Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 8-September-02
 

Movie Magazines

I realize that, despite my rare insight and brilliant eloquence, The Jujube cannot fulfill people's cinematic needs in their entirety. Perhaps some of you want to know: what was the top-selling DVD last week? where did Vin Diesel come from? who is ahead in the Oscar race? and even, whom is J Lo dating now? So, to point you in the direction of answers to such questions, here are my reviews of three popular movie magazines.

Entertainment Weekly

($3.50; published weekly, except biweekly at the end of January, June, August and December)

This is my favorite entertainment magazine. It features clear, well written, informative pieces on current and future movies, videos, and DVDs (as well as music, TV, books, gaming, and Broadway), and also offers box office reports, a bit of humor, and just a touch of gossip. Like many of its competitors, it does succumb to the hype of the moment (there were several "Survivor" covers last year, for example), but, hey, a rag's got to make a buck, and this is only in keeping with the fact that EW's writers and editors really seem to have their fingers on the pulse of the business. Movie critics Lisa Schwarzbaum and Owen Glieberman are both fun to read (although I don't regularly agree or disagree with either, so I can't use them as accurate gauges of what to see). The weekly publication schedule is nice, too, especially when you have a subscription (I like finding fun things in my mailbox.)

EW's website (ew.com) is a bit hard to navigate, and the busy pages take forever to load with my 56K modem and telephone line. Print is better on this one.

High Point: The frequent feature in which they ask stars silly questions like "Seeing as how you're Canadian, maybe you can answer this for me. Why exactly does Corey Hart wear his sunglasses at night?"

Low Point: "The Scout," a "field guide to the next new things," which details the fashion and recreational fads of the rich and famous, as well as their real estate transactions. I admit to being interested in the occasional celebrity romance, but I could skip news about the current LA hot spot and who's wearing fall's new Little Orphan Annie look.

Premiere

($3.50; published monthly)

This self-consciously classy magazine is devoted entirely to movies, so it gets a little deeper than EW with more pieces on people who aren't insanely hip or famous. Which isn't to say it doesn't have a lighter, gossipy side; check out, for example, the small "Yes, It's True" section, which purports to provide "news you're not supposed to know." Critic Glenn Kenny produces thoughtful reviews (if I may say so after realizing that he resembles yours truly on a number of points --- a fondness for em dashes and long sentences, for example, and a slightly intellectual air). A couple minor quibbles: the monthly schedule means that Premiere can't keep up with the rapid-fire release of movies from the Hollywood machine (e.g., the September 2002 issue has a review of "Signs," which opened on August 2). Also, I don't much like the magazine's layout; the multiple-column pages are too cluttered, and the body text font is a little too fancy for comfortable reading in an entertainment magazine.

The classiness diminishes significantly on Premiere's website (premiere.com), which isn't pretty to look at and doesn't appear to be updated often enough (e.g., when I clicked on the "Archive" section this weekend, I was offered features from the January, February, and March 2002 issues). Still, it's simpler and therefore easier to use than EW's site.

High Point: The photography ‹ there are always arresting pictures accompanying both the features and smaller articles.

Low Point: Libby Gelman-Waxner's "If You Ask Me" piece, which is sort of like Dave Barry with a raging case of PMS.

Movieline

($3.99; published monthly)

Every time I've taken a crack at Movieline, I've been exhausted and repelled by its snideness. The people who write this magazine must be very jaded, malicious, angry bastards indeed. I mean, even the blurb soliciting letters to the editor is rude: "We love to hear from readers who can spell." This attitude, along with the emphasis on fashion, makes me think that Movieline's target audience must be young hipsters who think that cynicism is as important as Gucci in the construction of a stylish persona. Indeed, readers of the magazine must be very young, because the miniscule print and tendency to use white text on a dark background are difficult on the eyes of even a thirty-something like me (I swear some pieces are in 6-point font!).

Still, I have to say that my latest foray into Movieline wasn't a complete waste. After getting past all of the empty junk (or should I say the swank pieces far above my pedestrian grasp?), I did enjoy the writing of the main interviews, even with their saucy, Ivy League cocktail-party style.

Of the three magazines in this Spotlight, Movieline's website (movieline.com) is my favorite. The clean design far exceeds that of its print counterpart; if I were a young hipster who thought that cynicism is as important as Gucci in the construction of a stylish persona, I'd hook up with Movieline using my laptop or wireless phone instead of a newsstand.

High Point: The potential for reading about lesser known up-and-comers, which results from the editor's quest to root out the young and chic.

Low Point: A penchant for coyly dispensing dirty little tidbits of gossip without giving names, e.g., "Tongues are wagging that a red-hot young actor is so insecure about his relationship with a red-hot young actress that he took extreme measures to make sure she's being faithful . . . ."

Copyright © 2002 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.