Those TV Film Critics

While Gary Franklin would like to think he has heightened the standards of film criticism, the fact is, he has only contributed to their continuing decline by using an insulting and juvenile rating system in place of valid, meaningful, literate critique or insight. (I truly believe the reason he now rates some films a 10+ is because he simply can’t count any higher.)

So it should come as no surprise that he feels his segment on the news is long enough. After all, how long does it take to bob up and down in your chair, babble incoherently for a few seconds, run a clip and then assign a number between 1 and 10?

The station should just run the clip, then flash a number on screen as they go to commercial. Not only would they save themselves the money and embarrassment Franklin costs them, they would save their audience the agony of being exposed to his insignificant little rantings.

The fact that Franklin feels he has “heightened the standards” of film criticism only reinforces how little minds can often delude themselves. He’s so concerned with his own celebrity status that he self-admittedly offers to write movie reviews in advance of air time so he’ll be able to see his name and number quoted in the studio newspaper ads. Then in the same breath, he tells us that what he really is is a journalist.

Next he’ll tell us he has hair.

JEFF GELBERG

Santa Monica