Tue, March 8, 2005
Look out!—7:26 PM
The publishers of "Entertainment Weekly" have dumped an inaugural copy of their new movie magazine, "Look", in my mailbox. When I heard this was coming, I was apprehensive, because doesn't "EW" already cover movies? Are they going to stop? Am I going to have to subscribe to both? I already get "Premiere" – how many movie magazines do I need?
Well, the math just got more complicated – "Look" is pretty amazing. It isn't perfect (there's a full-page chart very reminiscent of the Shaw Report), but it's damn close. It has a real cineaste feel to it, without being so obsessive that I feel guilty for not being able to keep up. It has a rakish design – owing heavily to Erik Spiekermann – which is consistent but versatile, giving ample room to the film image but maintaining a "smart," non-frivolous feel (assisted by the tabloid-style page dimensions and tightly-spaced serifed body font). It takes a variety of approaches to discussing and studying films (and film), including one delightful nugget cribbed from "mental_floss": Smart Things to Say. There are also intelligent movie comparisons and recommendations ("if you liked this, try this") which include not just a list of titles, but reasons why. Plus – indispensable for a DVD early adopter – the "Upgrade or Not?" section for new special-edition releases of films already out on DVD.
There are profiles and updates from all areas of the film industry – producing, directing, cinematography, screenwriting – and the all-important "back page" section is deftly occupied by "Look Back" (har!): a stroll down memory lane devoted to a large and scrumptious behind the scenes shot (this time, Hitchcock on the set of The Birds) and a tight, enjoyable blurb (Tippi Hedren quote). Best yet, it's the first issue, so no insipid Letters section, filled with bubbling adulation like, "Thanks so much for putting a picture of Ben Affleck on your magazine front-part!" (Paraphrasing Paul F. Tompkins, of course.)
It doesn't hurt that there's a two-page spread heralding the upcoming release of The Incredibles on DVD – discussing the movie, the extras, the director, the composer, and rating it ten out of a possible ten. I'm off to buy me some Les Baxter records!
