By Lee Pfeiffer
Variety, the legendary but cash-strapped entertainment publication, is cutting costs again - but this time, they may have gone too far. Variety fired popular and trusted film critic Todd McCarthy, who has been with the publication for thirty-one years. Think about how long that is: it was the year Apocalypse Now premiered. However, experience means nothing to the hacks who run today's corporations. McCarthy is just the latest in a long string of revered film critics who have been put out to pasture in recent years due to cost-cutting and an insane obsession with appealing to the youth market. It's not a coincidence that, as the number of films worth watching has declined, so has meaningful film criticism. McCarthy and his peers look almost quaint in an era in which many younger film reviewers feel compelled to punctuate every other sentence with expletives. The Wrap reports that a grass roots Facebook movement is underway by disgusted Variety readers who are trying to find a new employer for McCarthy by signing a pledge they would be willing to pay a fee to read his work. Incidentally, Variety also fired their long-time theater critic David Rooney, among others. For more click here Click here for L.A. Times editorial
