Corona | Coming Attractions

On Sunday night word began to emerge from those connected to the Los Angeles film critic scene that Variety had laid off its chief movie reviewer Todd McCarthy. The journalist, who had worked for Variety for 31 years and whose reviews were often read as the public's first sizing up of a movie, is considered by many film critics to be one of the major players in the industry.

McCarthy's dismissal (along with David Rooney, the trade's theater critic) is a further sign that the showbiz paper is in rough financial waters. Variety, one of the titans of the entertainment news business, has taken it hard on the chin from new media outlets, the recession and the downturn of print over online sources of news.

Now Roger Ebert has weighed in on McCarthy's lay off and the picture he uses on his latest blog post says it all: thumbs down. Ebert does a magnificent job of explaining the importance of a man like Todd McCarthy to Variety. "He knows everybody. He is known throughout the film world. He was Variety's ambassador at film festivals, always the best-known Variety person there. He stood for Variety," sums up Ebert. "We now discover it did not stand from him."

As a sign of solidarity, Ebert has announced publicly that he is cancelling his subscription to Variety effective immediately. Ebert isn't the only film critic or journalist shocked at Variety; so is indieWIRE's Anne Thompson and many others.

What does the future of film journalism and criticism hold? Is there soon to be no place for print outlets or people who made a career from being on the frontlines for showbiz? Are we seeing career-minded people like Todd McCarthy jettisoned in favor of the freelance film review that can be bought?

Don't ask me for the answers. I'm as much adrift and fighting to stay afloat on storm-tossed seas as any other online film writer. What I do know is that with Todd McCarthy gone from Variety, the skies around me seem to have grown darker and the waves look higher.