Doctor Strange Director Scott Derrickson Says Without Critics and Journalists He Wouldn’t Be a Director

Filmmaker Scott Derrickson offers a lot of advice for young filmmakers via his twitter.  Seriously, if you’re not following him and are someone who aspires to filmmaking, and/or like his films The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Doctor Strange, or Sinister, follow him.

Yesterday, Derrickson spoke a lot about film critics and the symbiotic relationship between they and filmmakers.  He started with a pretty nominal suggestion to critics, “don’t be snooty about movies.”

Don’t be snooty about movies. Nobody likes it.

— N O S ⋊ Ɔ I ᴚ ᴚ Ǝ ᗡ ⊥ ⊥ O Ɔ S (@scottderrickson) May 3, 2018

I’m a critic, and I didn’t take this comment negatively. I took it to go hand in hand with Martin Sorceses‘s recent calling out of Rotten Tomatoes and MovieCritic for in his own words “the devaluation of cinema”. There is a difference between film and movies (when you use those words to describe them), perhaps using both when reviewing is the first step.

His next suggestion is one that surprised me, but makes sense. “Advice to young filmmakers: seek out thoughtful film critics and journalists who illuminate complex movies for you. If I hadn’t done that in my youth, I wouldn’t have become a director.”

Advice to young filmmakers: seek out thoughtful film critics and journalists who illuminate complex movies for you. If I hadn’t done that in my youth, I wouldn’t have become a director.

— N O S ⋊ Ɔ I ᴚ ᴚ Ǝ ᗡ ⊥ ⊥ O Ɔ S (@scottderrickson) May 3, 2018

He followed that one up with a list of some film critics, siting Roger Ebert‘s written reviews as the gold standard.

Roger Ebert first and foremost. His written reviews are the gold standard.
Also Pauline Kael and Richard Corliss, though the latter once called me “a dope” in Time Magazine. https://t.co/WXKsmbRBMz

— Scott Derrickson (@scottderrickson) May 3, 2018

And of course yes, he does talk about Doctor Strange when the mood strikes him.

In the Doctor Strange comics, the two things I always loved most were the mind-bending dimensional visuals and Strange’s haunted, lonely isolation and his persistent struggle within himself. Without a lot of screen time, I thought Infinity War embodied that character beautifully.

— Scott Derrickson (@scottderrickson) May 1, 2018

Agree or disagree with the general tone of his advice, he does speak from a position of knowing the right and wrong ways to do things.  His last tidbit from yesterday is of course a must for anyone, not just filmmakers.

When you can’t sleep, watch classics episodes of The Outer Limits and you’ll be so glad you can’t sleep.

— Scott Derrickson (@scottderrickson) May 3, 2018