ROTTEN TOMATOES: Newsweek Film Critic David Ansen Accepts Buyout

Newsweek Film Critic David Ansen Accepts Buyout

Mass cuts at the national news magazine add to recent tide of critic departures.

by Jen Yamato | March 31, 2008

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Hot on the heels of recent critic departures at the Village Voice and Newsday, Newsweek magazine has bought out over one hundred staffers, including longtime film critic David Ansen.

Radar first reported the mass buyouts at Newsweek, in which 111 employees of the magazine's news and business departments took the option of a generous severance package. Newsweek is owned by the Washington Post Company, a media conglomerate that also distributes Newsweek International, Slate, and the Washington Post newspaper. Ansen, who has been a critic at Newsweek for thirty-one years, is joined in the opt-out by fellow Arts writers David Gates and senior editor Cathleen McGuigan, among others.

Talking to Variety's Anne Thompson, Ansen explained his decision to go for the package:

"They didn't want me to leave, which put me in a nice bargaining position. They may have been shocked at how many people took the offer."

Thompson also learned that Ansen will keep reviewing films for Newsweek through 2008, after which he'll stay on for at least another year as a contracted contributing editor. Ansen notes the silver lining of his reduced capacity: not having to write about bad movies. From Thompson on Hollywood:

"Obviously the climate at newsmagazines is not great," said Ansen. "More cost-cutting, more trimming." Ansen looks forward to writing books, teaching, and "not going out to screenings every night," he said. "I want to watch DVDs of movies I might actually like and read a book or two. Face it, a lot of movies are not that interesting to write about these days."

Posting last week on Thompson's blog after the layoff of the Village Voice's Nathan Lee, Variety's Peter Debruge intimated that similar trouble is brewing at the Voice's sister publication, LA Weekly. It's clear that print media (and, as a result, print criticism) is flailing, but it would be a shame for the film community to lose its brightest and most respected voices as a result. Sound off below.

Read: David Ansen's RT Critic Page

Sources: Radar Online, Thompson on Hollywood

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(1-19 of 19 posts) | Reply

donwillymo writes:
on Mar 31 2008 12:59 PM

Now instead of getting a boring old 2007 BMW they can now afford the 2008 series.

(Reply to this)

jaredisme writes:
on Mar 31 2008 01:07 PM

goodnight good sir, may you rest in peace

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Jen Yamato writes:
on Mar 31 2008 01:20 PM

The point is not that he's being replaced by a "2008 series" but that his position and that of tons more critics around the country is being eradicated. It won't be upgrading an old model, it'll be making everyone (readers) drive the exact same car.

(Reply to this)

dahluzz writes:
on Mar 31 2008 01:54 PM

In reply to this comment (#1662898)
don't respond to him, it only justifies his posts... of which there have been far too many lately. and they're all pretty uninformed. can you red flag someone just for being annoying?

(Reply to this)

minderbinder writes:
on Mar 31 2008 02:39 PM

"can you red flag someone just for being annoying? "

Amen. Where's the "report post" or "ignore"?

(Reply to this)

Jen Yamato writes:
on Mar 31 2008 05:22 PM

dahluzz and minderbender, we're working on it. My personal apologies.

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CMac1985 writes:
on Mar 31 2008 05:31 PM

Does anyone think there's a chance that RT itself is contributing to this growing trend? I don't mean this to bash RT at all--I think it's a great site to find a variety of opinions. But with our increasingly "snippet" and summary obsessed culture, do you think many people are skipping reading Newsweek/the Newsweek website in favor of simply browsing over the limited criticism offered by the short quote RT offers?

Just curious what everyone else thinks about this...

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Young Turk writes:
on Mar 31 2008 06:07 PM

In reply to this comment (#1663305)
Your mom is pretty annoying when she is on her period isn't she.

2Pac wasn't from the east side, go re-read the lyrics.

(Reply to this)

cora1984 writes:
on Mar 31 2008 06:41 PM

WOW. so cool guy,does he still play on the tall dating site ~~~ Tallmingle.com ~~~ ???The last time I saw his profile is last monday, hope he does not leave.

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thereign writes:
on Mar 31 2008 07:01 PM

David Ansen: "Face it, a lot of movies are not that interesting to write about these days."

My new f**king HERO!

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Jen Yamato writes:
on Mar 31 2008 07:02 PM

OMG these tall dating posts are annoying me. We'll strike them asap.

CMac, that's something I've been thinking about as well. There's definitely a relationship between RT providing a sampling of reviews and readers either going further (i.e. following links out to read the full reviews, which is what I love the site for) or simply leaving it at the Tomatometer.

I'd love to think that readers and movie goers in general would be interested in reading more reviews of a film - reading for analysis, for recommendations, or just good writing. I'd like to see how our readers here feel about that; do people read the whole review?

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frogleg writes:
on Apr 01 2008 06:28 AM

No. I've pretty much quit reading full reviews since discovering RT. Once in a great while, if there's a funny snippet on a bad movie, I'll go read it. Or if I'm really psyched about a movie I just saw, I'll read some full reviews to see if people agree. I tend to read Ebert's more often than many others, but by and large I just use the Tomatometer these days.

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rt_hire_me writes:
on Apr 01 2008 06:44 AM

Time. I scarcely have time to go see a movie, let alone read a review. The tomatometer saves me aggravation by preventing wasting more time movies that are lame. Wish I had more time to read reviews, which are usually pretty entertainging and don't cost $11.50.

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High School With Money writes:
on Apr 01 2008 09:49 AM

It's difficult to be interested in long form reviews when most of the links have been severed after a year due to deleted entries in a publication's server. Only Ebert has operable links.

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Rockslide writes:
on Apr 01 2008 10:03 AM

I would have to agree that sites like RT definitely save me from having to read full reviews. No offense to the critics but reading their full reviews is usually about as entertaining as reading the nutritional information on a bran flakes box. I would much rather get the quick snippets and tomatometer.

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tomwaitsjr writes:
on Apr 01 2008 10:18 AM

In reply to this comment (#1663371)
I prefer to read Rotten Tomatoes over any other media. There are often times I laugh like crazy at how accurate most of us feel about such monstrosities as Uwe Boll. Many reviewers want to kiss up to the stars, etc., and write BS reviews.

Pete hammond of Maxim, for example, is a total whore. you'll see his stupid snippet on the posters/ads for a lot of crap films.

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dahluzz writes:
on Apr 01 2008 10:18 AM

I only read full reviews in the actual newspaper, not online. I get the Boston Globe delivered and will read reviews of the top films (or that week's most terrible movie) because I'm familiar with the critics and am curious about their personal reactions.

But if I didn't have the paper waiting for me, I would just check the T-Meter, more specifically the CREAM OF THE CRO--- oh wait sorry "Top Critics"

(boo for changing the name one of the coolest gimmicks on the site. you guys only altered it because you needed a short little title to fit into the new site's link tab right?)

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Jen Yamato writes:
on Apr 01 2008 11:43 AM

:) I liked Cream of the Crop, too.

I find what all of you are saying very interesting. Of course our consensus-building is RT's biggest strength, but it depends on the survival of (and continued expert opinions of) professional critics. How can we get more people to read reviews in addition to checking the Tomatometer? Is there still a widespread purpose served by long-form reviews?

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talan7 writes:
on Apr 01 2008 02:49 PM

In reply to this comment (#1663371)
I agree, but when it comes to film I want to see consistent good reviews hence the use of this site. There are only a few reviewers that I read the entire review. When you come here and see that a movie recieved 12% you pretty much know it's a stinker. When it gets 50% or more even if it's rotten you may like it. Film critiquing as a whole though is a subjective experience.

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