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The Last Critic

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The Last Critic is the first documentary feature about Robert Christgau, a pioneer of music criticism. The self-proclaimed Dean of American Rock Critics, Christgau helped invent the form in 1967 while covering the Monterey Pop Festival for Esquire, then redefined the form in 1969 with his Consumer Guide at The Village Voice--letter-graded, capsule reviews, 18 thousand of them over more than 50 years, and continuing to this day at Substack, where Christgau has been a best selling author since 2019. A contributor to Rolling Stone, Creem, Spin, and The New York Times, Christgau made his greatest impact at The Village Voice as both an editor and writer. In the '70s, when pop music was defined by Fleetwood Mac and Billy Joel (who disliked Christgau almost as much as Christgau disliked him), he championed not just the punk of CBGB, but the funk of George Clinton and the soul of Al Green. He helped start the careers of generation after generation of gifted writers, among them Greg Tate, Colson Whitehead, Ann Powers, Joe Levy, Chuck Eddy, Nelson George, and Eric Weisbard. Now in his eighties, Bob is still at it, writing with the same vigor, concision and craft. From Thelonious Monk to James Brown, from The Ramones to Sleater-Kinney, from Aretha Franklin to Olivia Rodrigo, from Second Avenue to Soweto, no writer has considered Pop music with the force and flair as Christgau.

Critics Reviews

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Jordan Mintzer The Hollywood Reporter Apr 29
This deep dive into the life and work of Robert Christgau, aka “the dean of American rock critics,” is the opposite of a doomsday scenario, revealing just how good criticism can be when it’s handled by a master. Go to Full Review Owen Gleiberman Variety Apr 29
“The Last Critic” is a portrait of a venerable voice, but mostly it’s a testament to everything a great critic is: a priest, a fan, an assassin, an aesthete, a merciless truth-teller, and a vessel of love. Go to Full Review David Fear Rolling Stone Apr 29
Christgau is not the “last” critic. The last one standing from his generation, possibly. But The Last Critic provides you with an example of how to do it right via its subject that the film ends up being inspirational beyond belief. Go to Full Review Alfred Castaneda Shade Studios Apr 20
The title makes it seem like criticism is all doom and gloom (and in certain pockets of media today, it is understandably so) but instead what results is charming and often funny look at the so-called dean of American rock critics. Go to Full Review Stephen Saito Moveable Fest Apr 5
Director Matty Wishnow continually finds ways to keep things interesting throughout the biography of the writer who has always done so in his own prose. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Cast & Crew

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Matty Wishnow

Director

Robert Christgau

Self

Carola Dibbell

Self

Thurston Moore

Self

Boots Riley

Self

Randy Newman

Self
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The Last Critic

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Movie Info

Synopsis The Last Critic is the first documentary feature about Robert Christgau, a pioneer of music criticism. The self-proclaimed Dean of American Rock Critics, Christgau helped invent the form in 1967 while covering the Monterey Pop Festival for Esquire, then redefined the form in 1969 with his Consumer Guide at The Village Voice--letter-graded, capsule reviews, 18 thousand of them over more than 50 years, and continuing to this day at Substack, where Christgau has been a best selling author since 2019. A contributor to Rolling Stone, Creem, Spin, and The New York Times, Christgau made his greatest impact at The Village Voice as both an editor and writer. In the '70s, when pop music was defined by Fleetwood Mac and Billy Joel (who disliked Christgau almost as much as Christgau disliked him), he championed not just the punk of CBGB, but the funk of George Clinton and the soul of Al Green. He helped start the careers of generation after generation of gifted writers, among them Greg Tate, Colson Whitehead, Ann Powers, Joe Levy, Chuck Eddy, Nelson George, and Eric Weisbard. Now in his eighties, Bob is still at it, writing with the same vigor, concision and craft. From Thelonious Monk to James Brown, from The Ramones to Sleater-Kinney, from Aretha Franklin to Olivia Rodrigo, from Second Avenue to Soweto, no writer has considered Pop music with the force and flair as Christgau.
Director
Matty Wishnow
Producer
Paul Lovelace, Ben Wu, Joe Levy
Production Co
Past Prime Productions
Genre
Biography, Documentary, Music
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 23m