Pure Movies has changed. And this is why.

6 November 2013

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Dan Higgins is an author who has written for the BBC, the New Statesman, the Independent and many other publications.

Today Pure Movies has changed. For seven years, this website has existed to provide film criticism and inform debate on mainstream and independent releases. In that time, we’ve covered some great moments: Zach Braff on the end of Scrubs, Erik Gandini after being banned from Venice Film Festival, Danny Dyer revealing he wanted to headbutt Mark Kermode are certainly among them. But the last few years has seen an unwelcome trend emerging in online film journalism.

We’re one of many film websites, and all of us receive hundreds of press releases every week. A proportion of these are well thought-through placements, invitations or exclusive opportunities that will create compelling content around the film they are promoting. But there are also many absurd scraps of non-news which, in a competitive online environment where the volume of content is more important than quality, will still receive coverage from many film websites. Often press releases are copied and pasted directly onto the page, typos and all. This is what Nick Davies calls “churnalism.”

Reissuing press releases wholesale adds little to any serious or illuminating discussion on film and, in the end, that’s what all of us are here for. So, today I’m proud to present the new Pure Movies. 

We will continue to review, preview and interview without reproducing pre-made content, but we will also focus in on the three areas we value most: academic discussion, industry commentary and qualified debate. I’m excited to launch our new guest columns section, hosting exclusive articles from our journalists Garth Twa, Natalie Peck and Suki Ferguson, critics like Peter Bradshaw, screenwriters like Danny Rubin, academics like Dr. Cynthia Ann Baron and Dr. Ed Sikov, plus a host of other agenda-setting writers including Owen Jones.

Under the Jean-Luc Godard quote “If you have something to say, there is only one solution: say it” we hope to ignite a fresh, informed discussion on film. If you would like to contribute to Pure Movies, please get in touch here. The most notable change is perhaps our redesign. As well as a clean new site, our new visual identity – the film reel quotation mark – is emblematic of our new direction. It begins today and we hope you enjoy it!

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