James Rocchi

How did you get started as a film critic?

After writing about music freelance in Canada, I just moved into writing about movies; that led to a position with Netflix, where after two years of general movie-based writing, I spent five years as one of -- and then as their sole -- movie critic.

What was your first meaningful moviegoing experience?

I have fond memories of The Tivoli, a gorgeous Art Deco movie palace in Hamilton Ontario -- where I saw pretty much every blockbuster of my youth, from Star Wars to Aliens. ...

What movie would you have liked to review had you been a critic upon its initial release?

I never got to write a theatrical review of Boogie Nights on its initial release -- I remember walking out of a theater in Santa Cruz simply vibrating with the joy and power of it. ...

What movie are you embarrassed to admit you love?

I like high-minded films as part of a well-rounded diet, but I also must respect that Blazing Saddles makes me laugh until I sound like a hole in the side of an airplane.

Name a film you think everybody should see.

Last Night, by Don McKellar -- one of the best, and most overlooked, films of the 1990's.

What’s the most common question you’re asked when someone discovers you’re a film critic?

"So, what's good right now?" Or, "Wow, how do you get that job?" Or, if on a plane, a series of questions about every in-flight movie offering.

What’s the most controversial review you’ve written?

I remember the morning a friend let me know that my name was the #33rd most-searched item in Google; my Transformers 2 Review had been published at MSN, and I was being ... avidly looked for so I might be yelled at. Also, I'm proud -- and stand by -- my review of Charlie Wilson's War for Cinematical, written in a rage at its deliberate case of historical amnesia.

Is there a genre or era you have a particular affinity for?

I always say I can't afford to be a genre snob -- a good film is a good film is a good film.

What is your process in approaching a review?

To not only talk about the film in its context as an artwork that spring from a past and speaks to the present, but also to get to the very pertinent questions a reader might have: Is this film worth my time, money

What other film critics, past or present, do you admire?

It'd be too many to list, but the two writers I try to think of when I write -- who wrote clear, direct prose and saw clarity as more important than tricky cleverness and connecting with a reader as more important than impressing their peers -- are George Orwell and Joan Didion.

Is there a classic film you’re embarrassed to admit you’ve never seen?

Alphaville. I don't know why; I just bounce off of it like a sparrow off the windshield of a truck.

In the age of digital media and blogging, where is film criticism going and where should it go?

A well-written review online is still a well-written review -- just like a badly-written review in a print publication is still badly-written. The critic's job is to create hundreds of word of analysis and set them against millions of dollars of publicity - and as fewer and fewer companies present more and more mainstream films, that job -- adding clauses to the cultural conversation to question and contextualize, instead of the one-word and-an-exclamation-point interjections of pure publicity -- is more and more vital. 

Name the worst sequel ever.

In terms of brute narrative fraud being shoved down the public's throat? Transformers 2.

What’s the biggest misconception people have about film critics?

That writing is tough; it isn't. The tough part is sitting down to do it with a clear mind and established goals.

What would you say to the old saw that critics are frustrated artists, punishing those who do for doing?

I'm not a failed filmmaker; I'm a striving film critic. I love this job, because you get to write about everything -- the politics of love, the physics of zombie attack, the nature of comedy, the shape of history -- and it engages you every day in ways you couldn't imagine.

In your opinion, have you ever written something that had a measurable impact?

When people tell me they looked for, and saw, something because I wrote about it in a way that made them want to see it -- Dogtooth, Inside, The Court Jester, a host of other films I've written about from festivals, in theaters, or on DVD -- then I feel like I've done what I'm supposed to do. I'd much rather support great films than tear down bad ones.

What advice do you have for aspiring film critics?

Write as much as you can, read as much as you can, and live as much as you can. Don't just watch movies; connect them to the world.

Has social media changed how you interact with your readers and has social media made the job of film critic easier or harder?

There's always been an old Chicago newspaper joke: "Everyone has two jobs: Their own, and sportswriter." For me, it's "Their own, and film critic." Social Media and the web have accelerated that - and oh, how I hate anonymous comments -- but they didn't really change it that much.