Audio-blogging reviews

Amateur movie critics are making themselves heard through podcasts on their blogs.

First, an admission: I belong to that small, barely extant breed of Internet-trawlers who still haven't succeeded in procuring a broadband connection. And though my dial-up is reasonably efficient, it operates at a speed that is not very conducive to watching streaming videos online.

Which is why I can't give you an indepth critique of the quality of the audio/video clips on The Movie Blog (http://www.themovieblog.com) "� I usually get to see them only in interrupted form. What I can tell you though is that 1) this is one of the most enjoyable, user-friendly movie sites around, and 2) it has made fine use of a concept that brings a new dimension to the vast, limitless ocean that is the WorldWideWeb: the podcast.

The Movie Blog is a popular, Canada-based site run by John Campea and Doug Nagy, with loads of links, information, short reviews and opinion pieces on movies "� from feature films to documentaries and shorter works. The site has been around for years but it was only a little more than a year ago that Campea and Nagy decided to create an Audio Edition "� a 20-45 minute talk show format where they discuss the stories posted about on The Movie Blog thrice a week (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays). The Audio Edition is posted in MP3 format so you can either listen to it online or download it to burn on CD for your portable music player.

The Audio Edition is what really makes the site special. The blogmeisters have a sense of humour, they know how to provide intelligent audio reviews without getting either too serious or too flippant, and their podcasts are a marvellous complement to the written material on The Movie Blog "� informal, snappy, unadorned by Critspeak. A typical Audio Edition might discuss topics ranging from the discovery of new Star Wars footage from the original film, gripes about the casting of the new James Bond movie, funny movie postings on other blogs, and throw in an interview or two.

This is an illustration of how the world of film criticism in the West has changed in a short time. Until recently, you had to be an established movie critic with a high-profile newspaper (like Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert) before you could get a TV show of your own "� or even a 15-minute slot "� on a leading TV channel. Now, thanks to the Net, it's possible for dedicated movie buffs to create their own mini-shows and reach out to people around the world. How long, one wonders, before the trend catches on in India too? (If you check the Indian blogosphere, you'll find more passionate, informed writing on a film like Rang De Basanti than you'll get in the mainstream media.)

Of course, it goes without saying that you have to be good if you're going to build up a sizeable readership (or in this case, viewership). For all the advantages of the Internet, the survival of the fittest applies in the virtual world too!