The Self-Styled Siren somehow found time, while packing for her clan’s annual summer soujourn to France, to point out that my name, and that of our mutual pal Glenn Kenny, both appear with roughly four dozen others on a ballot at Awards Daily for the “top 10 most influential film critics.”
They mean, I think, influential on film awards voters, which is not really my target audience. Their list of worthies includes at least three critics who aren’t currently working, and omits many who are, including my esteemed colleague Kyle Smith, anyone from the trades and the ever-attention-hungry “Mr. Blight.”
Currently leading the balloting are Roger Ebert, A.O. Scott, Peter Travers, Kenneth Turan and Manohla Dargis. Ms. Dargis, by the way, has been MIA from the pages of the New York Times since June 20. If anyone knows what’s up with that, please let me know.