[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$fa12Mf6-u3slkjAqQX8UZiiGwIpD1J1O5_3GwwmNuxbc":3},{"locale":4,"topic":5,"relatedTrends":46},"en",{"topic":6,"slug":7,"canonicalSlug":7,"topicAliases":8,"nicheKey":9,"nicheName":10,"nicheNameEn":11,"nicheIcon":12,"country":13,"countries":14,"agentKey":15,"score":16,"type":17,"isFresh":18,"isPublic":18,"detectedAt":19,"sources":20,"evidence":43},"David Thomson's book criticizing movies and culture","david-thomson-s-book-criticizing-movies-and-culture",[],"culture","Culture (Livres, Films, Musique)","Culture (Books, Movies, Music)","🎭","KR",[13],"culture-KR",100,"spiking",false,"2026-07-09T00:42:18.624Z",[21,27,33,38],{"title":22,"url":23,"domain":24,"snippet":25,"content":26},"Movies Are Good, Actually","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.theatlantic.com\u002Fbooks\u002F2026\u002F07\u002Fdavid-thomson-sudden-flicker-of-light-book-review\u002F687772\u002F","theatlantic.com","The piece rebuts David Thomson's claim that movies diminish culture, arguing that cinema retains significant artistic and cultural value.","Are movies bad for us? Do they waste our time, dumb down the culture, even harm society? On-screen, stars depict unspeakable acts of violence and cruelty. More subtly, movies make bad choices look appealing; viewers might watch _The Godfather_ and think not merely _I want Michael Corleone’s suit_, but _I want to smoke like he smokes—and maybe run my business like him too_. Perhaps that last claim feels overblown, but movies indisputably falsify reality, presenting a world that seems hypervivid for a few hours but vanishes when the lights come up. Mundane life can hardly compete with the glamorous charisma of Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart in _Vertigo_ or the epic vistas in _Lawrence of Arabia_.\n\nAn eminent film critic has written a new analysis of cinema that is propelled by exactly such misgivings. In , the prolific and controversial historian  describes film as “an engine of fantasy,” a “parasite to reality” that “has begun to diminish our nature” and “turned us into watchers, half aware that we cannot have what we see.” Thomson, who has a quirky palate and has dismissed some canonical films, writes that he “feels more than regret” over the decades of attention he has given to cinema—“as if it honored society and history.” He even appears to blame the movies for the rise of Donald Trump, the consummate camera-ready salesman. I can’t recall such a bleak appraisal of an art form since Tipper Gore went after Twisted Sister in the 1980s.\n\n* * *\n\n​When you buy a book using a link o",{"title":28,"url":29,"domain":30,"snippet":31,"content":32},"Mad directors and erotic sharks: my fifty years as a film critic","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.thetimes.com\u002Fculture\u002Fbooks\u002Farticle\u002Fa-sudden-flicker-of-light-by-david-thomson-review-gncp9bfhm","thetimes.com","Citizen Kane is great and Star Wars is dull! In A Sudden Flicker of Light, the opinionated, punchy David Thomson looks back on his five decades watching...",null,{"title":34,"url":35,"domain":36,"snippet":37,"content":32},"A Sudden Flicker of Light: A Revisionist History of the Movies – big screen questions","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.irishtimes.com\u002Fculture\u002Fbooks\u002Freview\u002F2026\u002F07\u002F04\u002Fa-sudden-flicker-of-light-a-revisionist-history-of-the-movies-big-screen-questions\u002F","irishtimes.com","David Thompson, having devoted his life to writing about film, suggests the medium has begun to diminish our very nature.",{"title":39,"url":40,"domain":41,"snippet":42,"content":32},"Author David Thomson on How Screen Antiheroes Led to Trump, Why His ‘Dictionary’ Won’t Be Updated and His Next Book Subject: Mickey Mouse","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.yahoo.com\u002Fentertainment\u002Fmovies\u002Farticles\u002Fauthor-david-thomson-screen-antiheroes-235956122.html","yahoo.com","The revered writer on film — a critic, historian and author of more than 40 books including the new 'A Sudden Flicker of Light: A Revisionist History of...",{"mentionsLast7Days":44,"mentionsLast30Days":44,"firstSeen":19,"lastSeen":19,"relatedEntities":45},4,[23,29,35,40],[47,50,53,56,59,62],{"topic":48,"slug":49,"score":16,"type":17,"country":13,"nicheIcon":12},"Hope, a big-budget South Korean sci-fi monster film mashup","hope-a-big-budget-south-korean-sci-fi-monster-film-mashup",{"topic":51,"slug":52,"score":16,"type":17,"country":13,"nicheIcon":12},"Barry Walters' Mighty Real: history of LGBTQ+ music 1969–2000","barry-walters-mighty-real-history-of-lgbtq-music-1969-2000",{"topic":54,"slug":55,"score":16,"type":17,"country":13,"nicheIcon":12},"Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis and her impact on Iranian women","marjane-satrapi-s-persepolis-and-her-impact-on-iranian-women",{"topic":57,"slug":58,"score":16,"type":17,"country":13,"nicheIcon":12},"Cultural works reflecting America's 250th anniversary","cultural-works-reflecting-america-s-250th-anniversary",{"topic":60,"slug":61,"score":16,"type":17,"country":13,"nicheIcon":12},"Arts and culture recommendations for America's 250th anniversary","arts-and-culture-recommendations-for-america-s-250th-anniversary",{"topic":63,"slug":64,"score":16,"type":17,"country":13,"nicheIcon":12},"Weekly roundup of 13 new music books June 8–14","weekly-roundup-of-13-new-music-books-june-8-14"]