Though I love to write about films, I don't pretend to be a "real" film critic. I leave the serious business to many of my peers, such as Matt Singer and R. Emmet Sweeney, both of whom have been adding their fine voices to the cinephilic dialogue in print and online for years. One of the most auspicious publications in which Mr. Singer and Mr. Sweeney's film reviews have often appeared is The Village Voice, which has also been the home of the rightfully revered film critic J. Hoberman for several decades.
Well, last night, the shocking news came out-- to the outrage of many-- that the Voice has lain Mr. Hoberman off. I won't go into all the details; you can read about it here. However, one thing is for sure: not only has the world of film criticism been rocked by the news, but the Voice has surely just made one of the biggest mistakes in its long, embattled history. As far as most of the weekly's readers are concerned, J. Hoberman was the voice of the Voice. A titan in the industry may have been temporarily displaced, but the Voice has just lost a significant portion of its readership for good. Guess it's all sex ads (no, literally-- it's all just sex ads) from here on out.
*Update: J. Hoberman's farewell message to the staff of The Village Voice appeared this morning on his blog.
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