Let me start by saying that I've been an avid reader of Entertainment Weekly since the beginning of 1996. I happened to notice the magazine the first week of January that year, and I have read every since issue since then. Ever since I began devouring EW, I began to become acquainted with the two main critics who wrote for them. Owen Gleiberman and Lisa Schwartbaum provided very intelligent reviews every week, and they quickly became two critics I enjoyed reading. Schwartzbaum departed the magazine last year, and even though her reviews frustrated me sometimes, I can feel her absence. It was announced last night that Entertainment Weekly has let go Gleiberman in a big shuffle within Time Inc.--news that frustrates and angers me.
AwardsDaily's Sasha Stone wrote a great piece last night about how EW needs Gleiberman more than he needs them, and she's right. As someone who has been writing a tiny blog for only over a year, I look up to critics like Gleiberman and Schwartzbaum so much. It feels like something is being let go, and it's just sad. Roger Ebert was the critic I most admired, because he was a lover of film. You would go to his site and something that looked like a piece of crap got a thumbs up from him, and you might wonder why. When you read his review of something, you understood why. The critics at EW (who have written there for over 20 years, mind you) were so steeped in the foundation of the magazine that you could trust them.
It's just frustrating. Why would they fire someone who was so synonymous with the magazine? I hope Gleiberman starts writing for another publication or maybe start his own site. I don't trust some loser sitting in his basement talking about how he feels the structure of The Place Beyond the Pines doesn't work. I trust and respect someone who has been part of the criticism community for so long. Someone intelligent and poetic.
Thank you, Entertainment Weekly for making me want to cancel my subscription.
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