Friday, January 23, 2009

LA CITY BEAT: Here's a chance to compare Andy Klein to his replacements.

Recently, veteran alternapaper film critic Andy Klein was relieved of his weekly duties at LOS ANGELES CITY BEAT.

So readers will know what they'll be missing, here are some samples of Klein's work:
http://www.lacitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/godard_s_missing_link/7932/

http://www.lacitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/blinded_by_the_light/7919/

Now, let's shine a light on Klein's replacements at LA CITY BEAT.

First up, here is a review of PAUL BLART MALL COP by Megan Seling, who, in her prose stylings, tries hard to emulate both departed LACB editor Rebecca Schoenkopf and short-lived LA WEEKLY mid-90s snarkster Hugh Bonar:
http://www.lacitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/food_court_blues/7952/

Next is a review of the Bollywood/Kung Fu hybrid CHADNI CHOWK TO CHINA:
http://www.lacitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/currying_favor/7951/ by Brendan Kiley, who, in his prose stylings, comes off as a slightly punkier version of Ben AT THE MOVIES Lyons.

Assuming the rationale for hiring Ms. Seling and Mr. Kiley at LA CITY BEAT was something like: "Hey, their salaries combined are a lot less than what we were paying Andy!"
[CORRECTION TO THE ABOVE PARAGRAPH: Seling and Kiley are, according to critic Luke Y. Thompson, syndicated critics now being carried by LA CITY BEAT. Here's Thompson's complete post in the comments section on HOLLYWOOD-ELSEWHERE:http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2009/01/newbies.php Sorry for the inaccurate assumption. And here's a comprehensive entry on Thompson's blog addressing the post-Andy CITY BEAT: http://www.lytrules.com/weblog/archives/003006.php]

Ladies and gentlemen, you've seen the past and future of alterative newspaper film criticism.

Which era do you prefer?

2 comments:

  1. A little bit more on this subject:

    http://www.lytrules.com/weblog/archives/003006.php

    You're not wrong to be outraged.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The plot thickens...currently, CityBeat has scrubbed the syndicated reviews from their site, putting Andy's Godard review from last week on their main page in place of the stringers.

    It seems they've been slightly embarrassed. But what now?

    ReplyDelete