Karina Longworth
Encyclopedia
Karina Longworth is an American film critic, film blogger, radio personality, author, and journalist based in Los Angeles
. She is one of the founders of the film culture blog Cinematical and formerly edited both Cinematical and the film blog SpoutBlog and, while living in New York, was heard regularly on the Public Radio International
show The Takeaway. She is currently Film Editor and critic at LA Weekly
.
Longworth has contributed to numerous magazines, including New York Magazine, Filmmaker, TimeOut New York, Cineaste, and Las Vegas Weekly
, as well as the online publications Slate
, indieWIRE
, The Daily Beast
, The Huffington Post
, The Village Voice
, and Vanity Fair's Little Gold Men blog
.
, explaining the virtues of blogging
— for creating a back-and-forth dialogue with readers. About blogging she went on to say, "I have a Master’s Degree in Film Studies
, but I’m no more qualified to blog than a high school student in Vermont." No more qualified she may be, but as to influence, the New York Times has called Longworth, "freakishly smart" and Variety said, "... it's the ever-proliferating bloggers — Spout, Cinematical, Movie City News and Hollywood Elsewhere — that have become the instant barometers for how a film plays."
Online film critics are considered by some to be the next wave of film criticism. In 2007 Variety
said, "As the pool of well-paid print critics shrinks in size, the next generation of film fans may come to trust critic/bloggers like ... Spout’s Karina Longworth, who helped to create the major film blog Cinematical" The New York Times
has commented, "Are print critics really so all-important and sacrosanct with the Web full of debates about all manner of film in places like indiewire.com, cinematical.com and blog.spout.com?"
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. She is one of the founders of the film culture blog Cinematical and formerly edited both Cinematical and the film blog SpoutBlog and, while living in New York, was heard regularly on the Public Radio International
Public Radio International
Public Radio International is a Minneapolis-based American public radio organization, with locations in Boston, New York, London and Beijing. PRI's tagline is "Hear a different voice." PRI is a major public media content creator and also distributes programs from many sources...
show The Takeaway. She is currently Film Editor and critic at LA Weekly
LA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
.
Longworth has contributed to numerous magazines, including New York Magazine, Filmmaker, TimeOut New York, Cineaste, and Las Vegas Weekly
Las Vegas Weekly
Las Vegas Weekly is a free alternative weekly newspaper based in Henderson, Nevada, covering Las Vegas arts, entertainment, culture and news. Las Vegas Weekly is published by Greenspun Media Group. The paper was founded in 1992 by James Reza as a free monthly publication called Scope covering...
, as well as the online publications Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
, indieWIRE
IndieWire
indieWIRE is a daily news site for the independent film community. It covers indie, documentary and foreign language films, as well industry news, film festival reports, filmmaker interviews and movie reviews...
, The Daily Beast
The Daily Beast
The Daily Beast is an American news reporting and opinion website founded and published by Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker as well as the short-lived Talk Magazine. The Daily Beast was launched on October 6, 2008, and is owned by IAC...
, The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
, The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, and Vanity Fair's Little Gold Men blog
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
.
Education
- 2000 Bachelor of Fine Arts in Video from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- 2002 Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film from San Francisco Art Institute
- 2005 Masters of Arts in Cinema Studies from New York University
Career
- Jan 2005 — Mar 2007:regular contributor to the film blog Cinematical.com
- Mar 2005 — Feb 2006:editor in chief of Cinematical.com (Cinematical was bought by AOLAOLAOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
in October 2006) - Oct 2006 — Jun 2007:worked at AOL after the takeover of Cinematical
- Mar 2007 — Oct 2008:columnist at NewTeeVee.com
- Feb 2009 — Dec 2009:weekly contributor on the national public radio showPublic Radio InternationalPublic Radio International is a Minneapolis-based American public radio organization, with locations in Boston, New York, London and Beijing. PRI's tagline is "Hear a different voice." PRI is a major public media content creator and also distributes programs from many sources...
The Takeaway - Jun 2007 — Oct 2009:editor of the daily film culture blog SpoutBlog at Spout.com (now owned by indieWIREIndieWireindieWIRE is a daily news site for the independent film community. It covers indie, documentary and foreign language films, as well industry news, film festival reports, filmmaker interviews and movie reviews...
) - Jan 2010 — present:film critic and editor at LA WeeklyLA WeeklyLA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
Internet film criticism vs print film criticism
When she was still a web critic for SpoutBlog, Longworth appeared in the documentary For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film CriticismFor the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism is a 2009 documentary film dramatizing a hundred years of American film criticism through film clips, historic photographs, and on-camera interviews with many of today’s important reviewers, mostly print but also Internet...
, explaining the virtues of blogging
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
— for creating a back-and-forth dialogue with readers. About blogging she went on to say, "I have a Master’s Degree in Film Studies
Film studies
Film studies is an academic discipline that deals with various theoretical, historical, and critical approaches to films. It is sometimes subsumed within media studies and is often compared to television studies...
, but I’m no more qualified to blog than a high school student in Vermont." No more qualified she may be, but as to influence, the New York Times has called Longworth, "freakishly smart" and Variety said, "... it's the ever-proliferating bloggers — Spout, Cinematical, Movie City News and Hollywood Elsewhere — that have become the instant barometers for how a film plays."
Online film critics are considered by some to be the next wave of film criticism. In 2007 Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
said, "As the pool of well-paid print critics shrinks in size, the next generation of film fans may come to trust critic/bloggers like ... Spout’s Karina Longworth, who helped to create the major film blog Cinematical" The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
has commented, "Are print critics really so all-important and sacrosanct with the Web full of debates about all manner of film in places like indiewire.com, cinematical.com and blog.spout.com?"