David Sterritt, film critic for the
Christian Science
Monitor and
professor of film at Long Island University, is one of the most astute, acclaimed, and thought-provoking
critics in
America Sterritt's sharp eye for
telling detail and deep understanding of cinema and its history make his work appealing to scholars and lay audiences.
Guiltless Pleasures: A David Sterritt Film Reader collects his most incisive essays from 1970 to the present. The collection emphasizes films and filmmakers that are often overlooked or undervalued because they stray from ordinary norms of commercial cinema. At a time when admitting to "guilty pleasures" has become a common pastime among serious moviegoers, Sterritt argues that there's no reason to feel guilty about the alchemy of cinema. After all, he maintains, the inner journeys we take by means of movies and other cultural works are a large part of what makes life worth living.
He also recognizes that many cinematic pleasures don't come quickly or easily, but must be acquired and cultivated before it can be savored. Guiltless Pleasures focuses on such rewarding challenges as the avant-garde masterpieces of Stan Brakhage, the unsettling videos of Robert Wilson, and the violent, disturbing films of Gaspar Noé. Sterritt writes equally well and insightfully on mainstream Hollywood films.
Each essay reflects a wish to challenge taken-for-granted norms, rejecting what's sometimes called the "excessively obvious" style of standard commercial fare. In Guiltless Pleasures Sterritt shares his conviction that what the movie world needs most are more imaginative artists, more adventurous commentators, and more intuitive, open-minded audiences..
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