Duncan Shepherd
Encyclopedia
Duncan Shepherd, a longtime film critic
, wrote a weekly column for the alternative weekly
the San Diego Reader
from 1972 until November 2010, when he announced that he was retiring the column.
Shepherd's pithy, incisive, and very often negative reviews have sparked strong reactions from readers.
Shepherd attended Columbia University
("a school chosen solely for the number of proximate movie theaters in New York City," according to the critic) and received a Master's degree
from the University of California, San Diego
. His thesis, entitled "Scratching the surface: a speculation into the importance of the image in a movie and the neglect of the image in movie criticism," was published in 1974.
At UCSD he took film classes from Manny Farber
(Negative Space), a noted film critic and painter. Shepherd, in fact, was a "sounding board" for a 1971 Farber essay on director Raoul Walsh
("He Used to Be a Big Shot"), found in Farber's book (originally published in Artforum
magazine).
At the San Diego Reader, Shepherd awarded a "priority" to movies from one to five stars, with "antipathies" receiving a black spot. Five-star reviews became rare: only three movies since 2000 have received the highest rating: Mystic River
(2003), Stevie (2002), and A Serious Man (2010). Fewer than 100 films were listed as 5-star films, while nearly 2,000 have had the black spot bestowed upon them.
Favorite directors with a number of five-star films include Alain Resnais
and Akira Kurosawa
. Among contemporary directors, Shepherd praises perhaps the Coen brothers
and Clint Eastwood
the highest.
Not surprisingly many of the directors and producers Farber championed in Negative Space are favored by Shepherd as well, including Val Lewton
(Curse of the Cat People, a 5-star rated film), Preston Sturges
, Jean-Luc Godard
(Alphaville
, Contempt
), Luis Buñuel
(The Exterminating Angel
) and Nicholas Roeg (Cold Heaven
). Also, the "long-neglected" action directors found in Farber's famous "Underground Films" essay from 1957: e.g., Raoul Walsh
, William Wellman, Robert Wise
("a sometime member of the underground"), John Farrow
(The Big Clock
, 5 stars) and Robert Aldrich
(Kiss Me Deadly
and Ulzana's Raid
, both 5 stars).
A chief concern of Shepherd's is cinematography
, which he frequently commented on in his column using descriptive language (he did not care for the "dingy, dungeony image" of the Academy Award
-winning Chicago
, for example.) Nor does he much appreciate digital video, which he typically finds blurry and fuzzy. Even the state-of-the-art digital video found in George Lucas
's Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
is "somewhat overcast, monotoned, seemingly covered in a sort of pinkish-complected skin, like an unboiled wiener."
In a September 1996 response to critics of his star ratings, Shepherd asserted that readers too often misunderstand his intent ("The context is everything"). A one-star rating does not mean "terrible" and a two-star rating, he suggests, is "a bit more cordial than the back of a hand."
Film criticism
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. In general, this can be divided into journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, and other popular, mass-media outlets and academic criticism by film scholars that is informed by film theory and...
, wrote a weekly column for the alternative weekly
Alternative weekly
An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper, that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting local people and culture. Their news coverage is more...
the San Diego Reader
San Diego Reader
The San Diego Reader is the largest alternative press paper in the county of San Diego, distributed free in stands and private businesses throughout the county, funded by advertisements...
from 1972 until November 2010, when he announced that he was retiring the column.
Shepherd's pithy, incisive, and very often negative reviews have sparked strong reactions from readers.
Shepherd attended Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
("a school chosen solely for the number of proximate movie theaters in New York City," according to the critic) and received a Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
from the University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
. His thesis, entitled "Scratching the surface: a speculation into the importance of the image in a movie and the neglect of the image in movie criticism," was published in 1974.
At UCSD he took film classes from Manny Farber
Manny Farber
Emanuel "Manny" Farber was an American painter, film critic and writer. Often described as "iconoclastic" , Farber developed a distinctive prose style and set of theoretical stances which have had a large influence on later generations of film critics; Susan Sontag considered him to be "the...
(Negative Space), a noted film critic and painter. Shepherd, in fact, was a "sounding board" for a 1971 Farber essay on director Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh...
("He Used to Be a Big Shot"), found in Farber's book (originally published in Artforum
Artforum
Artforum is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art.-Publication:The magazine is published ten times a year, September through May, along with an annual summer issue...
magazine).
At the San Diego Reader, Shepherd awarded a "priority" to movies from one to five stars, with "antipathies" receiving a black spot. Five-star reviews became rare: only three movies since 2000 have received the highest rating: Mystic River
Mystic River (film)
Mystic River is a 2003 American drama film directed, co-produced and scored by Clint Eastwood, starring Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney and Emmy Rossum. The film was written by Brian Helgeland, based on Dennis Lehane's novel of the same...
(2003), Stevie (2002), and A Serious Man (2010). Fewer than 100 films were listed as 5-star films, while nearly 2,000 have had the black spot bestowed upon them.
Favorite directors with a number of five-star films include Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais is a French film director whose career has extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included Nuit et Brouillard , an influential documentary about the Nazi concentration camps.He began...
and Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
. Among contemporary directors, Shepherd praises perhaps the Coen brothers
Coen Brothers
Joel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers...
and Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
the highest.
Not surprisingly many of the directors and producers Farber championed in Negative Space are favored by Shepherd as well, including Val Lewton
Val Lewton
Val Lewton was an American film producer and screenwriter, best known for a string of low-budget horror films he produced for RKO Pictures in the 1940s.-Early life:...
(Curse of the Cat People, a 5-star rated film), Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges , originally Edmund Preston Biden, was a celebrated playwright, screenwriter and film director born in Chicago, Illinois...
, Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
(Alphaville
Alphaville, a Strange Adventure of Lemmy Caution
Alphaville: Une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution is a 1965 black-and-white French science fiction film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. It stars Eddie Constantine, Anna Karina, Howard Vernon and Akim Tamiroff...
, Contempt
Contempt (film)
Contempt is a 1963 film directed by Jean-Luc Godard, based on the Italian novel Il disprezzo by Alberto Moravia. It stars Brigitte Bardot.-Plot:...
), Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:...
(The Exterminating Angel
El ángel exterminador
The Exterminating Angel , is the second of the Buñuel/Alatriste/Pinal film trilogy, written and directed by Luis Buñuel, starring Silvia Pinal, and produced by her then-husband Gustavo Alatriste....
) and Nicholas Roeg (Cold Heaven
Cold Heaven (film)
Cold Heaven is a film, released in 1991, which was directed by Nicolas Roeg. The screenplay, by Allan Scott, is based on a novel by Northern Irish-Canadian writer Brian Moore, which was published in 1983.-Plot:...
). Also, the "long-neglected" action directors found in Farber's famous "Underground Films" essay from 1957: e.g., Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh...
, William Wellman, Robert Wise
Robert Wise
Robert Earl Wise was an American sound effects editor, film editor, film producer and director...
("a sometime member of the underground"), John Farrow
John Farrow
John Villiers Farrow, CBE was an Australian, later American, film director, producer and screenwriter. In 1957 he won the Academy Award for Best Writing / Best Screenplay for Around the World in Eighty Days and in 1942 he was nominated as Best Director for Wake Island.-Life and career:Farrow was...
(The Big Clock
The Big Clock
The Big Clock is a 1946 novel by Kenneth Fearing. Published by Harcourt Brace, the thriller was his fourth novel, following three for Random House and five collections of his poetry...
, 5 stars) and Robert Aldrich
Robert Aldrich
Robert Aldrich was an American film director, writer and producer, notable for such films as Kiss Me Deadly , The Big Knife , What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? , Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte , The Flight of the Phoenix , The Dirty Dozen , and The Longest Yard .-Biography:Robert...
(Kiss Me Deadly
Kiss Me Deadly
Kiss Me Deadly is a 1955 film noir drama produced and directed by Robert Aldrich starring Ralph Meeker. The screenplay was written by A.I. Bezzerides, based on the Mickey Spillane Mike Hammer mystery novel Kiss Me, Deadly. Kiss Me Deadly is often considered a classic of the noir genre. The film...
and Ulzana's Raid
Ulzana's Raid
Ulzana's Raid is a 1972 revisionist Western starring Burt Lancaster, Richard Jaeckel and Bruce Davison. The film, which was filmed on location in Arizona, was directed by Robert Aldrich based on a script by Alan Sharp....
, both 5 stars).
A chief concern of Shepherd's is cinematography
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
, which he frequently commented on in his column using descriptive language (he did not care for the "dingy, dungeony image" of the Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-winning Chicago
Chicago (2002 film)
Chicago is a 2002 musical film adapted from the satirical stage musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Jazz-age Chicago....
, for example.) Nor does he much appreciate digital video, which he typically finds blurry and fuzzy. Even the state-of-the-art digital video found in George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
's Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is a 2002 American epic space opera film directed by George Lucas and written by Lucas and Jonathan Hales. It is the fifth film to be released in the Star Wars saga and the second in terms of the series' internal chronology...
is "somewhat overcast, monotoned, seemingly covered in a sort of pinkish-complected skin, like an unboiled wiener."
In a September 1996 response to critics of his star ratings, Shepherd asserted that readers too often misunderstand his intent ("The context is everything"). A one-star rating does not mean "terrible" and a two-star rating, he suggests, is "a bit more cordial than the back of a hand."