| Film Reviews | Film Criticism | |
|---|---|---|
| Authorship | usually written by journalists or other non-academics | written by academics |
| Audience | the general movie-going public | scholars/academics |
| Content/Purpose | describes the plot, characters, cast, director, etc. in order to help the reader assess whether they want to watch the film. | may analyze the plot, characters, cinematic techniques; compare films by the same director or similar films within a genre; apply a particular critical theory to the film; and/or assess social, historical, or cultural significance of the film in order to advance the scholarly conversation about the film. |
| Publication Timeframe | published in the weeks and months around the time the film is released | published in the years or decades after the film was released |
| Where published |  online review sites, newspapers, and popular magazines |
 film studies journals |