In case you ever wondered why movie critic Roger Ebert is one of the kinder of the mainstream media critics toward science fiction and fantasy, wonder no more. He’s been a fan for decades, as attested to a May 4, 2008 entry in his blog:
Fanzines were mimeographed magazines that were circulated by mail among science fiction fans in the days before the internet. They still are, for all I know, although now they’re generated by computer printers. I first learned about them in a 1950s issue of Amazing Stories and eagerly sent away 10 or 20 cents to Buck and Juanita Coulson in Indiana, whose Yandro was one of the best and longest-running of them all. Overnight, I was a fan, although not yet a BNF (big name fan). It was a thrill for me to have a LOC (letter of comment) published on such issues as the demise of BEMs (bug-eyed monsters), and soon I was publishing my own fanzine, named Stymie. ((Roger Ebert’s journal, “Fanzines beget blogs,” May 4, 2008.))
For any fan with an interest in film, I highly recommend subscribing to Ebert’s blog. He uses his insights in the the world of movies and helps a reader decipher how to approach reading film reviews – and how to pick critics to avoid – and better yet – those that you can trust.
His blog is located here: http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/
