I have been reading "Farber on Film: The Complete Film Writings of Manny Farber," edited by Robert Polito (also contributing an illuminating introduction), which just came out yesterday. Farber is best known for his seminal collection of film essays "Negative Space," but I am finding this more rewarding.

Yesterday I saw two films about critics.

The first, Steven Soderbergh's "The Girlfriend Experience," is ostensibly about a high-priced Manhattan call girl (played by Sasha Grey, a real life porn actress). To promote her business the woman agrees to meet with an "erotic connoiseur" (played by Glenn Kenny, a real life film critic, in a creepily hilarious break-out performance) who arranges to sample her wares for free in exchange for a rave review on his web site -- I guess it's kind of a Rotten Tomatoes for the sex industry.