"Where Movie Critics Get A Taste Of Their Own Medicine!"
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| An interview with:
Anderson Jones by Herb Kane Published May 24, 2001 |
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I was watching the post Oscar coverage on the E! cable channel and recognized a familiar face offering commentary. His name is Anderson Jones (also known as Andy). I first saw Jones on "The New Movie Show with Chris Gore" (FX Channel) and I remembered examining his opinion in my Critic Doctor column, along with other critics who appeared on Gore's show. He provided thoughtful commentary on film and was often lively during his exchanges with the panal of guest critics. This raises an obvious question: Why doesn't Jones have his own critic show on E! Entertainment Network? Seems to me this would be the natural medium for an exciting TV program like this. Andy and I will discuss this idea further. Regardless, E! deserves an A! for adding Andy to their online entertainment team.
Jones writes a weekly column called "Movie Scoop" for E! Online which covers background and buzz on upcoming movie releases. He also oversees E! Online's "Plus" pages, three content-specific, in-depth sections of the web site that covers music, movies and television. When Andy is not online, you'll see him providing expert commentary on E! Entertainment Television's on-air coverage of The Emmys, Golden Globe Awards and SAG Awards, as well as E! Specials and True Hollywood Story.
I could go on and on about Andy's extensive journalistic background, but you can read all about that in the "Anderson Jones Facts" section of this interview. I had fun talking with Andy on the phone and I hope all you readers out there enjoy it as much as I did. Let's welcome Anderson Jones!
Kane: Tell me a little bit about your background as a movie critic. When did you first get started and how did you end up at E! Networks?
Jones: When I decided to go to college - the second time [Laughing] - at Ohio University, I went to school for broadcast journalism from the beginning because I had decided that entertainment journalism had become a very big deal. I base that on Michael Jackson's sort of scandal - making the front page of the USA Today. When that happened, I remembered saying to myself, "Wow. Things have changed." Now we're covering pop stars and movie stars like they're real news. And I still think that we have a long way to go to start taking entertainment news seriously. "Entertainment Tonight" aside, I think there is still a need for a 60 minute entertainment news show and I think that's what was kind of in my head when I went to broadcast journalism school at Ohio University. So I've been very focused. Most people come to entertainment news after a career in features or after a career doing other stuff and then they kind of retire as a feature writer. But I think from the very beginning that's what I wanted to do - and I studied that for four years.
While I was at school, I started a magazine to just keep myself interested because Ohio was kind of boring. We did young culture - hot rock bands, cool independent movies and cultured things that mattered to people in that college age group.
My first job was at the "Detroit Free Press" where I was a critic, like a third string movie critic [Laughing]. Also I did theater stuff, dance stuff and a lot of feature writing and interviews and what have you. I really wanted to be a movie critic, I'm pretty sure about that. But the hard part about these jobs is that most movie critic jobs are jobs for life. It's like being a Supreme Court Justice. Once you get these jobs, they don't really become available very often. So I really didn't see it happening fast enough in newspapers. I worked at Detroit Free Press for year, the Philadelphia Inquirer for a year, but then went to Atlanta to work for TNT on this Web site because I thought that would be a fast track doing entertainment reporting and movie reporting because the Internet was such a wide open kind of medium.
So that's kind of the story. I still don't quite work as a movie critic, but it's a lot closer than it would be waiting for, you know, Peter Travers to die at the rolling Stone [Laughing].
Kane: I noticed in the E! Online reviews, there is never a byline. Who are the people behind those reviews?
Jones: I have
been one of those people, the editor, the reviews editor and a
there's a whole fleet of freelancers who contribute to those reviews.
When the site was founded, we decided we really wanted have a
single solitary voice and we wanted that voice to also be on the
same page. And what it really allowed us to do, quite frankly,
is edit the reviews to fit our voice. Who knows what will happen
in the future, though. I'd love to have byline reviews. It would
give people a chance to quote us and give readers a chance to
yell at you by maybe responding to an e-mail link.
Kane: Some people think of movie
critics as arrogant, overly opinionated, mean people with pens.
What advice do you have for those who take your opinion on a movie
"personally?"
Jones: What advice do I have? You know, movie reviewers should be appreciated as any other sort of column. Movie reviews are designed to be opinionated, designed to be confrontational and designed to be an interesting read. I think the more sophisticated fans of criticism are fans of columns, they're fans of the good writing and they're fans of people who have a voice. I mean that's really what you're hired for as a movie critic. A.O. Scott, from the New York Times, comes from a book background and not from a movie background. But he can write a good column. I think movie critics have this rap for sort of being evil people because they don't like a whole lot of movies. I have to tell you, I see about seven movies a week. If anyone knows what a good movie is or not, I have a better idea than most people because I've seen so many. And I think that's true for many movie critics.
The things that people don't know is how many bad movies we see in the course of a week or month or year. We absolutely are better qualified to make a decision about those movies than someone off the street. More than anything, I think people should trust us. I think people should feel free to disagree with us. But I think also people should get their education. Go to film school. Take extra classes. It would be impossible to see the number of movies that we see. But give us a break and imagine that we're putting that movie into context with the hundreds of other movies we've seen that year or in the past. A movie very rarely stands alone, for a film critic. It's always being connected to and compared to something else.
I do want a say there are movie critics who are more populous than other movie critics and certainly, I think, every movie probably requires a different movie critic. I'm not sure that one critic should review every movie say from "Pearl Harbor" to the "English Patient." If you do review "Pearl Harbor," it's not like the "English Patient." But I think the Internet has certainly opened that up to have a voice. Everyone's a critic. I'm just lucky I get paid for it.
Kane: What movie did you write your very first review on and where was it published?
Jones: That was such a good question. That was the one question I read beforehand that I couldn't really answer. The very first review....um....I'm sure it was at the Detroit Free Press and I think it was a 1993 bad hip-hop rap meets basketball movie. And the title escapes me now! I'm pretty sure that was the very first movie review I did professionally. I wish I could say it was something great like a Spike Lee movie, but it wasn't.
Kane: What review are you most proud of and why?
Jones: I'm probably most proud of my review of "Boogie Nights." I reviewed it early. It got a lot of attention for the TNT web site. I think it put us on the map and I founded the site maybe a few years before. I think the movie kind of reminded me of why I wanted to write about movies in the first place, it kind of got under my skin. I really, really appreciated Mark Waller's performance. The review was very short, about 200 or so, and meant the most to me. I want to also add "Good Will Hunting." I did not like "Good Will Hunting." I feel like I was in the minority on that. So many other people did like "Good Will Hunting," and I still come across nasty e-mails about how wrong I was about "Good Will Hunting." But I think I was right! Both of these movies received such a strong reaction.
Kane: What review are you least proud of and why?
Jones: That very first review! [Laughing] That's not true, actually. I can't think of anything that I'm not proud of. I really stand behind the review I wrote and how I felt about it when I wrote it. I think things do change in time, but I don't feel that way yet. I agonize over writing so much that I cannot imagine not been happy with them. I can't even think of a review that I whipped out and wasn't unsure about. I stand behind every one of them. Someone's going to find one that I'm not happy about, but that's all I'm going to say for now.
Kane: The first time I saw you was on "The New Movie Show with Chris Gore" (FX Channel). Will you miss being on that show now that it's off the air? Will you be on any other upcoming critic shows?
Jones: I would love to be a guest, obviously, on these new shows - if only because I think that Chris Gore sort of started it. He started this trend and got it right in a lot of ways. It's too bad FX didn't support him on that. But because I feel like a pioneer, I'd love to have the opportunity to guest on these other shows. I think Gore's show reflected how most people talk about movies in their own lives.
Kane: Tell me about the day in the life of Andy Jones. What is your average day like at E! Networks?
Jones: Well, you know, I come in around noon and eat bon-bons until about 3pm (laughter). And then I have a champagne and a three-martini lunch with my good friends, ya know, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. And... [Andy now trying to control his laughing realizing just how much bull he has forced-fed me!].
Uh, a typical day is: I write a column every week, so that's kind of a priority - getting the column in order for the next week. It's talking to publicists, it's talking to directors occasionally, it's setting up interviews and screenings for later in the week. It's usually lunch at my desk, very late, about 4pm or so. I am a late riser and really don't get going until the afternoon, but I do get to work about 11am or so. Almost every night there is a screening. If there's not a screening, there's a premier of a movie I'm trying to get to. Some days my afternoons are filled with a press day at one of our local hotels where I'm doing interviews with a director or screenwriters or stars of the movie while they are in Los Angeles promoting their movies. It's meetings with my editor to go over the columns from last week or to set up the week in advance. I also oversee "Plus" pages here, which are sort of our portal pages at E! Online. Those are our pages where we hope that users who come to E! will use these pages to get more out of the Internet. We sift through the junk and give you the highlights. So I'm sort of directing those pages. It's a lot of time on the phone, asking for stuff, begging, pleading, - trying to get folks on the phone to make the column work. And it's a lot of time on the Internet, too. The research and checking out what people are saying about movies, trying to find out about upcoming movies, and basically trying to stay in the loop.
Kane: What goals have you set for the future?
Jones: I think it would be great to be a full-time movie critic. I think there is something still very appealing and glamorous about that. I like the idea of writing about movies. I think movie critics get a shafted because there is so such disparity between what critics like and what people like. It's great when those things come together like "Erin Brockovich" or "Gladiator" to some degree. I think that would still be a lot of fun. I'm getting some great opportunities here to do television. It's sort of all about convergence. The future of E! Online is coming together with E!'s future as they develop new initiatives to go into cable as they purchase other networks. I still like the fact that I can do a lot of things - I like writing about fashion, I like writing about movies, I like writing about pop culture, and I hope that's something I can do on a regular basis. I hope that E! Online has a real future, a medium that stands alone. But if it doesn't, I'm not afraid of going back to a newspaper or magazine or what have you. I have to say that TV is becoming more and more appealing if only because it has a great sort of reach - and people really connect to it. Half the conversations I have with publicists are about, "Are you going to bring a TV camera?" I think TV is certainly in my future, if I may be so bold. We'll see.
Kane: Maybe you ought to do a critic show yourself. And what better place to do that than on E! Entertainment Television!
Jones: I agree! I absolutely agree! I think that would be a whole lot of fun - I can't even tell you. It would be the culmination of a whole lot of dreams come true. So, uh, we'll see.
Kane: What insights can you give our readers about the movie business? What advice could you give to those who want to become a movie critic?
Jones: It's so hard. The number one thing you have to say to somebody is patience. And I'd also say do your homework. I went to school to study broadcast journalism, but I would have probably taken a different track in hindsight. Maybe I would have focused on, say, studying film exclusively. Maybe that would have been my major. Or studying art or studying music - studying these things are about creative expression. Creative writing is key. I'd study literature. I'd take a foreign language (French or Italian) because all these things help you understand the language better and that's really what a critic is really doing, trying to use language to convey very complex thoughts. The thing about movies is that it is such an individual experience.
There's another thing I'd say - never be afraid of your own opinion. That's what criticism is about. I think that often when critics get in trouble, it's because they are worried about their review being out of step with somebody else's review. I don't think that should be an issue. If you didn't like "Good Will Hunting and everyone else did, there is some value in that. You probably wouldn't be the only one in a country of 280 million people. I suspect there are a lot of people who didn't like "Good Will Hunting." so always remember you're connected to somebody out there even if it doesn't necessarily feel like it and your on your own. The main thing about movie criticism is that you have to be patient if you want to be on a national stage.
However, thanks to the Internet, as you've proven Herb, you can write your own reviews on your own Web site at home or even start a newsletter. It really is about seeing movies - bottom line. Whether you're seeing them through a film school program, whether you're renting videos - it has to be about seeing movies. You have to learn how to speak the language of the movies and the only way you can do that is to see more and more movies. I see pretty much every movie because of film critic, Elvis Mitchell (a friend of mine) who once told me, "You can always find something in a movie." I never walked out on a movie since he told me that. And actually, I've never walked out on a movie ever in my life - I don't think. I just have too much respect for the work to some degree - even if I hated it. But Elvis kind of reminded me that there is always something good in a movie - whether it's a supporting actor performance, or a good piece of dialog or a moment on the sound track. It's unusual that kind of advice came from a critic because I think we assume that critics are just interested in putting things down. But what he said rings true. There is some gem to be found in every sort of project.
Kane: You know, that's kind of the way I view critics when I go out and read critics and critque them.
Jones: Right! Exactly.
Kane: I think to myself, "There's something good in this somewhere."
Jones: There has to be. There has to be.
Kane: I do my best to try to point it out, but sometimes it just doesn't work.
Jones: [Laughing]
Kane: What are your thoughts and feelings about someone like me out there reviewing movie critics?
Jones: I think that someone has to be out there to keep critics honest. As your first question implies, you know, there are critics who are pretty lofty. I adore Roger Ebert and he is certainly a friend of mine. But he does believe that his opinion is THE RIGHT ONE [Laughing]. And no one really questions that. So I think that it is nice that someone is out there looking out for real people, making sure that critics are honest and genuine. You know, I sat in movie theaters where some critics fell asleep and still reviewed the movie. It's nice that someone is out there looking out for the little guy in making sure that critics are honest and truthful. And like you said, you're pointing out the good things about them. I think we get a bad rap sometimes, so it's nice someone's looking out for us as well. I'm all for more opinions. The thing about movie criticism, and it has to be said, there aren't enough women reviewing movies, there aren't enough black people reviewing movies, there aren't enough people of different ages reviewing movies. Movie critics have become very much about older white guys who either go to work - (I think Roger Ebert goes to the office and then goes to movies) - but most of these guys don't even go to the office anymore. They're not interactive with any other people. They sort of, like, work from their home. They go to see movies and then they come back. Their worldview is not as expansive as maybe it could be. There's a lot to be said for the more people reviewing movies the better. You know, the "Times" shouldn't have the three critics. Maybe they should have five or 10. There are just that many different types of movies out there. You can have a specialist in Indie movies and specialist in that kind of movie and what have you.
Kane: Now when you personally read reviews, are you someone who likes to read a review before or after a movie?
Jones: I never read a review of a movie that I may have to talk about. When I was doing the show for example, I wouldn't read reviews of movies that I knew I would have to talk about on the show. Unfortunately, when you're doing a sort of live interaction, you don't want someone else's words to end up in your mouth because it's the only thing your brain could grasp. When I'm not doing television and when I know I'm not going to write about a movie in a column, I'll read it. But typically I try to stay away from reviews until after I've commented on it myself.
Kane: : I like reading reviews after the movie regardless because it gives too much away from the story.
Jones: I've heard of people that would take reviews to the movie with their date. They see the movie and then go back to like a restaurant and read the review discuss it. Now that's very smart [laughter].
Kane: : I do pay attention to the ratings, though - like the stars and so forth. I like to go to RottenTomatoes.com to learn about the over-all consensus. But I won't read anything.
Jones: Right. The buzz. Yeah, I try to read after and by then - you're in to the next week
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Kane: How do you get loud people to shut up in a movie theater?
Jones: I remind them that they're not at home. That's my big line. I turn around and I say, "Your in a movie theater with other people. You're not at home watching a video." That's my clean answer [I sense Andy smiling on the other end of the phone].
Kane: What's the dirty one?
Jones: Uh, next question? [I'm sensing a bigger smile on Andy's face].
Kane: Do you eat popcorn at screenings?
Jones: Hardly ever! They rarely offer it. And you know, I can't eat popcorn anymore - and let me tell you something about popcorn. It's become very cheap over the years. You go to the movie theater now and people are bringing out these trash bags full of popcorn that they popped the day before or 10:00 in the morning. Now it's 9:00 at night and you want some popcorn and its stale. It's not fresh anymore. And I don't even know what that yellow goo stuff is they call butter. I can't eat any more than a few handfuls of popcorn at movie theaters. Usually at these screenings, they don't feed you anyway.
Kane: If candy, what kind?
Jones: Hardly ever! I'm not much of a candy person. But when I do eat candy, it's Reese's Pieces, Red Vines, Gummy Bears, and if they have those candy bins - I will get Nerds occasionally. [Critic Doctor note: That's quite a candy selection for someone who, well, who hardly ever eats candy].
Kane: Where's your favorite spot to sit in a movie theater?
Jones: Um - on the isle - um - maybe five or six rows from the back.
Kane: When you go to a movie, with whom do you usually go with?
Jones: By myself.
Kane: What three movies do you hate?
Jones: You know what, I'm going to name all Kevin Smith movies because I'm going to start a Holy war with him - "Dogma," "Chasing Amy" and "Mall Rats." Bring it on, Kevin Smith!!
Kane: What three movies are your favorite?
Jones: "Ordinary People," "Color Purple," and "All About You."
Kane: What is your favorite movie soundtrack?
Jones: "Evita."
Kane:
Have you ever been punched or verbally
assaulted (in person) by someone in the movie industry because
of one of your reviews? If yes, who?
Jones: I don't think
so. I've been insulted via e-mail, though. I did not like "Star
Wars:Episode I" and I got a lot of criticism and a lot of
sucky email for that. People were really not happy with me because
I didn't like "Star Wars: Episode I." But that would
be the extent of it. "Good Will Hunting" people were
not pleased as well.
Kane: What question would you like to ask the Critic Doctor? Ask it and I'll answer it with the published interview.
Jones: What movie convinced you to get into movies?
Kane's Answer: The good ones! There isn't any one movie that pulled me into movies. When I was a kid, movies were just movies. Nothing else. It was a fun way to pass time and eat popcorn. We all liked to play pretend when we were young, right? Well movies took this to the extreme and I was fascinated by how movies made fictional stories seem so real. I think once I began writing, I started to develop a greater appreciation for film. I realized many movies had the ability to move people - to get powerful messages across the big screen. And then I started to come up with my own movie ideas. How many times have we heard, "Everyone has a movie!" I never wrote a screenplay, but my love for the movies has embedded a myriad of ideas in my head for such creativity. Whether I act on that in the future or not, who knows. But it is evidence that my appreciation for film runs deep and will forever remain a strong interest in my life.
-- CRITIC DOCTOR
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