Which critics (of film, art, books) do you like/find funny?

[Medea]

Will be very useful for a class I'm teaching.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

And thanks for those who helped last week with the "personal essay" topic.

I used to like Tom Paulin, but somehow I went off him

Do you need specifically high culture? The best review I ever read, which I would so love to have kept, was of a family holiday at Center Parcs, by Howard Jacobson. It went beyond your basic worth-it-or-not value-assessment into funny clever psychology. (Which, it has to be said, AA Gill can sometimes come close to as well. But we disapprove of him on feminist principles, don't we.)

I don't think I have read a Tv review by AA Gill that I have agreed with. In our house it is almost a dead cert that anything he like we will hate and vice versa. Though I have never had the fortune to be able to check out his restaurant reviews.

Oh - Christopher Hitchens. Very impressive style - entertaining + challenging. Jonathan Ree we like too, but he's academic rather than mainstream/journalism - presumably you're looking for the latter?

Medea, I can't get her name right but Larushka Zadeh-something in Metro is often piquantly funny about last night's TV. A good example, along with their classical music "critic" Warwick Thompson, of someone investing accuracy and love of a subject into what is effectively throwaway journalism.

And the mighty Stuart Maconie cannot be beaten on film, TV or music IMO. Witty rather than guffaw-inducing, but usually positive if you see what I mean. I don't like my critics scoring cheap points as a rule!

He is rarely hilarious but I rate Charles Spencer highly for theatre and Dominic Cavendish's round up of important regional openings makes the Telegraph for me the paper with the best theatre coverage at the mo.

Least liked - Nicholas de Jongh. Why bother if it's all so dreadful and tedious...

Mark Kermode is great for film reviews, also like Paul Morley and Caitlin Moran. Hate AA Gill

Hi again, Bink. (Didn't get your e-mail, but thanks so much for your LRB efforts--I'm waiting to hear from them. )

Actually I think "high" culture is not quite right for these students, maybe. They're art students in a creative writing class. . .but we're veering off into a journalism arena (not my forte, really, though I can do it) because the students turn out not to be interested in hardcore creative writing eg poetry.

Last week they expressed an interest in learning how to write art reviews. So I was thinking that an entertaining example of art crit could be useful. But any good review could be the jumping off point for discussion & analysis, really. As usual I know the Americans, but am less familiar with the Brits. And I really think I should focus on British reviewers.

marina hyde quite funny too, quite political. victor lewis smith obviously froths at mouth when types the name hugh fearnley-whittingstall...

I like Caitlin Moran and Miranda Sawyer best

also like Brian Sewell for a laugh. Plus I like Hugh Canning for music/opera. Aah, but you asked for film/art/books. Film I like whatsit out of the Times - Cosmo Landesman, that it. Just because his name is such comedy. For art there is Waldemar Januszczak in the times. Quite like Kathyn Flett's TV column in the Observer

Aha. Well dh (who's an art bunny) rates Peter Campbell, who writes in the Guess What. (Let me know when you hear!) Andrew O'Hagan did a review there too, of Peter Saville's exhibition at Design Museum, which is interesting because O'Hagan isn't an art critic, so it's your informed layman's view kind of thing.

Shall I ask dh who else he likes?

No need to ask dh, bink...you've given me more than enough to work with. . .as has everyone else (thank you!) Medea x

bill gallo, 'the westword'.

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