Cinemarati Bids You So Long, Farewell, Auf Weidersein, Adieu and You and You and You and You and You

There is no joy in Mudville tonight. After seven years of wild and woolly fun, Cinemarati is closing its doors.

Friends, Readers, Fellow Travellers, lend me your ears. Unlike Marc Antony, I come not to bury Cinemarati, nor simply to praise it. Actually, I’m gonna do a little bit of both.

Ah Cinemarati, I’m gonna miss ya, ya big lug. But the truth is, things just haven’t been the same around here since about 2003. After the initial rush that accompanies any creation led to some of the best damned writing, most provocative discussions and loudest arguments on the web, we began to lose our momentum and our desire, and with that, our focus. What had been a blast, as well as a relatively cohesive, yet at times wildly eclectic endeavour, gradually became something of a chore. Our enthusiasm, for Cinemarati at least, began to dissipate, and many of us found other outlets for our energies. Whether our own (or others’) sites, or other vocations and avocations, the impetus to keep this behemoth moving forward was lost. To borrow shamelessly from Woody Allen, a site like Cinemarati is like a shark; it must constantly move forward, or die. And what we have here is a dead shark. This carcass ain’t just mostly dead. It is time for us all to call Cinemarati’s time of death.

That being said, what a time it was! I met a raft of remarkably talented people, all of whom I consider privileged to have “met” and many of whom I consider good friends. Also, after some abortive attempts, I believe that I actually managed to find (and lose, then find again) my authorial voice, something that would have taken much longer and been far more painful had I not had the sounding board that was Cinemarati (yeah, so now you know who to blame). I’ll continue to try to hone my skills over at my own blog where I promise to toss up the occasional screen cap quiz for old time’s sake. I am also on the masthead at Matt Zoller Seitz’s terrific blog (The House Next Door), so please drop in for a visit sometime. And, of course, don’t forget to continue testing the waters of the myriad of member sites on our own masthead.

While Cinemarati may be laid to rest, the world of film criticism rolls on. Keep on rocking in the free world.

And if you want to read other Cinemarati member's farewell messages, just click here.