The Unreliable Critics

My goal is to convey what films portray. I want to promote movies and entice interest in lesser known or watched films. I hope to bring people to a movie through my review they might’ve otherwise never seen.

I would like to preface with I was torn about posting this. For the people that do not know me personally I fear that this may give someone the wrong impression of me right off the bat.

I’m a very strong proponent in the belief that we ourselves should not describe who we are. That is better left to the people we spend the most time with. Now if you’d liked to hear from me who I think I am… I’m a compassionate a**hole. I’m cynical, I don’t believe most people put their utmost valiant effort into things even when claiming they are. Now, as I age I realize most peoples total effort is actually just subpar and we shouldn’t expect much. But, then again who is the real a**hole? The self righteous person who will sit here and write about how great they are or the person calling themselves an a**hole? Considering I’m able to write this about myself I hope there can be a slither of self awareness added to my traits. So as you can see I view myself as a cynical compassionate a**hole with an eclipse of self awareness… hopefully.

I fell in love with film through the classics—watching Marlon Brando, Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, and others. My father, born toward the end of the Silent Generation, raised me on these films, springboarding a lifelong engagement with cinema.

Having explored much of what filmmaking has to offer, I have begun to refine my taste. I gravitate toward films that probe the depth of human emotion: dramas centered on failed marriages and fractured families, dark comedies that examine pain, and character studies that expose human imperfection. I am particularly drawn to works that confront overwhelming emotion—films that linger near hopelessness and grief. Through them, we see both the extremes and subtleties of human nature expressed across genres.

In the present cultural climate, separating art from the artist has become increasingly difficult. I aim to examine this tension in my writing. While some philosophical positions advocate focusing solely on the work, that stance was easier to maintain before social media made the personal lives of artists so visible. Rather than insisting on a strict separation, I argue for a more disciplined response: resist centering every evaluation on personal reaction. Recognize that significant art often emerges from fractured lives, where moral failure and creative insight coexist. Many of the stories we value are shaped not in spite of human flaws, but because of them.

I leave you with this question: Do we condemn an entire person based solely on their errors? If so, we risk living in isolation—our lives emptied of art and filled only with our own thoughts. It is here that questions of arrogance, humility, judgment, and acceptance emerge.

Jacob Carpintero

Founder/Critic

Lucas

Founder/Critic