variety of new media
critics who produce thoughtful and thought-provoking content, strengthened by their distinct
visual and tonal styles and unique points of view. We asked about their own roles in creating
conversations around film, their relationships with their audiences, and whether or not they
identify as critics at all. We thought it would be best to let the critics speak for themselves — that
is, in fact, what they’re known for.

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CRITICS’ SHORT BIOGRAPHIES
HAZEL HAYES is a writer, director, and filmmaker who is best known for her
YouTube series “Tipsy Talk” in which she interviews actors, directors, and filmmakers over a
drink or two.
CHRIS STUCKMANN is a YouTube movie reviewer with over 1.2 million subscribers.
He is the author of The Film Buff’s Bucket List: The 50 Movies of the 2000s to See Before You
Die. He is a Tomatometer-approved critic.
CINEMASINS is a YouTube channel created by Chris Atkinson and Jeremy Scott. The
channel has amassed over 2 billion views and is best known for their “Everything Wrong
With…” series in which they point out the “sins” in popular movies.
LINDSAY ELLIS is a video essayist who takes weighty, academic concepts from film
studies and applies them to popular movies in order to place them within a larger cultural
context.
BLACK MEN CAN’T JUMP (IN HOLLYWOOD) is a podcast hosted by comedians
Jonathan Braylock, James III, and Jerah Milligan, where they review films featuring leading
actors of color in the context of Hollywood’s race issue.
HISTORY BUFFS is a YouTube channel in which host and creator Nick Hodges
reviews popular films based on their historical accuracy.
ALACHIA QUEEN is a YouTube film critic who uses her reviews to start a dialogue
about larger social issues. She is a Tomatometer-approved critic.
THE WORST IDEA OF ALL TIME PODCAST is a film review podcast where
comedians Tim Batt and Guy Montgomery review the same film every week for an entire year.

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QUESTION #1 — DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF A CRITIC?
HAZEL HAYES
I don't know that I would call myself a critic. I'd say I'm a very active audience member.
It's not what I do for a living; it's just something that I enjoy. I love watching films and analyzing
them. I do the same with every book I read, and every story I hear. I've always done that, it's just
now I have a platform where people listen to me do it.
The kinds of things that I talk about on my channel, or the kinds of reviews that I'll post
on Twitter are things that I would be chatting to my friends about anyway. It just so happens that
there's a lot of people willing to listen.
CHRIS STUCKMANN
It's strange. Because on paper, I technically am. I talk critically about film and I guess if
you were to define a critic the way they have been defined in the past, that's technically what I
do.
But the definition of critic nowadays comes with all this baggage. People say, “You're
just someone who complains about movies because you can't be a filmmaker, which is what you
really want to do!” I guess I don't consider myself that definition of a film critic. One of my
goals is to present myself as a film lover.
CINEMASINS
CHRIS ATKINSON: We don't consider ourselves critics. We really just take movies and
we are purposefully super nit-picky for comic purposes. I guess there is an element of some
seriousness to it, but not much. We are not trying to be Ebert and we are not trying to be Peter
Travers or anybody like that. We are just trying to entertain people.

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LINDSAY ELLIS
I would prefer the title ‘video essayist’ to a critic. A critic’s job is to evaluate a film and
recommend it to a consumer. What I do is talk about movies that the audience has presumably
already seen and try to put them in context.
Ultimately, it is about putting media in a cultural context, asking questions about what
that says about us, about like our culture, about our history. That's what I am here for.
BLACK MEN CAN’T JUMP
JONATHAN BRAYLOCK: We definitely critique movies, so in that sense we are critics.
We just critique them on a different metric than most critics do. Most critics come in and they're
judging it based on some idea of meritocracy. And we'll talk about that stuff too, but for the most
part we're looking at how is this movie defining culture, and how is this movie establishing a
precedent for actors of color.
How is it capitulating the stereotype? Is it making some sort of satire on, or some point
about how America — and I guess the world — sees actors of color? What are the stories they're
telling?
HISTORY BUFFS
I do. I'm telling people whether I think that this is a good film or not, based on how much
of an effort the filmmakers made in bringing this time period to life. But I'm different from other
film critics in that I don't tend to focus on the craft of filmmaking so much. I don't focus on the
cinematography, or the score. I focus mainly on the history, and that’s what I'm known for.
ALACHIA QUEEN
I actually don't really consider myself a critic. I think that you kind of have to accept that
label, though, when you rate movies. I certainly never try to claim that I have any film expertise,
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and I certainly don't consider myself a connoisseur of films. Those ratings are actually really
based off of the way that I personally felt about the film.
I think that there needed to be a voice that was more of the people who think, “Whether
or not it's good or not — how does this movie make me feel? And why do I like it?”
THE WORST IDEA OF ALL TIME
GUY MONTGOMERY: No. We are idiots. I would definitely put my credentials as
‘idiot’ first, and then several other things I'm okay at, and then critic.
TIM BATT: Here's the order: idiot first, New Zealander second and always, and
comedian third.

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QUESTION #2 — WHY DO YOU THINK YOU’VE GAINED AN AUDIENCE?
HAZEL HAYES
I think people come to my channel for me, not necessarily the content itself. There's such
a mixed bag of content on my channel. There's everything from Tipsy Talk, to film essays, to
silly games with my friends, to vlogs on very serious topics, to film sketches, and whatnot. They
seem to kind of be the same people coming back, time and again, who are just incredibly
supportive of me and of my journey. They genuinely want to see me do well, and do things off
the platform, as well, which is really nice.
What I wanted to do, from day one, is just make things that I'm interested in, and make
things that I think my audience are gonna be interested in, too. For that reason, the audience that
I built is quite loyal. They know I'm not trying to bullshit them; they know I'm not trying to make
content just for the sake of it.
CHRIS STUCKMANN
I think people can tell that movies are a huge part of my life. They mean something to
me, and I think that comes through with the videos.
A great example is my Shawshank Redemption video. Everyone loves the Shawshank
Redemption. With a film like that, me just sitting in my office saying “Yeah, I love it too,” seems
like such a boring video to me. Then I realized that the set was only an hour or two away from
my house. They were — gratefully — very into me filming there. When I have an opportunity to
do something like that, that's important to me. Visiting all those sets meant something to me. I
would've done that just for myself. So if you really do have a passion for something, people can
really tell.

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CINEMASINS
CHRIS ATKINSON: We certainly have a core of a very large group of dedicated fans. I
think that a lot of our fans are people like us, who love movies and love finding little things to
nitpick in the movies — even their favorites. For instance, I am a huge fan of Back to the Future,
and I have watched that movie literally hundreds of times. But as much as I love Back to the
Future, every time I watch it, there are things about it that keep cropping up that make me think,
‘Oh, wow. That is kind of not so great,’ but I just let it go, because the movie itself is so great
overall. There is a lot of those types of people out there, who obsess over those kinds of details
and they do it in every movie — not just their favorite ones — but in every movie that they have
watched.
JEREMY SCOTT: The loudest voices that dislike us seem to come from either the film
industry itself, like a director or a longtime professional movie critic, who has either reviewed on
television or print. I think that is perfectly natural, because we come along and we are cracking
jokes, not taking it as seriously as they have taken their craft for probably decades. And we get
millions of subscribers while they still get the same numbers of readers of their review or their
newspaper review. They are not really getting the recognition that they probably deserve.
LINDSAY ELLIS
Humans are naturally curious creatures. They want to think more deeply — well, some of
them. Film writing, however, has always been a little inaccessible, especially because academic
writing can be really hard to wade through.

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For me, there have always been ways to make all or part of my living using online video,
mostly to talk about movies. But it is only within the last couple years that I feel like this genre
of longform film criticism is gaining popularity. I feel like I am contributing to a new form.
BLACK MEN CAN’T JUMP
JONATHAN BRAYLOCK: Our intent with this podcast was to really try to figure out
why these trends happen in films starring people of color, note trends that people hadn't noticed
before, and point out things that go over your head that you’re not thinking about when you're
watching the movie.
We know that we are affecting change, but I do think that we're only gonna affect change
with people who are willing to listen to us in the first place, so that's gonna be somewhat limited.
We're just probably not gonna have people who are ardent Trump supporters, who are mad about
a Black Stormtrooper — they're not gonna listen to our podcast.
HISTORY BUFFS
I've been extremely thrilled with the community I've had. They're unbelievably
supportive and understanding, and unlike any YouTube audience that you think you know about.
My channel breaks a lot of taboos; one of them is uploading frequently. I upload once a month,
or once every six weeks. The usual rule is that if you do that, your channel is dead. But that
hasn't been the case, at all. I go off for like four weeks, to five, to six, and yet they're always
there waiting for me when I come back.
They don't complain about it, because they know that the longer I spend on the video, the
more time I have with it, and hopefully the better piece of content I will take out.
ALACHIA QUEEN
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My audience knows I'm going to be 100% honest about how I feel about a film, and not
going with the tide of what other critics are thinking or what the popular audience thinks. So, if
everybody is raving about a film but I didn't like it, I'm not going to just rave about it because
everyone else is. I'm very true to how I feel about a film and I enjoy talking about that.
THE WORST IDEA OF ALL TIME
GUY MONTGOMERY: There's a weird appeal. People find it good company if you're
through something challenging. Because the podcast is essentially us locking ourselves in a self-
imposed torture chamber, we give permission to the audience to relish in our madness and
discomfort. A lot of the messages we get will be, “Well, I was going through something tough,
but I listen to the podcast and say to myself — at least it's not that.”
TIM BATT: Beyond that, people genuinely do gravitate towards the fact that Guy and I
are very obviously good mates, and that comes across on the podcast. We're good mates to the
point where we have the ability to really get on each other's case. If one of us if feeling
particularly sensitive one week, the other one will exploit that. And that requires quite a close
relationship to be able to get away with that. And people will always enjoy that level of
friendship, I think.

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QUESTION #3 — HOW DO YOU THINK ONLINE PLATFORMS, LIKE SOCIAL
MEDIA, HAVE IMPACTED FILM CRITICISM AND THE FILM INDUSTRY?
HAZEL HAYES
When most people look at YouTube, they focus on creator-audience relationship. And
that's wonderful — it’s been a lovely thing for me to foster a community on there of people who
are interested in what I make.
But, also — and I think probably more importantly for me — it's been just an incredible
way to meet like-minded, very skilled, and talented people who I've learned from over the years.
Before I was ever making my own films, I was lucky enough to be on their sets. To act alongside
them. To watch them direct. To help consult on the script. It's been incredibly important for me
to meet all those people online. I think, genuinely, I would not be where I am today if I hadn't
met the community that I've met on YouTube, and learned all that I have from them, and been
afforded the opportunity to work with them.
CHRIS STUCKMANN
Back in the day, you had to really work hard to become a viable voice that people trusted
and heard. Nowadays, if you come up with a clever thing to say and enough people think it's
funny or enough people agree, you can be on the news tomorrow because of social media.
I think people build trust with film critics or filmmakers or writers or journalists that they
have had a positive experience with. But very rarely do I think, “Well, this person said this, so I
automatically believe it.” And that's not because I don't value someone's opinion — I just think
that everyone should experience some form of art and make up their mind for themselves. Even
with my own reviews, I've told my viewers sometimes to just go see the film. My grade means
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nothing. If you wanted to see it, just go see it and make up your own opinion. I just like the fact
that so many people now have the access to express themselves.
CINEMASINS
JEREMY SCOTT: It is all about audience. What the internet, social media, and YouTube
have done to the world of movie criticism — just like they did with music and bands ten years
ago — is give regular people a way to connect with an audience. Whether it is your personality,
your editing style, or your opinions about films, YouTube movie reviewers like Jeremy Jahns
and Chris Stuckmann have done it by building trust. Their viewers trust these guys' opinions
about a movie more than some review that they would read in a newspaper. If you can find the
audience, then they will care about what you have to say.
LINDSAY ELLIS
When I first started, there were very, very firm lines in the sand between the “goofy film
hobbyists” and the professionals who write for professional publications. But now, when you are
good at what you do, those lines are a lot blurrier.
I also think that YouTube has finally figured out how to bring these weighty academic
concepts from film theory into something that is more accessible. I have been doing it for awhile,
but whenever I started doing stuff that was more directly about theory, I got requests for more of
that. I was awfully shocked at how people who weren't in the academic life were really interested
in these academic concepts as long as they were presented in a way that was accessible and didn't
feel like homework.
BLACK MEN CAN’T JUMP
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JAMES III: Social media has helped to change who’s talking about things. A great
benefit of the internet is that we can have people with varying points of views come out and start
more conversation.
JERAH MILLIGAN: Personally, I hate social media. It’s not even the fact that we have
benefited a lot from it; it’s that people seem to only be on social media to show off for someone
else. And I don’t know if that helps the cause in any way, shape, or form, or we’re just saying
things to hear ourselves lead a conversation from behind a computer screen.
JONATHAN BRAYLOCK: In true Black Men Can’t Jump fashion, I’m just going to
take a middle position here — which is the correct one. What you’re both saying is true. Twitter,
the same platform that gave us #OscarsSoWhite, also gave us the Star Wars boycott because the
movie had a Black stormtrooper. So while social media gives power to the voiceless, it also gives
power to the people who already had significantly strong voices in positions of power. It’s
definitely muddled, but it allows for conversations to exist somewhat organically. I think, now,
it’s just a matter of how to control that.
HISTORY BUFFS
I think where the internet, as it stands now — especially YouTube — is a new frontier.
The possibilities are exciting and endless, but also uncertain. YouTube has given me the
opportunity to make something like this into a career because there's no middleman.
If I wanted to be a film critic the old-fashioned way, I'd have to convince a whole bunch
of other people with money that I have what it takes. Whereas with YouTube, you just make a
video, put it up, and reach straight to an audience, and then they determine whether you're
successful or not. It's a very exciting time.

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ALACHIA QUEEN
It can be hard to have an open dialogue about social issues online. But I’ve found that
you can use movies and the platform of YouTube to talk about how we want to deal with more
serious issues, like the social implications of pop culture.
For example, when I reviewed Snowden, I talked about the dangers of Big Brother, and
whether or not patriotism trumps freedom. If you were to just openly have that conversation, you
could end up polarizing a lot of people on both the left and right. But if you use movies to
conduct a conversation, it’s like a gateway. What I started to notice was that the more in depth I
would get in my videos, the comments would be paragraphs upon paragraphs of people
analyzing certain philosophies or theories. It’s really fascinating, because once people realize
that others are genuinely interested in the same topics, they’re more than willing to share.
THE WORST IDEA OF ALL TIME
GUY MONTGOMERY: I think everyone was always a critic, but now, everyone has got
more avenues to communicate their opinion about what they like and don't like. There's no
quality control on that, and I don't know that it's good or bad. It's what's always been happening;
now, it's just that if you want to engage with that there's more opportunity to do it. And if you
don't, you don't have to.

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QUESTION #4 — WHAT DO YOU THINK THE FUTURE OF FILM CRITICISM IS?
HAZEL HAYES
We're in a really interesting time where more and more people are becoming interested
being more active audience members. We've seen a huge increase in the number of film analysis
and film essays, be that on YouTube, or podcasts, there's clearly an appetite for that content.
Moving forward, it just feels like we're entering a little bit more of a democratic time for
film criticism. When you look at things like Rotten Tomatoes, where you're separating the critics
score and the audience score, we're seeing that critics may think one thing, but an audience may
think another. We have more information to base our judgment on. People are being encouraged
to talk about film publicly more and more, which is only a good thing. Because we're sort of
immersing ourselves in that world and learning more and more about it. And I'm learning an
awful lot from it.
CHRIS STUCKMANN
Everyone's trying to get their voice out there, which is beautiful but also very chaotic
because there's just so many voices that are scrambling to be heard. I used to worry about print,
but I don't anymore, actually. I just know so many people who still work in the field and want to
stay there, and so many people who still real print critics. If you just took up any Blu-ray of
really any movie that has critics quotes on it — it's going to be a print critic. There's a level of
professionalism that print critics have that someone like me really has to work hard to earn.
In the future, my hope is that studios recognize video critics a little more, like Rotten
Tomatoes has, and appreciate that there's a lot of voices out there.

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CINEMASINS
CHRIS ATKINSON: I don't know that it is going to change much. In the next five years,
I am cynical. I think it is just going to get more and more negative and more and more loud
voices. People are always going to try to be the loudest voice in the room, because that’s what
sells. You tend to get a lot of people who want to emulate something like us — where it is super
negative — but you may not get people who are doing it with a purpose. You may just be getting
people who are negative for negativity sake.
JEREMY SCOTT: I agree. It’s going to become more and more of the type of voice
people think we are, when we are really joking about being that.
LINDSAY ELLIS
I am a natural pessimist, so my suspicion is that this is as good as it gonna get, and it is
about to get really corporately commodified. The highest quality stuff you are going to get, for
better or for worse, is going to be fan-funded. But once corporations figure out how to outbid fan
funding, then the scene might change.
However, as long as people are willing to pay for this online content that is not supported
through regular revenue streams — on Patreon or otherwise — maybe it will only keep getting
better. I feel as long as corporations and ad revenues keep their dirty paws out off of it, it will
continue to grow and flourish.
BLACK MEN CAN’T JUMP
JAMES III: I definitely think that in the future, anybody can say what their opinion is and
it can have bigger weight than it currently does right now. I'm a movie critic now because of a
Facebook post of an opinion about Martin Lawrence, and then now here we are. It's like, what's
happening?
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JONATHAN BRAYLOCK: I think people get a general sense of what the critics, as a
whole, think about a particular movie. It's weird, because in a way, critics have more power as a
whole, but maybe less so individually. And in terms of the future — man, I have no idea. I really
don't.
JERAH MILLIGAN: Personally, I hate Rotten Tomatoes. When I see the Tomatometer
score, I know that’s from critics and not the fans. And fans need to come first to me. I don’t
know what the future is, but I would assume in some way that fan reaction is going to be what
propels criticism. Because those are the people who matter.
HISTORY BUFFS
Film criticism on YouTube has already progressed so much. I remember back in 2007
and 2008, it was just a lot of people in poorly lit bedrooms on a webcam, just talking about a
film. Often, the cliché was like, ‘Hey, guys. I just watched this movie,’ and they'll hold up the
DVD case to the camera.
But I think this is the golden age of film criticism, right now. People have better
production value. They're getting great cameras, great lighting equipment. Anyone who's starting
out and wants to be a film critic on YouTube needs to figure out what they can bring that stands
out from other people. I think it's sort of set a new standard, and it's just going to progress in that
direction.
ALACHIA QUEEN
It would be nice to have a wider representation of a general audience, of people who don't
look at films necessarily the way that past critics have looked at films.

25
From my perspective, it seems like lot of people who are reading film critics are reading
reviews and thinking, ‘This doesn't represent me at all.’ So, I think that there needs to be more
representation of people who just really aren't looking to create a narrative in the review world,
or in the media world, who are just simply expressing their opinion.
THE WORST IDEA OF ALL TIME
TIM BATT: I've always been quite amused with the whole idea of critics and reviewers. I
think it's so funny that hundreds of millions of dollars get spent, thousands of people are
involved, hundreds of thousands of hours of work go into it, all of the time, energy, and
resources. Then some schmuck just pops off to the movies and decides whether it's deemed
worthy or not. I find that really amusing that they give themselves so much power. I get that we
need people to sit through the huge amounts of media that we have out there now and inform us
as to what's good and what's not, and there are certainly people who are experts in film. But it
seems so incredibly reductive to just pop along to a screening of something that took thousands
of hours to make. I find that quite funny. And absurd.
GUY MONTGOMERY: Well, you can't see us, but if you could, I would say you are
looking at the future of film criticism.

26
QUESTION #5 — WHAT IS A MOVIE YOU LOVE DESPITE ITS CRITICAL FLAWS?
HAZEL HAYES
Air Force One is an atrociously wonderful film. It just unabashedly and un-ironically
uses every single action movie trope there is, and isn't ashamed to do so. It's predictable as hell, I
just love it, because I love Die Hard. Die Hard is, legitimately, one of my favorite films. And it's
like a parody of Die Hard, but on a plane. Every line, you've heard in something before. Every
line is a cliché. Every scene is a cliché. And yet, somehow, I always wanna watch it through to
the end.
CHRIS STUCKMANN
Angelina Jolie's Lara Croft — Tomb Raider is fairly bad but I've always liked it. It hit
that level for me of so bad that it's good. My wife loves it too, and it was one of those things we
actually bonded over before we got married. It's a video game movie about a woman who is
basically raiding tombs, looking for artifacts. This doesn't have to be a classic. I think they really
did a good job with it from what they had and it's a blast.
CINEMASINS
CHRIS ATKINSON: Ocean’s Twelve. If you asked the stars about that movie, they are
going to say that they just did it so they could get a vacation and shoot a movie on vacation,
basically. They made Ocean’s Thirteen as a ‘sorry’ for Ocean’s Twelve. Iit is so self aware and
so ridiculous, it doesn't feel like it is at all put together like the Ocean’s Eleven is. But any time
that it is either on, I love watching it.
JEREMY SCOTT: I love the movie Demolition Man like it was one of my brothers. It's
this ‘90s, terrible, cheesy, futuristic action movie with Stallone and Wesley Snipes where Taco
Bell is the only restaurant in existence. It was poorly reviewed. It made a decent amount of
27
money because it had big stars in it, but I don't think anyone critically looks at that movie with
anything positive to say. I would watch it right now if you put it in front of me.
LINDSAY ELLIS
I can't get enough Showgirls. It is one of the worst movies ever made. I think there is a
sort of thing people like that was that big resurgence of irony in the late Bush years where we
were like, ‘Oh, I love this movie ironically.’ The older I get the more I realize there is no such
thing as ironic love — you either love the thing or you don't. Showgirls was always one of those
movies for me.
BLACK MEN CAN’T JUMP
JAMES III: I think I'm having a lot of trouble answering this question, because my taste
in movies is generally frowned upon by most people. For the sake of recent argument, I will have
to say Jurassic World. Only because I don't like the movie so much now, I actually have trouble
watching it, but I enjoyed it so much when I saw it the first night. It hit every single nostalgia
button that I needed — I needed to see the dinosaurs, I needed to see them going crazy. But it's a
bad movie.
JONATHAN BRAYLOCK: I really did like the first Transformers movie a lot.
JERAH MILLIGAN: I really like Batman Returns. I know it was not respectable at all,
but I think that Michelle Pfeiffer was great in it. I think Danny DeVito was so scary in it. I think
it was what a comic book movie and a real movie should be like. It was still campy, but it was
dark.
HISTORY BUFFS
28
Gladiator. From a historical angle, that is a film that I should not like. It's under the guise
of historical fiction, but it comes across more as a fantasy. Yet, there is just something about it
that just works on every level.
ALACHIA QUEEN
Deadpool. It was personally just really fun. It flies in the face of all the tropes that you’re
familiar with. It takes all the things that you think are very politically correct about how you do
film and throws it out the window and saying, "We're just gonna have fun with it."
It was a film that was really made without all of the red tape involved, without the studio
interference. It was just made out of love and passion, and just wanting to tell a really funny
story that doesn't appeal to the general audience, but just a very particular subset, which is kind
of nice. It didn't seem like it was made to make a ton of money, but it did end up making money,
but it was just actually made out of love. And I loved that it was produced that way.
THE WORST IDEA OF ALL TIME
TIM BATT: Short Circuit. A robot gets struck by lightning, develops its own
consciousness, and it has to prove to everyone that it's alive while the military are chasing it to
try and destroy it. I love that movie so much. And I think it's pretty critically bad.
GUY MONTGOMERY: If I watch a movie on a plane, it is very difficult for that movie
not to come across as the biggest breakthrough in cinema in the last few years. I am the most
forgiving cinema goer at altitudes. It is staggering. Recently, I flew and watched Why Him? with
Bryan Cranston and James Franco. James Franco was a bad son-in-law and Bryan Cranston was
an uptight dad. And I watched this movie on a plane and I just laughed all the way to touch-down
and told everyone I knew how great this movie was and got a wave of hatred from the people I'd
referred to this film because they were like, “Absolutely not." And I'm never going to revisit that
29
movie because I know that in the moment I was watching it I really enjoyed it, and that's all I
need to know.

30
CRITICS’ LONG BIOGRAPHIES
HAZEL HAYES
Hazel Hayes (aka ChewingSand)
Dublin, Ireland / London, England
Since 2012
Hazel Hayes is a writer, director, and filmmaker who has made a name for herself as part
of YouTube’s online creative community. She is best known for a video series called Tipsy Talk,
in which she sits down with various actors, directors, and filmmakers over a drink to talk about
their latest movie (notable guests include Margot Robbie, Daisy Ridley, and Taika Waititi).
Aside from writing, directing, and producing her own short films and web series, Hayes also
produces video essays on current films, with the perspective of someone who is breaking into the
industry herself.
CHRIS STUCKMANN
Akron, Ohio
Since 2011
Before joining YouTube in 2011, Chris Stuckmann began reviewing movies on IMDb,
Yahoo Movies, and his own independent blog. Now, nearly seven years later, Stuckmann has
amassed over 1.2 million subscribers that come for his honest and straightforward reviews of
movies, video games, and anime. His videos also tackle larger themes within the film industry,
such as “The Problem with Horror Movies Today” or “A Rant on Annoying Moviegoers.” He is
the author of The Film Buff’s Bucket List: The 50 Movies of the 2000s to See Before You Die.
CINEMASINS
Chris Atkinson and Jeremy Scott
31
Hendersonville, Tennessee
Since 2012
CinemaSins is best known for calling out exactly what’s wrong with your favorite film.
Their “Everything Wrong With…” videos - each of which gets millions of views - nitpick entire
movies for everything from plot holes, continuity errors, to just plain nonsense. In recent years,
CinemaSins has shaken up the film industry, ruffling feathers of directors who take their satirical
critiques a little too personally. But with a subscriber base of over seven million, it seems like
more than enough people are in on the joke.
LINDSAY ELLIS
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Since 2008
Lindsay Ellis is a video essayist with a bachelor’s degree in Cinema Studies from New
York University and a master’s degree in Fine Arts and Film and Television Production from the
University of Southern California. She is best known for taking academic concepts from film
studies and applying them to her in-depth and extensively researched video essays about film.
From 2008 to 2014, Ellis created content under the moniker “The Nostalgia Chick” — the direct
female counterpart to Doug Walker’s Nostalgia Critic. Now, Ellis creates video essay content
independently, taking a closer look at films like the Transformers series, Phantom of the Opera,
and various beloved Disney animated films with cultural and social lens.
BLACK MEN CAN’T JUMP (IN HOLLYWOOD)
Jonathan Braylock, James III, Jerah Milligan
Brooklyn, New York
Since 2015
32
After getting into an argument on Facebook about whether or not Blue Streak was Martin
Lawrence’s best performance, New York comedians Jonathan Braylock, James II, and Jerah
Milligan started Black Men Can’t Jump (In Hollywood). The podcast that reviews current and
past films with leading actors of color and discusses them within the context of systemic racism
in Hollywood. At the end of each episode, they give the film a personalized rating - a Black fist,
a white palm, or nothing - based on whether or not it furthers the cause of having leading actors
of color in the entertainment industry. Podcast guests have included Keegan Michael Key, Roy
Wood Jr., and Phoebe Robinson.
HISTORY BUFFS
Nick Hodges
London, England
Since 2015
Nick Hodges is the brains behind History Buffs, a YouTube channel that reviews movies
based on their historical accuracy. Hodges combines his background in creative writing and film
with his love for history to produce deeply-researched long form videos that challenge the
historical accuracy of everything from the Game of Thrones series to Saving Private Ryan.
ALACHIA QUEEN
Austin, Texas
Since 2010
Alachia Queen is a YouTube film critic that uses her reviews of popular movies to open
up a dialogue about larger social issues. She particular covers issues of race, gender, and
sexuality in her series, “Water Cooler Chat,” where she has tackled everything from the backlash
to the all-female Ghostbusters reboot, to issues of whitewashing in The Great Wall.
33
THE WORST IDEA OF ALL TIME
Tim Batt and Guy Montgomery
Auckland, New Zealand
Guy Montgomery was hosting a television show in New Zealand when he met fellow
comedian Tim Batt, who would come on his show and do a guest segment where he reviewed
toilets. Following the show’s cancellation, Montgomery and Batt decided to channel their comic
chemistry into The Worst Idea of All Time, a movie review podcast. Instead of reviewing a new
movie every week, however, Batt and Montgomery have reviewed the same movie every week
over the course of a year, completing three movies in three years (Grown-Ups 2, Sex in the City
2, and We Are Your Friends). The movie choice is arbitrary - oftentimes based on what would
provide the best punchline - and the result is three seasons of a hilariously disillusioned podcast
with a cult-like fan following.

34
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Atkinson, Chris, and Jeremy Scott, interview by Rosemarie Alejandrino. 2017. (November 2).
Batt, Tim, and Guy Montgomery, interview by Rosemarie Alejandrino. 2017. (November 2).
Corliss, Richard. 1990. Film Comment. March/April. Accessed March 22, 2018.
https://www.filmcomment.com/article/richard-corliss-all-thumbs-or-is-there-a-future-for-
film-criticism/.

Dwyer, Colin. 2018. National Public Radio. March 5. Accessed 22 March, 2018.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/05/590867132/whats-an-inclusion-
rider-here-s-the-story-behind-frances-mcdormand-s-closing-wor.

Ellis, Lindsay, interview by Rosemarie Alejandrino. 2017. (October 9).
Hayes, Hazel, interview by Rosemarie Alejandrino. 2017. (November 9).
Hodges, Nick, interview by Rosemarie Alejandrino. 2017. (October 20).
Milligan, Jerah, James III, and Jonathan Braylock, interview by Rosemarie Alejandrino. 2017.
(October 19).

Queen, Alachia, interview by Rosemarie Alejandrino. 2017. (November 20).
Stuckmann, Chris, interview by Rosemarie Alejandrino. 2017. (November 17).

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Since the premiere of Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel's movie review talk show At the Movies in 1982, film critics have pondered what the future of film criticism could look like beyond print and text publications and trade journals. In the digital age, the rise of online review aggregators—such as Rotten Tomatoes—has once again brought the question of what the future of film criticism could be to the forefront. This longform article, written as in the inaugural year of the USC Annenberg-Rotten Tomatoes Digital Innovatioon and Entertainment Criticism Fellowship, explores the future of film criticism through interviews with eight video and podcast critics who are changing what criticism means in the digital age.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Alejandrino, Rosemarie Gabrielle Miguel (author)

Core Title Changing the dialogue: How digital creators are reshaping film criticism

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Specialized Journalism (The Arts)

Publication Date 05/08/2018

Defense Date 05/07/2018

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag criticism,critics,film,film critic,film criticism,film review,movie review,OAI-PMH Harvest,podcasting,podcasts,Rotten Tomatoes,YouTube

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Anawalt, Sasha (committee chair), Davis, Laura (committee member), Page, Tim (committee member)

Creator Email rgalejan@usc.edu,rosemarie.g.alejandrino@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-501535

Unique identifier UC11265698

Identifier etd-Alejandrin-6318.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-501535 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Alejandrin-6318.pdf

Dmrecord 501535

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Alejandrino, Rosemarie Gabrielle Miguel

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA