Profile of Independent Movie Blog: Denerstein Unleashed

After 27 years writing movie reviews for the defunct Rocky Mountain News, Robert Denerstein is unleashed. Aside from crossing filmmaking off his bucket list, Denerstein has also maintained an independent movie blog, Denerstein Unleashed, since 2007.

It was always a pleasure to read Denerstein's reviews in the Rocky Mountain Newsover coffee on the weekends. Yet, it wasn't until I saw him moderate a Denver Film Society panel that I came to fully appreciate his depth of cinematic wisdom.

As a curator and moderator of the Denver Film Society's Cinema Salon he brings together both acclaimed and unlikely voices to discuss movies. As mentioned in my coverage of one panel, "The Movies in My Life", the discussion was stimulated by Denerstein's wit and insight.

This is what brought me to Denerstein Unleashed, realizing that he continues to be a lighthouse for movie goers. Denerstein never appeases the populist view in movie reviews and takes films head on with a clean slate of criticism. All film criticism is subjective and the critics we personally value reflect our palate at the movies. Denerstein loves it all; he ensures coverage of popular releases with equal attention to the Indie realm and foreign films, which is why I value his blog.

His posts completely reflect this, along with coverage of local Film Festivals, interviews and anecdotes from the scene. For instance when the author Normal Mailer died back in 2007, Denerstein eulogized his passing with a blog post about a memory of him at the Telluride Film Festival.

Every December, Denerstein's best of the year list always included the film that would go on to win the Best Picture Oscar. When "Avatar" was released, I couldn't quite put a finger on where my dissatisfaction arose, but reading Denerstein's post nailed it for me. He also followed up with a post, "Movies on the Fringe", providing refuge from "Avatar's" over zealous marketing frenzy as the self-proclaimed future of movies.

Though he doesn't lambaste a film for just being what it is, as he did with his review of "New Moon." Obviously he wasn't defending the "Twilight Saga as feat of modern cinema; he just appreciated an audience's reaction to a faddish phenomenon. Denerstein has often expressed how refreshing it is to experience public screenings, outside of the stuffy press screenings he's spent years attending.

This is where Denerstein is truly unleashed and doesn't have to conform to a large readership through local press. This is promised on is blog in just the header: "For movie lovers who aren't easily swept away."

Denerstein may not be the critical deconstructionist a cinephile craves, nor is he a champion of the obscure who bewilders me with the unknown. His blog simply reflects a voice that deeply understands how cinema affects us and what to expect from the movies in our lives.

You can also read Robert Denerstein's movie reviews on the Yahoo! Contributor Network.

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