[Aloysius]

Wynton - I prefer in-depth criticism that dissects the movie and adds some insight / social commentary whatever. These tend to be more a polemic than a review, not necessarily comign with a strong "yay or nay" recommendation (though you obviously get a sense of whether or not the critic enjoyed the movie).

Writers who write this type of review, and I think are good, include Stanley Kauffman (New Republic), Anthony Lane (New Yorker), Joe Morgenstern (WSJ), and Janet Maslin when she was at the NY Times.

I usually don't pay attention to film critics, and go on recs from friends or my own level of interest in the movie, when deciding whether or not to go see it.

I've noticed though that my tastes are similar to Lisa Schwarzbaum (EWeekly), Kenneth Turran (LA Times) and both J. Hoberman and Dennis Lim (Village Voice).

And I try to avoid reading / can't stand movie reviews from David Denby (New Yorker) and A.O. Scott (NY Times, donno if he's still there or not).

-Al