ENDORSEMENT | Adam’s Final Cut

Let me take a moment to introduce Adam’s Final Cut, a blog which now describes itself as being dedicated to film: reviews, news, and everything in between.

In our time there is surely no more powerful, provocative, or persuasive art form than film. We are greatly in need of a generation of critics who engage with this artistic genre at a level which goes beyond “thumbs up”.

True criticism, I maintain, must go beyond mere entertainment value. It must first engage honestly in the act of appreciation before attempting to apply judgment. And when it does so, it must be more than merely a statement of taste. While the tastes of a society, nation, class, or cultural group may be a legitimate point of comment, surely it must go further. Our civilization requires critics who recognize and can speak artfully about the literary, technical, auditory, visual, and cinema-graphic aspects of a film.

Perhaps most importantly, we require a generation of critics who can speak with authority to questions of civic and moral virtue which lie at the heart of all art. Plato was not idle when he admitted only certain sorts of poets into his ideal republic. A case which proves, incidentally, that not all critique of virtue need be religious in nature. There is such a thing as the public good, of which the critic should be a guardian.

If anyone stands poised to fulfill the vital role of critic as I have described him here, it is Adam. He is artistically and musically gifted, which I believe lends a man certain intuition and insight into the nature of art. He is literate, and has the makings of a true man of letters. In him Plato and Aristotle may yet find voice. He is a man of religious conviction, the sort of conviction which grounds man morally and lends authority to his words. Having manifested these talents and this passion for film so early in life, I trust that we have much indeed to anticipate from Adam. Bene velle.

I commend to you Adam, and his blog.